13th Year of Summer Bible School—the Best Ever!

The two months of summer holiday are filled with many activities. In Martin, one of those activities is the popular Summer Bible School, which took place this year for the thirteenth time.

Summer Bible School (SBS) was held in Martin for the first time in 2001. Members of St. Anthony’s (Minnesota) church choir came and prepared a Slovak-English Christian camp for local Slovak children. Cooperation between our American partners and the Bible School has evolved from that point on and grows every year on the basis of our common goals. Slovak coordinator of SBS, Svetlana Brndiarová, described the goal of both American and Slovak brothers and sisters in Christ as a desire to show that “faith in God is not just about rules or strict self-denial, but we can also talk about God and have a good time together. We can show children that church is not just Sunday worship, but also a live community of brothers and sisters, which we all help to build.”

Summer Bible school is also focused on teaching the English language. “American teachers are here because they want children to learn basic Christian truths and along the way to learn English, as well. [The teachers] are also learning the basic vocabulary of Slovak, which is often very funny because Slovak is so different from English. The children also play sports, dance, sing and just have fun,” said S. Brndiarová.

Summer Bible School took place over five days. It concluded with a wonderful program with 180 participants, which took place in the afternoon on the Memorandum Square in Martin. Bohdan Hroboň, director of the Bible School, designated SBS’s thirteenth year as the best yet. He pointed out that some of the Bible School students and students of Evangelical Elementary School in Martin, are visible fruit of the previous thirteen years of service. “Students who were a great help during SBS this year, were children at the first Summer Bible School thirteen years ago. It is beautiful to see them involved today in practical ministry for their younger friends.” B. Hrobon also introduced Paul Bergeimu, the Head of Project Vision Slovakia, and thanked him for coming into Martin each summer to serve dozens of our American friends.

Paul Berge praised the skills and abilities of the children, as well as the efforts of the parents to raise them up. He thanked them for the confidence they have in bringing their children each year to the Summer Bible School. “Every year we see children grow, just as we see the confidence of the parents who entrust their children to us so that we can work with them,” said P. Berge. Pastor of the St. Andrews’s-Minnesota church choir, Mike Carlson added, “You have great kids who have a love for Christ in their hearts, and it’s a love we can all clearly see and understand.”

The conclusion of SBS was also the beginning of a rich (busy) weekend, during which the Bible School in Martin celebrated its 15th birthday. A gala event Friday night was followed by a conference Saturday, titled “Slovak Story of its Word.” 100 guests were welcomed to the grounds of the Bible School. The program was concluded with a beautiful concert by St Andrews Lutheran Church Choir.

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