I travelled with Ben Benson (who spends his year working both in the UK and the Ukraine) to Serbia via Budapest. This involved an eight and a half hour journey by plane and car finally arriving after midnight at our destination. We were going to work with a loose network of churches into which Siloam ministries seeks to give encouragement and support. Churches in the network are located in both Serbia and Croatia. Our remit was to teach leaders and to encourage their congregations. During the six days we ministered into at least eight different groups of hungry believers and spent a morning with a small group of leaders from the region.

A Future and a Hope!

Our expectations were exceeded in 2005 which was the first time we took the Spearhead tent to Plovdiv in Bulgaria. Hundreds of Roma Gypsy people responded to Jesus for salvation and healing. Since then doors have opened and relationships have been established in other communities.

Signs of Bulgaria’s entry into the EU are all around: new buildings, improved roads, higher wages and living costs. However, the very poor and marginalised Bulgarian “Roma” and “Turkish” people are discriminated against by white Bulgarians and remain ostracised. Old traditions prevail with many young people marrying by the age of thirteen; few are able to further their education. These are the communities that we have been invited to work amongst.

Mission In Bulgaria

So it was the end of my time on the ‘Year Team’ and time for a mission trip to complete the experience! We joined with Spearhead to go on a mission they were running to the Roma Gypsies in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. As well as the group of 12 of us from the ‘Year Team’ we were joined by people from KC21 Aldershot and ‘Living Waters’ Church in Clevedon, King’s Church in Poole, and some others plus four lads from Tajikistan who taught break dancing to the Gypsies. So a total of 28 of us headed off to Plovdiv with a strong sense that God had gone before us and prepared the way. As a team we were expecting great things from God and ready to do great things for God. .

Church Plant in Czech

We arrived in sunny Ostrava after a very efficient flight from Prague and spent the next week primarily encouraging the Roznov ministry team and fledgling church in how to reach out effectively into their local community and fulfill their vision for the town. We met with various expressions of the Apostolic Church in Roznov which is a church planting project from the ‘mother’ church in Valasske Mezirici (Val Mez for short!) which began in January of this year. They have a vision to see church planted throughout the Walachian region of Czech and already have a work in Vsettin and this new venture is a step of faith in obedience to the calling that Roman and his wife Marcie feel upon their lives.

Spearhead to purchase 3,500 seater tent

Some time back I felt God speaking to me about purchasing another tent. We travel to the Balkans every year to carry out missions and it seemed more practical to have a tent based there. At the same time I felt God encouraging me to get a larger tent which would enable us to put on bigger events. But as the tent we have at this time will seat nearly fifteen hundred people in its largest format, this seemed more than adequate for what we are presently involved in. I decided that perhaps this was not God but just me dreaming!

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Serbia and Croatia December 08