33rd Day - August 10th: Evangelical Youth and Great Challenge in Koseca

After having breakfast with Pastor Marek in the charming Sulov, he tried to reach a colleague in Puchov, about 25km away, to establish a contact. But his colleague, as well as the one in the city of Trencin, which is 60km away, are unfortunately on vacation. Then Marek even had a better idea for the day. He arranged a meeting with Miroslaw Mudrak in Puchov, who is very active in the Evangelical youth work as a volunteer. He had an hour for me at 12 o'clock noon because he actually works as a teacher in Puchov. Shortly after 12, I met him at a restaurant and he spoke German very well. I found out that he has also been to the Evangelical Youth Festival in Volkenroda several times with Slovakian young people, where I also went with young people. Miroslaw works both in Puchov - where he lives - and on a regional level as a volunteer in Slovakian youth work. Every year, he organizes trips for young people to the youth center in the High Tatras at the International Lutheran Youth Center (MEMC Ichthys), or he participates in the large Evangelical Youth Camp SEMFEST, which attracts thousands of young people. It was very interesting to hear about the regional offerings in Evangelical youth work in Slovakia. Unfortunately, he had to leave again because he had his next appointment. As a tip for visiting a church, he mentioned the Evangelical congregations in Koseca and in Beckov. We said goodbye and I headed to Koseca, which is about 20km away.

In the late afternoon, I arrived there and quickly found the Evangelical church, and Lucia, the responsible pastor, opened 'her' church. Since my English is also only mediocre, we often used my translation device. She reported that there are about 900 church members in her area, spread over the large village of Koseca, as well as the three cities of Ilava, Dubnica, and Nova Dubnica. I could also stay and camp in the large garden. After setting up my tent, we continued to talk and she reported that the church work in these formerly socialist cities is not easy. Unfortunately, only about 20 people come to the church service in Koseca, and only an average of 12 in the industrial city of Dubnice, if I remember the numbers correctly. It can be challenging to experience that. Then she invited me for a car ride to visit her churches, and we toured them. Reaching or even winning people over for the Evangelical faith in these cities is quite difficult. In Nova Dubnica, there is a modern church that is only 10 years old, where she sees potential for community development with children and young people. Inside, there are beautifully designed graphics on various biblical topics. As we talked, I discovered parallels to our community situation in Eastern Germany. I also talked about my work with children and young people and showed photos and videos. After the intense discussion about worship and church work, I crawled into my tent and realized how similar the community situation is.