In the morning, because it had snowed, my sister did the delivery round by car with me. The roads were terribly slippery, though. We set out at 5 a.m. and I was home at about 6:45, my sister about 15 minutes later, because she was still finishing her route, while I instead walked home on foot – about 2.5 km. So that’s that. At 7:45 my sister came to ask me when I wanted to leave, because I had told her I needed to be there by 8.
So I got in the car, took everything I needed (the readings for the youth week of prayer, Identity), toothpaste, because I would no longer have time to brush my teeth, and the other things I always carry, like my phone and camera. I was at church at about 8:10, and for another 20 minutes PH and I were shoveling snow in front of the church, but that was a piece of cake.
Then PH suggested I at least make myself some tea for all that “hard labor“. So I made myself 2 cups of tea. A little later my friend David came in. He immediately pulled out a photo of some Black man and started in on how I had deceived him. He said he had been waiting here from 5 to 7 o’clock and there was nobody anywhere, and he couldn’t get through to anyone on the phone. I kept telling him over and over that I had been here at the youth meeting from 5:45 to 8:00 p.m., that the lights were on and that the gate was open too, because people were arriving gradually, but he kept harping on his own version.
We moved to the small hall, where he put the photo on the table and kept repeating several things:
- That he is a specialist – that he knows the Bible very well and can quote from it on any topic.
- That he can dance and laugh, but also understand the difficult life situation of a homeless man (David), who sleeps on the ground in the snow in freezing weather.
- That I am warm, he is cold. I am full, he is hungry. I am happy, he is sad, etc.
- That he speaks 14 (!) languages.
- That he is from London (LONDON)
- That he gave him money for food.
- And also that I had deceived him and that he no longer trusts me.
He kept saying this over and over. In the end the local cleaning lady told him off. He in turn told her that nobody understands his difficult life situation (that he sleeps on the ground, etc.). She replied that she doesn’t have a job either, that life is a constant struggle, and that everyone has some problems.
Finally, after 9 o’clock, Brother Dockalek came with Brother Stanek, and they told him he was drunk and that he had to leave. He could come back next week when he wasn’t plastered. At first they went about it gently, saying he could finish his tea. But when he kept drinking it in tiny sips, Mr. Dockalek stepped in with the words “You’re testing my patience. OUT!“. For a while he still waited in front of the church, he probably had tears in his eyes, but in the end he left. Jarek, who went after them to close the door, said that he stank like an old billy goat.
Then I told the youth group what he had said to me today and during our previous meetings, and I found out some interesting things, for example that he doesn’t have to go to Slovakia for social benefits at all, because since we are in the EU, he can apply for them here too. PH and I didn’t discuss it any further, so I don’t know whether that would also apply to material need benefits etc., but probably yes.
I also told them that he wanted a ticket to 3 destinations at once – Frankfurt (where he has a son), Stitiny in Poland and maybe even Slovakia, though not so much there, because he has a nasty brother there who fathered loads of kids and now lives only on social benefits. Tom came in. Jarek told him not to even touch that mug, because “that homeless guy drank from it”. Tom pushed it away with one finger, and I took both mugs to the kitchen, mine and his, so that they wouldn’t needlessly distract people here.
So we kept talking, and in the end I even brought up the affair with the Roma in Trinec, when they broke a window of the Seventh-day Adventist prayer house. But we agreed that they try to blackmail everyone. Finally we read the lesson – I also read quite a long part, and I’m glad that PH trusted me that much. Apart from my awful voice, it was good; I didn’t stutter or stumble.
Everyone read something; there were quite few of us, only 10. We started reading with Jarek and went counterclockwise, so the first 3 people who read were Jarek, Monika St. and me. And I forgot to mention, the good thing was that Mona sat down next to me, even though there were plenty of other seats everywhere. I shared my “Identity” with her.
When we got to the questions, Mr. Stanek came in and decided that there would be nothing more, because the time for Sabbath School was up. So this was the fastest Sabbath School I have ever experienced. Then I went to hang my jacket on the coat rack and Helenka was there. I was really pleased that she greeted me on her own.