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| A Bridge to Life - That they may be one... |
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Imagine a country where every church, no matter what denomination, works together as a team to make God known to the people of that country?
This vision is reality in the small and newly independent country of Montenegro, where all the church leaders encourage and support
each other, joining together for events when possible. But this isn't the full picture. If we were to add another layer to the story,
we would discover that this unity is in fact between the three leaders, in the three churches, of the three denominations. Because
apart from the few small groups of believers along the coast and the two believers in the north of Montenegro, this is all there is. These
three churches have the awesome task of revealing God to their nation.
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What a privilege. What a responsibility.
On spending time with these three leaders - Jovica Bacvanski (pictured top right), Vladimir Cizmanski (pictured below Jovica), and Stanisa Surbatovic -
it becomes obvious the reason for the unity; they all have the same vision, the same drive, the same goal.
Their goal should be one that causes church unity throughout the world, but sadly often doesn't. These
men want to bring hope to their people through salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus. They want
to increase the number of believers - less than 160 at the last count - to create a country where God is
known to be sovereign. What better way to start than with unity. As Jesus prayed: "I pray that all of
them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may
believe that you have sent me". John 17: 21 (NIV).
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Jovica and Vladimir are both in the capital city of Podgorica, both are trying to strengthen their churches there
and at the same time witness in the surrounding villages and towns. On June 26th Jovica visited Devla, a lady called
to the village of Kamenari on the coast, where she witnesses to everybody she meets! This was a great day of celebration
for Devla, because Jovica signed a document stating that the group of believers meeting there is now an official daughter
church of the one in Podgorica. They don't have a leader or preacher yet (somebody is currently sent each week from Podgorica),
but there are great expectations, and Devla is excited that almost 20 believers meet with her each Sunday!
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Further along the coast, Daniel Stracinski (pictured above) spends his hours witnessing, distributing tracts and food parcels, and leading meetings
for children, youth and adults at the weekend. Daniel looks to Vladimir for his support, and relies totally on God, who provides for him.
He says "my vision is my calling to Bar to speak about God. I didn't want to go to Bar, I told God I wasn't so strong, but God told me to obey Him.
God has a big plan for this city - I have many youth and adults on my heart".
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Stanisa Surbatovic (pictured above) leads a church in Niksic, the second city in Montenegro. Even though he is a distance from the other churches, the overlap in
their lives is an encouraging sign that God is really working in this country. Stanisa says "God is beginning to move here, there are small
groups of believers appearing all along the coastline". However, Stanisa, like his counterparts in Podgorica, is keen to see the the church grow in
Niksic, where out of a population of 70,000 there are about 20 church members. Many people believe that they don't need the gospel message because they are already Christian
- Orthodox Christian - which can often mean church on a Sunday, witch doctor on a Tuesday, occult on Thursday... though actually less than 100 in Niksic actually
bother with the Sunday ritual in the one Orthodox church there.
All three leaders are keen to get help - there are so few Christians across the entire country that the task of bringing the nation to God is huge.
Unfortunately, despite the small number of Christians, Montenegro receives the least number of missionaries in all of Europe.
So, in this spiritually deserted country, where superstition and the occult seems to go hand in hand with Orthodoxy, and where
missionaries often pass through on their way to a better known destination, these three men are fighting a battle for God. And by
all accounts, it would seem that they are winning. As Moses played a strategic part through prayer in the defeat of the Amalekites (Exodus 17),
let us join our brothers in Montenegro with ardent prayer for more breakthrough and for people to cross over the bridge to new life in Jesus!
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| How you can help |
Please pray with us:
Please pray for the work and witness of the people mentioned in this article and for them to shine Godís light in Montenegro.
Pray especially for:
The continued unity of the churches in Montenegro.
More workers to help spread the gospel.
Communities to be touched by God.
People to be open to receive the Gospel.
New churches to follow the example of these three churches.
For further prayer requests please see the August/September Prayer Diary online
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