From the 15th to 21st of August 2019 we as a family went to Montenegro to the Adriatic Sea to start planning King´s Kids Czech Republic mission trip for the summer 2020.
The journey itself was a challenge for us already. Our journey led through Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade to Podgorica (capital of Montenegro) so we crossed the Danube for three times during our trip. We drove through Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro. We split our route into two days and slept over at a charming place called Moja Čarda (Temerin, Serbia) which seemed as a true oasis for us with perfect service and very favorable prices.
The road to Montenegrian borders through Serbia seemed endless, yet the landscape that surrounded us was absolutely breathtaking. The valley of Tara river and canyon of Morači river are truly monumental gateway to Montenegro. When a new motorway, which is being built right now, leads to Montenegro it just won´t be the same…
However, right after our crossing the border the percentage of evangelical believers in this country increased rapidly as in Montenegro – numbering about 660.000 residents – there is about 200 of new-born Christians by estimation.
Maslina Campsite in Buljarica became our home for few next days. On Saturday we were enjoying sea and camping with only one little flaw – Buljarica is apparently located in the proximity of some swamps so we were under constant attack of mosquitos.
Early Sunday morning we set out to more than 100 km distant city of Nikšič to attend a local church Sunday service. When we got to Nikšič we found out that the houses were not marked with numbers so we had to relay on prayers and God´s help when searching for a particular house No. 26! Just in the right moment some man stopped by our car, apologizing he does not speak Czech fluently 🙂 and showing us instantly the right house – church building. When I parked the car and heard loud worship I knew we were at the right place.
The congregation is rather smaller than we are used to – about 15-20 people, but they also have about 10 children. Even though we came in the middle of worship they willingly seated us and gave us songbooks and English Bibles. We were surprised by simultaneous interpreting into English during the service.
After the service we met pastor of the church Stan Šurbatovič and we finally met also Daniel Petkovski. We talked about their needs and our possibilities how to help them spread God´s Kingdom in their city. At that moment our kids played outside the church building with the church kids and our daughter Justine took a bad step and cracked one of her instep bones. The accident radically changed the course of my conversation and actions and that is why I did not take any pictures in the church after the service… However, we agreed to meet with Daniel in their local famous pizza restaurant near the river, which we did afterwards.
There is a great need for the children ministry in the Nikšič church – for both – beliving children and non-believing children from the city. The best solution would be a long term ministry for children there, but I am convinced that our short-term mission trip can also start something good in the lives of Nikšič children and their families.
Our plan is to take a King´s Kids team to Nikšič at the turn of July and August 2020. According to given possibilities and size of our team we could stay either in the pastor´s house or at the dormitories in Nikšič. During the boot camp we could invite local Christian children and their parents whom we could train in the areas of hearing God´s voice, how to prepare their hearts for the ministry for the living God and how to find out and fulfill God´s calling for their lives. Evangelization activities could be also part of our outreach – according to the Holy Spirit´s guidance. We simply want to train future leaders of children ministry in Nikšič.
All the preparations are only at the start but I believe that our Lord has His plans and heart desires for this time. Therefore we would like to ask you for prayers and we will be happy to meet with you working together at God´s work.
We would like to wholeheartedly thank to all who supported us during this trip financially and in prayers!
