03.21.2024

No checkpoints separated Czechia and Slovakia, and if a sign marked the border, we missed it. Dark fields and forests soon gave way to a small town. As we neared a roundabout, my friend, who was still learning to drive manual, pressed the brake but not the clutch. As he restarted the car, the traffic began diverting around us.

Two friends and I were retracing the steps of Salomon Boger, a 17th-century Anabaptist who traveled in the Ottoman Empire attempting to rescue kidnapped friends and family. Rebel Protestant troops, along with Turks and Tartars, had captured scores of Anabaptists to sell into slavery. Salomon managed to rescue several, and they likely returned to Moravia to be expelled several years later by the Catholic counter-Reformation. As my friends and I traveled through this region of historic conflict, we tried to understand the current religious landscape. We also wanted to experience culture and make friends

On this night, we were planning to sleep at a Catholic parish house. After I restarted my phone, Google Fi began working, and I called our contact. A door opened nearby, and we introduced ourselves to the priest and and a friend. Then, we fetched our luggage and entered a Catholic parish house for the first time.

The priest was quiet and collected, with graying hair and an aura of youth. Maybe his marathon-distance mountain runs and outreach to university students contributed to all of these. He thought deeply but disguised it with light-hearted comments. In his spare time, he did woodworking for a retreat center he is building.

More locals joined us, and we walked to a nearby restaurant. Most knew English, and we talked about heroes and culture and faith and tradition. They were genuinely interested in our faith, and we discussed controversial subjects with respect and goodwill. When I asked the priest what he believes is most important, he said it is to walk in the Spirit.

The next morning, as I prayed in an empty room, my spirit was refreshed by the spirit of peace pervading the place. Afterward, the priest and several of his friends served us breakfast. Our conversation quickly turned to spiritual matters, and we began talking about peacemaking between Christians and Muslims. Then, the priest said that we also should talk about peacemaking between Anabaptists and Catholics. Their hospitality was an intentional step in this direction, and they asked us to send them more Anabaptists.

That afternoon, we traveled to another village and attended a liturgical prayer service for Palestine. Few other young people were at the service, which was comprised of both Lutherans and Catholics. After the service and a tour of a local museum, the Lutheran pastor and his wife hosted us for the night and blessed us with extraordinary hospitality.

Later that week, in Bratislava, we found ourselves talking to a former Baptist pastor and Parliament member. We learned that both the Catholic and Lutheran churches are in decline in Slovakia, as members care more about economic opportunities than faith. But within the Catholic Church, there is a growing movement of born-again believers. Interestingly, Pentecostal Christianity is growing rapidly in Slovakia, especially among the Roma. The Roma, also known as Gypsies, are attracted to a more expressive Christianity.

Today, people still walk the quiet cobblestone streets of Slovakia. They care about the economy and the environment. Some of them welcome strangers, serve refugees, and seek God.

~Re-post from this blog: Mountain Reflections