A Successful Week September 27, 2008

Last weekend, I had a mini-meltdown when I was trying to order some lunch at a mall food court.  Whatever I was trying to order was not available, and the guy told me that in Slovak.  I didn’t want whatever was available, so Heather and I went next door to another place.   The line was very long and we had to wait a long time.  We just finally decided to go back home and eat.  On the way home, I slowly started crying.  Not the break down and ball your eyes out crying.  The kind where you don’t want to cry, but the tears keep coming no matter how you much you bite your lip to try not to cry.  And there I was, crying at the bus stop and really not wanting to be crying and showing weakness

I think all the weariness of almost three weeks of travel and adjusting to new people and a new place caught up to me in that moment.  My expectations, no matter how hard I tried to not have them, about how things would be and how things actually are, were not matching up exactly.  I missed home and friends.  I was tired.  I was new.  I wondered how I would make it through the next 12 weeks.

Thankfully, Monday started a new week and along with a really good night’s sleep, I had a new outlook.  I am joining a women’s Bible study on Tuesday mornings where we are studying Beth Moore’s Living Free.  This group reminds me so much of women’s Bible studies at my church at home and I just felt instantly at home with them.

The classes on Tuesday and Thursday have gone much better this week.  By Thursday’s class the 7-year olds were actually all doing the same thing at the same time.  One of the boys, David (who has stolen my heart with his cute little smile and long eyelashes) brought a balloon to class.  We had some time at the beginning and end of class to play with the kids and have some fun.  Plus, they listened better and learned some things too.  Even in my adult class, I had that moment in teaching where I was having fun with them.  It stopped being work, and we were connecting.

On Friday night, Heather and I went to Nada’s apartment to have dinner with Nada and her daughter Ruzica.  Nada worked at BERC last year and her husband works with TWR.  Nada is a sweet and brilliant lady (an astrophysicist who is teaching physics to junior high students) who is from Serbia.  She and her husband have lived in Bratislava for a couple years.  It was fun to eat dinner with her and enjoy good conversation.

On the walk home, I had moment where I though about leaving in November.  I wanted to cry.  After only three weeks, I know I will miss the people and places here.  After 3 months, I don’t even want to think about it.  I realized then, that I need to live with the end in sight.  Not to focus on the end wish my time away, but to realize that I have only a short time here, and I need to make the most of every moment.  To both drink deeply and be poured out deeply.

Conversation at the Trnavske’ Myto Stop September 26, 2008

My parents have always given me this piece of advice about men:  guys are like trains there’s another one coming along every minute.  I shared this revelation with Heather today while we were waiting for our bus on the way back from QSI. We had a few observations about the analogy while we waited. 

We were walking up to the stop and just missed a bus we could have taken.  So, we had to wait for the 204 bus.  In the meantime, people came and went.  Sometimes we were waiting with lots of people and sometimes fewer.  We saw people we had been on the previous bus with, get on a new bus before us.  We saw a bus approach, thought it could be the right one, but it wasn’t.  So, we had to wait and wait and wait some more.  It seemed like we were waiting forever for bus 204, but finally it came.  When it arrived, it was crowded with  people.  We barely squeezed on, but eventually found a comfortable seat.

So, boys are like buses. Sometimes, you just barely miss a great guy.  Sometimes you have to wait for a new bus to come along.  While you wait, people come and go.  Friends get on the bus ahead of you.   Sometimes, you think the right guy is coming along, but once he gets closer, you realize he’s not the right one.  Other times, you think you have to wait forever.  When the right guy does come along, he may have a lot of distractions (i.e. people on the bus) around.  He may have enough room to squeeze you in and you might eventually find a comfortable seat. Better hold on though because it could be a bumpy ride.

Or, you may have to get off the bus at the next stop.

One Thing I’ve Noticed September 26, 2008

It’s almost cliche to say this now.  I hear other people say this about traveling abroad, and I’ve often said it myself.  But, I suppose cliches are cliches, because they’re true (and even that statement is a cliche, but I digress . . .)

So, one thing I’ve noticed is the slower pace of life here.  It’s not quite as laid back as my experiences in Latin America, but at least from my initial observations without knowing the language enough to know what people are talking about on the bus, is that it doesn’t have that frenetic-gotta-get-somewhere-got-so-much-to-do-I’m-never-going-to-get-it-done pace.

One evidence of this is that I have not seen anyone carrying a paper cup of coffee, anywhere.  There’s plenty of coffee shops and cafes (I knew there was a reason I liked this place), but no styrofoam plastic cups with the sippee lids.

Heather and I went downtown Monday afternoon so that I could see where the Tuesday Bible study would be held.  We stopped in Coffee and Co. for a hot chocolate.  It was Monday afternoon about 3:30 or 4:00.  The place was packed out.  People sitting around enjoying a little java and a little conversation.  I like that.  Instead of running in and out with their paper cups, people were sitting and talking and drinking from real mugs.  Taking a moment to smell the coffee so to speak.

What is Ministry? September 22, 2008

So, one of the questions I’m asking myself already is what is ministry?  I’m not sure what I expected on this trip.  I actually didn’t have alot of expectations going in and tried to purposefully not have expectations.  On so many other mission trips, I’ve gone in thinking we’ll do this or that and most of the time those plans go awry.  So, I didn’t want to come in with too many expectations.

Coming into these 3 months, I knew I would be working with the library, cataloging books and helping to get the library in good working condition by writing fun things like policies and procedures.  Beyond that I wasn’t sure what I would encounter.  In coming to Bratislava and choosing to work with BERC, I had a couple goals, both professional and personal.

Professionally, I want to learn all I can about managing a library especially developing and growing a beginning library.  I want to work hard and get things organized so that the library can be an important and attractive asset to help BERC grow and achieve its mission.

Personally, I want to find out more about missions and ministry in a cross-cultural context.  What does day to day life look like?  How does God want me to continue to be involved in missions?

So far, my experience hasn’t taken me much outside the walls of BERC and most of my interactions have been with other American missionaries or ex-pat Christians working in Bratislava.  Teaching the English classes has given me more interactions with Slovaks.  But since our ability to communicate on a deeper level is limited, how does that translate into ministry?

I think maybe I’ve had the wrong expectations of what ministry is or what this experience will be.  I always think ministry is something I do when I get to a place.  I encourage someone.  I pray with someone.  I teach a Bible lesson.    So far, my ministry just seems to be showing up.  Being present and available.  For me at least, being present and available is alot harder than doing something.  When I do something, I know what I’m doing or why I’m there.  When I’m just being available, it’s not always clear to me.

So, maybe I’m asking the wrong question.  Maybe it’s impossible not to have expectations of some sort.  So far, what I’ve learned is the only expectation I should have is that God’s grace is sufficient for every moment.

What am I doing? September 17, 2008

At the end of this first week of being in Bratislava, the question I keep getting is, so what are you doing?  The answer is lots of things.  Things I expected and things I didn’t expect.

My main purpose in being here is to work on the library at BERC, the Bratislava Educational Resource Center.  BERC was started by a family who are missionaries with Transworld Radio.  The purpose of BERC is to be an educational resource for missionary families and other ex-pats living in Bratislava.  They have had around 20-25 students from junior high to high school.  The focus is on growing people and eventually preparing students for college. They also do a variety of things such as providing textbook resources or coodinating hearing testing for kids or providing private English tutoring to kids and other Slovaks in the neighborhood.

This year, things are somewhat different though.  The family who started BERC has moved back to the states for a couple years while their youngest children begin college and the parents go back to school also.  Right now, Heather, a recent college grad and myself are the only BERC employees.  This year the emphasis is more on teaching English lessons to Slovaks.  Heather has several classes for kids and I’m teaching a class of 4-5 adults.

Also, BERC, the school, had to move physical locations.  Before I arrived Heather and the others condensed what amounted to 6 flats (that’s apartments for you American folk) into 1 flat.  Right now, BERC is located in 4 rooms, a kitchen, living room/classroom/library, office/my room, and children’s room.

During the mornings, I’m working on the library.  My day usually consists of getting up, showering, eating my usual bowl of cereal and few cups of coffee and then taking the short 10-second commute to the library.  For the last week, I’ve been trying to get a sense of what needs to happen with the library to help it be more organized and what big projects I can work on while I’m here.  That includes learning the library system that is in use, how to catalog books (not my specialty) and generally trying to figure out what is going on.

On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I’m helping Heather with her English classes.  The class of three 7-year olds keeps us hopping.  It’s a major accomplishment to get them all doing the same thing at the same time.  They’re very active to say the least.  On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I’m teaching English lessons for some adults.  Just had my first lesson and survived.  They know very little English and I know even less Slovak, so it’s a challenge.

In between all of that, I’m cooking dinner for Heather and I or cleaning the kitchen.  Baking a loaf of banana bread for snacks for classes or doing laundry.  Taking Mocha, the Hill’s dog (the family who moved back to the States) for a walk or learning how to buy bus tickets.  Unpacking books out of the garage or clearning the children’s room so we can at least open the door.  Having a conversation with Heather about how to get 3 seven year olds to pay attention for 1 hour or a conversation with Heather and Curtis, our neighbor, about friends and the definition of what a close friend is and how many close friends someone can actually have.  Learning how to improvise and make dinner out of the things that are already in the refrigerator or freezer because it’s raining and about 50 degrees outside and I don’t want to walk the 20 minutes to the store.  Spinach-broccoli soup anyone?  (It wasn’t too bad actually.)

It’s been alot of fun and not only am I learning alot about libraries, but I’m also learning alot about living in community with people and serving others.  Things I thought I already knew alot about, but I still have alot more to learn.