7th Week Ulcinj, Montenegro

We arrived in Belgrade, Serbia around 11:00 am after riding the train 12 hours from Bucharest, Romania. We camped at the train station until our departure time of 9:00pm. We had time to explore the city and catch up with sleep. Downtown Belgrade had a shopping centre, populated with many modern stores like Nike and Izods and with patio-seating cafes and restaurants. We went to a park that had a castle in it and other historical landmarks.

 

 

Around 9:00pm we boarded our train  to Podgurika, Montenegro and took our 12 hour ride to our final destination. The train ride was rough, being woken up throughout the night by Serbian and Montenegro customs and at least twice by the ticketmaster, plus sharing a pod with four other people and their hiking backpack and daypack. We had to make do.

I woke up to a new dawning day with mountains gloriously rising into the sky on both sides of the train tracks. I was in awe of such magnificience! Only a Creator so powerful and magnificent can impose something so grandeur and claim it as His handiwork. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take very good snapshots of the beauty I saw that morning. Seriously, our quarters that we slept in was really cramped. I couldn’t move without possibly waking up someone.

 

We arrived at our destination at about 8:30am and to our benefit, our contact, Vladimir was waiting for us. We loaded up the van and road to his church so he could give us a briefing about Montenegro and about ministry plans and to eat breakfast. Yay food!

 

After briefing, eating, and resting a little bit, Vladimir took us to meet Bukurija, a lady missionary in Ulcinj. Ulcinj is a city located off the shores of the Adriatic Sea with mountains surrounding it. The beach is walking distance from where we are living. Bukurija is an amazing woman of God, very hospitable and an intercessor for God’s kingdom. Her apartment is a one-room apartment, but the eight of us have managed to sleep comfortably during the night.

There are very few Believers in Ulcinj. Bukurija has been witnessing to a man and lady who own a small cafe restaurant on the beach and to a lady who lives above Bukurija’s apartment. We are having prayer time with Bukurija and read the Word with her. I pray we continue to be an encouragement to her and have the opportunity to meet the other believers in town.

There is much need for discipleship in Ulcinj. We’ve been initiating relationships with people who work in cafes, restuarants, bakeries, and grocery store, mostly with people located on the way to the beach.

We have used the beach as a place of ministry too. We played beach soccer with some kids on Wednesday. We had Sunrise service at the beach on Thursday. The man who Bukurija had been witnessing to saw us on the beach, worshiping God with singing and prayer, and also recognized Bukurija. He came for a little while to pray with us. I could tell he was encouraged to be among believers. I hope we have the opportunity to see him again and encourage him in the faith.

There is a mosque close by to where we live. Ulcinj has 14 mosques sporadically placed throughout the city. The Muslim call to worship (salat) is announced five times a day. When the Muslim chant begins, I use it as a reminder to pray to Lord Jesus for the people of Ulcinj and their salvation found in Him alone.

Here’s a funny note: the lady who we paid to wash our clothes this week said the clothes stunk, like if we had been camping in the woods. If only she knew. 🙂