This morning, I walked into a Sunday morning worship service just like I would any other Sunday morning.
I met and shook hands with the others in the service, worshipped, and listened to a powerful word from the Lord preached by the pastor.
The only thing was, I wasn’t at my home church in America. I was now in Montenegro and everything that was said/sang was in Serbian.
You would think that such a big thing like a pretty large language barrier would hinder a service, but you don’t need a translator for the Holy Spirit to move.
In this morning’s service, more than 5 different countries were represented.
Montenegrins, Americans, Russians, Serbians, and Bosnians.
As worship began, I instantly felt the spirit enter the room. Myself and the 6 other girls with me on Team Nani had no clue what was being sung. But we worshipped as if we did.
You see, I didn’t know the words, but I didn’t have to.
I felt the Spirit of God more powerfully this morning than I have felt Him in a long time in the states singing familiar, catchy songs.
As worship continued, I began to recognize the melodies of these songs. As they would sing the words in Serbian, I would sing along with the words in English.
There is nothing greater than hearing “How Great is Our God” being sung in a different language. It reminds me that every Nation and very tongue will soon proclaim how truly great our God is!
Soon after worship we were given the opportunity to share and sing a few songs with the congregation. We sang songs in English they didn’t know the words to, but that didn’t seem to matter either. No translation was needed while we sang, The Spirit was there and worked in every single person despite the barrier of language.
Once finished, A man named Jakob and his wife visiting from Belgrade, Serbia shared the Word with the congregation. He told his testimony of God’s faithfulness in His life. He was born and raised in Montenegro and later joined the military. He spoke of how he quickly was addicted to drugs and lived a life that did not honor the Lord. While in rehab form the drugs, He found the Lord and gave himself to Him.
When Jakob spoke, he spoke in Serbian while our ministry host translated. Because of the language barrier, some parts of his sermon were unclear, but the holy Spirirt was still so strong.
This is Team Nani with Jakob and his wife and one of our ministry hosts, Clara, this morning after service.
I learned today that no matter the language you speak, or what part of the world you come from, God is the same God.
Tomorrow is our first full day of ministry here in Podgorica. My prayer is that every person we come in contact with will one day know how great our God is and find a personal relationship with Him.
One day this church that currently only 15 people attend will be filled with Montenegrins singing “How Great is our God” in their language and tongue.
