Today we had the whole day with our host families. This morning started with a worship service at a church in Bratislava called Zbor Cirkvi bratskej v Bratislave. The theme of the sermon was "How to be a good neighbor in a global world" - very fitting indeed for MA's Cultural Field Experience program! The service was entirely in Slovak, however we were able to wear headphones to hear the service translated into English - extremely helpful to follow along and understand the message given. Something I took away was the idea that we like to get to know someone and then show them love after getting to know them - not always the other way around - loving our neighbor even before knowing them. Jesus calls us to do just that - love first and love always. That resonated with my heart.
At the end of the service, Dr. DiNardo and I went up in front of the congregation with our friend Daniel Laco from the C.S. Lewis School community and spoke about MA's CFE program and how the message in church this morning directly correlates to what we are hoping for our MA students - to learn, grow, and bring Christ's love to our neighbor, both at home, throughout our country, and to others around the globe. We hope that being in Bratislava and Vienna this CFE week will help us to expand our knowledge and heart for God's kingdom on earth, and to show His love to others while we are also shown love ourselves. After church there was a time of refreshments and we had the rest of the day to spend with our host families. About 1/3 of our group was able to make it to the service, and the other students had things planned in their morning and throughout the day with their host families. I heard from Asa and Beck via text that they had a great day with their host family and got to visit an Austrian castle - how fun!
Below are some pictures from my day (Mrs. Johnson). I should be able to get more group photos tomorrow when we officially kick off our week with our friends at the C.S. Lewis School. Stay tuned!
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| Zbor Cirkvi bratskej v Bratislave |
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| Elsie and Lexi listening to the service with the help of English translation through the headphones. |
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Elsie and Lexi with their C.S. Lewis host student, Karolina, who knows MA well -
she was a student at MA in the fall of 2016. So fun to connect with her again! |
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| Refreshment time after church. Dr. DiNardo and I talked to several people after church, including past C.S. Lewis students who have studied at MA, native Canadians that now live in Slovakia, a Slovak man that has relatives that lived in the Twin Cities, and more. I have found that one of the most meaningful things about these unique CFE trips is the connections that we make with others that we talk to and get to know. |
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| This picture is especially for my girls at home in Minnesota - this is Goldie, the sweet dog at my host home. So cute! :) |
Looks like a great first day!
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