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BRATISLAVA VISITING REPORT

John 5:21 “’For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” 

In the beginning of November, I had an opportunity to visit Bratislava UBF. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia which is in central Europe.  Slovakia has been an independent nation since 1993 after it separated from the former Czechoslovakia. Slovakia is a member of the European Union and is also a Euro zone nation. Bratislava is on the Danube River and has a long, rich history. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and has played an important role in the politics and culture of the region. 

As my work takes me to central Europe three or four times a year, I have been very much blessed to meet some of our UBF frontline missionaries in central Europe. God sent Missionary Paul Jang to Bratislava in 2007. He went by himself, leaving his co-worker M. Esther, in South Korea. He did not have a job nor did he have any connections. But he went there by faith, believing God would provide. In Bratislava, he entered school to learn Slovak. After he finishing the language courses, the South Korean government decided to open an embassy in Slovakia. M. Paul applied for a position, the requirement being that he speak Slovak. He was hired. It was God’s miraculous provision and he continues to work there. M. Esther joined him in 2008 and they have been serving a house church ministry in Bratislava since then. M. Esther is very warm, friendly and humorous. Both M. Paul and M. Esther love Slovak students and over the years so many people have come and gone and been blessed through their love and service to Jesus Christ. They are serving Comenius University in Bratislava. 

Sh. Lukas (Gang-gu) Park originally went to Bratislava from Korea in 2007 to work in a business and run a shop. He was not a Christian. In 2013, he met M. Esther who was a regular customer in his shop. She invited him to Bible study and he accepted because she was so friendly and funny. Sh. Lukas began Bible study with M. Paul and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. 

M. Grace Choi had been a missionary in Egypt but when her teaching came to an end, she was looking for a new mission field. By God’s sovereignty, she was led to Bratislava in 2014. She is an excellent Korean teacher. She teaches in the international school and also helps the children of Korean expatriates to prepare for Korean college entrance exams. In 2015, she established a house church with Sh. Lukas and are co-working beautifully with M. Paul and M. Esther. 

Now there are two house churches in Bratislava. When I joined for worship service, we met in M. Paul and M. Esther’s home which is also the Bible center. God provided a beautiful, spacious place for their Bible house and home. Sh. Lukas and M. Grace live on the other floor of the two-story building. We studied John 5:16-47. To my surprise, Sh. Olena also joined for the worship service. Sh. Olena is from Podil UBF in Kiev, Ukraine. She is Missionary Maria Peace’s Bible student. She moved to Bratislava at the end of 2015 to work for an international accounting firm. 

At the worship service M. Paul delivered a powerful message in Slovak. I followed along with an English manuscript. As always when visiting our pioneering missionaries, I was refreshed and newly strengthened by Jesus Christ, who gives life to any sinner who repents and believes in him. I thank God who loves Slovak students and sent missionaries to bring the gospel of Jesus to them. May God bless Bratislava UBF to reach many students at Comenius University and make disciples. 

Prayer topics

• Pioneering of Comenius University. M. Esther enrolled as a student in Korean studies to be near students. Since she already knows the material, she has been a blessing to many other students 
• God may give M. Paul strength and wisdom to handle heavy embassy work 
• Sh. Lukas and M. Grace’s family to have a child 
• Sh. Olena’s future marriage in God’s time 
• Twelve house churches may be raised in Bratislava 

Tony King