NEW CHURCH IN TOWN

Originally posted on our ministry Facebook group's wall on November 28, 2022

Friends,

I want to share something else with you, just so that you do not think all is gloomy on our end. 

Two months ago, two missionary friends and I have started a new Christian gathering in town with the intention that it grows to a full scale church. This undertake has come to life after a long period of planning, praying and many conversations and meetings. During this time we were seeking His will and walked carefully, step by step, month by month, until we were ready to make the “move” and announce that there is a new church in town. 

Besides the common desire to look for new ways to serve Christ and see His Kingdom expand in Montenegro, each one of us had an unique motivation for investing into this undertake. Personally, I became so hungry for Christian fellowship with my peers. After spending so many years on my own, I wanted to become a part of a larger church body that I will be accountable to. Also, with the Roma ministry being so taxing and costly in so many ways, I felt the need to gather around myself a larger, local support network, potentially creating a bigger pool of people to help serve in Konik and church planting efforts in the north of Montenegro. The long years loneliness started taking a toll on me, and I realized it was the time for change. 

Some of you may be surprised by reading these lines. This new church in making is very different from the type of church we have in Konik. But, this is exactly why it feels so refreshing and uplifting, a breeze of fresh air and “new blood” that gives me strength to return to my primarily ministry - bringing the Gospel to the Roma and Ashkali/Egyptians in Montenegro. 

And it is true that this new church, and ministry around it, is very different from the one I’ve been involved in until now. For example, the target groups we aim at are from rather opposite side of societal spectrum, such as expat Christians (internationals) and the local university students, young professionals and young families. Overall, we are looking for a new, fresh expression of Church, a faithful representation of Christ, as well as for new ways to BE His presence within the larger Podgorica and Montenegro communities. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we walk towards meeting these goals prayerfully and intentionally. Pray that God allows us mercy to be His tool in reaching souls for Christ and for building His Kingdom in Montenegro.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summertime, part two: Tutoring Re-Started

Image
Improvised school board placed on makeshift wood-burning stove This month we have more exciting news to share with you: we were able to restart the tutoring program. Thanks to the sacrificial undertaking of a few of our new members (all non-Roma) we were able to begin providing tutoring classes for church children again!  As some of you may remember, we held these classes for a semester and a half in 2021/22 and then had to stop because some of the volunteers/teachers were unable to continue due to the changes in their schedules. Ever since, it has been a prayer of ours to continue with it, as we truly enjoyed each moment from the last classes!  Tutoring is something we’ve been planning to do for years. The idea was born after realizing how much the Roma-RAE pupils fall behind their non-Roma classmates in regards to knowledge they acquire and success they make in school.  I'd shared this in the past already, but I’ll repeat it once again: over the course of the last 20 years govern
Read more

WORSHIP NIGHTS

Originally posted on our ministry Facebook group's wall on March 7th, 2023​ Here’s another little something I’d like to share with you. It is about an initiative made by Frederick and Abigail, a missionary couple from Barbados, whom felt really strongly that God wanted them to start off with “open house” worship sessions every last Sunday in the month. Practically, it means that sessions are open to all Christians regardless of their church background, as well as whoever friends they want to bring with them. Ideally, but not necessarily, each one of these “worship nights” should be hosted by a different local church.  Every start is a difficult one (at least around here) and one has to walk in (blind) faith if they want to reach success. We also started slow, praying and hoping that the initiative will win the hearts of local believers as we do it. I say we, because the two of them invited me to join the worship band, with another two - an American and Chilean - being a part of i
Read more

“Job Creation” Training, HUB, Serbia, April 27-29

Image
​ Everyone,  Just a quick update on something that happened at the end of last month. On April 27-29, our church took part in the 2nd ”Job Creation” conference that was held in the historical Belgrade Christian Association. The event was organized by Roma Networks - a network of Roma churches and ministries from all over Europe (and it becomes global!) that we’ve been a part of since 2014.  This event was a follow up of the last year’s event on the similar topic, as job creation, poverty alleviation, partial/full sustainability has become an important conversation among the Roma churches and ministries all over Eastern Europe. The awareness of necessity for Roma churches/ministries to become less dependent on the support from e.g. the USA and/or Western Europe is becoming greater and so there are many independent initiatives popping up from different corners of “Roma ministries universe”. Some of you may remember that we are being active in this field for a couple of years now. Unfortu
Read more