A God-Given Dream Coming True
During a church gathering in a backyard garden this summer, the Eastern Europe Team experienced a glimpse of a God-given dream coming true and an opportunity to reconnect to our field’s roots.
Back in 2002, sending missionaries from Everywhere to Everywhere was at the very heart of the beginning of the Eastern Europe field. In partnership with the Global Partners missionary family who was pioneering the Eastern Europe field, a local Croatian couple was sent from their church to join the work for a few years.
Now 21 years later, the Eastern Europe team has held a desire to reimagine, recapture and return to its roots of partnering with Wesleyan Churches; to receive local Croatian believers on our field to help us make disciples and plant churches. It’s a dream that’s dependent on a powerful move of the Holy Spirit and requires God to move as only He can.
It was one text message from a missionary in Croatia late this Spring that sparked an opportunity for this dream to become more of a reality. She said there were twin, college aged girls doing incredible evangelistic work amongst youth and young adults in Croatia, and God was placing it on their hearts to pursue missions. Additionally, the twins’ dad is from our town in Eastern Europe, and they often come visit their grandma who still lives here. I began to wonder and pray over the possibility of God bringing this partnership dream of ours to fruition.
After connecting through social media, I met the twins in person at a celebration in Croatia, and it was as if we had been close friends our entire lives. Big hugs and kisses on the cheek were shared as we expressed excitement for finally meeting together. The twins then shared with me that they were coming to our town to visit their grandma the next week, so I invited them to join our team and NEXT interns for church.
We gathered on a Saturday afternoon in a garden, and the twins joined us in singing, praying, taking communion and sharing their testimonies. As they sang a song they had written in our town based on a prayer in the book of Romans, I watched in awe as the sunrays gleamed through the tree leaves behind them. When we were talking afterward, they expressed that they couldn’t believe evangelical work was happening here – that our team was an answer to their prayers for the last five years. With tears in my eyes, I told them that they were an answer to our prayers for this place. It was a holy moment that only God could have orchestrated and connected.
Over the last two months, the twins have participated in a mission-sending school in Germany, and we have been praying that God would make it evident for what’s next in this story. We believe He is raising up the next generation around the world to reach the unreached, and the twins are one example of that. While I don’t know if this particular story ends here with them, I do know God is fulfilling promises and dreams, and hope is being restored for what’s to come. He is doing something in our midst that is immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, and we commit to praying and seeking His leading in all of it, for Him to be known and glorified.