November Newsletter

Life in Koseca
Ashley Severson, Young Adult in Global Mission
November Newsletter


Hello everybody! My apologies for being slow on my newsletters, and I’m looking forward to updating you all on things! I will let my tardiness tell you that I am becoming busier and meeting more people as time passes here in Koseca, so things are getting more exciting with each passing week! I hope this letter finds all of you well, enjoying Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season! J

November was an exciting month for me: the celebration of Thanksgiving and my birthday, as well as the beginning of the holiday season. I spent part of my birthday at the center, playing THIRTEEN games of my favorite board game with a bunch of my favorite old ladies, while watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” dubbed over in Slovak! I went out for pizza with Beata, which was great! I also celebrated with my friend Juraj and his family. They gave me “My First Slovak Picture Book” to help me learn more words in Slovak, and they also made me dinner and a cake! I was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t gotten to blow out birthday candles until this point, but his family baked me a very nice banana chocolate cake with a big 23 candle on top! Very nice, and tasty!

At the end of November, we had our first volunteer retreat in Bratislava and it was fantastic! My Thanksgiving was both unique and traditional this year, and I enjoyed the experiences of both. Our group was invited for Thanksgiving dinner in the city, and so we joined other American volunteers that are also serving in Slovakia or other parts of Europe. We all came together, each bringing different dishes, to create a giant Thanksgiving dinner! Even though I spent the holiday in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I was still able to have turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pie, and much more! The highlight of the meal for me was the pumpkin pie, delicious! In addition to our Thanksgiving dinner celebration, we (my fellow volunteers and I) celebrated the holiday by taking a day trip to Vienna, Austria together. We had a great time wandering around the city, getting lost, spending a few hours in a GIANT cemetery trying to find the graves of dead musicians and composers (and we were never successful, but had a fun time), attempting to sightsee, and talking a LOT. It was so nice to spend time with them, swapping stories and experiences. I feel very comforted to have them all in Slovakia with me, going through similar experiences, and being able to relate to me. For them, I am very thankful.

For November’s newsletter, we were given these questions to ponder over: “Where is God in our world? Where is God in the midst of the contexts we live and experience: in the midst of suffering, injustice, hunger, poverty, war, effects of colonization, sexism, racism, death, illness, aging? Is God still speaking? And how?”

I want to share a few quotes I’ve run across in the 365 Day Brighteners book I got from my Aunt Jan:

“Only God can make sense out of senseless tragedies (Isaiah 55:8-9).” –Janette Oke

“God possesses infinite knowledge and an awareness which is uniquely His. At all times, even in the midst of any type of suffering, I can realize that He knows, loves, watches, understands, and more than that, He has a purpose.” –Billy Graham

I think of one of my good friends in Slovakia. She has had health problems all of her life with diabetes, and had to deal with a physical disability that has left her unable to work, have children, and basically just live life. Instead of having a supportive family to help her, she has two deceased parents, four siblings that won’t help her and want nothing to do with her, and one sibling who checks in on her only a few times a year. Because her family doesn’t support her and she has nowhere to go, she is now living in a nursing home, at the age of 38. Where is God in her life?

I now teach English in a high school near Koseca, and I have a class of ten English learners in my room. They don’t understand much English because their first learned language is German (which they’ve been learning since they were 11 years old). One day Beata helped me with my class, and afterwards said to me, “I told them that they should try harder to learn more English. I told them that their German is useless these days, and if they want a decent job or to go anywhere, they need to learn English.” They grow up learning three languages because their home country is so small and insignificant in the world’s eyes that they will have almost no opportunity if they stay here in Slovakia. And so they learn, and attempt to move to English speaking countries to learn the language and find better opportunities. I felt terrible that she’d said this to them, but she said they just nodded their heads in agreement. It makes me think of my own experiences learning a language in high school, and growing up in a society where all I heard was, “Why should WE have to learn Spanish? All those Mexicans are coming here, so THEY should be the ones to have to learn our language.” Why does God allow the world to be the way it is? It leaves me wondering, “Where is the justice?”

This is definitely a difficult question, but an important one to think about as a Christian. How could God let bad things happen? Whether it’s the smaller injustices or tragedies. We are taught from a very young age that God is merciful and that we are safe in His arms if we believe. But eventually a time comes in all of our lives where we ask ourselves this question: Why? I’ve often wondered but have no great answer, except that God is with us through the good times in our lives AND the bad. When He created man, He gave us so many abilities and free will. I think that when He gave us free will, He gave us the responsibility to take care of each other, ourselves, and our world. The reality is that we are all human and all make err, and “the bad things” happen as a result. I believe that God is always watching and is with us no matter what happens, despite the sadness He feels in our mistakes. He is loyal, forgiving, and forever.

Lastly, I would like to recommend a poem to all of you: “Dreaming Upside Down” by Tom Peterson, editor of Seeds. I think it’s very attention grabbing and gives us a necessary perspective on injustice in the world.

Thanks for reading! Until next time,
-Ashley