my weekend with mládež in veľky slavkov

this weekend our mládež (youth group) went to veľky slavkov for a service weekend. while we were there, we stayed at the church.

we spent saturday helping with spring cleaning and other work. it involved a lot of wood. we spread woodchips for new and growing trees, moved wood to be used to heat the place, cut wood (with axes and chainsaws), cleaned up the yard (including rusted pieces of machinery), built benches, spread dirt, mad a stone patio-type thing. basically we did a lot of manual labor for the church.

here you have some (emphasis on some, as in not nearly all) of the wood we cut and moved, and the clean yard :)

friday and saturday nights were spent relaxing and playing, having a good time together. saturday we had a tema (topic/bible study) about service. the pastor who was talking to us talked about how as christians we are called into relationship with god, so that we can then be sent into the world for service. i have been reading a variety of books this year, but some of them (the ones my fellow yagm, lisa, was sent from her pastor) have been talking about a new kind of church that is in the works. this idea that this pastor was talking about is just that kind of church! it is a church where people gather together in relationship with each other and with god so that we all might go out into the world as servants.

it is through our service that we can preach the good news of a god of love. afterall, james 2:17, 18b states "so faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. ... show me your faith apart from your works, and i by my works will show you my faith." this is not to say that works are necessary, but instead that because of my faith, because of the love i experience from god, i am compelled to spread that love, to do good works in the world. it is in our commitment to bringing god's reign on earth as it is in heaven (as we pray in the lord's prayer), that we truly experience god's love. if god's love comes to us and stops with us and we don't pass it on, then we do not get the full experience of god's love. god's love is made full in relationships of mutual service in the world.

so, we went to veľky slavkov and that is what i came away with. it was fun, it was physical, it was spiritual, and it was god-filled :) oh, and did i mention there was a pretty good view?

the sunset from our rooms

the view waiting for the električka to take us to the train station then home