We are Tyler and Elina Charvat. We grew up in Kansas (USA) and met through Elina’s brother-in-law, who worked with Tyler in a car dealership. Aside from my relationship with Jesus, meeting Tyler was the best thing that could have happened to me (Elina). Together we founded a youth group in our home church and then got married after three years of dating.
When I was a little girl, I felt a call to share my faith with other people. Tyler invited Jesus into his life when he was 23 and has been faithful to Him ever since. I knew God had a plan for both of us. And before we knew it, we found ourselves in an application process at “Assembly of God World Missions” to work as missionaries abroad.
We knew God called us to Germany, specifically the East. We first were in Rostock where we worked in a church as youth leaders then we moved to Leipzig to plant a church.
We have been amazed by the faithfulness of God and it has been a privilege to know him so intimately through the process.
Generations Church International
From the time we started pursuing the call that God placed on our lives to go to Germany to be missionaries, we always had it on our hearts to plant a church and not just one but multiples.
We didn’t know what that would really look like but the dream was there. We had been in Leipzig for three years and the spring of 2019, we were at a conference with our missions organization. In the service the preacher challenged us to think and pray about what we would
do in the next three years if we knew that God was in it with us. They also gave us little cards to write our answers on and to take to the front to leave in a collection bowl. Tyler and I both took our time to pray and write our own individual answers. After we had taken them to the front to leave in the hands of Jesus we came back to our seats. I immediately asked Tyler what he had written. He didn’t really want to answer me but eventually said to plant GCI – Generations Church International. I sat there for a little bit and then he turned to me and asked, “What did you write?” I told him that God put it on my heart to write “church plant number two.” That is how the journey with GCI began in our hearts. We knew it wasn’t something we could start right away since we had to return to the US for a
few months at the end of 2020. Covid hit the world and we found ourselves figuring out how to lead a church during a worldwide crisis.
At the end of 2020 we went home and shared our vision in many churches and with many friends. We were going to start GCI when we returned to Germany. At the beginning of 2021 we returned home (Leipzig) to a full Covid lockdown. Our dream and vision to start GCI began to look unrealistic. GC wasn’t in a healthy place because of being online for so long. We needed to take time to rebuild our teams and pour into our people. Tyler took some time to pray for direction and really felt like God asked, “Do you trust me?” Tyler’s response was “Yes,” and then God said, “Then this will happen naturally. You don’t have to make it happen.” This gave us the release to focus on GC and put GCI in God’s hands to do as he saw fit.
Around June / July of 2021 we were carrying a large heavy box into the building where we meet for church. I was struggling, and Tyler was doing all he could to try to carry the weight.
Generations Church International
From the time we started pursuing the call that God placed on our lives to go to Germany to be missionaries, we always had it on our hearts to plant a church and not just one but multiples.
We didn’t know what that would really look like but the dream was there. We had been in Leipzig for three years and the spring of 2019, we were at a conference with our missions organization. In the service the preacher challenged us to think and pray about what we would
do in the next three years if we knew that God was in it with us. They also gave us little cards to write our answers on and to take to the front to leave in a collection bowl. Tyler and I both took our time to pray and write our own individual answers. After we had taken them to the front to leave in the hands of Jesus we came back to our seats. I immediately asked Tyler what he had written. He didn’t really want to answer me but eventually said to plant GCI – Generations Church International. I sat there for a little bit and then he turned to me and asked, “What did you write?” I told him that God put it on my heart to write “church plant number two.” That is how the journey with GCI began in our hearts.
We knew it wasn’t something we could start right away since we had to return to the US for a
few months at the end of 2020. Covid hit the world and we found ourselves figuring out how to lead a church during a worldwide crisis. At the end of 2020 we went home and shared our
vision in many churches and with many friends. We were going to start GCI when we returned
to Germany. At the beginning of 2021 we returned home (Leipzig) to a full Covid lockdown. Our dream and vision to start GCI began to look unrealistic. GC wasn’t in a healthy place because of being online for so long. We needed to take time to rebuild our teams and pour into our people. Tyler took some time to pray for direction and really felt like God asked, “Do you trust me?” Tyler’s response was “Yes,” and then God said, “Then this will happen naturally. You don’t have to make it happen.” This gave us the release to focus on GC and put GCI in God’s hands to do as he saw fit.
Around June / July of 2021 we were carrying a large heavy box into the building where we meet for church. I was struggling, and Tyler was doing all he could to try to carry the weight.
Suddenly there appeared a man beside us. His name was Michael. He asked if we needed help and shared with us that he was better at speaking English than German. He was so kind
and helped carry the heavy box into our storage room. We found out he was from Egypt and was staying in the building with his family. We told him about our church and that we do services in English and German and that it might be a great place for him to visit with his family. He and his family are missionaries and felt called to Leipzig. This was very exciting to hear. Eventually they started coming to our church on a regular basis and God began to bring us closer together. They moved into an apartment that they were renting from another family who were on a year-long mission trip.
Michael told Tyler, “I really think this apartment would be great to start something in. It’s amazing!” Tyler prayed about it and was honest with Michael. “I don’t need another men’s group or home group but if you could imagine a church with this being a place that we invite more and more people to come and grow, then I think this is something I can commit to.” Michael and Sara told Tyler that is exactly what they had on their hearts as well. In February of 2022 we started meeting every week on Sunday nights in this lovely home, and God has been blessing it. This has been about God’s timing and His way, not our timing and our way. In May of 2022 we had our conference again and I was reminded of the earlier question, “What would you do in the next three years if you knew God was in it and with you? It took almost three full years in order to start the second church group, but that just shows the faithfulness of God. Praise God!
Suddenly there appeared a man beside us. His name was Michael. He asked if we needed help and shared with us that he was better at speaking English than German. He was so kind
and helped carry the heavy box into our storage room. We found out he was from Egypt and was staying in the building with his family. We told him about our church and that we do services in English and German and that it might be a great place for him to visit with his family.
He and his family are missionaries and felt called to Leipzig. This was very exciting to hear.
Eventually they started coming to our church on a regular basis and God began to bring us closer together. They moved into an apartment that they were renting from another family who were on a year-long mission trip. Michael told Tyler, “I really think this apartment would be
great to start something in. It’s amazing!” Tyler prayed about it and was honest with Michael. “I don’t need another men’s group or home group but if you could imagine a church with this being a place that we invite more and more people to come and grow, then I think this is something I can commit to.” Michael and Sara told Tyler that is exactly what they had on their hearts as well. In February of 2022 we started meeting every week on Sunday nights in this lovely home, and God has been blessing it. This has been about God’s timing and His way, not our timing and our way. In May of 2022 we had our conference again and I was reminded of the earlier question, “What would you do in the next three years if you knew God was in it and with you? It took almost three full years in order to start the second church group, but that just shows the faithfulness of God. Praise God!