Over the last few years SGA has been supporting half a dozen young men serving the Lord in Slovakia. Martin Kacur is one of them. He and his wife Iveta are from Presov in the east of the country and for several years he was assisting Pastor Daniel Jurco in his home city, in a well-established church. There are many Slovak communities, however, with little evangelical testimony. Some mission stations have been set up over the years and apart from the lack of suitable leadership, would by now be established as church fellowships in their own right.
In February this year Martin took the step of moving seventy kilometres west with his young family, to Spisska Nova Ves, a town that has grown rapidly in recent times. Some fifty years ago a local family was instrumental in starting an evangelical fellowship. To this day many of the members have family connections and they meet in an upstairs hall attached to one of their homes. More than forty now attend on Sundays. They are keen for sound Bible teaching and to reach out more widely with the Gospel. Martin has been warmly welcomed amongst them and already positive developments are taking place.
The Church itself is in Smizany which is a suburb of the main town. In fact it proudly presents itself as the largest village in Slovakia, having a special dispensation not to be reclassified as a town. So, despite nearby tower blocks and a population of nearly 10,000, a real local community spirit remains. Martin is clearly committed to his new work and earnestly seeks to maintain scriptural principles whilst building bridges with the community. The Church feels that a real step forward is taking place in their witness. Pray that Smizany and Spisska Nova Ves will be blessed by the Lord.
Further west in Slovakia, Dolny Kubin is a small town in the mountains, almost an hour’s drive away from the city of Zilina. Two sisters, Dana and Ludmilla, both nurses, are committed students at the SGA Bible School in Zilina. Their great prayer is for someone like Martin Kacur to be called by the Lord to Dolny Kubin. Despite nearing retirement age, they are at the heart of the church fellowship there and feel very much the lack of local male leadership. Their parents were among those who were instrumental in establishing the Church in Dolny Kubin in the 1950s.
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For some time the fellowship thrived, with up to thirty members, but Dolny Kubin, for all its beautiful surroundings, is rather remote and young people continually move away for work. At present they struggle on, with around twelve attending regularly attending. This is not helped as the Church itself is on the edge of the town, with less transport available.
Although a younger Church, the group in Zilina is now thriving, as it is a centre for student life. The longer-established group at Dolny Kubin is now regarded as the daughter church and feels isolated. This is true of so many places across the countries where SGA works. Dana and Ludmilla realise that in many ways it would be a sacrificial step for a young family to move to the work in their town, yet the real difference this would make must motivate us to pray for the Lord to raise up a servant there too.
In the meantime, we give thanks for the inspirational commitment of Godly women, such as Dana and Ludmilla, and are assured that such labour for the Lord is not in vain.
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Martin and Iveta Kacur and their family working in Smizany and Spisska Nova Ves |
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