May Newsletter!

A lot of fun things happened in May, both here at the center and as I was traveling. One weekend I went to visit my old placement in Horná Mičiná for their confirmation, and I enjoyed visiting with everyone again. It was really interesting to see what confirmation is like in Slovakia, and how it is similar to and different than confirmation in America. Saturday evening the confirmands had an examination at the church. Each of them had to stand in front of the congregation and answer seven questions about the mission of the church, the Bible and confirmation. The pastor then asked the congregation if they agreed that these young people were ready and fit to be confirmed. Sunday morning was the confirmation service and it was interesting how important this Sunday was for everyone. The church was decorated with white flowers, the girls being confirmed wore fancy white dresses and the boys wore suits, and the church was full of people. During the service the confirmands were presented with a Bible and a certificate, and the pastor said a prayer for each of them. The confirmands sang two songs for the congregation and presented the pastor and church-keepers with flowers, thanking them for their work. The Lord’s Supper was also celebrated on this special occasion. After the service I was invited to a party for Miška and Paťa, who are sisters that were confirmed. It was a lot of fun being a part of the celebration they had after confirmation, and getting to spend some time with the people from the village.
I took a long weekend trip to Budapest with Mark, Mary, and Ashley (three of the other American volunteers in Slovakia). It was great to spend time with them, and we had a wonderful time in Budapest. As much as I love the work here it is always refreshing to get away for a bit and spend time with other volunteers. One of the Friday nights last month the group of ladies here at the center had a night out, and it was so much fun! Eva (one of the directors), Monika (one of the worker’s wives, Janka (one of the worker’s wives), Kristen, Claire (Kristen’s friend who was visiting from America) and I went to a nice pizza restaurant in Poprad for the evening. We ate pizza, drank Kofula (the Slovak soft drink) and had Mak štrudla (a pastry with lots of poppy seeds) for dessert. It was so much fun to spend more time with them and get to know them better.
One of the things I have noticed is the emphasis on fellowship among the community here. At one of our Bible studies last month we read Philippians 2:1-2 where Paul writes, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose” (NIV). We talked about how the community here can have this unity that should be among Christians. How can we work together and serve one another as Christ did? I think true fellowship is often neglected in our churches today. Of course there is often a “fellowship hour” after church or every so often, but I am not sure if this is always the same fellowship Paul talks about. Last month we had a longer Bible study one morning with some of the workers and I was thrown off guard a bit, but reminded of what true fellowship is. Vlado (who is in charge of the finances), Igor (who works construction with the guys), Momci (who also works construction with the guys), Pali (the cook), and I had read a passage from the Bible and talked about it as we usually do. Then, they began to talk about how they had been feeling at work recently, about feelings they had about the work with the guys here, and their Spiritual life. I couldn’t believe that I was sitting there with four men just expressing our feelings for maybe an hour and a half! Maybe this is normal for some people, but I was a bit surprised. It made me think about when we had read the passage from Philippians, and that this was a way the work team builds fellowship, better enabling us to do service. In order to do the social service and Christian outreach work that is done here it is necessary for the community to be like-minded (my Bible points out that like-minded does not mean uniform in thought, but the common disposition to work together to better serve). It is something that we are always praying about, and we are always talking about how it can improve so that we can serve better.
The work that I have been doing here has been going well; Kristen and I continue to help in the kitchen, have English classes, Bible studies, and teach swimming. The last week in May Pali needed to help with the construction work that some of the guys are doing down the street, so we took over in the kitchen for him. It was a busy week and somewhat stressful to be responsible for breakfasts and lunches here, but we were happy to be able to help. It was also nice to see how encouraging everyone was of our Slovak cooking. Everyday the guys and the workers told us our cooking was wonderful and complemented everything (even if it was something really easy…or not very good!). Their encouragement was so helpful though! English and Bible studies are about the same with some days having a good number of people and other days just a couple. Now that the weather is warm playing futbal outside has become a popular evening activity as well.
Along with the enjoyable things about the work, there were also some difficult things happening last month. One of the guys who always came to English and Bible studies left the center. He dropped out of school and went to the Czech Republic to find work. This was difficult, because he came to talk to me often when he was having problems in school or with other guys here. We had talked about his school many times before and I really wanted him to be able to finish. He has so much potential, but he was not doing well and wanted to go try to find work on his own. Another worker tried to convince him to stay here and work, but he had already made up his mind to leave. I guess it showed me that sometimes you can only do so much and now all I can do is pray for him.
It is hard to believe that it is already almost halfway through June now, and I have just about a month left here before I come home. I have started to think about how it will be exciting to go home, but also really hard to leave here. I am trying to just spend a lot of time with the people here and enjoy every day left.

Thank you for your prayers and support!