Klára Kouřilová is an elementary school teacher and young adult leader in the Czech Republic.
When did you trust Christ?
I am from a non-Christian family, but when I was 16 years old, I attended a Christian camp that changed my life. The people were different and made me feel very welcome and without any judgment. I always had so many questions for the leaders about evolution, dinosaurs, and why bad things happen to good people. They didn't have all the answers, but they talked with kindness, so I was increasingly satisfied. After this camp, I had an empty feeling in my heart. I couldn't understand it, but it was there. I was desperate to fill this empty space with anything. Then a pastor told me about God's great and unconditional love. That was it! That is what I wanted, what I had been looking for. At that time, I accepted Christ into my life fully. It was the best decision I've ever made.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
There was a time (about 10 years ago) when I was searching for answers about what I should do in life and how I could serve. As I walked by some very young kids, around 12 years old, I saw them smoking. That was the moment when God spoke to me about working with these kids, serving them with His love, and showing them mercy. I realised I loved children and started to serve middle schoolers at our church in our club where kids can hear the Gospel and feel welcomed and loved. This experience also led me to become a lecturer at elementary schools.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I hope to learn as much as possible from this Forum. I believe that all of the lessons will bring me great ideas and wisdom for my future ministry. I want to focus on teens and how to keep them interested in Jesus in this quick and hectic world full of other things that seem to be more interesting for them than our Lord. I would like to learn how to make following Christ cool for those kids.
What is your ministry?
Two years ago, I started a group for women in our church (20+ years old). We study books about faith, read the Bible, pray together, and talk about Christian questions that we don't hear in church much—such as tattoos, gossip, tithes, etc. Every year, we grow as we invite more girls from our church. My vision is to create a strong group of women who will pray over their church, husbands, kids, and ministries.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I was a leader of a girls group for about 10 years (girls from 12-15 years). We talked about life, the role of women, etc. I was also a leader at Awana club for 4 years and the main leader of a ministry for middle schoolers (kids from 10-16 years) for 8 years in our church. There were about 10-20 kids from Christian and non-Christian families who could play games and hear the Gospel every single week. Lastly, I've helped to lead icebreakers and evening testimonies at our summer camps for 12 years.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I think that the biggest reason to invest in my ministry is that I love working with teens. I have had them in my heart for so long, and my biggest vision is to have a place for kids from different families to come and be safe here. A lot of kids I work with have divorced or addicted parents, and I can see how they don't want to be at home. So I would like to have some place for them. That is my goal, but for now, I want to gain new ideas on how to work with them.
