Bratislava & Podolínec – Slovakia
The Slovakian base members are part of two fellowships: River of Life from Podolinec and Calvary from Bratislava. Both fellowships have arisen from the Redemptorists Monasteries in Catholic tradition. Their vision is for Mission with Worship and Evangelism – and they have been connected to MIW for many years.
The base has grown out of the desire to bring people closer to God and discovering how dance and movement can do that. It started with a few but over the years many more have been released to be free to move in worship. The relationship with MIW has grown from relationships with the Edinburgh base. Rachel Whitby and Rachel Hewitt first went to teach MIW workshops in 2003 in Podolinec, and Rachel Whitby came to teach on an EU-funded Creative Worship school for young people from across eastern Europe in 2005, and has continued building relationship with the Slovakians since then.
Over the years as more members were released into the freedom of moving in worship, many of them joined in with MIW activities including a Scotland Summer School in 2004 and the Calling All Nations Berlin Olympic Stadium worship event. A small MIW team also came to support a city wide mission in Bratislava in 2010 led by Andy Au – and with percussionists led by Terl Bryant.
Since 2017 there has been a renewed and stronger connection with MIW, with teams coming to teach every year responding to an urgency to ‘kick open a door’, to go closer and serve others, because we feel exactly this – movement brings us closer to our God. The Base started in 2019 and is led by Michal Senko and Martina Gurkova in Podolinec and by Katarina Dorkova and Katarina Kurucova and Veronika Zamkovska in Bratislava. Spiritual oversight is provided by Father Michael and the leadership team of River of Life and Calvary Fellowships.
