Those of you who support and encourage me in my work with Wycliffe, will have read in my newsletter that I recently got engaged to Roman Mészároš.
We work together in Musoma, Tanzania, and he’s currently studying in England, but I thought it would be good for you to get to know him a little better in his own words.
So, Roman, where are you from? What are some of your favourite things to do?
I come from Slovakia. I love cycling, board games and I like languages.
What do you do for your job?
I work as an exegetical advisor. I work with a team of translators, who all come from a specific language group. I read their translation and discuss potential translation issues with them and together we try to bring the Word of God to their language group in a way that they understand it the best.
What is your favourite thing about living and working in Tanzania?
Firstly, I really enjoy Tanzanian weather, which is very predictable and is often very warm. There are also some things you start taking for granted when you live somewhere and you might not notice them anymore. For example, Tanzanians are very hospitable and to make you welcome they would give you almost everything they have. The other thing is that they are very generous with sharing whatever they have with people around them.
What are you doing now?
Right now I am continuing my study of linguistics and translation in England, which will help me in my work in Tanzania. After this I should be more capable and independent in my work overseas.
Have you always been a Christian?
I grew up in catholic Slovakia. Ever since I remember, I’ve believed that God exists, that Jesus is the Son of God and that I can’t live according to God’s standard. I’ve always believed that Jesus died on the cross, but only when I was 19 I finally understood what it meant for my life. That was when I met people who lived with Christ every day. These people were members of a free evangelical church. They told me, that when Jesus died on the cross he fulfilled God’s standard for me and I only needed to accept it. I saw the joy and love for Christ that they had, which I really desired for myself after I saw it in their lives. And that’s what I have now as I’m looking forward to be with Jesus one day in his Kingdom.
What is the thing that is most important or amazing to you about God at the moment?
As I’m currently studying about languages and cultures, I find it fascinating how God can talk to each one of us in a unique way. I myself wonder what is the appropriate form in which the Word of God should be handed to people around us wherever we are. I’m also wondering about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to trust God and who we often know so little about.
Well, there you go – a brief introduction to Roman. I would also add that he loves cake and chocolate, and he smiles and laughs a lot! (The photo below illustrates all of these; I was laughing too much to stand up straight …)
Please get in touch if you’d like to introduce yourself to Roman in your own words. Also, we’ll be in the UK and Slovakia over the Summer and early Autumn, so let us know if you’d like to get together!
If you’d like to look back on past editions of Roman’s own newsletters, you can access them here: https://goo.gl/3DVnGT (look for files ending _en for English, unless you fancy the challenge of Slovak!).
The Bible: the story everyone needs 