My story

Managing editor of www.mojpribeh.sk
Member of team leadership Community of the Good Shepherd
President of the Civil association Pastor Bonus

They were, are, and will be around us - the prophets. They are common people who are friends with God; they are so intimately close to God that He shares with them the secrets and the intentions of His heart. Old Testament prophets like Samuel, Nathan, David, Elijah, Ezekiel, or new Testament prophets like Barnabas, Simeon, Jude, and Silas, they all listened to God's voice. With the inspired word of the Almighty God, they were sent to their missions to kings, nations, and single individuals. Jewish rabbis teach that, if God utters His word/His intention, it is as though it already occurred. With His word He created the world and His word sustains the existence of this world. The words inspired by God (prophecy) have a much wider significance than simply “forecasting” the future. They are thoughts, words, and acts that are directly inspired by the Spirit of the living God.

John Paul II was a man who loved God and people more than everything else. Through the example of his life and through his messages of solidarity, freedom, and love, he strongly contributed to the fall of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. He was the light that God used to manifest His intentions and His plan for mankind. He was God's friend; his spiritual ears and eyes listened to and looked at the mysteries hidden in God’s heart. We can affirm that John Paul II was one of the greatest prophets of our century.

By being close to God and with the help of the Holy Spirit, in one of his speeches in the Vatican, John Paul II uttered prophetical words addressed to us, Slovaks:

„Slovakia plays a peculiar role in building Europe of the Third Millennium: don’t forget it! Through its traditions and its cultures, through its martyrs and its confessors of the faith, through the dynamic forces of its new generations, this country is called to offer above all its gift of faith in Christ and its devotion to the Virgin Mary.“

John Paul II, Vatican, 9 November 1996

„Slovakia plays a peculiar role in building Europe of the Third Millennium: don’t forget it!“

Did John Paul II take his words really seriously? We Slovaks, hunchbacked, broken in our self-awareness, a nation that was always oppressed and resigned to be in most cases the servant of powerful states… Can we really have a peculiar mission in building Europe of the Third Millennium?

The examples of God's people reported in the Old Testament and in the New Testament include many cases in which God used the weak and fragile characters. These people revealed God’s power and glory through their own personal weakness (But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness - 2 Cor 12, 9). Through his faith in God a simple shepherd named David bravely faced the most feared of the warriors, Goliath. Judith and Esther, common women, were courageous enough to put at risk their own lives in order to save their nation from devastation brought by the enemy. Peter, a fisher who three times publicly denied Jesus is called to repent and to become such an important servant of Christ. “Do you love me? Feed my sheep“. The first person Jesus spoke with after His resurrection was Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute, a weak and fragile woman who was close to Jesus at time of His death. The Bible also contains many more examples of how the Lord has shown His intentions through the mouth of prophets for the sake of big and small nations (e.g. Israel, Egypt, Persia, Macedonia, and other nations).

Certainly on the basis of the history of our nation – as well as on the basis of his spiritual sensitiveness – John Paul II knew that we, Slovaks, have little courage to overcome our historical shadow. During his apostolic travels around the world, and above all when he visited Slovakia, his most frequent words were:

“ Don’t be afraid!“

We are living in the new apostolic era. Today, the Christians who live a personal relation with God are a minority, both in Slovakia and in the whole Europe. Secularism, relativism, and militant atheism are increasing. Therefore, John Paul II and Benedict XVI invite the Christians to a “new evangelization” in Europe and in the world. Slovakia had (and still today it has) many missionaries who are working in different world countries.

English people are famous as world colonizers, Portuguese as navigators, Spaniards as conquerors, and we, Slovaks, are invited to become missionaries/apostles of Europe.

On behalf of the authors of www.mojpribeh.sk , I can state that we have completely accepted the call of John Paul II. We are translating into English the stories of many precious people from Slovakia who have had a personal experience with Jesus Christ and have a confidential relation with Him (and we also plan translation in other world languages). By doing this, we are offering a testimony and inspiration for a personal encounter with Jesus, for the benefit of all English-speaking people not only in Europe, but also throughout the world.

One swallow does not make a summer. Nevertheless, we would like to encourage the new generation of young people in Slovakia who will be willing to fulfil the prophetical vision of John Paul II. His call concerns every one of us.

Every one of us should ask the Lord: “ „What should I do?“

First of all, every one should live the Gospel in the place where he/she exactly is. In this case we are very reliable witnesses. Every one can pray for the diffusion of the Gospel and also for those who are announcing the Kingdom of God and working in the field of Gospel-spreading abroad. According to individual possibilities, it is possible to help within the practical ministry by announcing the Gospel. It is also important to financially sustain the missionaries and all evangelisation projects. Without these pillars the missionaries would not be able to reach long-term results.

About 720 years before Christ, the Lord asked the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6, 8) "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?". Let’s reply to the divine call of John Paul II by using the same words as the prophet Isaiah: „ Here am I. Send me. “