Konfirmácia

This past weekend I went to visit my old placement in Horná Mičiná to see their confirmation. It was really interesting to see how confirmation is done in Slovakia and it’s a much bigger deal than what my confirmation was like in America. I got to Horná Mičiná on Saturday and had lunch with the Pastor’s family. Then at 5:00 the confirmands had their examination. All year the Pastor told me how terrible this confirmation class was- it was 17 teenagers from about 5 different villages in this area, and they were not interested in confirmation at all. They knew they would have this examination but didn’t care or want to study for it, until the day before when they freaked out about it. The examination was during a church service- it began with the confirmands walking in and sitting together in the front of the church, an opening hymn, a Bible reading and a prayer. Then the confirmands were called up one by one to the front of the church to be examined. The Pastor asked each of them 7 questions about the Bible, confirmation, and the church in general, and they had to answer in front of everyone. It was kind of funny seeing these poor kids stand up there in front of everyone so nervous! After all of them were questioned, which took a very long time, the Pastor asked the congregation if they approved of them being confirmed. Everyone agreed that they should be confirmed, and the service ended with another prayer and hymn.

Then on Sunday there was a big service for the confirmation, and I was so surprised how many people came. I have never seen the church here so crowded. Everyone came- all of their families and extended families, and so many people just from the villages. The church was decorated with beautiful white and yellow flowers, and everyone was really dressed up. The service began with the pastor and all of the confirmands walking in and sitting in the front. The girls looked like princesses- they had gorgeous white gowns on and their hair all done up, and the guys had suits on. The Pastor called each of the confirmands to the front, said a prayer for them, presented them with a certificate and a Bible, and read their Bible verse. (They each choose a Bible verse for their confirmation). The confirmands sang a sing together for the congregation (which they were extremely unenthusiastic about- I barely heard them singing and I was sitting in the front!) They then thanked the Pastor and the church keeper by presenting them with flowers. There was the usual Gospel reading, prayers, hymns, and sermon that are in the services also. Then, we went through the liturgy for the Lord’s Supper and had communion. The service ended up lasting quite a long time with all of the special things for confirmation, and communion, but it was a really nice service, and so nice to see so many people in church. After the service many of the parents of the confirmands invited the Pastor and family over for a meal, and so the Pastor has to eat a lot and make a lot of visits. I was invited along also and made it to one meal before I had to catch my bus back. I was really surprised at how elaborate it was- like a big reception! We went to Banska Bystrica and had a catered lunch. It was two sisters who were confirmed, their Godparents, parents, grandparents, extended family, the pastor’s family, and me (maybe 25-30 people). I could not believe how much food and wine there was- outrageous! There was an appetizer (which I could have had alone for lunch- but that is unheard of here!), then soup, then the main meal of meat, rice and cabbage. Then there were tons of cakes for dessert. I had a lot of fun hanging out and talking with the two girls after the meal, and then I had to catch the bus back to Poprad. I was so thankful that I only was able to go to one meal though- I was so full afterwards, and I have no idea how the Pastor can then go to more houses and eat and drink more! At Christmas, they told me as we were visiting people in the village that the only thing worse than Christmas is Confirmation, and now I know what they mean. It was a lot of fun though, and really interesting to see how Confirmation is in Slovakia. I was really surprised at how big of a deal it is, because Baptism is much more private here, so I would have thought confirmation would have been similar. In the Pastor’s sermon he talked about how he hopes this isn’t the last time he sees the confirmands in church, and how they are not finished with church, but they are making an oath to God. I thought this was interesting because the church here encounters the same problem as many churches in America- oftentimes confirmation is the last time so many people are in church; they get confirmed and then seemed to be finished with church.

So, I returned back to Veľký Slavkov on Sunday night and began another week of work here. Everything has been going as usual, of course as usual here means some unusual things happening. One guy broke his wrist, another was in the hospital with a stomach infection (which they said was from eating too much of the conserved meat, which made me not want to eat that). Then there is a new guy whose name is Rudo, and I just met him yesterday, but he seems nice. I am excited for this weekend because I will take a trip to Budapest with some of the other volunteers. I will take lots of pictures and tell you all about it!

The Soldiers Came!

Yesterday was an interesting day here at the center because two big Slovak army trucks came with boxes full of food! In the morning when Stano first told Kristen and I that soldiers were coming to bring conserved food we were a little confused, but then we got a better explanation. The center here is a headquarters for Eastern Slovakia and the army brought tons of boxes of conserved food that is to be distributed among centers and the homeless in the Eastern part of the country. About 20% of the boxes will stay here and be used to feed the guys here and the rest people will come to pick up. So for about two hours in the morning a bunch of the guys carried boxes downstairs to the dining room where it will all be stored. It is amazing how much food is in all these boxes. There are boxes of dried bread, meat paste, cans of cabbage, rice, and sausage, tea, and vitamin drinks. In the kitchen today we tested out one of the packages with Pali. When you open the cans there is a way to light a little fire and cook the food on a little stand, and it works pretty well! So, we got to see how the Slovak army eats. I have some pictures of the room of boxes and the guys unloading the trucks that I will post on my webshots but the internet won't let me post on webshots now, so I will do it sometime.

April Newsletter!

Each month I am here seems to go by faster and faster, and April just flew by so quickly. The work here continued as usual and I kept busy on the weekends with some trips around Slovakia. Helping Pali in the kitchen is still a lot of fun, and Kristen and I are learning a lot about Slovak cooking. While Pali was out sick for a couple of days we were able to cook lunch for everyone and made some of our favorite Slovak meals. We also realized even more how much work goes into preparing a big meal for about thirty people!
We continue to have English classes on Wednesday and Friday evenings. This past month we taught vocabulary words about the city (street, post office, restaurant, etc…). We taught how to say where they are going and where they will go during the week. We also taught about the weather and how to say that it is sunny, rainy, cloudy, and so on. It can be difficult at times because they want to learn a lot, but have trouble retaining everything. However, they enjoy learning what they can, and it is good time to spend with them. It is really nice when some of the guys try to talk to me in English, even if it is just “Hello, how are you?”. The Bible study with the guys continues to be each Monday evening, and similar to English classes, sometimes there are a good many guys there, and other times a small turn out. However, it is always a nice time to spend together. We have been working through the book of Acts, and usually concentrate on a couple of verses each week. This past month we had one of our Bible studies outside with a bonfire, and it was nice to have this time for fellowship too.
The weekends this past month were exciting, because I took some trips around Slovakia. The first weekend some of the other volunteers and I traveled to Sečovce to visit another volunteer’s placement. It was a really nice and refreshing time to spend together. We spent some time in Košice, which is the second to largest city in Slovakia, and in Michalovce, which is a city close to this area. We were also able to attend an English worship service at a Lutheran church in Košice that Sunday morning. After eight months of services in Slovak, it was wonderful to be able to understand everything so easily and to just have the familiarity of an English hymnal.
Last Saturday Marek, a Slovak volunteer who comes here on the weekends took a group of about fifteen guys along with Kristen and me to Prešov, a city about an hour from here. The children’s homes in Slovakia put on a special concert each year where each of the different homes has children performing by singing, folk dancing, or break dancing (quite a variety!). The guys really enjoy going and seeing people from the homes that they grew up in. I enjoyed spending this time with them and seeing the program the children’s homes put on. Towards the end of the concert Marek took Kristen and I to his church for their mladež (youth group gathering). One of the girls, Zuzka, was an exchange student in Indiana for a year, and she was very helpful in translating for us. It was a lot of fun to meet some high school aged students and see what an active youth group is like in Slovakia.
Last Sunday Kristen, Pali, his friend Mirka, and I were able to go to Lomnicky Štit, which is the second to tallest mountain in the High Tatras (2,655 meters). Zuzka’s mother (Zuzka lives next to us and her husband works here) gave us tickets to go up to the peak of the mountain. We went by car to the village of Tatranska Lomnica (about 15 minutes away) and from there took cable cars up to the peak. It was a beautiful clear day and the view from the top was amazing.
As the weather has been finally getting warmer here it has been nice to spend more time outside, and we have been able to do more activities outside. The guys enjoy playing futbal (soccer), riding bicycles, and just sitting outside listening to music. It has also been fun to cook sausages over the fire for dinner every once in a while. Overall April was a great month and I am looking forward to the next couple of months here!
Thank you all for your prayers and support!