Easter In Banska

I had an amazing idea for a post a week or so ago. I thought, "I'll put that up for Easter. People would enjoy it." Now for the life of me I can't remember what it was. So instead I'm just going to put my random thoughts on Easter this year up on the internet for all to see.

This is my first Easter not being at home. It is strange to think about actually.  Last year I missed Christmas but very deliberately was home for Easter. This year I miss both.  Hopefully I don't regret it, but at the very least it is going to be a different experience.

Being in Slovakia itself makes Easter seem different.  Two weeks ago a big tree was put up in the middle of the square and decorated with paper Easter eggs. Then all these booths selling different folk arts were set up on the square and a kind of spring festival appeared.  I enjoyed it when I was able to get to the square, but that wasn't very often.  One day I made a point of it and was able to catch a folk music and dance group performing. The dance was pretty lame (compared to the fast paced, competitive Ukrainian dance of my youth) but I really enjoyed taking pictures of their costumes.  They really intrigued me.  Now I'm even wondering if I should buy myself one of their traditional blouses as they are very pretty in my mind and would stand out against traditional Ukrainian clothing.

Someone's funny belt got loose!

There is one thing about Easter in Slovakia that I'm not very stoked about at all. It is their Easter Monday tradition of throwing water on girls and hitting them with willow sticks. It is meant to bring girls fertility or something but I think it was more of a spring flirting ritual as all the young guys are the ones going door to door dowsing people. Apparently Slovak girls even like it. So I am praying very hard for nice weather Monday so I'm not freezing when I'm wet! As for the willow sticks- we saw tons on sale in the square but Shay didn't buy one so I think I'm safe on that account. 

This Easter was the first time that I had ever prayed the Stations of the Cross. A Slovak Catholic friend took us and it was great!  I can't believe that I had never been exposed to this before. I think it was one of the moments that I realized that ecumenism is something that is important in Canada too. If I had been part of an ecumenical group in Canada, who knows how my relationship with God would have grown and matured? So even if you are Protestant, take some time to think about the death of Jesus.   You can find a prayer outline here that was made for youth, but I'm sure there are many more around. Really check it out!  

Have a Good Friday and Great Easter.  

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Banska in the Fall

Is it still fall?  It kinda feels like it, it kinda feels like we need more Christmas music and to have some snow!

We walked into the shadow of the mountain last weekend and found FROST!  It was three in the afternoon and it was cold enough that the frost has survived in the shadow of the mountain.  I thought it was very pretty and made me excited for snow to come for real! (Which began today with flurries that haven't really stuck as of yet, but hopefully will last if it keeps snowing!)

On our way up the mountain, they have a switchback path cut into the hillside (really this mountain is a big hill).  They have a rain drainage system built in. Shay is showing how he could climb inside it and hold on with no hands.

 This was Shay's find at the top of the mountain.  A "pillbox" or bunker sort of thing where a guy could sit and watch and shoot down the enemy through a little hole in the cement looking out down the mountain. I think it was really cool because we are in Europe. The world wars were fought here. People actually were in this cement box.  And it is just on the side of this hill, left as a reminder of the horrific things that have happened here.

And with the earlier time the sun is going down we got this nice lit up view of the city below us.

Hopefully my next pictures will be of us with snow!  

All Saints and All Souls Days

At the beginning of November Slovaks celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  So for a week or two before hand there was a market of flowers that people buy and put on their loved ones' graves.

The close flowers are actually plastic. Eww. 

But these are all real!  

While we were walking away, we saw this car with pretty flowers sitting outside and inside the back (yellow flowers). I figure that this was one of the vendors' car. And I like the picture because its such a nice old Slovak car!

So during the holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day the cemeteries are all lit up with candles. We were so busy those days that I didn't get to the cemetery at night to take a picture. So this is the day after, but some candles are still going (pretty impressive!) 

My photos are only this nice because I am using a gorillapod!  Shay was so nice to get me one and it make low lighting pictures work out so amazingly!  Long exposures are probably my new favourite thing!

Week Four

No Way!  It definitely can't be week four already!  But it is!  We just finished our fourth week of teaching. And this surely is the tear jerker week.  Father heart of God. This is the week that you hang all the other information you learn at DTS upon!  This isn't just another book, it is the bookcase where you put all the books. It is the tree you hang everything else on. It is the lens with which you look through at everything else.

Our teacher is a amazing and humble man who currently lives in Belgium. And he teaches this week so well, because he has so much revelation on this topic and because of his own fatherly qualities. It was so nice to see him again as he taught last year as well and really impacted me.   But instead of giving a real cliff notes overview of this teaching, I'm going to write down some of the great one liners that he said that made me think.

Only God is up to date on someone's life. If they have confessed and been forgiven by God, who am I to not forgive them?

Mercy is getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve. (then why do I always want justice for others, and mercy for myself?)

Sin didn't change God. It changed us.

Everything outside the love of God will not fulfill you. 


No one has been rejected into wholeness. (I can't bring someone to health and wholeness by rejecting them. It is through acceptance and honour that they can find change.)

The greatness of God is like trying to explain the size of the milky way to a six year old. Even if you talk about light years and distances, they still only relate it to the two day journey to Grandma's house.  We have no concept to understand the greatness.

God's ability and desire to speak to you is greater than your ability to hear. (He will tell you again if you miss it the first time, or second, or third)

You cannot become like Jesus by focusing on what Jesus did. (How may people just gasped? Be honest....  The reason is that we don't want to be just a mimic of Jesus. We want to draw from the same source that he did in order to do the same. In order to do that, we need to realize that we also are adopted as sons or daughters of God. That identity is the most important thing in becoming like Jesus. There is much more to that, but I already explained enough)

To be touched by God is not to have a relationship with him (the ten lepers).  Touching is from one side. Relationship is from both sides.

Love is to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves.

For love to unconditional, it depends on the character and nature of the giver and not on the behaviour of the recipient.

If I do not fell God's love daily, I'm living on less than I am created to.

Time does not heal the heart, it just gives us time to get used to the pain.

The main point of the whole week was: God is our perfect Father. We cannot look at him through the lens of our earthly father, because that isn't who he is. And when we don't believe that he loves us unconditionally, we don't want to come to him.

SUCH A GOOD WEEK!

First Two Weeks

When I left to come back to Slovakia for this trip I told myself that I would do a better job of posting on my blog this year. I definitely have not. I forgot how long it takes to get into the rhythm. And with the extra stresses and planning that comes with being staff I'm finding it difficult to have enough time. Right now I'm drafting this while on a bus to Bojnice for a day trip. It is Shay's birthday this weekend and pictures of the beautiful castle there will becoming soon. But I haven't even shared about teachings yet! Last week a wonderful woman of God who has been in YWAM since it's first school of evangelism came to speak. I had met her and her husband before but she always inspires me to become a greater and more faithful woman of God. if I have half as many adventures when I'm seventy then I will be very happy! Unfortunately smuggling bibles into Slovakia isn't really an adventure anymore (praise be to God for that!).

She taught us about prayer and the fear of the Lord. I really love her teachings on prayer because you can tell how much of a prayer warrior she is. Her daily intercession on others behalf, her group intercession for countries and cities, how she approaches God with prayers for herself.

One of the most inspiring things she told us about is women from her town coming together to pray. they come from 14 different denominations (every one in town except the evangelicals-which makes me sad because my church at home is evangelical. I hope we wouldn't pass an opportunity like this up). And these women meet together and learn what is happening in different churches and pray. A could times a year they put on a luncheon and invite Christian women to come but they are required to bring one unsaved friend. They have a speaker and lots of fun. And through these women getting to know eachother, the denominations are working together. When two churches hire a youth worker jointly and give them a commission to work with all the towns youth, that is a huge step for unity in The Church.

I also believe she has a powerful understanding of prayer. And it probably is what people have tried to teach me my entire life, but when YWAM explained it for some reason it clicked: Prayer is partnering with God. We ask God what he wants us to pray for and do and we agree with his plan by praying with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is present and you already know God wants to do it you can pray with strength and confidence! Your prayers and words are strong to tear down and build up. I had even heard this teaching last year. It's amazing how quickly you can forget if you aren't actively applying. But I have six months to practice applying this whenever I'm interceeding on anothers behalf or my own.

This week we had another speaker and he was Irish but living in Scotland. He also has acting training so it was so fun listening to him switch between accents. He spoke on sin, forgiveness, conviction vs condemnation, and giving up rights. Those seem like some pretty tough topics, and they are, but he was so easily able to make it real for us. One of his best analogies was about sin and temptation. (Skip to the next paragraph if you have a weak stomach).  Temptation is a nice, shiny wrapper from your favorite candy ( werthers or toffee?) that gets you excited in anticipation and you greedily want the candy... But as you unwrap it and shove it in your mouth you realize it isn't a candy. It's poop. And you taste it and smell it and your breath stinks. It is the grossest analogy ever but sin is gross. And when he was explaining it I was actually very grossed out. But I think it was good to use such a strong idea.

He also taught on how we need to lay down our rights. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the places where you are frustrated and upset with God often are the places where you are unwilling to lay down what you think are your rights in that area. If I think I have a right to a white picket fence life, I'll be upset when it isn't what I have. If I think I have a right to use my money and have a good reputation, and to get married, and to live where I want to then I will not be grateful for God's blessings when they aren't what I think I deserve.  Its such a sacrificial and biblical message, but I've thought my whole life that making sure that I have those rights is the most important thing. To lay them down and let God tell me what is actually what I need.

Next week we talk about the Father heart of God. I LOVE this speaker and his message. And I will upload pictures from today ASAP as well. Thank you all for your prayers. They mean so much to us, and we really do rely on them!

Urpin

This weekend we went exploring!

We went up the "hill" called Urpin to the chapel and for a hike. It turned into a much more intense walk than I expected. We went all the way to the observatory.  I don't think I'll ever take that route to the observatory EVER again. 

The Chapel

The Observatory

If you look really close you can see students behind the trees!

I also had a chance to take pictures in town. So here is one the I got the other day just as the lights were turning on and the sun setting. I really like this building. 

Tomorrow our speaker is Reona, an original YWAM-er. She spoke last year and I'm so excited for her to be here again!  She challenges me to be a stronger woman of God.

Slovak Concert!

Today is the end of day four.

Last night we had a very cool opportunity as the DTS to go to a concert of Hillsong Live.  This was a VERY big deal in Slovakia. Slovaks from all across the country came to a basketball arena (is it an arena if its small? More like a gymnasium) to be at a Hillsong concert.  The place was amazingly full.

And although I was disappointed by the first couple songs, they actually were a good show.  To see all those Slovaks praising God, with hands raised and in English none the less.

While this event wasn't nearly as big as YC, the other times I've seen Hillsong.. I think the worship was great and worth our evening even if I didn't know about 1/3 of the songs.

I also got to see my Slovak parents at the concert!  Janka's parents came with her and I got big hugs from both of them.  It's so nice to have Slovaks that love me, even if we don't speak the same language. 

Hopefully I'll be able to blog more this weekend. Now we are off to visit the city!  

First Week Back

Well the first week back in Slovakia has been pretty eventful!  Outside of all the preparation work that needed to be done for the students (who began DTS today!) we actually got to do quite a bit!

This weekend was the market (which has a real name in Slovak, but I didn't learn it) in the town square. It actually was a HUGE event!  They brought in acts from Russia and some former Yugoslavian country (which one in particular I forget) to be on the main stage on Friday and Saturday nights.  They also had vendors lining the streets selling all kinds of goods.  It was so much fun just watching people and looking at the goods!

There were balloons EVERYWHERE!

These cookies are everywhere.  Some of them said "lasky" or versions of that word which can be translated love. I'm not sure what all the others say, but they all are heart shaped so I expect they are for sweethearts.  And no I didn't get one. 

They also had falconers (is that the real word? I just made it up...) who were showing off their birds.  It seems to be a pretty big thing here and they had quite a few different birds.  These owls were my favourite but they also had actual falcons and a hawk and a raven.  I'd love to see them actually practice with them.  I know some castles have birds of prey that they show for tourists, hopefully we will get a chance to see that. 

We also had a birthday party which is where all these pictures came from.

Yes this is a gummy bear cake. But it has gummy cows and frogs and mice and the normal worms and bears. Shay says they were surprisingly good. 

It is the end of day 2 of the DTS. I'm already wiped but I'm so happy!  I love this group. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post a bit about what we are doing.  I have yet to pull out a camera this week though. That is how busy it is.

Slovakia Spring

It rains here in the spring. Which is crazy. Lots and lots of rain in the last week. Last week it was beautiful! Sunny, warm. This week is rainy and fairly warm, but rainy and dreary mostly.

This was last week in Bratislava at a beautiful blue church. I haven't taken any pictures of the rain.

Last week we had a video series from a speaker from the states, Lance Wallnau.  It actually was really great.  It is about not only being focused on saving souls, but also discipling the nations and changing our cultures. It was very interesting and exciting. I think this is the teaching that many of the youth in the church need to hear right now. Because we don't want an exit strategy.  And that is what the salvation message kinda is... hold on until you die or Christ comes back because then its eternity with Him.  But this message adds to that by saying that we need to be influential and change the society for the good, that God actually has a mission that is greater than just saving the world, it includes changing the world and nations that we live in.

I really want to get the video series and start spreading the message. Because I think lots of people have this sort of thing on their hearts, they just think that they are being bad Christians by trying to be influential people who are going to fight for godliness in our culture.

So that was last week. This week is something a little more personal, essentially a week to find our strengths and goals to help us what to do next. What to do with the rest of our lives. It has been really interesting too. I realized today that it is exactly two weeks until we are done DTS. Then it is going to be goodbyes and busses and airplanes. How crazy!

I Spy With My Little Eye

Does that face look familiar?  No?  Maybe you don't live in Alberta?  What about you Albertans?  Look like someone?

There is an election coming up in Banska, and there are tons of these billboards.  Every time I walk by one I think that it is Ed Stemlach. And it gets me EVERY TIME!  I double take EVERY TIME!

If you don't believe me, google it.

That is all.

Outreach

Crazy night tonight.

We had prayer for where were are going for the outreach phase of our dts.  And we have been praying about that for the last while at different times.  Today though, God showed us somewhere specific. And not just to one person.  All four students all had the same area of the world impressed on us by God.  I'm not going to share where it was until we have definite plans and a little more confirmation from God... but it was so cool to experience something we had only read about up until now.   We had read of prayer meetings where all the people seek God's will separately and then at the end share what God revealed to them and have all of them come up with the same impression of His will.  I've been very interested in the concept since I had read about it and had seeking for God to reveal himself that way to us. But I think it surprised some of us that he actually did it!

So praise be to God that he wants to share his ways with us like he shared his ways with Moses.

Psalm 103:7
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.

Moses was close to God and knew his ways. God told Moses what he was planning and why things were happening. But the masses only saw what God did.  I want to be like Moses, knowing what God is doing before it happens.

Friday Night Freedom

We have been joking that we have never looked forward to a weekend as much as we have this week. We finally have a chance to rest and catch up on sleep!

So on Friday night we went on an adventure to the "Europa" shopping centre down the street.  It was quite interesting just to buy shampoo and soap.  And I also bought some carbonated water. I finally found a flavour I really like: chestnut!  It is very refreshing and the big bottle wasn't even a euro so I don't feel too bad buying it.

We also stopped in a toy store while we were in the mall. That was so fun!  Most things are your run of the mill playschool and disney toys.  But I  found something new that I thought was great: Farm Toys!
Okay, to be fair, these aren't actually new. They are in Canada too, but I thought these were very intricate and accurate and interesting!

A combine!

A Tractor!

A rake? Maybe?  

Don't you love how it says "just like the real thing"?

A jeep to pull your horse trailer.

And my personal favorite:

The wind farm! You don't see that in Canada!

(its out of focus because it was on the top shelf...lots of zoom)

We obviously had lots of fun.

We also spent some time in the namiestie (spelling in slovak isn't great yet, but I think this is what it is) and that means square as in the town square.  So we got to see the fountain with its lights.

Its very nice to see everything lit up. And it was a nice big moon too.

So it was a nice relaxing and fun night. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be good too.

Healings

So....

Today was "healing" day. The last two days we have attended a seminar put on by a church about healing on the streets. Literally they go out to the town square, but up a banner that says healing, and ask people if they need or want to be healed. Its amazing. They say there are very few people who don't experience something. So we were trained in how the ministry works and today we were put out on the streets.  But it was hard. The worst part was that we don't all speak slovak so its hard to explain to passersby what we are offering them. Thankfully they have little flyers. But it was hard to walk up only knowing how to say hello, goodbye, thank you and sorry. It is not so easy to do.

But today they saw two people's legs grow, an alcoholic said he felt better, and many people took the step of faith to just be prayed for.  However, often people won't have any immediate signs and actually will have it happen in the next twenty four hours.  So we have faith in more. And tomorrow they are going out today, so who knows what will happen then.

I'm sorry i don't have more descriptions for you, but I'm so very tired. We weren't able to relax this evening because Wednesday is the night we have an open meeting that the community can come to. So I just listened to an hour or so of very hard to handle teachings. I need to sleep and let it soak in.

ps. picture at the top is from the top of the building in the chapel room. Beautiful view. Can't wait to see a sun set from up there.

First Day of DTS

Hello All!

Its only my first day here and I already feel like its been a week!  Crazy huh?  Today was a whirlwind. We had breakfast and quiet time (they put aside an hour a day, which is great!) and then a time of worship and prayer where they told us visions and prophesy and verses that they had received from God as they prayed for us before we arrived.  Isn't that an amazing way to start a course?  I was floored.  And we learned some basic things, decided on house rules etc.  Then apparently every day we are going out to eat at a little restaurant near by.  Which is totally sweet because restaurants here are so economical. And we get to practice our slovak on the waitresses!  Today we were working on the please, thank you, sorry, etc. And the numbers from one to ten. I don't think I feel very confident in numbers over 5, but even five is five more than I knew this morning!

So this afternoon we actually went to a church in Banska that one of our leader goes to.  They actually had two visitors from England visiting this week to do seminars, so our staff wanted us to be able to be part of it. However, this is like just jumping into the deep end of moving in the Spirit and supernatural.  The seminar is on Healing street ministries.  These men from Bath are part of a group who three mornings a week set up chairs in the main square in Bath and a banner that says healing. And people come and sit and are healed. Its amazing!  And the seminar is about preparing us to be part of the same ministry here in Banska.  So on Wed we are going to be going out and declaring healing in Jesus name. Overwhelming isn't it?  I thought so too. But after listening to these speakers, it is actually seeming like the most natural thing in the world. Jesus did it. He commissioned the 12 to do it, then again the 72 and then commissioned us all to go out and heal.  And Jesus said that we would go greater things even that the disciples saw him do on earth. So really, the expectation is that we can go out and heal.

If anyone said this is what I'd be doing in 2010 I would have thought them crazy.  But now I'm excited. May God be given glory in whatever happens this week!

(there are so many other stories I could have written, but maybe I'll save some for another time? Or perhaps you just have to wait till I'm home?)

This is the four students, the two staff, and our leader having ice cream yesterday. 

Hopefully there will be much more to come!

Banska Bystrica

So since the DTS hasn't actually started yet, I've had some time to unpack (that actually didn't take very long at all... It seemed like alot but really it was just all clothes) and to go sight seeing a bit.

It is really nice here so I took myself on a little walk. I actually went for a walk with Steve and Emma (his daughter) and Katie last night so I kinda feel like I know my way around already. So after lunch I took my camera out in the sunshine.  (Mom: yes I went alone. Yes i asked if it is safe to do that first. No I didn't get robbed.)

So our street actually is a pedestrian only street that connects up to the pedestrian only main square. I absolutely love that part of these Slovak towns.  Its about walking everywhere! Well.. maybe not but it makes me feel better about not having a car.

So this is the friendly neighborhood butcher who is maybe 3 or 4 buildings down from here.

Cute huh?

Then at the end of our "block" (i don't know if you can even use that term here...) there is this beautiful huge building which they said is the Slovak National Scientific Library. Steve says that someone told him that they have an english section, but I'm not sure it would be that interesting anyways. 

So there is another 200m or so before you reach the actual down town square.  And this square is actually pretty big!  It goes on for a long distance in my mind.  I also just realized that I didn't climb up the town tower to take a picture... but I can't read the signs so i don't actually know where you go to climb the tower. Those pictures will come later i guess.

But this is the tower and a church that is also at that end of the square.

And a really sweet building that incorporates the old and new:

Then also at the top of the square (it kind of slopes downward from here toward the West) is this really cool building which may have used to be a church but now is a  restaurant. This is my first favorite picture of the trip. 

I think I'll skip over all the monuments until i know a little bit more. I went to see them though. 

This is the view from the Slovak National Uprising monument.

So we have hills (no this is not a mountain) covered in leafy trees as well as flat plains (and I think there is a river around here somewhere too but I haven't been there yet.

Forestry is a big deal. You actually can have a bust of you in a public square put up for making important forestry decisions. 

This is what it said on his plaque (he actually got english and slovak, way to go dude!): 

Jozef Dekret Matejovie

chamber chief forester (1814-1837)

 applied progressive methods to save

 forests ruined by mining and smelting industries 

thus laying the foundations for orderly 

forest management throughout 

the land.  

He totally deserves a huge bust. 

Hmm... now what else should i show you all?

I have decided that I really like windows, especially when they have flowers in them.

Or windows with men with green hair under them..

As you can tell its still pretty warm here. The flowers are still in bloom. I think there actually has been alot of harvesting already done as there are fields cleared, but I still saw sunflowers in the fields.  And they say it has been raining alot lately but I was very happy to not have rain today.

Now at the bottom of the downtown street it gets a bit more modern. This is a bank where the street stops being pedestrian only. And within walking distance from there is a very modern mall that we walked through yesterday.  

So now all of you know as much about banska as I do.  (I've found out that everyone here just calls in Banska which will make pronouncing it alot easier).  Maybe I'll practice some slovak with my free afternoon.

Ciau! (pronounced chow)