Local youth contingent to aid Slovakian students
Fundraising efforts
A group of teens and adults from St. Paul's Lutheran Church is heading for Tisovec, Slovakia, to teach Bible stories to teens at a English-speaking high school.
The Slovakian teens will use the information to teach other local children who speak Slovak, Hungarian and Roma.
The church is planning a variety of fundraisers including:
-- A spaghetti supper from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, May 1, at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 210 S. Ringold St., Janesville. Cost is $7 for adults, $3.50 for children ages 5 to 12 and free for those 4 and younger.
-- Skelly's Farm Market will donate all proceeds from the sale of doughnuts at the first Janesville Farmers Market of the season Saturday, May 9.
-- Trip updates and a special dinner upon the contingents' return will be planned for those who donate at a specified monetary level. For more information, call the Rev. Cory Burma at (608) 754-4471.
On the other side of the world is a little town called Tisovec.
It's located in Slovakia, a country about twice the size of New Hampshire that's sandwiched between Poland and Hungary.
It's not especially important for political reasons, nor is it a tourist destination. But for 11 days at the end of June, it will become an important part of the lives of five Janesville teens who are traveling there for a mission trip.
"What we're going to do is teach vacation Bible stories to the teens there, and then they can teach them in Slovak to children in the community," explained the Rev. Cory Burma of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
Tisovec is home to a well-regarded Lutheran High School where English is the primary language.
Making the journey are Chris Burma, 15; Courtney Burma, 15; Kenny Disch, 15; Nicole Kass, 16 and Ashley Overley, 16. Four adults will join the students and their pastor on the trip.
"I'm really excited about our high school kids working with their high school kids," said Cory Burma, who sees the trip as a way for young people to form bonds that will last a lifetime.
"The world is smaller now than it used to be, with the Internet," he said.
Slovakia is about 60 percent Catholic and about 15 percent Lutheran, Cory Burma said. About 15 percent of the population doesn't practice religion.
"One of the biggest struggles is that years of Communism have taken its toll," he said. "Churches aren't very active. Religion has been for older people."
People in their 30s, 40s and 50s grew up in a time when religion was scorned as superstition, and an active faith life wasn't encouraged.
Missionaries from the United States teach classes at the high school in Tisovec in hope of reigniting the faith lives of young people.
That's part of the local youngsters job, too.
"Our students are starting to think about how they will share their faith," Cory Burma said.
The group also is attending a series of training classes to learn how to interact with other cultures in a respectful way.
Apr 23, 2009 at 3:23 p.m.
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Awesome! Go get'em guys!
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