Together with the Prayer Spaces in Schools International Director, Phil Sokell-Miles and Fr Reuben Gauci have recently had the privilege of travelling to Slovakia for a series of Prayer Spaces in Schools training sessions. What began as a mission to share ideas and practical tools quickly became something much deeper: an experience of connection, faith, and shared humanity. For some months beforehand, Phil and Fr Reuben met Nicolette and Romi from eRko and Viac, respectively, to prepare a programme that would speak to youth workers, catechists, educators and pastoral leaders in Slovakia.

Over four days in the first week of April 2026, they travelled across three locations, working with more than 150 participants, including those from education, catechesis, youth ministry and parish life at the Catholic University in Ruzumberok, as well as religious education teachers in the beautiful city of Nitra. Participants explored how prayer spaces could support Catholic religious education while offering students a more personal and reflective way to pray. Their questions were practical and honest: How will this work in our schools? What language should we use? How do we adapt this to children and young people in Slovakia? This dialogue became part of the learning.

The third training was held with 15 generous children and youth leaders at the eRko house, who took part in the course ‘How to Pray with Children’. We reflected on how prayer spaces could be integrated into parish groups and regular youth ministry. The atmosphere was relational and personal. Leaders considered how to invite children aged 6 to 10 to pray through creativity, silence and simple symbolic actions.

The training itself was rich and engaging, but some of the most powerful moments came when participants were invited to step into the activities themselves. They didn’t just learn about prayer spaces; they experienced them. As they engaged with stations focused on letting go of worries, asking big questions, offering forgiveness, expressing gratitude, and processing grief, something shifted.

In those quiet, reflective moments, many found themselves deeply moved. Some wrote their prayers on sticky notes with tears in their eyes. In that space, ‘training’ gently gave way to ‘ministry’. It became clear that these simple, creative activities hold the power to touch hearts in profound ways.

And as one of the participants said:

“Although I have been attending various catechetical formations for 22 years, I have never experienced anything so creative in that time.”

Many thanks to eRko and Oz Viac for their cooperation in the organisation. We look forward to taking concrete steps in our further cooperation with them to bring Prayer Spaces closer to children and young people in Slovakia.