New Newsletter Provider for Mission to Montenegro

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! We have been publishing our newsletter since June but using MailChimp as our provider since Blogger (per their statement) no longer sends out email updates.  MailChimp provides us with a landing page which gives access to the 20 most recent newsletters. 

If you go to this Mission to Montenegro Email Landing Page you will be able to see all the ones beginning in July.  Note: you can choose to sign up there as well to begin receiving them directly. 

We greatly appreciate your faithful prayers on our behalf and for the believers here in Nikšić. God has proven Himself kind and faithful over and over again. Soli Deo Gloria! 

One with you in Christ, 

 Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

June 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens.  Eccles. 3:1

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

What peace we have knowing that God holds and ordains the times and seasons for He does all things well.  We have a big change coming regarding the issuance of this newsletter--please read through to the end for details. But first, a few highlights of the past month:

• In our morning service, Stan is preaching through John 3, carefully covering the necessity to be born again unto salvation, a much needed teaching here where one is presumed to be born Orthodox (or Muslim or Catholic).  

• In the evening, as Stan covers the Heroes of the Faith in Heb. 11, we’ve seen how their faith was in God and in His promises for that which is to come and how that is true for all saints in every age. We rejoice that the newcomers mentioned last month are continuing to come to meetings.  Please continue to pray for God's powerful work to break through and for them to truly be born again into the Kingdom of God.

• Last Lord's Day we celebrated our fledgling Sunday School's completion of the booklet The Greatest Journey.  We were all much encouraged by the children's enthusiasm and recitation of memorized bible verses.  What a blessing for them to know Scripture from an early age.  Please pray for all, children and leaders, as we pause a formal program in the summer and prepare for a robust restart in autumn.

The future church!  Soli Deo Gloria!

• With dramatically falling Covid case numbers and a slowly rising vaccination rate, we anticipate being able to conduct modest outreaches (English Camp, Camp Monty Sports) fielded by local believers, ably assisted by our BGU interns. We are also extremely hopeful of enjoying our end-of-month Fellowship Lunch (Potluck) the last Sunday of this month.  Please pray that all of these events take place and are a blessing to us and pleasing to God.

A wonderful taste of returning normality:  Hosting the Hughes family,
here to visit their daughter Kara who is halfway through her BGU internship.

*********************

Breaking News:  We recently discovered that our current Newsletter Sender (FeedBurner) will no longer email our newsletter to our subscribers beginning in July. Thus, we will be moving over our subscriber list to MailChimp this month, Deo volente.

This means:

1. We are in a major learning curve to understand MailChimp’s capabilities and how to best use them for our purposes.
2. Next month (and possibly a trial mailing at the end of this one) the newsletter will NOT be coming from ChristianityMontenegro but under another name.  At this point, we are not sure if it will appear to be from Mission to Montenegro or from Stan and Vicki or from ????. (See point 1 above!)
3. We highly suggest you bookmark http://christianitymontenegro.blogspot.com because for the next few months, I will continue to post our newsletter there (NOTE:  according to FeedBurner, IT WILL NOT BE EMAILED TO YOU).
4. Do be on the lookout for our newsletter in a new format from a new sender. And if you don’t think you’ve gotten it (end July at the latest), check your spam folder and mark it “Not Spam.”  If you don't see it at all, please contact us directly.
5. Lastly, we appreciate both your prayers and forbearance through early hiccups and mishaps as we transition to what should prove to be a better means of communication.

(Note:  Vicki's "Snapshots" will continue next month.)

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

May 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!”
Luke 24: 5a, 6b

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

Hallelujah! Our Messiah is a risen Messiah! Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25) With such a hope and promise, we seek to share the good news here in Montenegro.  Rejoice with us in a few highlights from the past month:

• For Easter Celebrations on May 2, Stan preached from Luke 24, highlighting the varied post-resurrection encounters Jesus had with His fearful and downhearted disciples: comforting, teaching, explaining, exhorting, and loving them into fuller understanding and joy.

Festive Easter Celebrations with Friends and Family

• In our regular morning service, Stan has begun John 2, most recently preaching on the significance of the beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, [which] manifested His glory; and [how] His disciples believed in Him.  In the evening, we are continuing through Hebrews 11. We are very excited that we've seen a couple of new people coming fairly regularly.  Please pray that they would draw near to Jesus unto salvation.

• The first two episodes of Osnove Istine (Basic Truths) have been published!  You can find them on both our FB page as well as our YouTube channel here:  Biblijska hrišćanska zajednica, Nikšić Videos. We give a big thanks to Peter Stonelake for his hardwork in editing and polishing them.  Please pray that God would use this series to encourage young believers and seekers to look to God, His Word, and His people for truth and growth in sanctification.

• With Covid cases falling and vaccine distribution increasing, plans for autumn are starting to be made with two mini-conferences scheduled for October.  This summer we are hoping to have university student and sport outreaches, but they will be primarily planned and hosted by locals plus our BGU interns.   Please pray that all our hoped-for events will take place.

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

Snapshots: Behind the Scenes Look at the Reality of Life:

Last time, I described Stan’s hopping on a plane with our passports in hand, getting visas locally, all by the grace and goodness of God.  BUT!  That grace and goodness makes itself known in even the small details of life.  I’ll share one instance exemplified by that innocent little phrase: “passports in hand.” If only it was as quick and simple as all that!  The getting of the passports was an adventure in itself.  

In general, the process to get a passport (at least pre 9/11) was:  get a photo, send it in with application, and voila!  Passport received in the mail.

But passport photos couldn’t be just any snapshot; one required an authorized passport-sized (2”x2”) photo, specifically “a high resolution photo that is not blurry, grainy, or pixelated”  according to official US State Department protocol. There were photobooths which do this, but we chose to take the family to a local studio which advertised a passport photo special, ready in 5 minutes for one low fee. Perfect! 

We made our appointment, stressing that we were a family of six in hopes of avoiding unnecessary waiting which will be best for everyone.  Plus, we made a promise to our crew that we will celebrate with a rare treat at McD’s, Happy Meals for all, with time to play in Playland.  So everyone was on their best behavior in joyful anticpation.

We showed up at the strip-mall studio as scheduled.  A perky young woman had the chair, the muted back drop, the camera 10 feet in front of said chair, all ready to go.  We presented ourselves in order of age, grown-ups first, then the 6, 4, 2 year olds. We adults established the routine, the children followed: Hop on the chair, obey the call to “Smile!”, sit still for the “click”, then hop off. One person’s photographs were developed while the next one was taken.  Boom, boom, boom.    In less than 10 minutes, we were almost done.  Only the baby was left.

Only? He was a charmer at 8 months but not yet able to sit up sturdily yet, much less able to “Hop on.”  As the photographer got started with him, I began to think that he must be the first baby the woman ever had to deal with in getting a passport photo, because she is not quite sure how to get him on the chair.  

But then Perky Photographer decided that since he was strapped in his carry-about car seat, she could make use of it as a way of propping him up.   We needed to unstrap him (no non-clothing items can be visible on the person), to place a bland cloth behind him, and then to balance him in his seat on the chair.   I hovered nearby nervously hoping he wouldn’t decide to pitch himself out.

The photographer took a picture and printed it out. Shaking her head, she came back, did some camera adjusting, took another picture, then printed that one out.  She studied these prints, ruler in hand.  After 5 minutes of watching Perky Photographer bouncing back and forth fiddling with the camera, taking pictures, printing them out, and shaking her head, I peered over her shoulder, saw the snaps, and wondered why we couldn’t use any of those.  I ventured a “Well, I like this photo, why can’t we use it?”

She explained. And now I knew our real problems had just begun. 

 Not merely does a passport photograph have to be a certain size, the head “must measure between 1 -1 3/8 inches (25 - 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.”  Who knew?  Not me. While the photographer had the camera well-placed for that desired dimension for adults and even children, a baby was a different matter.  He was lower than a sitting child, his chubby face much smaller, especially as his head was rather crunched in a no-neck fashion due to the car seat.  

She moved the camera closer, she moved it up and down, trying to get his head to be the right size within the 2x2in restriction, but she can only get SO close without violating the “must not be blurry, grainy, or pixelated” mandate.    And not only does the head have to be those dimensions, it must be relatively centered in the frame which explained the ruler.

Ten photos later, and she was finally satisfied.  GREAT! We’ll take it and go on our way.  McDonald’s here we come! She sighed and shook her head.  “No,” she explained.  “The head is now the right size, but both ears have to be visible.” I looked back at the photos.  She’s right.  His head was turned just slightly so one ear really can’t be seen.

I volunteered to hold his head straight.  I was met with head-shaking again.  No, that wouldn’t do,  No other person’s body parts can be on or around the face. 

Ok, then.  I straightened the little man up as best I could, turned his face forward, stepped back, the photographer zoomed in, lifted up her light, and snapped the shot. But he’s an eagle-eyed kiddo, with quick reflexes, and every time she lifted her lamp with her right hand to illuminate, his eyes (and face) followed. Hence, the One-Ear shots.

Fortunately, he was an easy-going, relaxed baby, so he was having a great time with this game, despite the flash going off in his face every few minutes.  I secretly pitied the cranky baby (and parents) who must otherwise endure this.  

Our 10 minute photo session stretched out past another 30 minutes with one photo after another rejected—one ear, closed eyes, blurry— and Perky Photographer was Pouty now and at the end of her limits.  She stated that she would give it one more try, one more, no more, one more, and that’s IT.

We had visions of having to do this all over again another day and knew that wasn’t happening.  We came up with a plan.  The kids would stand behind the photographer waving and keeping the baby focused on them, Stan would hold the light so the photographer’s arm wouldn’t have to move it (thus drawing his attention), I’d steady the head just so, and if we timed it all right, it might work. 

And thank God, thank God, thank GOD, it did. Photo printed, ruler whipped out to check the measurements, eyes open, ears visible. Glorious Success!

We gathered our brood, pocketed the photos, paid the modest fee, and were on our way out when I spotted all those discarded takes.  He was adorable even if one-eared.  I asked if I could have them? The photographer stopped in her tracks.  Her eyes bored into mine.   “THOSE will cost you forty bucks,” she snapped. Now it was my turn to shake my head, and I sadly resigned them to the trash bin.

We beat it out of there. The kids were ready for their promised Happy Meal & McD Playland time, and Stan and I were past ready for a cup of coffee.  And the photographer?   Well, I glanced in as we passed leaving the parking lot, and I’m pretty certain she closed shop up early that day, right after we left…..

April 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, 

according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us 

in all wisdom and prudence… Eph. 1:7,8

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

Although we have not yet formally celebrated Easter (May 2 for us), every day is a day to rejoice in the riches of Christ's sacrifice.  Note:  Vicki's "Snapshot" series begun last month in honor of 25 years on the field continues and is appended at the end.

• In our morning services, Stan has wrapped up the prologue in John 1:1-18, that glorious and majestic revelation of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son full of grace and truth.  In the evening, Stan has begun Hebrews 11, the heroes of the faith chapter, encouraging us to continue on in faith, seeking the great I AM.  Please pray for Stan as he prepares to preach God's word and that the many who listen would have ears to hear.

• We give thanks that our children-meeting-in-another-location Sunday School has gone so well, for those spaces are a five minute drive from our church facilities.  Please pray for the souls of these young ones and for the parents, helpers, and teachers as we seek to raise the children up in the way they should go. 

The next generation

• The short video series Osnovne Istine  (Foundational Truths) is progressing and currently the first episode is in final editing. The Book Translation Project also has picked up speed.  Please pray that much fruit would come from these labors, that many people would be both encouraged and convicted and would draw humbly near to God.

• We give thanks that despite Covid, the English Language Club outreach has been flourishing.  Both old regulars and new people have been showing up.   In order to comply with the measures, they can no longer sit at a cafe and talk, so the group breaks up into twos and threes and goes for walks instead! Please pray for meaningful conversations and a freedom for the young people to ask (and answer) life's big questions of purpose, meaning, and God.

• Country-wide, Montenegro's Covid-19 metrics are slowly improving, but we here in Nikšić are still under a number of restrictions.  However, vaccinations are ramping up—we received our first dose yesterday.  Please pray that the lowering case count would last and that we soon will be able to fully resume in-person church activities as well as summer camps and outreaches.

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support to make this all happen,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

Snapshots: We Make our Plans but God Directs our Steps, Part 2

Last month's Snapshot ended with the shocking denial of our visas, wrestling with the ethics of accepting money for the mission when we didn't appear to be getting any closer, and fearing that we might soon be both homeless and jobless....

Why homeless as well as jobless?  Well, because our  successful fundraising efforts appeared to make ministry possible, and our visa situation had seemed pretty secure, we figured out a perfect plan for the interim between Navy Days and Yugoslavian Move: the Navy would pack and store all our stuff (for FREE!) while we rented a fully furnished beach house in the off-season, all beautifully timed for us to be leaving for Yugoslavia just as the low season (and more reasonable prices) ended. 

With the denial of our visas, we realized with sinking hearts that we were going to have to move and had no where to go and few options:  families with four children are not generally welcomed with eager arms.  Since I was on complete bedrest due to early pregnancy complications, Stan went out house hunting solo for a month-to-month rental.  

Each day he’d come back weary and empty-handed. Each day the pressure mounted: we were up against a firm date for vacating our current home. We needed to leave before the rent would quadruple to “high season” prices, and as that day relentlessly drew nearer, we alternated between semi-despair and praying for the impossible—but never the both of us at the same time (Two are better than one...)

However, God is GOOD and FAITHFUL.  As our timeline for moving reached a mere week and then the days started counting down: six, five, four, three (gulp!), two—He provided!  A home that suited our current needs.  Our FCC family pitched in and helped us move our personal belongings from that beach house to the new place the next day and did ALL the cleaning (no easy task with beach sand and children) the final day.  Within the week, the Navy delivered all our stored goods.  We began settling anew but still had the “how long?” question hanging over us.  How long til we made it  (if ever) to Yugoslavia?

In the midst of trodding this dark valley which hit Stan especially hard, God brought around the same man who started us on this journey.  Whether Stan ran into him at a conference, or if the man just heard about our plight because we interact within in the same circles, I don’t recall, but we did make contact.  He informed us that it was possible to circumnavigate the “Yugoslav” government as an entity for obtaining visas.  We were astounded.

Because the former Yugoslavia was carved out of seven (some unwilling) independent Republics, quite a bit of administration had continued to be handled or could be handled at that level.  Our fount-of-info suggested that Stan fly back to Hungary, enter Yugoslavia again on a 3-month tourist visa (freely granted), and try to get longer term visas through the local bureaucracies in the cities we were contemplating going.  At that time, our plan was to join one of the existing churches in Serbia, one of the five which Stan had visited on his first trip, in order to be helpful, learn the language, and eventually raise a team to go into Montenegro which was our ultimate aim.

Accordingly, when I was stable in pregnancy, Stan flew back AGAIN and did a second loop of visitations mimicking the first. He revisited each of the churches from his original exploratory trip, taking an extra day to visit each city’s government offices, passports in hand as recommended, to acquire our needed visas.  Each city politely declined.  Plan B was a strike out.

However, as before, Stan went for a round of another set of visits with close relatives in Montenegro.  And while there, he hit upon the idea of seeing whether he could get our visas approved by the Montenegrin government.  

Even though Nikšić is the second largest city, it is a close-knit community, and through his relatives he met some city officials.  With his father having been born in Bršno, the ancestral village of all Surbatoviches located a mere fifteen minutes outside the city of Nikšić, Stan was warmly welcomed as a returning son. In very short order, visas were granted, passports stamped, and we had, by God’s wonderful weaving of circumstances, a direct path to our ultimate hoped-for destination:  Montenegro.

Montenegro, here we come!

March 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? 

And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? 

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

Rom. 10:14, 15

Grace and Peace to you in the name of our God our Father!

Can you believe it?  This month marks the 25th anniversary of our arrival in Niksić!  In light of this momentous occasion, over the next months, Vicki will be including an addendum.  Like Mary from the bible, she has pondered and treasured many things from these past 25+ years and has taken to writing her perspective of those early years of ministry. What follows will be her “snapshots” of this grand adventure.

But before we get to that..... an update on the most important thing:  the regular ministry of God's Word.

• Stan continues to preach from the Gospel of John, Ch. 1 in the morning, mostly recently touching upon Jesus the Light.  In the evening, Stan will be wrapping up Hebrews 10.  In order to comply with the most recent measures regarding maximum number of people allowed, the children are meeting in a separate facility, and adults are encouraged to come to either the morning service or the evening but not both.

• Despite threatened border closures, we managed a meet-up with BGU's Director of Global Internship, Doug G, who made a whirlwind trip to visit all the interns serving in the Balkans. Our team was greatly encouraged by his coming, and we discussed what a future partnership might look like.  Exciting times ahead!

The Great BGU Meet-Up

Additional Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests: With Covid still raging, all the same prayer requests as last month: 

• For the preaching and teaching of God's Word.  
• For those hearing the Word, to embrace the truth and to walk in its light.
• For continued good health.  
• For continued progress being made with respect to the videos and book translation. 
• For the children to grow in the nurture and knowledge of the Lord.
• For wisdom in discerning the feasibility of future outreaches and events later this year.

Once again, we must emphasize our great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support to fulfill the mandate of Romans 10: 14-15, 

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

  

  

  

Addendum:  Snapshots Preface

    Where to begin?  So many places, times, events.  Ever since becoming believers in our late teens/early 20s, we had a desire to serve God together and, heeding the counsel given us at the time to equip ourselves, Stan finished his bachelor's and went on to get his M.Div while I finished my B.S. in Math/Computer Science.  We started serving in our local church—hosting house groups, participating in children’s ministry, and preparing and leading Bible studies.  We worked and saved and had kids. Stan felt the call to serve God as a Navy Chaplain and ministered in that arena.  We were active, happy, and enjoying life.  But that seed, of willingness to be sent, was still there, lying dormant, waiting for God’s timing to sprout.

    Germination occurred in the early 1990’s when Stan, still serving as a navy chaplain, came back from a pastor’s conference where he had met a man who actually had been to Yugoslavia and knew evangelical pastors there. Evangelical pastors in the former Yugoslavia, that communist state, the land of his ancestors?  Phone numbers were exchanged.  Emails were written. Within a month, Stan placed a staticky call to Pastor Simo Ralević, ministering in Yugoslavia, to gain his perspective on coming as a missionary.  Pastor Ralević replied that the need was great, the workers few, and why didn’t Stan just come see for himself?  

Stan, at the beginning of this journey

    By God’s providence and the generous leave policy of the United States Navy, he did just that.  Off he went to Yugoslavia via Hungary; because of sanctions surrounding the Bosnian War, there were no outside flights into Yugoslavia.  On a 3-week whirlwind tour, Stan met up with five pastors in various parts of Serbia, the northern part of (the former) Yugoslavia.  

    However, being in the same country as all his Montenegrin relatives (from both his father’s and mother’s side), he had to visit them.  In Montenegro, extended family (relatives of relatives) is not actually considered “extended family” but “close family”, so he spent a week visiting people he had never met before, snapping pictures like crazy so I would know, too, what it was like.

    This two-pronged trip, churches and family, gave us good perspective on the realities of life there along with a glimpse at God’s working through the churches.  After much discussion and prayer between ourselves and in consultation with our own local church leaders at Faith Community Church, we purposed to move to Yugoslavia and serve the Lord there. 

We Make our Plans but God Directs our Steps

    As most missionaries know, one of the most trying periods of preparation is securing the funds to support the mission (both family needs and other logistics such as traveling expenses and meeting room rents).  We were told by people that we should expect to fundraise for at least a year, closer to two.  Not only is fundraising trying, it is distasteful.  It is hard to go from a steady, relatively generous pay check to being dependent upon the giving of others.  And even harder to have to ASK for it.  Nobody likes to beg. But the Apostle Paul was not ashamed to ask and neither could we afford to be, so we set our faces to the task.

    We did not seek to come to Montenegro with a missions agency but rather through the oversight of our local church (in California) in cooperation with other local churches.  Thus, within the loose circle of churches that Faith Community aligned with, Pastor Anderson sent out a letter to those churches explaining that we as a family were planning to go to Yugoslavia with FCC’s full moral support and partial funding support; were any of these churches interested in finding out more and perhaps adding to our support, both prayerfully and materially? 

    We were delighted with the relatively quick response of churches saying “Yes!” to a visit.  Stan spent quite a few of the next weeks visiting churches, some in California, others back East.  We were even more delighted when so many of these churches responded favorably.  In God’s good timing, a number of these churches were in a healthy state of stability and growth, with hearts beginning to turn to the outer world, to the lost.  And then… here we were, planning to do just that, taking God’s Word to those walking in darkness.  Our financial footing grew quickly, funded in weeks not months.  

    We breathed a sigh of relief.  Surely, this quick fulfillment signaled God’s definite stamp of approval!  Our momentum towards Launch Day increased.

    With growing enthusiasm now that fundraising was behind us, we turned towards getting our visas for living there.  We decided to apply via the Yugoslav Embassy in Washington, DC.  Papers, passports, certificates, documents of every kind were gathered, forms filled in, and a huge packet sent off.  Now we merely awaited the gears of bureaucracy to grind slowly towards approval so we could BUY OUR TICKETS.

    With Stan’s full-blooded Montenegrin heritage to support our case, we were numbed beyond belief to receive back our visa requests stamped “DENIED.”  Was it because we had forthrightly declared our purpose:  to help Christian churches?  Was it because of tit-for-tat diplomacy? With the Bosnian War raging, the US had been denying visas to Yugoslavs merely wanting to come visit dying relatives in the States, so Yugoslavia was denying some visas to US citizens in return.  Or, maybe God was protecting us as I was unexpectedly dealing with a difficult fifth pregnancy? Regardless, ensuing phone calls to the embassy proved to be a dead end.

    We felt so lost.  What did we do wrong? Had we misread God’s leading?  If a country’s embassy says “No, we won’t allow you in,” what other options did we even have? Along with this major disappointment, we wrestled with the moral dilemma of continuing to accept $$ for a mission that didn’t seem like it would even get off the launch pad.  Were we shortly going to be both jobless and homeless?

******

Til next month....

February 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. 

Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; 

O Lord, You preserve man and beast. Ps. 36:5-6

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father! 

With the trials of Covid, winter storms, and worldly unrest, we sometimes find ourselves challenged to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer (Rom. 12:12).  Yet God proves Himself faithful with mercies new every morning.  Alleluia! 

• In our morning services we finished the book of Exodus on a high note:  God's glory and presence among His people. Amen!  Stan will begin preaching through the Gospel of John beginning this coming Sunday.

• We've begun in-person meetings for our evening service which is also streamed live.  Stan is continuing through the book of Hebrews albeit at a faster pace.  This additional live meeting provides opportunities for other men to preach as well.  For now, only our weekly prayer meeting is via Zoom.

Zoom Prayer Meeting--better than no meeting!

• Through a partnership with some missionaries down on the coast, we, as a church, have been hosting a food pantry for those hard hit by Covid-related losses.  This is not an open pantry where anyone can come, but as we know people (both from within and outside the church) who are in need, we can go "shopping in the pantry" and provide food and household products. This has been a great testimony to those struggling, and a joy for us to provide practical demonstrations of God's love and care.

Our mini Food Pantry

• Our prayers have been answered:  the last attempt at "We are not criminal" documents was accepted and the BGU interns have their one-year residency permits.  Soli Deo gloria!  They've been active in both the church community and EUS student ministry.  We personally have them to thank (Thank you, Ladies!) for a well-organized library--a project that much needed to be done.

They can stay!

Additional Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for all our regular services and for Stan and others who do the preaching and teaching.  May God's Word be proclaimed powerfully and reach many.

• Please pray for our continued health and safety.  On one hand, with respect to Covid measures: some things are more open, other things are more restricted, and no one has gotten a vaccine as they are not yet available here.  We entrust ourselves to God's care and being mindful of risks; pray that we would have wisdom discerning the big picture.

• Please continue to pray for the Book project and Video project.  We've experienced minor delays, mainly related to weather issues.

• Please continue to pray for us regarding events and teams for this year.  With increasing restrictions plus the US State Department declaring a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning for MNE, major events remain in limbo.  May we be creative in reaching out to one another as well as our community.

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support to make this all happen,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

January 2021 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  2 Cor. 9:15

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

We’ve just wrapped up our Christmas season celebrating the awesome mystery and truth of Immanuel, God with us.  In these challenging days—of sin, sorrow, sickness, and solitude—how blessed we are that when we begin to waver and wonder and question where God is in all of this,  Jesus answers, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen!

• Our Christmas service celebrations were very sweet even if somewhat subdued. The Sunday before Orthodox Christmas Stan preached on the “Essence of Christmas”  from Luke 2.  We were personally thrilled to learn that a number of people we know (and who don’t attend church) listened to the sermon online and followed along well enough to want discuss it with us! We also met on Christmas morning (Jan. 7) to sing carols and hear a devotional led by Nemanja, a young man from our fellowship.  Please pray for all who hear the Word preached, that they might continue to listen online or join in person so that they may go beyond knowing about Christmas and truly embrace Immanuel in all His fullness. 

Celebrating "First" Christmas (Dec. 25) with our BGU Interns

• Stan did send in Christmas Greetings to be published in the newspaper--and they were!  This is a practice followed for many years by the Catholic and Orthodox churches.  Our desire is to bless people with the Gospel and demonstrate in an understandable way that Protestant churches are legitimate churches and not sects.

Excerpt of Christmas Greeting from our Fellowship

Additional Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests

• Please pray for Stan and others who are ministering from the Bible in meetings as well as one-on-one. Please continue to pray for our online presence, for our Zoom meetings, and for our streamed live services; each week we encounter new challenges!  Thanks be to God that His Word can go where it has never gone before; we long for the day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

• Please pray for the granting of year-long visas for our interns.  One particular document in their application packet verifying no past criminal history has been deemed "not adequate," so we are needing to find ways to secure (from the States and Canada) ones that will pass muster. The deadline is quickly looming; may God grant grace and favor.

• Please pray for us all to stand strong in the Lord despite our post-holiday fatigue, Covid fatigue, and cold-weather-is-really-here fatigue.  Especially pray for those souls who have not been able or willing to come to church services because of the pandemic; we were created for community, and while we are all missing it, the lack of personal contact is harder for some than others.

• Please continue to pray for the Book project and Video project. Both of these projects saw little progress during the holidays, but the time has come to pick them up and press forward.

• Please pray for us as we plan out these upcoming months of uncertainty. Usually by the beginning of February we have the year penciled in with tentative dates for teams, conferences, visitors, get-aways, and more.  May we be wise in setting forth our plans, for we truly seek the Lord to guide our steps.

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support to make this all happen,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

December 2020 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Col 1:15-17

Grace and peace to you in the name of God our Father!

As we finish up this final month of this very different year, it is so good to stop and behold Christ:  Christ in his humility and exaltation,  Christ in his glory and magnificence, Christ in his perfect obedience and accomplished work of salvation.   

May we all praise the Son with joyful hearts this season, and may many more come to know Him and join us in everlasting worship.

• Among the current covid restrictions, the ones that affect us most in our ministry are the nightly curfew, the ban on household gatherings, and the restriction on intercity travel from Friday night to Monday morning.  However, we are once again allowed to meet as a church as long as we restrict the number of people and follow masking/sanitizing rules. Thus, our morning service is both live and streamed; about half the congregation can attend.  Our Sunday evening service and mid-week prayer meeting continue on Zoom.  Please pray for continued health and safety of all the brethren here and that we would not grow with weary with doing good.

• Last Sunday, Stan preached from Exodus 33, emphasizing that the heart and goal of our salvation is to restore that which was lost:  a living, loving relationship with God himself and not merely to gain material blessings.  Over our evening Zoom service, Stan outlined four important truths revealed in Hebrews 9 regarding Christ’s shed blood and sacrificial death.  The online audience for the morning service continues to grow steadily.  Please pray for those who are listening, for many more to hear God's Word, and for us to connect personally with those following online who are located in and around Nikšić.
  
  
  

• Regarding religious engagement with the civic realm—the new government indicated that it reached out to churches, seeking input from them, yet none of the registered Protestant churches were contacted. The pastors of these churches (including Stan) have signed and are submitting a respectful letter to the proper government Ministry indicating our desire to engage with them fully.  Please pray for a fruitful outcome.

• The BGU interns we received last month are settled in and doing well despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic.  They are participating in church life, working hard at learning Montenegrin, and broadening out into the community bit by bit.   Please pray for us all, especially as we seek to lead and expand their ministry and service opportunities in the coming new year.

Additional Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for those ministering the Word in all the weekly meetings, for God's life-changing Word to go forth powerfully despite the distancing, whether physically or online. 

• Please pray for the special upcoming Christmas (Jan. 7) messages and service. Also, it is traditional for leaders of the Orthodox and Catholic churches to give Christmas Greetings; in years past, we have also given such greetings using it as an opportunity to explain the gospel and would like to do so this year as well. Stan is currently crafting a message which will be given to the newspapers in early January.  Please pray for Stan as he writes this message and for many to read with eyes, ears, and hearts to hear.

• Please pray for the Samaritan's Purse Christmas Shoebox outreach which will look very different this year. There are far fewer boxes to be distributed this year (a couple hundred instead of several thousand),  so rather than bringing the children together for a presentation (which is not allowed), each box will be personally delivered to a family.  Please pray that each family would truly receive far more than a box of cute presents but The Greatest Gift of All.

• Please continue to pray for the Book project and Video project.  The holidays and Covid have slowed but not negated progress.  Our apologies for not sending out the promised Book Project Funding info. Coming soon!

As always, we want to close this newsletter with great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support for us to do what we do.  Every prayer, every note, every card, every donation from you both blesses us and humbles us because we know that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.  

Thank you for sharing the Father’s love with us. Amazing love, indeed!

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

November 2020 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

For I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told. Hab. 1:5

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

This past month (and year!) has certainly been a time to wonder and be astounded.  Here in Nikšić, we've had an incredible month of changes, most of which we did not foresee at all.  We walk by faith, not sight, and truly we make our plans but God determines our steps.  (Regarding Covid measures, this past month we enjoyed being a Tier 1 city (least restrictions) for one week but are now subject to strict, nation-wide restrictions.)

• Whether we meet in person (Tier 1 blessing!) or online-only (current status), our Sunday observances continue, for our good and God’s glory.  In the morning, Stan just finished preaching from Exodus 31 on the Sabbath Day as a sign and blessing, and in the evening service, from Hebrews 8 on the better Covenant secured by Jesus.

• At the end of October (taking advantage of Tier 1 status), we had our first joint EUS/Church Ladies' Brunch Meeting in six months.   We had a good turnout--eleven ladies and that is with two not being able to join at the last minute. Considering the times, Vicki's talk was rooted in 2 Cor. 6:  "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" and what it means to live well with sorrow. 

• Because Montenegrin law allows churches/religious groups to make agreements with the government, Stan and five other pastors met in early November to address which specific issues to raise with the government and request a meeting with the appropriate government ministry.  Two issues (of many) to bring to the table:  working out details for access to public/government media as a body; and relief from certain fees and taxes when building church facilities.   The actual meeting with the government is on hold due to Covid and post-election changes.

• We've taken on a new, quite unexpected challenge:  Four young women arrived Nov. 2 for a 14-month-long internship as part of their Junior/Senior year at Bethany Global University.  It is quite a story of how this came about (especially as a week prior we had no idea that these interns & university even existed.).  Their program is specifically for Intercultural Ministry (missions), so unlike short-term teams here for specific events, the team has intensive language learning requirements, other academic assignments, as well as involvement with local church ministry. Normally, all sides (the school, the students, the church/pastor/overseers on the ground) have several months to go over things and work out details; since that was not possible this time, we are breaking new ground and figuring out things as we go.  Pray for us all!

Kara, Grace, Joelle, and Rebekah--our BGU interns til Dec. '21!

Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests:

Please pray for the regular ministry of the Word as Stan (and others) preach and teach throughout the week at church, via Zoom and other social media, and even in (very small) groups.  Pray that God's word would draw those in darkness into His light and for His people to walk closely with Him.

Please pray for the BGU interns as they learn the language, settle into the church community and Nikšić life (especially challenging in the midst of a pandemic), continue their studies, and build up relationships with each other and the people God brings into their lives.  May God bring forth much good from their time here.

Please pray for both the Osnovne Istine video series and Book Translation project which are progressing step-by-step.  Join us in giving thanks because the "Book Publishing" fund has grown this past month (Thank you, FCC Saints!).  Rather than laying out the details of publication costs here, we plan to send a special mini-update in the next few weeks.

Please pray for the upcoming Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child event which will be primarily coordinated by the EUS (student ministry) team.  We will be taking a very modest number of boxes (a few hundred as opposed to a few thousand as in past years).  Please pray for both the logistics given restrictions and for the children and families receiving the gifts.  May hearts seek the Greatest Gift of all, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Noting that Thanksgiving Day will soon be celebrated in the States, may we all join, from every tongue, tribe, and nation, in giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. That's why we are here.  

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support to make this all happen,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

October 2020 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

 

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; 

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

I will declare that your love stands firm forever, 

that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.  

Psalm 89:1-2

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

The day after pushing send on last month’s newsletter, our city Nikšić was put under Tier 4 restrictions (the heaviest) which included curfews, some closures, and no visiting privately in homes.  Our covid-19 numbers have improved over the last four weeks (yay!), so now we’ve placed into Tier 2. What a joy it is to be able to go from house to house once again!

• Stan recently finished preaching from Exodus 30, putting forth how all that touches God must be holy: the priests, their clothes, the altars, the sacrifices, the oils, everything;  and further highlighting the great gift of salvation, procured by Jesus Christ, which proclaims us sinners sanctified and lets us boldly enter the holy of holies.  Hallelujah!

• In our Sunday evening Zoom meetings, Stan and several other men have brought encouraging messages:  from Hebrews 7 (our assurance being rooted in Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice), from  2 Cor. 5:14ff (the compelling love of Christ to be His ambassadors of reconciliation), and from Psalm 1 (the blessed man (with God’s help) keeps himself out of the perishing path of the wicked.) Despite the terrible camera angles and audio lag times, the ability to see each other together electronically is a huge blessing.

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• The first installment of Osnovne Istine (Basic Truths) has been filmed and is currently in post-production.  This is the start of our hoped-for series of 5-10 minute talks regarding basics of Christianity to be posted online.  This first talk centered on why we need the bible.         
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• We are also making progress with our book project:  We’ve received formal permission to translate and publish Good News for Anxious Christians; we have narrowed down the choice of local publishers to two; we have a realistic idea of the costs involved; translation of the text has begun.  Next steps:  finishing the translation and seeking further funds to finish the project.  If you would like to support this one-time project, please contact Stan* directly for costs/accounting.

Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests:

Please pray for the regular ministry of the Word as Stan (and others) preach and teach throughout the week at church, via Zoom and other social media, and even in (very small) groups.  We are also hoping to have a Ladies' Breakfast at the end of October after many delays. May hearts be quickened and lives changed to the glory of God.  

Please pray for the Osnovne Istine video series: For Stan as he prepares short talks and for the tech team (Peter and Danijel) who will be recording, editing (which has come with a large learning curve), and posting.  May God use these humble means to bring people to Himself.  

Please pray for  book translation progress and consider contributing to the financial needs* to get it into print.

Please pray for the members of our own fellowship:  for unity, for reaching out to one another, for perseverance in grace and charity, for the financial needs as well as the emotional needs of those hard-hit by closures and disruptions, especially the families with school-aged children as they have much to juggle with ever-changing school scenarios.

Please pray for continued health and strength for us and BabaC (Stan's mother who lives with us).  

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich

* If you would like to know more about contributing to the Book Publishing project, please contact Stan directly at stan . surbatovich @ gmail . com (no spaces).

September 2020 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, 

for his compassions never fail. 

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24

Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!

Between migraines, dental emergencies, and Covid-19 increasing its foothold in the local community, it has been a bit of a challenging month. Sometimes just living each day with grace and joy by the mercy and strength of Christ is a victory.  Soli Deo gloria!

Services have continued, some in person, some via Zoom, some solely through our Youtube Channel or Facebook Page. We are glad we have so many options.

• In the morning service, Stan preached Exodus 26, highlighting the truth that God meeting with His people in the tabernacle in the wilderness is just a foreshadowing of God meeting with His people face to face in the new heavens and the new earth; a glorious promised secured for us by the blameless life and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus which rent the veil in two.  In our evening Zoom meeting, Stan most recently covered Hebrews 7:26, showing the superiority of Christ's fitness as The High Priest.  We've much appreciated the serendipitous intertwining of covering Exodus and Hebrews at the same time. 

• At the end of August, before the physical challenges arose, we thanked God and prayed for Andrija, (Andrew) a celebration which was postponed since March due to Covid-19.  As a fellowship, we rejoice with his parents and older sister Iva Sara and commit ourselves to seeing him grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  

• Unfortunately, progress stalled on both the book translation and recording of the series of shorter (5-10 min) videos covering basics of the Christian faith for the benefit of seekers and new believers.  However, the plan (Deo volente) is to begin the recordings next week. 

Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests: 

• Please pray for the regular ministry of the Word as Stan (and others) preach and teach throughout the week at church, via Zoom and other social media, and even in (very small) groups.  May hearts be quickened and lives changed to the glory of God.

• Please pray for the video series: For Stan who will be speaking and for the tech team (Peter and Danijel) who will be recording and posting.  May God use these humble means to bring people to Himself.  Please pray for the book translation progress, especially as we seek to find a local publisher.

• Please pray for continued health and strength for us and BabaC (Stan's mother who lives with us).  We feel we are being wise with precautions but are not cloistered, so there is some level of risk as Covid-19 is increasing here in our city; so much so, the Covid ward here in Niksic is currently at full capacity.  Please pray for the health care workers who are serving us all.

• Please pray for the members of our own fellowship:  for unity, for reaching out to one another, for perseverance in grace and charity, for the financial needs as well as the emotional needs of those hard-hit by closures and disruptions, especially the families with school-aged children as they have much to juggle.

• Please pray for wisdom to know when and how to resume larger events.  All the events of spring and summer (conferences, camps, teams) were tentatively postponed to fall/early winter.  However, now that we are approaching autumn, the likelihood of being able to safely host such events is diminishing.  Pray, too, that we might find and embrace opportunities to reach out to our community,  as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothing ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich