Ever since I was in high school, I have always wanted to try and do a short mission’s trip. By short, I am talking about 1-2 weeks long. When I got married, it was also my wife’s dream to do the same. Throughout our first 32 years of marriage the opportunity to do a mission’s trip had never occurred. Last year the doors opened for my wife to go on one and then two more this year. My door opened this year for the first time.
The mission’s trip I felt led to go on was one to Slovenia. It was being run by a Dan Kersten, leader of the mission teams for the Light For The Lost ministry of the Assemblies of God. Light For The Lost is a program that provides materials to missionaries around the world to spread the Gospel message. It can be in print, audio and video.
Dan Blair, a missionary to Slovenia had wanted a group of men to come to Slovenia to do some missions work. They were to do two retreats. One was for men missionaries coming from countries where they are the only missionaries in their country. The second was for some men of Slovenia. It would be the first time either of these types of retreats had ever been done.
The enemy of God was against us and tried to stop us from doing this trip. Fourteen men would be on this mission’s trip. Most were from the state of Florida. Those from Florida got stuck at the airport on the way to Slovenia for two days with cancelled flights. One man had to return home because he was only staying half the time. Another one, when he got to Slovenia, they had lost all his luggage.
Our first retreat was for the missionaries. We provided food and games for them and allowed them to just relax. All of them said that they had never been able to just sit and relax with other missionaries ever before. One had been on the mission’s field for 35 years. They loved being able to just be and talk, with no agenda or meetings. It was great to hear what God was doing in each of their countries. I was also able to get prayer requests from each of them for things coming up in their lives or ministry.
As they were getting ready to leave, we gave each of them a bag filled with things that we brought from the USA to bless them with. We prayed with them and sent them back out to their nations.
During some of this time, I did have some free time with nothing to do. I chose to take a walk through the town that we were in to see a little. While walking I had the opportunity to meet several Slovenians and talk with them. Most could speak some to a lot of English, but there were a few who could not speak any at all. I personally love trying to talk to people who don’t speak much or any English. It is a fun challenge to me.
One thing I had already noticed was that, although there were many churches all over the place, most were closed with no services. As I talked with these people I met walking, I also learned that none of them went to a church. None of them really even believed in God, though they believe He might exist. It was very sad to see and hear.
After the missionaries left, the team I was with left to do some sightseeing before the Slovenian men would show up for their retreat. During this time, I got to see a huge cave and a castle that was built directly into the mountainside. We also ate at a restaurant that had only three workers–the chef, the waiter and the owner. They food was really great Mediterranean food. Slovenia is a very beautiful country with lots of mountains.
Then the 18 Slovenian men came for the retreat, one of whom was a pastor of a church in Slovenia. Most of these men could speak good English, though a few could not speak any English. Many of these men had a lot of questions about what it means to be a Christian and how to live as a Christian. I was able to teach them many things on what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to study the Bible.
As they were getting ready to leave, we gave each of them a Fire Bible in the Slovenian language. This Bible was just published last year, after several years of hard work to produce it. The Fire Bible is a study Bible to help believers in what they are reading. We also gave them various gifts from America to bless them with.
During their first night there, our host missionary, Dan Blair, got sick and had to go to the hospital. The local hospital was unable to do what was needed, so he had to go another hour away to a larger one. Our prayers were with him. Early the next morning he came back. He had some problems with his esophagus, and they were able to solve it for the moment.
Once the Slovenian men had left, we did a little more sightseeing. We went to a city on the Adriatic Sea and ate at a nice restaurant there. We also did a little sightseeing in the capital city of Ljubljana.
I really enjoyed this trip and being able to minister to so many people in different ways. It also gave me an inside look at a nation that has become post-Christian. Currently there are only about 25 evangelical churches in a nation of about 2.1 million people. To give this perspective, in San Antonio, TX alone, there are about 30 Assemblies of God churches, not counting the numerous other evangelical churches available. America is blessed with churches, while other nations have none. As believers, we need to get the gospel message out to a dying world, both in America and around the world. This is my first missions trip and I plan to go on more as God opens doors.
I pray that God will stir your heart to go on a missions trip or at least support missionaries who do go.
If you would like to donate to the Light For The Lost you can click on this link: Light For The Lost
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