Ben and Jessi Bock serve as missionaries in Montenegro. They have three children, Oliver, Nora, and Lily.
Is it possible we sometimes idealize missions, painting a beautiful picture so people will answer the call and go? As a child, I remember dreaming of being a missionary and praying, “Please use me to change the world.” Missions was a beautiful picture to me. But then I became a missionary.
If I had known my husband, Ben and I would both lose our mothers during the first three-year term, would I still have gone? If I had known I would experience months of darkness battling fear and anxiety attacks and that our ventures into the community would result in tears 90 percent of the time, would I still have gone? If I had known our children would suffer with sickness and be attended by doctors who watched soccer while listening to their heartbeats, would I still have gone? If I had known God would strip us down to nothing and burn away every ounce of Ben and Jessi so He could recreate and rebuild us, would I have said yes to the pain?
I don’t know.
But I do know Ben and I see a beautiful picture of missions now—the picture of people being reconciled to God and allowing us to be part of their lives. That picture fades at times, but God continues to restore it. No longer a wide-lens snapshot of Montenegro knowing Jesus, we now see the familiar; up-close faces of people we know and care about who need Him. There’s Petar; who lives on the coast and has yet to surrender his life to Jesus. There’s Milan, who practices orthodox religion but doesn’t believe in God. There’s Milan’s son Luka, who claims to be agnostic but in reality worships himself. There’s our fruit lady at the market, our pastry lady, our butcher, the men at the tire shop by our house, and the servers at our favorite café. They are the reason we serve.
Montenegro is a hopeless place. Those who dare to dream of different lives want to leave, because how could they achieve their dreams here? Even people in our local church are discouraged. Any new person who walked into church would be persecuted by family and friends, so outreach and witnessing are not a priority for believers.
Ben’s photography allows us to meet people on the streets. He goes out every day, waiting for the Spirit to reveal who he should approach. When he takes people’s photos, Ben asks them to tell the world something they love about Montenegro. We hope to bring positivity into their lives, since many can’t change their situations. Somehow the conversations always turn spiritual, and Ben shares the good news about Jesus. We’ve also been able to pray with people. That may not sound like a big deal, but most have never heard that God listens and answers—it’s a huge deal! Every time we pray with someone, the Spirit moves powerfully and the person excitedly invites us back.
Our life looks like the Book of Acts. We travel from town to town and village to village, seeking out people with whom to pray and build relationships. For Montenegrins to encounter Jesus, we must completely rely on the power and leading of the Spirit. They won’t believe in Him because we are special, talented, or gifted or because we’ve seen multitudes saved or healed. They will find Jesus because we said yes. The One who sacrificed everything calls us to do the same. Through the pain, we will continue to say yes, and God will continue to paint a beautiful picture of missions as His kingdom comes to Montenegro.