Last Thursday was St. Nicholas Day here, and I was so surprised- it was like a little taste of Christmas already! In Slovakia on the night of Dec. 5th the kids leave a pair of shoes by their window and St. Nicholas comes at night and leaves small gifts and candy in the shoes. December 6th the kids wake up and it’s like a miniature version of Christmas! People give each other small gifts- mostly candy on this day, and most of the schools have special programs. I got some candy bags from St. Nicholas too :-). What I thought was really strange is that St. Nicholas comes with an angel and a devil. The devil is for the bad kids, and the angel for the good ones. So on Thursday I saw someone dressed up as St. Nicholas, and people dressed up as angels and devils. Even in the stores they sell chocolate Santas, angels, and devils. I think it’s kind of scary for kids, but they say it is a cartoon devil, and there is a different word in Slovak for a cartoon devil and the devil. It was interesting to see how this day was celebrated, even though it was just a small ordeal mostly for kids.

Saturday was quite an exciting day also. I met a girl who lives in Banska Bystrica and is a University student. She was coming to talk to the Pastor about being baptized, and Saturday was the day she was baptized. She is about the same age as me, and comes from a family of atheists. Her father is a chemist and her mother grew up not believing in God, because her father was killed in an accident when she was a baby, and she does not understand how there could be a God with the painful things in this world. Somehow this girl started to believe there was something out there, and started going to church, reading the Bible, and learning about God. Her parents were both so angry with her for having anything to do with the church, and would not allow her to talk about it at all. After wrestling with Christianity and atheism for a long time, she became a Christian and came to the Pastor to be baptized. When she told her parents that she was going to be baptized her parents were angry about it and still do not allow her to talk about Christianity with them or any of her siblings (who are atheists). So on Saturday morning the girl and four of her friends came for the baptism. Throughout the service I just kept thinking about how much of a miracle it is that this girl is getting baptized, despite everyone in her family objecting. She sent me a thank you e-mail today and this stuck out: "I realize that the God is another kind of perspective on life. I like it so much. I dont believe in atheism- I just know that people, who dont believe, only ignore the miracles around, because the whole life is one of the greatest miracles." After the baptism her friends stayed and we had lunch together, talked, and played a really fun Slovak castle game. We are planning to hang out again soon, when they are finished with exams. I have to get going now, but hopefully later tonight I will mail out my November newsletter and post it on here too, because it is super late!