Last year at our training camp for the world race, we were told that the only thing constant about this trip would be change. Honestly, that was the truest statement said at training. It started in month one, when we were told we would be together with our whole squad doing sports ministry in South Africa. Instead ,we found ourselves all living apart and doing street evangelism in the ghetto. The beauty of taking everything with a grain of salt this year has led to some pretty amazing surprises.
Of course in good old world race fashion, our very last month on the world race was changed. We thought we would be spending our last month in Albania, but instead we were told we would be in Montenegro for our final month! And once again, we had an amazing surprise in store for our team!
Other than some facts from a Wikidedia page, I didn’t know much about Montenegro before I got here, but once again, my heart was captured for a country I did not expect to visit.
This month in Kotor, Montenegro we live in the most beautiful apartment that we have lived in on the race, overlooking cobblestone streets that tourists travel down. There are seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, and coffee and ice cream cafe’s on every corner. The city is a major port for cruise lines that sail to other tourist destinations like Greece and Italy.
We are this ministry’s first team, and our host, Phil is an amazing man of God who has a vision from God to start the first church in this city. Currently, there are 150 believers in Montenegro, with no local Christian pastors. In this city, there was no christian church until Phil began one in a conference room of a hotel earlier this year. Phil has been patient and steadfast in his ministry here, waiting expectantly for the fruit that will come, simply by loving these people.
Everyday, my team and I have the opportunity to share Christ to the people here on the streets. Because the thought of Christianity is so foreign and new here, we are focusing on simply loving this month. We pass out Bibles, bake cookies for the shop keepers, and invite people to our game nights and church services.
A miracle happened our first Sunday here, and honestly was the ultimate highlight of my time in Eastern Europe.
My teammates and I ventured out in the city to meet new friends and invite them to the church service that evening. We went in pairs and me and my partner in crime Brittani set out to initiate conversations with anyone who wanted to chat. After a couple failed attempts, we walked into an antique store, lured in by the sparkly rings. Behind the desk was a woman whose friendly smile and english speaking abilities caught us off guard.
We talked for a few minutes and mentioned the church we were working with. She was excited to hear more and agreed to come with us that night. Little did we know that it was her first time setting foot into a church, and how God had been setting the stage by pursuing her heart the last four days.
After the church service, where my teammates and I shared stories of the goodness and provision of Christ, she had tears in her eyes, saying that her heart felt very full. We went to coffee and talked more about the things she was feeling. She said that four days before, she had seen a picture of Jesus and wanted to know Him. The next day she found a book on Jesus and read it cover to cover, very intrigued about who this man was. She asked God to send her people to tell her more, about how to love God and not just know about him. Two days later, me and Brittani walked into her shop.
As we sat at the coffee shop, holding hands, my new friend asked Jesus to enter into her life and be in relationship with her. She is the first Montenegrin to accept Jesus in this town.
The blessing of being able to lead my new friend to Jesus was a simple reminder to me that even though the race is quickly coming to a close, God still has big things for me! There are many emotions that are rising up in me now about the end of the race quickly approaching, but I will save them for a later blog. For now, I am just trying to live every moment left on the race with expectation that He has more surprises and blessings to reveal.
I will end with my top favorite things about living in Kotor, Montenegro!
*We have an amazing frozen yogurt place that is a five minute walk away from our apartment, and we go there almost every day! (I thought I would have to wait for America for this, but turns out not!)
*Our apartment is located right next to the only hostel in the old city, and every day we have been able to meet travelers from many countries. When we meet new friends, we have them over in the evenings to have game nights and talk about our travels. Its so fun to meet other people who have passion for travel and the world!
*There are not very many volunteers that come to this area so many people are intrigued and ask a lot of questions. We even got interviewed on the radio station last week and got to talk about Jesus and the church we are working at.
*Our town is very close to some neighboring countries which makes border hopping really easy. We traveled to Croatia and Bosnia on our day off and still made it back for dinner!
*Of course, its always a blessing to have a bed and a hot shower, which have have become our greatest luxuries on the race. The apartment has more amenities than I have ever seen on the race, and we even have a washing machine and an oven!
Keep an eye out for my next blog about coming home!!
Abby- Loving every minute in Montenegro 
