It always surprises me how many people in our congregation have Slovak roots. And not only that! Many of them remember some Slovak words, talk about the cities where their grandparents came from and talk about their favorite Slovak dishes. Even though they do not know how to write in Slovak, nor to pronounce some words, they try their best. They are proud that they had Slovak ancesters. 

When I came I was wondering what are the best ways of connecting with people in my new congregation. I know that Slovak language is quite difficult but I wanted to accept the challenge. One of my friends who was an intern here two years ago and he started with these Slovak classes. For me it is not only about teaching them Slovak, because they probably will forget most of the words. It is about spending time together and learning from each other. Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we complain about difficult pronounciation. 

From what I learnt during these classeses, is that it is important for the pastor to try as many ways as possible to be around the people and try to see them outside of the Sunday service. I have been learning that all of us are different, all of us need something else. But for most of us is important to be around people who care and who want to share their lives. And if we can add some slovak words to it, even better!