After completing mission trips to Martin during the summers of 2008 and 2010, American artist and schoolteacher Benjamin Chandler made the decision to leave his teaching job in the United States, move to Slovakia and join the faculty of the Lutheran Academy. Benjamin describes his journey in his memoir The Way You Call Into the Mountain, an engaging account of life in Slovakia. Continue reading
American artist and schoolteacher Benjamin Chandler first came to Martin during the summer of 2008 as a member of a mission trip to teach English as a Foreign Language to elementary-school children. In 2011 he left his teaching job in the United States, moved to Slovakia and joined the faculty of the Lutheran Academy. Benjamin’s book The Way You Call Into the Mountain (the title a translation of a Slovak proverb) is a memoir of his time in Slovakia. It presents an American perspective on Slovak culture and Slovak people. It also talks about seeking and finding God’s will—and finding love.
The Center for Christian Education recently sponsored a journalism competition for students at Lutheran High School in Martin. The challenge was for students to write about their school and extracurricular activities, and report on the education they are receiving, then post the articles on their social media sites. Continue reading
Dr. Hinlicky (Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, 1983) is an internationally-known theologian who has published more than seventy articles and many books. He is an authority on the theology of Martin Luther and how Luther’s theology played out in history since the time of the Reformation. He also works on the re-integration of Reformation and Patristic theology, ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and is concerned with the interplay between Christian theology and contemporary, “post-modern” philosophy. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America who has served congregations for extended terms in Delhi, NY and Blacksburg, VA. Continue reading
Longtime Martin’s priest Louis Vajdička belonged to the exemplary Lutheran pastors, who became a symbol of resistance against the atheistic regime during period of communism’s totality. Pastor Vajdička was the one who confirmed 92 young people during his ministry in Lutheran congregation in Martin. Ninety-two youth longed to faithfully follow Christ and belong to the Lutheran community of believers despite the adverse political circumstances that time. Last Sunday, 15 of them received blessings in our church again. Continue reading
This was my second trip to Slovakia with the New Heights Church’s ministry team. I first came to Slovakia because there is a burning in my heart to reach people with the love of Jesus. I had previously gone on several short-term mission trips to Latin America but when I came to New Heights, I started hearing about Slovakia and my spiritual ‘ears’ perked up. I wasn’t even sure where Slovakia was(!) but when I went to the informational meeting at New Heights, I heard about the Center for Christian Education (Bible School) and what they were doing in Martin, Slovakia. As Bodhan Hroboň, the founder of CCE says “People here won’t go to church; they won’t go to an evangelistic meeting. But they do want the best for their children. They want a good education for them, and that includes learning the English language.” They come for the good education and in the process, learn about Jesus! This desire to use education as evangelism resonated with me and I knew I wanted to be a part of what was going on in Slovakia. I was an English major in college and am a freelance writer, so the task of teaching conversational English seemed a perfect fit. This was my ‘open door’ and I knew I should go through it. Continue reading
“The joy of being found”—that was the theme of this year’s Vacation Bible School held June 30-July 4 on CCE’s Martin campus. Fourteen volunteers from Minnesota, North Dakota and Illinois participated in the mission trip, led by Pastor Paul Berge, director of the Vision Slovakia program at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minn. Continue reading
As members of Fargo’s First Lutheran Church in Fargo, North Dakota, we value our mission statement: “…to bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and help them grow in the Christian Faith.” Teams from ND have been serving various local and global locations with this faith-building idea in mind.
After our stay in Slovakia, fellow North Dakota teammate, Pastor Bruce Vold of Carrington wrote to fellow members that the reason for our recent mission trip was reflected in this passage from Thessalonians: “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us” (2:8). Continue reading
