Seeds of Change in the Balkans

Is a country worth our missionary efforts where evangelical Christians across the entire country are outnumbered by those in attendance on a Sunday morning at a typical American mega-church?

If so, I would like to present you with TWO such countries in Southeast Europe: Serbia and Montenegro.

One can find plenty of religious expression across SE Europe but personal faith in Jesus is the only answer to the despair and emptiness of her people.

Although stunning in its beauty, these countries are spiritually dead. EB and I, along with Savannah, Rebekah and Quentin were in the small city of Sutomore on the Adriatic along the Mediterranean Sea. We were in Europe’s newest country of barely 15 months: Montenegro, which seceded from Serbia, what is left of the former Yugoslavia.

Our Serbian ministry was having an English language camp for students there at a 2 star hotel along a beach covered with Eastern European tourists. In the context of teaching English, we were able to build friendships and share Christ with the Serbian students attending the camp. Some gospel conversations I had went deep into the night. Please allow me to introduce you to a couple of Serbian students with whom I shared.

Anton (on the left) did a mean Frank Sinatra on karaoke night.

Anton: (not his real name) Anton once studied to be an Orthodox priest. Most Americans categorize Christianity into either Catholic or Protestant. There is a third category: Orthodox. Yet the priests who were training Anton led him into all sorts of sins. These sins were so damaging that Anton does not like even talking about it.

But it didn’t quench his thirst for God. Anton heard the gospel many times at camp and he told me that the friendships he developed at camp, particularly with the American Campus Crusade college students who were helping to run the camp, were more important to him than his Serbian friends.

Speaking about Jesus with Fedor at a coffee shop along the Adriatic.

Fedor: Fedor has his doctorate in Film and Movies and is a member of Mensa, the society for the “super intellectual.” Fedor said he heard that this English camp had a religious twist to it and he came expecting to be preached at. He also came ready to do battle with the “religious zealots.” But, he told me, he was disarmed by the kindness and genuine faith of the people he met.

When I gave an optional seminar on the Historical Reliability of the Bible (same as I gave a two weeks before in Sarajevo), Fedor sat in the front row and asked honest, seeking questions. I explained the gospel several times to Fedor and he said he found the gospel message “very attractive.” Fedor, to the best of my knowledge, has not trusted Christ yet but seems oh so close. Please pray for Fedor! He text messaged me after the camp was over and said, “I count this time spend at (the English language camp) as best summer experience ever. Thank you for being an important part of it…”

Teaching American culture to Serbian students, like country-western dancing, was part of our English camps.

There are many city blocks in America with more evangelical churches than all of Montenegro, which has only 3. Please continue to pray for the Balkan countries of Southeastern Europe. Many Christians chalk these countries up as a part of Christendom but there are more Christians in Middle Eastern countries than exist in many of the countries of the European Balkan Peninsula.

Quentin and Rebekah at the beach and EB and Savannah celebrating the 4th of July.

EB and I felt like this English camp might be a great place for families to bring kids and do evangelistic missions work. It is right on the beach and in a beautiful part of the world. Let us know if this even might be a possibility for you for next summer.

In addition to significant ministry, there are beautiful cities to explore such as Budva, Montenegro and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its beautiful but there is much work to be done for the sake of the gospel along the Adriatic Sea. The Balkans need authentic examples of the gospel and they need laborers who will live it out. Please come!

Dubrovnik: A jewel of a city along the Adriatic coast.

A few cultural notes: At the border into Montenegro, the border guard examined our family’s passports, noticed the Georgia plates on our van and asked if we were Americans. Reluctantly, based on cool responses elsewhere in Europe, I said yes. He gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up and waved me into his country. Throughout the country we saw signs announcing USAid, referencing the fact that America is helping this country get started in its tenure as a sovereign nation.

A truck wondering if it can get through a hand-dug tunnel on a Serbian highway.

I am also learning that I can measure the “sophistication” of a culture based on how many Coca Cola options they have. For example, a trek into any Super Walmart or Super Target in America gives you a whole aisle of Coca Cola varieties to choose from. Yet in Montenegro, we felt fortunate to find a place that sold good ole normal Diet Coke, known as "Coca Cola Lite” in Europe. The Americans at the English camp were frequently asking each other, “Do you know where I can buy a diet Coke?”

While looking for a parking place, a tiny Eastern European car (a Pulski Fiat) was straddling two places. I tried in vain to wedge our big ole minivan into the spot. But waiting behind me was a silver Audi with Romanian plates (read: Mafia), the kind of car that usually travels 100 mph on the highway and flashes its headlights at any other car that dares to drive in the left lane. So I let the parking place go and searched for a new one. However I was flagged down immediately and waved back to the parking spot. It seems the occupants of the silver Audi with Romanian plates got out of their car, picked up the tiny Eastern European car, moved it 3 feet and ushered us into the new parking place they just created!

Our van in its parking place next to the Pulski Fiat

Hey! If you have read this far, drop me an email and let me know. I always wonder how much of what I post gets read.