Many of the Serbian church members live in far villages and usually meet as small house groups. Pastor Dragon wanted us to meet them and invited three of us to venture out with him early one Sunday.
He picked us up in his red hatchback, his wife sitting in the trunk, and we headed out on our journey. Two hours in we realized she had the best seat in the car because she could stretch out her legs and had the only window. By hour one the mountains approached and Pastor Dragon motioned to them. We are going up and over those, it should take about an hour, do you get carsick? Kat took a motion sickness pill as we began taking the hairpin turns up the mountain. The road reminded me of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Park, one of the scariest roads I’ve driven on. The views were beautiful and the smell of pollution had finally faded into the background.
After a two hour drive we finally made it to the small village, nestled into the mountains. We were welcomed into the quaint home of one of the only Christian families for miles and were greeted with pastries and coke. Since this was the only Christian church for 100’s of miles, many community members were gathered in their small living room, family portraits hung from the walls. Grandma served the coffee and the kids showed us their bathroom, church for them was a family affair.
The man had a deep love for Jesus and told us stories of powerful ways God showed up. The family depended on the land and one year a hailstorm was threatening to destroy their crops. The family went up on the roof and prayed, the storm hit both their neighbors but completely missed their fields. Many stories followed as he proudly showed us his small barn filled with sheep.
He told us how he carried bibles in his tractor and would tell anyone willing to listen about Jesus, the God who changed his life. Each Sunday, when the roads are not too bad, the family takes the 2-hour drive to church. When I acted surprised that they drove so far, he didn’t understand “why wouldn’t we drive that far to worship Jesus?” I guess there really isn’t a distance too far to worship God.
The car we drove to the mountain
Their home on the mountain
