The story begins late in the evening, in a room where the fan offers precious little relief from the heat. Believers — Roma, Serb, and American — join together in heartfelt prayer, echoing Jesus’ prayer of Matthew 9:37-38 “3 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” We believed — all of us — that God would answer our prayers. We went out into the night, and gathered again for a very late dinner. Not even an hour after our prayers, there was a knock at the door. We greeted our visitors, Alan and Ivan, but they had urgent business. “We heard there was someone here who could help us start a church. There isn’t one in our city, or within an hour’s drive. Could someone help us start a church?”
It isn’t hot anymore. In fact, it’s pretty chilly here in Kopaonik, in South Serbia. We’re gathered together again in prayer, but this time, Ivan is with us! We are talking about leadership, disciple making, church planting, and our plan to visit Pirot, his city, in two days. We have identified men of peace who will open their homes for house churches, and we are making plans for opening a new area to the gospel. Pirot is located in an area with a heavy concentration of Roma, and we’re all excited. We’re modeling our plans on Luke 10: 1-11. Sending out workers two by two (Ivan and Niki have made the initial plans.), praying for more workers, no elaborate provisions to slow us down or lessen our trust in God’s provision, ” . . . greet no one on the way . . . .” not to be rude, but to be swiftly about our work, not distracted by insincere pleasantries, and working through a man of peace and his oikos — his sphere of influence.
Stay with us this week. We’ll let you know how it’s going, as the tempermental wifi connection allows!