Dr. Bohus Zivcak, who recently served on mission with Ralph Martin in Ukraine, came to know Jesus in Communist Slovakia. According to Peter Herbeck, Bohus leads “one of the most dynamic, cross-generational clergy and laity combined works of Catholic evangelization anywhere in the world.”
I was born in 1968, when my part of the world was behind the Iron Curtain. We were very isolated. Everything was forbidden.
I didn’t know there was a different world. I grew up in a believing family, but we had to practice our faith in secret. My mom was a teacher and couldn’t attend church officially, so she had to attend church in a very small village where nobody knew her. As a teenager, I began thinking this was too difficult. Everyone said, “You have no future as a believer. You will have a great future if you join the Communist Party.”
I was on the way out of the Church. But then a man called out to me while I was on my bike and asked if I would like to join a small group. I only knew him as a factory engineer who worked with youth; I now know him as Fr. Michael Zamkovsky.
I joined the small group of six to ten people. In very difficult circumstances, this was the only way to share our faith. We met secretly in houses, forests, or the mountains. We read Scripture, shared the faith, and did retreats. I didn’t know Fr. Michael was a priest. If it was known, he would have been put in prison. Communism intended to destroy the Church; instead, it created a bond that would not have been otherwise possible.
Fr. Michael and I became friends, and he stayed with me and led me through my crazy teenage years. Over thirty-five years, we’ve been together almost every day.
When the revolution came in 1989, and our small group learned the truth, I couldn’t recall one situation that discredited Fr. Michael as a priest. For me, this was the biggest testimony of life with Christ. This was the older man holding the faith even in difficult circumstances. He was faithful to the Lord and us. Communism had seemed unshakeable; we never thought it was going to change. But in a moment, the whole country changed, and doors were opened. Fr. Michael went back to the monastery, which had been destroyed. We wondered, “What’s next?”
I was newly married to a girl from the small group. I am thankful to be married to someone wiser and more holy, who was beside me through everything. God has given us a gift of marriage and a calling to be missionaries—and we decided to start in that monastery.
Fr. Michael said, “I have a lot of work for you, but no money.” Alena, my wife, and I discussed this and prayed about it. We took a risk. I quit my job, and we continued working with youth like we did in the Communist times. We lived for two years without any salary there. Slowly, God began to open doors to other places and people.
Discipleship is important. It is a gift to have somebody next to you who is older and stronger. It was a big sacrifice for Fr. Michael to share his life with lay people—to let them come close and see his prayer life and behavior. But it gives life. I was blessed to experience this.
If not for Fr. Michael and his life, neither myself, my wife, nor the fellowship we’ve helped build would exist. We would have disappeared in the world. Because of his faithfulness and this relationship of discipleship, we have stayed together. Even with small children and all the difficulties that marriages go through, we still feel called to serve. It’s not easy. It’s difficult to manage the time and heaviness of being away from family and spouses, but it is a great blessing to see God present. God is paying us back richly.
This article originally appeared in Renewal Ministries November 2024 newsletter.
Read about Bohus’ time in Ukraine with Ralph Martin here.
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Bohumir Zivcak, PhD, grew up under the Communist regime in Slovakia, secretly practicing his Catholic faith as a teenager. When Communism fell in 1989, Bohus and his new wife, Alena, began working as lay missionaries, helping to build the River of Life missionary community. Working with the Redemptorist order and a strong network of communities in former Communist countries, they have conducted parish missions, evangelization schools, and preached the Gospel throughout Slovakia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Kazakhstan. Bohus serves as Renewal Ministries’ country coordinator for Kazakhstan and Lithuania. He also teaches spirituality at the Catholic University in Ruzomberok, as a member of the department of missions and charity work. Bohus and his wife live in Podolinec, in the mountains of Slovakia, with their four children.
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What a wonderful witness to faith in God and his Church in times of difficulty, danger and persecution. Although living through hard times and without the main essentials Dr. Bohus Zivcak and his wife Alena displayed a very unique faith in God, in Father Michael, and in each other to move forward to prepare themselves to do the work of Jesus as true evangelists. A truly inspiring and captivating story of Christian witness. Amazing! You inspire those of us reading this testimony of your life in Christ. I admit I am truly inspired .
Bless you Dr. Bohus, Alena and your family. Please continue to inspire and encourage followers of Renewal Ministries such as myself. I welcome your news of evangelization in action!
God be with you always.