It's always been a passion of mine to help those in need and help them grow. Along this journey I have often meet people who share a similar passion and vision to help fellow sojourners along their way. This is the story of one such man.
I met Marek at a missional business conference about a month ago in Budapest. A simple, dark haired man in his mid thirties, he openly shared about his life, his few accomplishments as well as his sorted business and personal failures.
During a longer than permitted stay in a foreign land, his life was transformed. Some might call it a religious experience, but as you listen to this man, he is anything but religious. Transformed by God, he set on a mission to try to impact and transform people in need.
He returned to his native Slovakia and settled in his home town, some 30km outside Bratislava. With some gained wisdom and experience, he set out to create jobs through an enterprise he created. Landing a government reforestation contract, rather than recruiting the finest workers he could find, he decided to hire the social outcasts, homeless and needy. People with problems, people with poor work ethic, people lacking motivation, vision or at times even hope.
As I watched him each evening tour the town, it almost seemed uncanny how many people he knew. He would shake hands with officials, business owners, restaurant operators and would make no difference in his approach as he greeted the 'socially undesirables'. He would ask how things are going, and invited those who were part of his team to work in the morning. Normally 10-12 would give their definitive yes.
The following morning, only 3-5 would show up. This didn't faze Marek the least. With joy he took those who wanted to work to the planting site.
To be continued..
