By Phil Stalnaker
As excited as I was to go on my most recent international adventure, I was struck with trepidation before departing. I don’t like leaving my family and it does fill me with angst when I think about how far away I would be and how long I would be gone from them. Connectivity is important to people. In fact, it is a vital human characteristic. Consider what scripture has to say about the human connection: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18 ESV). The call, however, was ahead of me and the plane was not going to wait for my extended goodbyes, so I kissed my wife one last time and headed for Europe.
The goal of this trip was to visit our denomination’s international workers (IW) in multiple European countries. Many people do not think of Europe as a necessary area for missions, as there is such a rich history of Christianity going back to the time of Paul, but the reality is that Europe is today one of the least reached areas of the world. While there are many there who consider Christianity as part of their heritage, it is merely a cultural connection through their family and through history. True believers in Christ for their salvation with a desire to grow in that relationship as a disciple of Jesus are few and far between. With the deep roots of organized religion and growth due to ritualized and cultural strong arms, true Christianity is in short supply. This has led to many places in Europe becoming gospel deserts, where connectivity and relationship become difficult and distant. This is not how we were meant to live as people.
Going out there to visit our international workers in person allowed us to connect, supply, resource, encourage, and engage with them as they undertook the mission to be an oasis in those gospel deserts. As we went, we prayed for a vision through this trip to help us set up more intentional partnerships with these workers for increased connectivity and resourcing, ultimately bringing our local churches into closer relationship with the workers and their locations/projects. This will hopefully lead to more short-term trips, more local engagement, more prayer, and more financial giving to see the work of Christ be fulfilled: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14 ESV). My tour was to visit specifically three countries – Italy, Spain, and Kosovo. As I discuss the stories from those countries, please note that I am not using names, as some of them work in creative access situations and I do not want to hinder their work.
Connecting With Milan, Italy
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The first and shortest leg of my trip was Italy. I was only there for a total of 36 hours and went on my own (most of the trip I was accompanied by a team of pastors from Florida), but it was because the workers on our Milan project were already personal friends of mine. I wasn’t going to tour Europe and miss out on seeing them! I got in on a late Friday evening and was picked up by M at the airport in the car that my local church had spear-headed a fundraising effort to purchase for them four years ago. I had challenged many people to give towards that need and was rewarded with a wonderful car ride – oh the sweet mercies of God who blesses us with such loving memories. After a lovely pizza dinner with M&G, we called it a night and made sure to get plenty of rest for what would be a very eventful day.
We started our day at the train station where M&G have a weekly ministry bringing food and refreshments to people struggling to find shelter and using the train station as a pseudo-home. We engaged in a few gospel-centric conversations, but mostly just loved on people with fresh fruit and warm coffee and a blessing from Jesus. The number of people who pass through the station is staggering, and the percentage of them that are destitute, even of refugee status, is daunting. They can only do so much, but faithfully do what they can.
After spending some time there, M&G wanted me to meet some of the people that they have created Christ-centered, fruitful relationships with – two individuals in particular. A, my first new friend, met up with M and I at the famous Duomo di Milano where we walked the grounds and then ventured into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall (home of such places as Prada and Louis Vuitton to name a few) while A shared his story of coming to Christ out of a tragic and dangerous family situation. We ended our time together at a square celebrating Leonardo DaVinci. M and I headed back to the train station, met some other travelers and encouraged them on their way as we met up with G and enjoyed a wonderfully homecooked Italian meal. We then went to meet up with D and heard his story of faith and his passion to be a good influence on his friends. Due to some similarities, D and I are discussing ways to keep our new friendship growing through regular connection ourselves! Connectivity would happen again in ways I never imagined and now I have an opportunity to invest, and effect change not only through my relationship with M&G, but also directly with Italian nationals!
As we sat down over a late dinner together, M&G expanded on a few ways in which we can increase our partnership. I learned of some frustrations that the national church leaders seem to have with one another and how M&G are trying to strengthen connections and help bring peace to those conflicts. They need prayer over their upcoming year on home assignment and what their role will be going back next year, influence they have with the national bodies, financial giving, and help with direct discipleship opportunities with D and also a new IW. The more we can connect with them through these ways, the more equipped and empowered they will be to fulfill their mission in Italy. We need them to do the work that we can’t do over there, and they need us to help them accomplish it. After some group prayer, hugs, and gifts given and received, we said our goodbyes and I headed to meet up with the rest of our team in Spain.
Connecting With Salt, Spain
While I was excited to see what God was doing in our project in Salt, it was not my original plan to focus too much on that location, as our church’s partnerships were directly centered on Italy and the upcoming portion of the trip to Kosovo. Spain happened to be in the middle, so I got to go along and be wowed by the vision and beauty of God’s plans for the region of Catalonia. We flew into Barcelona, and I was immediately pulled in by the gorgeous mountain terrain with the smattering of palm tress all around. It was a sight to behold! The Salt team is comprised of two couples, I&S (along with their 3 children) and M&Z. They picked us up and we headed out to the city of Salt where we made our introductions and got to know each other over an incredible Spanish three course meal.
Ministry in Salt is active and there are numerous stories we heard; there was I, an emigrant Muslim who came to Christ, but had to run from his family because of death threats. The team recognized him as a believer upon meeting him and have been discipling him ever since. Or the story of two friends who got into Spain illegally, but had a chance to get legal papers, though the way they did that had them running a farm on their own with no food, supplies, or help. The team met them and was able to help. Opportunities to directly impact the people there are numerous, but on top of that, they are preparing the groundwork for an incredible “adventure camp” ministry that will mentor youth during the week and be an outdoor club (outdoor sports are incredibly popular in Spain) on the weekends. And even though they are still getting this ministry started, it has allowed them opportunities to get to know kids and have a powerful impact on their lives – even helping them process a recent terrorist attack in Spain.
The main focus of their efforts now is getting their newly leased space built out and ready for the ministry. They took us to the location where it will be and showed us plans for what it will become. I was excited as they had some questions still trying to figure out how to make it all work, and I was able to help with a design idea that might save them money and increase their building use! The team then took some time to show us the area: Salt and Girona, two “twin” cities that are next door to each other, along with some other areas in the region such as Besalu (a medieval walled city with stunning views everywhere you look) and Banyoles, the home of the Spanish Olympic rowing team.
These are all areas directly surrounding their ministry in Salt—the area where the immigrants and refugees tend to live—meaning that while there is a lot of the Catalonia region is Spain that is gorgeous, built up, and ready to be shown off, Salt is not that. It is the part where those who are trying to make a life, claw their way out of the gutter, or merely survive are found. These people, while they definitely hold on to a deep Muslim heritage, really need Jesus – not only for their eternity, but also just to make life bearable each day. Our team here is courageously working to meet that need and connect with these people in difficult and even dangerous situations.
They need partnerships as neither couple have strong relationships with churches here in the states. They need prayer for a risky and sometimes dangerous ministry (with young kids in tow) as well as funding for this major build out project and on-going resources to provide materials for the youth and young adults that will be participating in their ministry. M&Z will be in Florida trying to make inroads with churches later this summer and we are hoping that I&S will be coming next year. With more hugs and group prayer time, we said our goodbyes and headed off to the last leg of our trip, Kosovo.
Connecting With Pristina, Kosovo
Our local church had already begun a partnership with the Pristina team and so I was excited and ready to meet R&H, along with their two children, E&M. What I was not expecting was that they would instantly and deeply become close friends! I was taken aback by how much we laughed and just enjoyed our connection as friends and coworkers in the gospel—which I enjoyed with everyone on this trip—but even more so as humans with similar interests that simply enjoyed being together. But while we had plenty of silly moments, the focus was most certainly on the mission. Over the last two years, R&H had been working to build a local community center from a vision into reality. Because of their standing with the government, the community center is a non-religious organization, meaning that they can’t openly talk about Jesus. They can answer questions and share Christ through relationships, but not through the center. And build they did. By using English classes along with other activities, they built a place that all locals call safe and inviting, even devout Muslims!
We got to meet M; a young boy with prominent parents who even though they know about R&H’s faith in Christ, continue to send their boy to the center after school because they trust the center to care for their child, who is asking many questions as he learns about Jesus from the new friends he meets there. We heard of another young boy, M, who has special needs and aging parents. They are squatters with a lean-to-home and a garden hose for running water. The center has brought M in and taught him (and given him use of the) shower and are working with a dentist to fix significant teeth issues he has. R&H have carefully constructed a safe place where they believe that safety, value, unity, “you matter”, are the pillars that they hold to which create a foundation for sacred moments with Christ for these kids. And these kids are engaged! Whether it was a conversation gathering, a trivia contest, a game of UNO or spoons, we saw and got to interact with the kids during our time there and experience fully the idea of safety that R&H have worked so hard to curate.
Safety is important because cultural tensions are high in that part of the world. There are other religions allowed in Kosovo and Christianity is certainly legal, but there is certainly one majority religion, and all people need to be careful. There is also a lot of cultural conflict between different “clans” and political affiliates, making life there a tenuous balance of multiple people groups and ideals. Consider the fact that Kosovo is the name of the country given by Serbian heritage, but the Albanians prefer to call it Kosova, or Dardania. And the proper pronunciation of Pristina has an “sh” sound as opposed to an “s”. These are all distinctions made because of their pride in their heritage, despite the many years of oppression by Serbian forces. R&H are looking for connections to help with the on-going efforts of the center and for people who can come and participate in the ministry on both short and long-term tours. While they plan to be active on the field for a long time to come, they want to set this center up with a leadership pipeline to ensure that the town and surrounding community continues to foster and reciprocate the efforts that are growing today.
Christianity has a history in this region, and we toured a number of sites: a catholic church, a medieval monastery, Roman ruins of an ancient church, and a growing church led by a pastor who has seen God move in incredible ways in his family and his church. We also visited the nearby city of Gjilan, where there is another CMA community center project. God is there, active, and involved, yet the work is intense. There is oppression, evil, and challenges all over the place and we need to connect with the team through prayer, financial support, and boots on the ground to help the work. Age in this location is not a limiting factor but requires people who are willing to go to the front lines of ministry in the name of Jesus.
Connecting With Our Larger Church Family
We need to connect. Each of us needs to pray, support, and ask God how we can directly participate in the mission to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We can’t do that blindly. We can support people overseas by engaging with them, developing relationships, intentionally participating (even from 10,000km away), and by considering whether we ourselves might be called to go to these places ourselves. Might God be calling you? To pray? To give? To go? First, we must connect. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV).
Through Christ, we are called to mission in our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, all the way to the ends of the earth. Since we can’t be everywhere at once, let’s connect with those who are there through prayer, support, and engagement. Technology is an amazing tool that allows us unprecedented access to things happening on the other side of the world in real time. The idea that I could actively aid in the discipleship of an Italian national is an incredible idea to ponder, but it is possible! Connection is in no way a matter of ability, it is only a matter of willingness. You can connect; will you? What will that look like for you? What is God calling you to do—in your home and neighborhood; in Italy; in Spain; in Kosovo; anywhere? Our teams are calling for connection, for partnership. Join with them, pray for them, give to them; KNOW them. And let those relationships take you to untold places and experiences.
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