Within Central and Eastern Europe there are significant differences from country to country in terms of economy and prosperity. Some are struggling as living standards remain low, while others are evidently more prosperous, having attracted substantial investments and consequently creating prosperity and many good job opportunities. Slovakia is a country in this latter category, but its spiritual needs are deeply challenging.
Slovakia has a large Roman Catholic majority, although Lutheran and Reformed traditions are also represented. Evangelicals number around 0.4% in some of the country’s cities, constituting only a tiny minority of the 5.5 million population. It is reported that cult growth outstrips that of evangelicals, so church planting is vitally important for a strong Gospel witness to be maintained in this needy country. For years the concept of church planting seemed alien to believers, but now there is a fresh enthusiasm to fulfil God’s commission. It was thrilling for an SGA team to travel across Slovakia recently, visiting those supported through the Mission and witnessing God at work.
TRNAVA
Our first stop was in Trnava to meet with Marek Tomasovic and his wife, Martina. It is known as “Little Rome” or “Slovakian Rome” owing to the large number of Roman Catholic churches (13) in this town of 65,000 people. Marek is not oblivious to the challenges, but ready for all that will be needed to see God’s kingdom extended. A new initiative was the commencement of a Christian school in September 2020. A staff member pointed out the significance of this project: ‘We need the school and church working very closely so that we can be more effective.’
The church congregation of around 35, largely made up of youth and young families, meet in the school building for their Sunday services.
BRATISLAVA
The capial city, Bratislava, is where Tomáš and Silvia Henzel serve with their children, Oliver, Karolina and Ruben. Four years ago the church was planted with 12 people; now there are between 70 and 80 worshipping, many in their 20s and 30s, with new people attending most Sundays.
Tomáš expressed his desire to have mature believers who could disciple younger believers. As coordinator for the denominational Cirkev Bratska church-planting programme, he seeks to identify churches which will create small teams to establish churches. This church-planting model has been effective in several locations across Slovakia.
REVUCA
Positioned in the central region of the country is Revuca, a town of 13,000 people, where church planter, Richard Nagypal, began a work four years ago by inviting people to relocate and there create a church-planting team. He was amazed when a few people did respond, as Revuca has the third highest unemployment rate in Slovakia.
God has blessed the efforts with currently 35 attendees – the only evangelical church in the town. Richard attributes a large proportion of church growth to the extensive camp ministry through which he and others invest in young lives.
KOŠICE
We travelled further east to Košice, the second largest city, where church planter, Ervin Mittelmann, commenced his ministry with six people in 2014. Growth over the past 8 years has been slow but steady with 35 attending. Almost half are children and youth. He is delighted with the ten discipleship groups that have proved to be extremely valuable for spiritual growth.
Ervin explained that birthday celebrations prove effective for evangelism when family and friends are invited to an event prepared by the church. Here the person’s life is celebrated as a gift from God, their testimony is shared, and the Gospel explained.
VITKOVCE
The final part of the trip took the team to Vitkovce, a Roma community in the Košice region. The sizeable Roma population in Slovakia is often marginalized and discriminated against, making it challenging to reach them with the Gospel, but God is working.
Bohuslava Havrilova, a missionary supported through SGA’s Phoebe project, has been developing a work among this ethnic group of people. For 12 years she has been serving in two Roma communities. She conducts Bible studies with ladies, with around 20 attending in Vitkovce and 10 in another local community in Chrast. Every week Bohuslava prepares Bible lessons and mentors a Roma team of new converts (3 ladies and 3 men) to teach the children.
A big encouragement is the appointment of a church leader from the Roma community. Roman, who was converted 13 years ago aged 17, has commenced a 2–3-year ministry preparation. Whilst we are grateful to the Lord for the developments in Vitkovce and Chrast, it was pointed out that there are 250 Roma villages in this region that need to be reached with the Gospel.