First UMC Keller Blog

What a day we have had!  It has been full of joy to the point of tears.

We began this morning with worship at Trnava church.  Good singing as expected.  I kept thinking of how short our time here has been and now we are almost on our way home.  I want to see my family, but I hate seeing our last Sunday come.  Stefan preached a good sermon about how a congregation or an individual starts out so in love with God.  For example, at a new church or for a new believer.  It is like the thrill of “being in love”.  But then the new wears off and we lose our excitement.  He asked us to think of our own church, either Trnava or Keller.  He compared this with the change from the excitement of Pentecost to the lukewarm churches described in Revelation.  I like how he included our church as a part of his sermon. Testimonies were  given by Scott, Shirley, Abigail, and Paige.  Kara gave her testimony and presented to the Trnava church a cross she made and that each of us signed.  At the end of worship the children came from their room.  (There is only one Sunday School room in the church building.)  They sang the song “Deep and Wide” that they learned at English camp.  Then they sang a Slovak song about how God loves you no matter what you look like.  Afterwards they gave each of the team members a gift they had made in Sunday School. 
 

Team members were having lunch in homes of church members.  This was an idea suggested by the Trnava church members and we thought it was a great plan.  Scott, Lisa, and I had lunch with Renata and her family.  You get to know more about people when you share a meal in their home.  Pastor Stefan was with us for the meal so we were able to make some tentative plans for our joint ministries in 2011. 
 

The climax of our evening was Roger’s organ recital.  It was held in St. Nikolas Basilica, the oldest cathedral in Slovakia.  The original church was built in the eleventh century.  The current building is three hundred years old.  It is a magnificent building not far from the town center.  When Roger was playing the music seemed to get better and better.  After intermission the music was really strong.  The surprise finale was the Slovak national anthem followed by our national anthem.  The audience of about one hundred was obviously pleased with the music.  After the recital some of the team took a fascinating tour of the tower and crypt.  At team meeting we shared our “God moments” of the day and there were many. 
 

What a special day!

Last year our team often commented on how well-behaved and respectful our students were.  This year we were having issues with some children not being where they were supposed to be.  Pastor Stefan talked to all the children about it yesterday.  The team discussed what we could do to address the issues and make things run more smoothly.  This morning during sing time Pastor Stefan reminded the children of the expected behavior and told what changes would be made.  We were amazed at how quickly the behavior was corrected.  I think spending time with the children outside of class helped.  Also we assisted Abigail and Paige with the games by participating or cheering.  Only one boy, Martin, had to be reminded.  Martin simply had trouble sitting in one spot, but he obviously tried harder.  This afternoon during snack time he passed a tray of sliced pound cake around to the team members.   We learned later that he bought the cake at a nearby grocery store.  Then he sliced it and put it on a tray like the cooks did at snack time.  One could say he was trying to butter us up, but I prefer to think he appreciated how we handled his inability to sit still.  We demonstrated that we cared about him even though he had difficulty with self-control.

Milos and Evieta invited the team and church members to their house for food and fellowship.  They have a nice home with a beautiful garden of flowers, fountains, benches — a perfect place for a garden party.  Josef, a neighbor of Milos and a church member, cooked on the grill — pork, chicken, sausage — it seemed he grilled all night.  People brought side dishes and desserts.  Evieta’s synthesizer was brought outside and Roger played music.  One of the teenage boys, who is also named Josef and is helping with English camp, organized some of the other young people to do a skit at the garden party.  They presented it to all of us.  Later the children and youth all sat in a circle and played some of the indoor games we have learned at English camp.  Then they sang some favorite songs.  About half of our English camp participants were at the party.  Maybe it is because of being a small church with about eighty members, but I am surprised and delighted by the interaction among adults, teenagers, and children.  They do things together and take care of each other.  For example, young Josef is living with Lubos’s family right now.  His father has been sent to prison, his mother deserted the family, and the grandparents are taking care of the children.  But it is not a good situation with the grandparents so he now lives with Pastor Lubos.  How fortunate he is to have their help.

The garden party was a great time to spend a relaxed evening with our Trnava friends.  Just before the party was over Kika brought me a gift bag with a teddy bear and a few other things.  Regina explained that they had put it together for me to take to Miguel.  Have I mentioned that Abigail has decided she wants to live here?  The spirit of community that we feel in the Trnava congregation is very compelling.  How could anyone not want to be a part of that?  We can learn much from them about what it means to be a church family.

In the morning we typically have breakfast at 7:15 with a devotional while we eat.  At 8:00 those who are walking the 1 ¼ miles to the church head out.  Most of us have chosen walking rather than bus or car because we want the exercise.  When we arrive at the church we get busy gathering our supplies for the day.  We never start on time because at 9:00 only a few students have arrived.  Eventually we sing and pray and divide into our four groups.  Each group has about five students, two team members and one or two translators. The translators are youth, ages 15 to 20, from the church.  There are two beginner groups and two intermediate groups.  In addition to studying English, students spend one hour a day in the crafts/art room where Donna and Shirley work their magic.  Paige and Abigail lead indoor and outdoor games two or three times a day to give students a break from study.  Lunch is cooked by Franceska and others in the kitchen.  The kitchen crew also provides snacks of watermelon and home-baked sweets twice a day. 

English is taught in schools starting in about third grade, but only a small amount of time per week is spent on it.  My intermediate group actually knew quite a bit of English, but they seemed to lack  confidence to speak it.  Ondrej was my primary translator.  He came to our church in 2005.  On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings he had doctor’s appointments so Miska took his place.  Miska has been blind since birth.  She listens carefully and has a good sense of humor.  All the church members treat her royally and tenderly.  Her mother, Renata, visited our church in 2007 and worked on the Habitat house.

My students were getting into the groove of working on their English.  Abigail and I taught them some silly songs like “John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith”  and “Little Rabbit in the Woods” to give a break between language exercises. 

In the evening Scott, Lisa, Donna, and I went to Regina’s home for supper.  Regina visited our church in 2007.  She and her family live in a small village outside Trnava.  It is like living in the suburbs.  They moved there because they needed a bigger house after her mother-in-law moved in with them.  Regina is a pediatrician and her husband is a neurologist.  He is originally from Bulgaria.  They have a nice home with a yard full of flowers and some vegetables.  Their twelve-year-old daughter, Kika, is in my English class.  Ten-year-old Sofia is in Roger and Tracy’s class.    We sat out on the deck and were served several Bulgarian dishes cooked by Nadia, the mother-in-law.  After supper we went inside and were served a fruit dessert that must have been made in heaven. 

While we were visiting Regina and George the rest of the team had supper at a restaurant in Trnava.    The town center is about a twenty minute walk from the church.  After classes were over at 4:00, the team went to the town center to rest, relax, and have supper.  About 8 of the youth from English camp came along to show them the best shops and ice cream places.  When we all arrived back at the hotel team members were eager to share the joy they experienced spending the evening with special friends.

Please pray for Roger’s organ at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

I was finally able to call David this morning.  Unfortunately, it was 12:45 his time and my call woke him up.  He had various family news that gave a good start to my day.

The team felt better about our teaching today.  We made some adjustments in planning and presentation based on Monday’s experience.  We had a few students that did not come back and a few who came for the first time.  My group was having fun learning.  Our focus was on health and we were learning the names of body parts, i.e., hand, eye, ear, leg, etc.  Our Bible story was about a man who was deaf and blind then was healed by Jesus.  One of the things we did was teach idioms related to the topic.  Abigail and I asked them to share some of their idioms from the Slovak language.  We had some favorites:  “stupid as shoes”, “healthy as sugar beets” for someone who is a health fanatic, “trying to push Lutherans to heaven” for a person who is being really pushy, “a stone fell from my heart” like “a weight off my shoulders”.

We shortened our teaching day by an hour so we are now teaching 9:00-4:00.  Today we had Bible study at 6:30p.m. so we went to a restaurant right by the church.  The food was excellent, service good, price a little more, but reasonable, and they had Wi Fi and air conditioning!

The big event of the day was a surprise from Scott and Lisa.  They bought a fan for each of our hotel rooms.  Temperatures have been in the 90’s and even up to a 100 F with no air conditioning.  Whew!  We will all sleep better tonight.

The team has a very positive spirit and is enjoying working with the children and youth here.  We are having a really good experience with our partner church.

Thanks to Barbara and one year of experience we are much more organized for the English camp this year.  Despite the level of organization we got started late.  We began camp with twenty-two students, a few more than last year.  The first activity was singing.  Roger was trying to do some simple songs that we could do in Slovak and English.  After a few songs we were told to keep it going so Scott and Barbara could finish dividing the students into four groups.  Paige and Abigail offered to get up and lead some fun songs.  Immediately the group came alive.  The children were on their feet, smiling, and participating enthusiastically.  I had to learn some things about teaching the group.  I’m sure others felt the same way.  But overall the day went well.  There was a lot of excitement from the children.

After English camp we went to our favorite restaurant to eat.  We took Jami, the Korean missionary; Robo, the district superintent; and Stefan, the Trnava Methodist pastor..  They all helped during the day.  In the evening we had team meeting where we shared the joy and excitement.of the day.  Our hotel arrangements are kind of like living in a dormitory.  We have the whole fourth floor so we keep our doors open and wander in and out of each other’s rooms chatting and preparing teaching materials.

We are off to a good start and looking forward to tomorrow. 

Worshipping with our partner church is often the most moving experience of our Slovakia mission trips.  Today was no exception.  Worship was to begin at 9:30 so we arrived a few minutes early.  Palo and Ludo were there getting set up for praise band.  At the last minute Lubos and Timo came to join them.  At 9:35 they still had not begun playing, but they had no specific ending time.  Finally the service was under way.  The music was sometimes lively and joyful, sometimes slow and prayerful.  Everyone was standing, participating wholeheartedly.  Song books were available, but few used them.  Most members have all the songs completely memorized.  I usually am in tears the first Sunday as I remember how special their music is.  Other team members told of crying during the music.  What is it that brings tears each year?

Tracey, Roger, and I gave testimonies.  Roger told how meaningful music is to him as a gift from God.  Then he played a heart-wrenching piece by Chopin that reminds him of the gentle, loving Jesus.  I read scripture in English after Stefan read it in Slovak.  Robo, the district superintendent, preached and, of course, there were long prayers.  When the Slovaks pray everyone is praying individual prayers all at the same time.

After worship a covered dish lunch was served in the back yard.  Oh, my!  The food!  There were so many new things to try and all of it was good.  Jami came from the Korean church.  We were surrounded by so many special friends.

We must have been too loud for the neighbor because he began beating on some metal.  Then he burned something.  Next he played loud music with the speaker in his upstairs window pointing toward  the church’s backyard.  Then he went back to beating on metal.  What a warm welcome he would receive if he would join the fellowship instead of fighting it.  But he does not understand so he continues living in misery.

After lunch half of us hurried off to the train station while the rest rode in cars.  We were going to the “singing” at Sered United Methodist Church.  When we arrived Michal, Lubos’s father, was getting set up with Janko, Lubos’s cousin, helping him.  Janko is the pastor of the church and it is the church in which Lubos grew up.  Gradually the sanctuary filled and it was time to start.  We enjoyed the usual variety of music with family groups singing, church groups, and the accordion player.  Roger played piano and Michal had our team go up front to sing and play drums.  I loved singing the Slovak songs from our Slovak music tour in 2005.  Just as in Trnava the audience knew the songs—all verses.  Michal leads the singing with such passion.  The whole experience is fun and uplifting.

The highlight for me was hearing an older gentleman speak.  I learned later he was the laypastor of the  Sered church all through Communism.  He spoke about his confidence in God’s faithfulness.  He read scripture and sang a hymn a capella.  During the song Michal sang with him quietly to give support, but not to overshadow him.  To me it was a holy moment as God spoke through him.

After the music refreshments were served in the basement.  I had the privilege of riding back to Trnava with Lubos.  At team meeting there was much sharing about the joy of morning and afternoon worship.

As a finale for the day, Palo came by to tell us goodbye.  He leaves for Korea early Monday morning to attend a world youth conference in Seoul.  I know he was really looking forward to the conference, but he also hated missing our annual visit. 

How we love one another through our love for Christ Jesus.  (Acts 20:36-37)

We are the sixth mission team to go from First United Methodist Church of Keller.to Trnavna United Methodist Church.  Some of us feel very familiar with the church and the town.  But we always have a few new people on the team and there are always some changes at the church when we return.  Today we experienced a mix of the old and new as we settled in for our days here. 

Barbara and Donna are fixing breakfast for us each day.  A wonderful new thing is discovering a small kitchen on our floor of the hotel and it is ours to use since we are the only ones on this floor.  A Slovak breakfast of fresh bread, sliced meat and cheese, and juice is served in the kitchen.  Mark your disposable cup, please.  Then we go to Donna’s room to eat and have morning devotional.  If at all possible the bread is bought fresh each morning at the grocery store next door. 

Today was Paige’s turn for devotional.  It was short, but meaningful.  We had free time until 3:45 so most people relaxed by strolling through the town center checking out the shops, restaurants, and cathedrals.  I went looking for “wi fi” to enter my daily blog.  With the sun beating down on me I first opted for green tea at a covered sidewalk cafe. My internet did not work there so I moved on to a computer store in hopes of better luck.  The blog entry was on my travel drive so they allowed me to use their computer to connect to the internet.  But when the screen came up all the formatting instructions were in Slovak.  The sales persons tried to be helpful, but the 1:00 closing time came before I had completed my task.  I went back to the town center to search again.  There I found about half the team eating lunch at a different sidewalk cafe and Scott had an internet connection.  At this restaurant I justified my use of the internet by ordering strapacky (noodles, sauerkraut and cheese). 

The free time passed quickly and we headed off to the church to unload team supplies and meet church members working with us in theEnglish camp.  Our arrival at the church was filled with hugs for Regina, Renata, Milena, and Evietta.  An extra special new thing we were given was a detailed schedule showing all the days of our trip.  That will be quite helpful.  We were told the schedule was put together by Ondre and Kika, who helped us last year and came to Keller in 2005 with the Trnava youth. 

After a really productive meeting the church members took us to dinner at a special restaurant where we had a private room for the seventeen of us.  When we walked in the room we were surprised by the beautifully set table.  The menu had a lot of traditional Slovak foods.  It took quite a while for dinner to be served which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the fellowship.

At team meeting we were excited about the meeting, the dinner, and most of all the fellowship we had while waiting for the meal.  Team meeting ended with everybody hurrying off to prepare for the next day.

My Friday began when Kara woke me up. “Food, Charlotte. Wake up.” It was about 5:15 a.m. London time. I had slept for an hour and we would soon land at London Heathrow airport. I stared at my plate for a while until Kara said, “Is something wrong?” In my foggy brain I was trying to understand why I wanted to be waked up for only a croissant and a cup of tea. But then I remembered I should always be grateful for food because many people in the world wake up to an empty plate. And besides, the croissant smelled wonderful, it was warm, and I had strawberry jam and orange juice to go with it.

We landed at 6:10 a.m. and had a long brisk walk to our next gate for a 7:35 a.m. flight to Vienna. Shirley rode in a wheelchair since she is using a cane to protect a painful knee. We threatened to pile all our backpacks in her lap, but thought that might be somewhat unwieldy. Surprisingly, we arrived at the gate with enough time for a devotional. What do you suppose people around us thought as Kara read scripture, shared her thoughts, and we circled up for prayer?

Finally we were on the flight to Vienna, coming ever closer to our final destination. The two hour flight was our last airplane ride. On landing we claimed our luggage, bought bus tickets to Bratislava and waited for Scott, Lisa, and Paige to arrive. Our admiration for Roger went up several notches when we got to the bus ticket office and learned he speaks fluent German.

The rest of our team members arrived about forty-five minutes later. We had seen them only yesterday, but we greeted them joyfully and now felt complete with the whole team together. It was time to get on the bus. I must say when we arrived at the bus with our twenty-two bags the driver looked dismayed. Some slept on the one hour bus ride to Bratislava, but others took in the scenery. Lisa commented that even though she had been away from Slovakia for four years, as she watched the familiar fields of sunflowers go by she felt like she was coming home.

In Bratislava we were greeted first by Stefan, the interim pastor at Trnava, and by Robert, the new district superintendent of Slovakia whom we had been with years earlier in a couple of different churches. Soon Lubos, Milos, and Lubo arrived from the Trnava church. After a lot of hugs and introductions we loaded up and were on to the last leg of our journey. Roger said later that our Slovak friends were so warm and friendly they felt like family even though it was the first time he had met them.

Shortly after checking into our hotel Palo, the youth pastor, arrived. We unpacked, rested a little, and went to the town center to have supper with him. The evening ended with a very productive and well organized team meeting. Scott and Lisa are doing a fantastic job as team leaders.

Now that we are back home with our ministry partners in Trnava our mission with the children and youth in English camp can begin.

Thursday morning early we gathered at church for prayer and loading at least a thousand suitcases. So much stuff! After arriving at the airport the agent at the ticket counter was patient and efficient. We were set to go!

Excitement was high. We were full of energy. Donna, Barbara, and Tracey sat together and shared mushroom soup recipes that all of us within three or four rows could hear. Abigail sketched and I wrote letters. Kara was especially helpful with air travel details. Roger endured traveling with eight women.

My favorite moment was seeing New York City from the air as we flew in to JFK airport. An impressive view! We had a three hour layover which gave plenty of time to change U.S. money to Euros. I am sure we were quite a sight as five of us calculated, discussed, pooled our money, went to the exchange window for more information, and repeated this process at least three times in an effort to save a few dollars. Roger went around the corner and got a sandwich. He had ordered Euros before he left home.

Finally we were on our way to London. We watched movies, read magazines, ate, watched the map display, and tried to sleep. The sun went down. A couple of hours later the sun came up. And that is the first day? But my watch shows midnight. What a short day!

 For the thousands of readers who have been waiting since last summer for the next entry in this blog—here it is. We depart for Slovakia Thursday, July 8 on a 10:50 a.m. flight. The daily blogs will begin that evening or the next depending on access to the internet. I tried to get 3G so I could connect from my hotel room, but international 3G is way too expensive for me. So I will rely on a favorite restaurant’s wi-fi or sit in the town center and point in different directions hoping to connect with something.