September Newsletter! - Jessica in Slovakia

September Newsletter
Updates from Horna Mičiná, Slovakia

Life in Horna Mičiná
My first month in Slovakia has been an exciting one full of new experiences and adjustments. I arrived in Horna Mičiná in mid-September after spending a week in Bratislava and two weeks in Velky Slavkov doing language training with the other volunteers. The past few weeks I have been learning a lot about the village and what lies ahead for this year. There are about 500 people living in this village that is located just outside of Banska Bystrica. The village is very small and consists of houses, a small market, the Lutheran Church, and the Catholic Church. My hosts are the Lutheran Pastor, Daniel and his family who live in the parsonage next to the church. He has a wife named Marcela and a four year old son named Daniel. The church was built in 1785 and has a large archive collection documenting the church and the village. I have been able to learn a lot about the church here and how it has been shaped through history, particularly the affect communism had on it.
The past few weeks I have spent time in and around the church, and I have noticed many differences between the worship services here and the worship services at my home church. Last Sunday I was able to attend a baptism, which is usually done during the worship service on Sunday morning in America. However, in Slovakia most baptisms are done outside of the church service. The pastor explained to me that during communism baptism was secretive and people had to be baptized outside of the services so that the government would not know about it. He was actually baptized at night, because his mom was a teacher and it was forbidden that she be a Christian. Even though the country is no longer communist, people got accustomed to doing things this way and baptism is still more of a private matter. The baptism itself; however, was very similar to how it is at my home church.
One of the things that I have noticed about this village that I really like is the sense of community here. Since it is a small village everyone knows everyone. They also watch out for one another and help each other out. I saw this last week when men and women from the village came to the church for the day to help cut wood for heat during the winter. People voluntarily took the time out of their week to come help the church, and it was a long, hard day of work! People are also always bringing over vegetables from their gardens or cakes they baked to share with their neighbors. The hospitality people give to guests in their homes is overwhelming. I was invited to a lady’s house for coffee and she had a huge tray prepared of breads, cheese, salami, biscuits, and cake! I expected just coffee and she practically had a whole meal prepared! It is common for people here to welcome guests with food, treats, coffee, and tea. Even though it will continue to be difficult to adjust to life in Slovakia, the community has already been very welcoming to me and everyone has been treating me as if I am a member of this community. I feel very blessed to have the Pastor’s family who is continuously welcoming me into their home, and telling me that I am part of their family now.
The Year Ahead
Aside from learning about the village and church in general, I have also been learning about my tasks and work for the year ahead. The social service center for the elderly that I am supposed to be working in has not yet opened due to some paperwork issues and regulations that need to be met. This was a surprise to me, because it was supposed to open in July, and I expected to be spending most of my time here from the beginning. I am helping the Pastor and director get things ready for the center to open, but I do not know when clients will begin coming. This is a challenge for me, because my tasks right now are not very clear. However, it is exciting at the same time; that I am able to be a part of the opening of this center. Since the center has not been able to open yet, we are serving lunches to the elderly members of the village who are planning to attend. This is a big help to the elderly who have difficulty getting around and making their own meals. I have been helping deliver these lunches, which has been a great way for me to meet the people. I have also been going to schools in the area teaching English lessons. The English teachers are excited to have a native English speaker around so the students can practice conversations. I enjoy engaging in conversations with them, and they are excited to ask me questions and learn about me and life in America. It has also been helpful for me to learn about Slovak culture from them, and what the school system is like here. While I am enjoying what I am doing now, I am really looking forward to the opening of the center so I can spend more time with the people and take part in activities with them. I am also looking forward to improving my Slovak, learning more about this village and the Slovak culture.

Read more about my experiences at:
http://jessica-cole.blogspot.com
Thank you for your prayers and support!

-Jessica
ELCA Young Adult in Global Mission Volunteer Missionary serving in Slovakia
www.elca.org/globalmission