Overview for January to September 2021Mission work in Klenovec
Teaching The Greatest Journey
The year 2021 did not begin very well, in the middle of the second wave of the coronavirus. But with fervent prayer, reverence and the blessing of the spiritual father, we carried on with our activities despite the various bans and restrictions. The need and the spiritual hunger were greater than the fear of a fine, and compassion and love for God and neighbour mattered more than human regulations.
So every Saturday and Sunday the children came to us for the lessons we had begun, using the textbooks of The Greatest Journey (a project of Samaritan's Purse). We divided them into small groups of 3-6 children by family, and with God's help it worked out that 30 children completed all 12 lessons. There was also a closing celebration, with a solemn presentation of certificates and children's Bibles. We were also driven by the wish to save the children's literacy. The younger children, in the early grades of school, were quickly forgetting what they had learned. It gave us great joy to see reading and writing improve during the lessons, to see that they no longer just read a text but understood it, and that they have a place to draw and play a little.
Chapel
Before, on Sundays we took the children to the Catholic church and then to the Baptists for services, but unfortunately in Slovakia all services, including confessions, were banned until the end of April. We did not want to let the children “cool off”, because they themselves asked where they would go now. With God's help, though, at the end of last year the little chapel of St. Nicholas was consecrated here, down at our place. At first we began to pray in the chapel on Sundays by ourselves and to hold “family services”, and gradually our family grew to include our “adopted” children from Dolinka. 🙃 So while the other churches were closed, our chapel kept swelling, and a group of about 20 children formed who began to come regularly. As the measures were gradually eased, the following Sunday routine took shape.
9:00 The gate opens and the children come to play board games, draw, shoot with a bow in the garden, compete at football on the PlayStation and outside under the walnut tree… and simply play a little.
10:00 Our little church bell rings and the service begins.
11:30 The children go to learn about God from prepared exercises and textbooks.
14:00 The most capable children go with Martin to teach in the Roma settlement at Mútnik
As for our new chapel, besides the regular Sunday services, this year there have already been three baptisms and there were 21 children and adults confirmed, who in this way acknowledged their baptism and their faith, and can take part in the sacrament of reconciliation and go to holy communion (the Lord's Supper).
At the start of the school year the first children's liturgy was held in the chapel, and now we have agreed with a young, likeable priest, Mikuláš Pružinský, that he will come every other Sunday to serve for the children. It is wonderful to see how many children go to confession faithfully and look forward to communion. Every Sunday we have on average 12-15 children and teenagers here. With the spiritual guidance of the children and with the teaching, Martin's parents also help us now.
This also brings up questions about what comes next, and how to make regular liturgies and services available to the children. In short, we would like a priest to be able to serve here every Sunday, and ideally to spend time with the children during the week too. So we sent the vladyka (bishop) a request for the establishment of an Orthodox parish community in Klenovec. At the same time Martin asked to be ordained a deacon, which is the necessary step before priesthood. In both cases we are waiting for the vladyka's answer. We ask very much for your prayers and for God's guidance, because both matters carry certain pitfalls and new challenges.
Bricklaying School
Since April we have managed to start a school of bricklaying and building work (murárčina) for young boys. We first meant it for boys who had finished primary school and not gone on to study. But it turned out they were not very keen to work on themselves. Instead we found great enthusiasm among younger boys, aged 10 to 15. We tried it with the first few and soon had to make room for more, because the interest was really great. The boys split into pairs and come to us after school, from 14 to 17, to learn from the master builder Mr Hruška. Most of them come once a week. As a reward for their effort they get pizza for supper and, above all, a stipend in the form of “bricklaying points”. With these points they can buy building material, tools or boots from us, so they can use what they have learned at home, rebuilding their huts. That really worked out and took off on a large scale. All summer the families involved fixed up their wooden huts. Mr Hruška could hardly keep up, delivering glue here, plaster there, gravel or concrete somewhere else. We were very glad that they can improve their housing and learn something useful. We also ask for prayers, because it is by now a somewhat costlier project. Besides the stipends mentioned (about 160-200 euro a month), we pay for the pizzas (approx. 20 euro a month) and for the master builder (his wage costs 1200 euro a month).
Renovation and in-house activities
We are continuing to rebuild the house. This year we managed to renovate the hallway, where an empty space became a new little room for our Adámek. We have replaced almost all the old windows. We also moved the kitchen to new rooms downstairs, which separated the private family space from the rooms we use for our work. At the moment we are replacing the roof, and the bathroom and toilet in the little chapel are under way as well.
Thanks to the renovated rooms we can have some “in-house” activities again. Since June there has been cooking with the girls in the kitchen every Thursday. Míša always takes 2-4 girls, and together they learn to bake cakes and tarts🧁, which is the favourite, or to cook basic soups and meals. On Tuesday evenings, while the clothing charity is going on, Martin teaches the children mathematics. It is meant especially for the boys from the bricklaying school, but anyone who was at the service on Sunday can take part.
Outdoor activities
As soon as the nice weather came, Martin started taking the children to the meadow above the settlement for sports games. 🏉 They began learning more complicated ball games such as handball or American football, but various races are popular too. Since summer we can go to the local football pitch, so every Saturday we gather up balls, badminton and frisbee and head to the pitch. A new thing is archery🏹, which the children enjoy a lot. We are glad that on the pitch, as neutral ground, we have gradually managed to bring together Roma from the settlement and from the town. Otherwise there is a certain rivalry between them, and on the side of the town Roma, disdain. Some children from the town even came to us for a service, but so far rather rarely. This winter we would like to give out Christmas parcels from Samaritan`s Purse among the town Roma, and bring them into the lessons of The Greatest Journey, so that the Gospel reaches them too.
Charity
From July, once Míša had recovered somewhat after giving birth, we started the clothing charity again. 💃 Mothers from the settlement can put their names on a waiting list and come to choose clothes for their families. At the moment we have a lot of clothing for women and babies, but we are starting to run short of children's clothing for preschool and school age. There is also still a need for socks, sneakers (children's, women's up to size 38 and men's up to size 43) and warm boots for winter. This year the mothers 💁🏻♀️Erika, Petra and sometimes Mili help us with the charity, along with two older girls, Erika and Janka. Please pray for them.
Other Roma settlements (+2)
Mútnik, Hnúšťa and the surrounding area
In Mútnik we are continuing the teaching every Sunday, which mainly younger children aged 8 to 14 take part in. We started bringing “our” children from Klenovec there to teach, so they could help others with what they had learned themselves. For the children from Klenovec it was a big motivation, and they tried to earn as many points as possible over the Sunday. But teaching others did not come so easily to them, and several times they got into conflict with the children of Mútnik. So for now we have paused it, and we shall see what comes next. For the winter in Mútnik we are planning another round of Operation Christmas Child from Samaritan`s Purse. The children will get a lovely Christmas gift wrapped in a shoebox, with an invitation to regular lessons about God using the booklets from Samaritan`s Purse. This is how we came to Mútnik a few years ago, and the whole project was a big success with the children.
This winter we also plan to give out Samaritan`s Purse parcels on two housing estates in the neighbouring town of Hnúšťa, in Hačava (a Roma settlement next to Mútnik), in Klenovec among the town Roma, and in a Roma settlement in Spiš (1.5h by car). If the Lord gives the children an interest, we will again follow the gifts with regular lessons about God.
Spišská Nová Ves District
Since September we have been connected with an Orthodox parish in a village in Spiš, where a kind, elderly priest also works with Roma children. We have begun a spiritual friendship, and every two weeks on a Saturday we take 5 of our children on a trip. There the local children help us learn songs about God and do the tasks from the worksheets from Sunday. So far both sides are happy with how it goes. Our children are mostly very shy and do not join in much with the local ones, but we believe this will gradually change. The local teacher was surprised to see the local children quietly learning about God with interest. Please pray for good relationships between us and for enough strength, because Spiš is 1h 45 min away from us, so the travelling is a bit harder.
And do you remember Mirek, whom we wrote about in the last report? Until September he worked faithfully with Mr Hruška and learned more and more bricklaying skills. He even managed, for a time, to look after the boys from the bricklaying school. At the end of September he became fully independent and found a job on a building site in neighbouring Hnúšťa. He still lives there in a hostel, and so far everything seems to be going well for him. So let us keep our fingers crossed for him and keep him in our prayers, that he will persevere and find not only his place in life, but also the way to God.