Cau (Hello!) Friends and Family!

February is here already, can you believe it?! Thus it’s time for my January newsletter (late again I know :) - complete with a Vrbovchansky dialect lesson, ministry with the youth group, the joys and struggles of teaching, some prayer requests, and the excitement I have about the second half of my year here in Slovakia.

I want to send a quick shout out to all my fellow YAGM’s around the world! I think about you all a lot and love hearing your stories! I pray you all are well.

For those of you that have time to read some of my ponderings and adventures – I hope you enjoy! For those of you that are super busy and in bondage to planners, schedules, tests, meetings, families to nurture, dinners to cook, I wish you luck, rest, and a relaxing cup of hot chocolate. I hope that God can bring a little Slovak randomness to your life – just like he’s put into mine J

Here are the updated pictures:

Click here to see January – seminar and youth group pics!

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/katyaharder/albums

A big thanks to those of you who have been faithfully e-mailing me – I came back from a weekend and had a flood of e-mails in my inbox! What a treat! My internet time is sometimes limited, so if you don’t receive a reply right away, please don’t take it personally, but rather keep trying J I’ll answer when I get a chance. Oh! And a special thanks to a couple of good souls who sent me small packages! You know who you are - You rock!

Everyone – thanks for prayers, thoughts, and encouragement.

Thanks for letting me share my stories with you J

Laska a pokoj! (love and peace)

~Katy

I’m passionate about working with young people. I know that it’s rewarding, it’s fun and you learn something everyday. I also know that working with young people is like being a coal miner. You’re rambling through dark caves of things un-explored with only a small light – helmet attached to your head searching for something precious. It’s a tough job.

Working with the youth group in the Vrbovce has been filled with joys and challenges.  There is a group of about 12 youth that meet together on Saturday nights at....well, officially 7:00. Oftentimes I arrive at 7:00 (the ever punctual American) and sit in the youth room for half an hour chatting with Adrian before anyone arrives. The people that come to youth group vary in age from 15 – 29 and sometimes we even have an adult or two show up. (Think: 45 year old woman, 34 year old man – makes for some interesting dynamics) Adrian and I try to prepare some activities for the youth to do, i.e. games, cooking, crafts, an occasional movie or two, etc. Sometimes the kids participate and sometimes they don’t. We have a set of triplets that are faithful leaders and helpers. They are truly a blessing and always very good to help me explain a game or activity. The youth usually stay in the youth room or billiard room after we finish our activities, and always encourage me to stay until eleven or twelve o’clock at night. And it’s amazing, many of them still make it to church the next morning.

One thing that the youth group lacks is any kind of bible study or devotion. So a couple of times I’ve tried to lead a short devotion. One Saturday we made homemade pizza with the youth group and I then had them do a trust walk with a partner. They loved guiding their partners around a room full of chairs, that part went over great. I then had planned a short devotion to do with them with a series of questions (DRAG BIG for any of you who know it) and thought that it might get them talking about their faith. So I talked a little in Slovak but mainly had to have a translator (from English to German and then from German to Slovak). When I started asking questions about “How can you relate this activity to your faith and God” conversation stopped. They looked at me as if I had asked them to fly to the moon and back on the back of a purple elephant or something. I got nothing out of them, nada, neech. After some gentle probing with no luck I asked if one of them would read a bible passage, one of them would pray – and everyone went about their business- glad that the uncomfortable experience was over. Did I do something wrong? Isn’t it okay to talk about God for 10 minutes during the evening? That evening didn’t end on a high note for me, I was disappointed.

The youth group doesn’t have very solid leadership. Adrian and I can help lead and give ideas but I really don’t feel like we have very much control. And I’ve come to accept the lack of control, but I care for these kids now and what to see that they have some kind of spiritual nourishment, discussion…anything. So, when I heard that there will be a chaplain coming this month I got really excited. A chaplain is a Slovak version of a Seminary intern. They have finished seminary and now need to do a year of internship before becoming ordained. This next week, our seminary intern (her name is Zorka) will be coming to youth group and hopefully will be starting to help plan events and (Katy crosses her fingers) bible studies! I’m excited about this new opportunity for the youth group and hope and pray that things can change for the better.

Two lessons I’ve learned about my philosophy of youth ministry this month:

1)      You need to “be there” for youth. One of the greatest gifts that you can give them is your time.

2)      Be you – give you. I can dance and sing and be goofy and that’s like their hearts delight. Somehow – being with them and being me is enough.

 

I’ll try and continue to talk about youth group in my next newsletter as well. And if you would keep us in your prayers I would really appreciate!

Fun quotes from my mid-term seminar that were gut wrenchingly funny to us!

      “Well.....bad Slovak is better than no Slovak.”

           “Where have you been, in a coma?” “No, I’ve been in Slovakia.”

 

Slovak 101: Lesson #5 for Family and Friends

A lesson in Vrbovèansky – Most regions in Slovakia have their own individual dialect that they speak in addition to Slovak. Because of how near Vrbovce is to the Czech Republic the dialect of the people here resembles Czech. This is obviously an added challenge for me to interact with people and learn Slovak, because many of the words sound so different or are completely different altogether. Many kids speak Slovak at school and the dialect at home, although I hear the dialect at school as well. I have the hardest time understanding old women and young children. When Kristina and Dusan talk to me, they speak Slovak, but when they talk to themselves, they speak the dialect. Dusan will sometimes grin and ask “Did you understand?” and then precedes to translate into Slovak. As a general rule “l’s” turn into “w’s” and “o’s” turns into “ee”. At first I was frustrated with this added disadvantage, but now I find it kind of fun to learn new words and I figure that it’s kind of likes accents or slang in the U.S.  - Slovak’s wouldn’t understand me if I started saying “ain’t” or “what up dog?”

 So here are some words and phrases that I’ve trained my ear to listen for:

Slovak: “Bola som do kostola.” (I was at church.)

Vrbovèansky: “Biwa sem do kostowa.” (I was at church)

Slovak: hovori¯ (to speak) – Vrbovèansky: rýkat

Slovak: pozera¯ (to look) – Vrbovèansky: kuka¯

Slovak: “Je mi zima.”(I’m cold) Vrbovèansky:“Je mi kosa.” (I thought it meant I’m a goat!)

Slovak: zabavný (funny) – Vrbovèansky: haluzak

Slovak: zemiaky (potatoes)  – Vrbovèansky: erteple

Slovak: preèo? (Why?) – Vrbovèansky: proè

teach, teaching, taught...

I know that in October the thought of teaching English for another 8 months was...well, let’s just say, scary. I was staring at the challenge thing like it was a monster in my closet, and all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers and cry out for my mommy. I’m happy to say that now, the thing that scared me the most is also the thing that’s giving me the most joy. I still get nervous when I talk in front of some classes, I still wonder if I could prepare better or be more creative, and I often still wonder if my classes have learned anything. But now I know that I can try my hardest, fail and learn, and try again tomorrow. One gift that I bring to Vrbovce is my ability to speak English. They want to learn to communicate – and I have the tools – to help them. And the more English I teach, the more great people I meet – so there’s a trade off.  Here is a short update on my English adventures for the week. (don’t you just love bullets?)

o     I teach once or twice a week at the elementary school in Vrbovce. I present on a topic, have conversation and help the English teacher in any way that I can (grade papers, projects, etc.) I was really excited to use an old camp game called “categories” to help the 5^th class learn vocab. “Categories...such as...hobbies!” I’ve talked with Radka (the English teacher) and next week I will begin afterschool “extra english” with younger and older classes. I will practice vocab with the younger ones and help the older ones with homework. I think a little tutoring might be involved too – to help some of the students that are struggling. Keep me in your prayers for this, I’ll need all the gumption I can muster. :)

o    I teach once a week at a private high school in the near by town of Senica. I have conversation and sometimes teach the classes for the teachers there. I enjoy talking with the older students for a change sometimes because we can discuss high level topics. Plus – the cafeteria food is great!

o     I have conversation with a sweet woman named Eva once a week. She’s married and in her thirties and speaks fairly good English but wants to continue to improve. She used to be a Lutheran pastor and I love asking questions about the church here in Slovakia and learn more about how it functions. She’s also helping me now with my Slovak and is a great teacher. She’s becoming a very good friend.

o     I teach English on Tuesday and Thursday nights for beginners from 7:00 – 8:00. This class brings me a lot of joy and is my favorite class to interact with. I have about 15-18 students, but only maybe 10-12 come at a time, making for a very nice class size. They vary a great deal in age range – from 9 years old to a comfortable 70-something. They soak up information like sponges and are very patient with me and my attempts at translating instructions into Slovak. When I have class with them there is usually a refreshing air of excitement that permeates the room. They have bound together somewhat as a team with a common goal and are doing a great job pressing onward - I just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Teaching has always been something that I’ve always enjoyed. At church school, in Sunday School and around a campfire – I taught bible studies, told some life stories, and shared in God’s love. Here in Vrbovce I teach English as a language and somehow, somewhat mysteriously, still feel like I’m teaching about God’s love…though it doesn’t come out in so many words.

 

 One of the greatest gifts ever.....

Rushing from class to work, running from work to a meeting, hurrying from my meeting to supper, dashing from supper to a youth event, zooming from the youth event to my computer, typing a paper due the next day, chatting it up with several friends and at last crawling into bed....

What I described wasn’t an olympic marathon (although it sometimes felt like one) but rather was what life was like for four years of college. And that was only one evening!

Time. Have you ever thought about how our time is a gift? I didn’t, until I had time to. Ironic huh?

I’ve been blessed this year with the gift of have more time to reflect. I have time to read books. I’m not too tired at night to sit down and write in my journal. I have time to have long conversations with my host mom. I have time to bake banana bread and share it with friends. I’ve had time to pray and reflect on what I will do next year and what God’s calling me to be. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t spend 24-7 lazing about, but I have more time in the evenings oftentimes to collect myself – sit in silence and just think. Why didn’t I do this in college?

I didn’t make time for these blessings in life last year….or the year before….or the year before…..

The people of Vrbovce give me there time. I have friends that take the time to teach me Slovak. My host family takes the time to care for me and make me feel like a daughter. The people at the church take the time to interact with me. And the kids at the school take time to play and laugh with me. It’s given me the opportunity to think about the value of time. What will I do with my time when I return? How can I use my time in a way that is pleasing to God? What is important to make time for? And if time is a gift, shouldn’t I have the will to enjoy it – rather than dashing through life like a mad hare? How can I use my time in love? To show love?

This year I’m giving my time to the people of Vrbovce. I don’t always feel like I have a lot to give, but one thing that I know that I have is time. I have time to help, I have time to listen, and I have time to learn. I’m learning a lot this year from the people here and I’m really looking forward to what the next six months hold.

 Some prayer requests:

 Thanks for taking time to read my thoughts – your time is valuable to me, a gift!

May God’s peace be with you,

Katka