31st Day - August 8th: 'Grand Reception' in Zilina, Slovakia

While I was taking down my tent next to the PTTK Ruins, a man came and made it clear that I should leave soon. Although the meadow is located on public land, I avoided a discussion and after 15 minutes, I was gone. It was only a few hundred meters to the border with Slovakia. There was no border post. This is how I imagine Europe. From this point, it was all downhill to Cadca - the first city for me in Slovakia - and cycling was a real pleasure. I cooked myself tea and made breakfast in the pedestrian zone. In the small tourist office, I was told that there is no Protestant church in the city. That's why I decided to continue downhill to Zilina, an industrial and university town on the Vah river, about 45 km away. Not far from the center, I quickly found the modern Protestant church and right next to it, the parish office. I rang the bell and after a few seconds, Marian, one of the four pastors of the "Team Parish" of Zilina - as I would describe it - came out. He was surprised and delighted that someone from Germany comes by bike and shows interest in the Protestant Church in Slovakia and specifically in Zilina. I explained why I would like to visit the church and also the background of my journey, that I only visit Protestant communities in Eastern Europe. After a few minutes, he called his colleague Lenka, who also appeared shortly afterwards. We greeted each other friendly and then the tour of the church could begin. While Marian explained that the congregation has about 1400 members, his wife also joined us. She also works as a pastor in the team parish. I was warmly welcomed in Zilina and we four absolutely had to take a photo in front of the altar.

There are about 160-180 visitors at the worship service. Before Corona, there were a few more. Every worship service is streamed on the internet and there is also almost always a children's worship, called "Sunday school", which takes place in a specially designed room. The congregation also includes a half-time position for Protestant youth work. This is something special because otherwise there are very few full-time youth workers in the entire Protestant Church in Slovakia. While we were going on the tour, the youth worker also came and we were able to talk a little and shortly afterwards, some of his young people came to evaluate the summer trip. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo.

Marian and Lenka invited me to stay overnight and suggested that we could also have dinner together in the evening and continue talking about the church work. I agreed and was allowed to put my 4 bicycle panniers in the guest room of the parish office and use the shower. I felt great hospitality and genuine interest. We arranged to meet in the evening because I had interrupted Marian and Lenka's actual work with my sudden appearance. I cycled alone to the center again, bought something for the next day, then returned and wrote something on my blog. In the evening, Marian, Lenka, and I went to a popular restaurant in the center and I was allowed to choose a typical Slovak dish. We also discussed other interesting church and theological topics and of course, I also talked about my work at home, showed some photos and videos from my internet channel, and we became more and more friends. Then we went back and arranged to meet after breakfast to further plan my trip with visits to different communities in Slovakia. Happy with how the day went, I fell asleep late at night.