Roll Up Your Sleeves and Help

When a friend is in need, sometimes the best thing to do is how up, roll up your sleeves, and offer to help. Two missionary families teamed up to do just this in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was devastated by war in the 1990s.

Amid the country’s recovery, the Bosnian national church remains a small movement in need of encouragement. Missionaries Chris and Katie Sasser and Sara Hobbs set out to serve the 12 churches and roughly 500 believers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in any way needed. Pastors responded with surprise and relief. “Our pastors have been stretched thin,” explains Chris, “and they were astounded that our primary purpose was simply to help them and their church.”

Shortly after the Sasser’s arrival, immigrants and refugees started coming into Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the tightening of its border with Croatia. This influx opened doors for ministry but also had the potential to strain the thinly stretched Christian community. Even so, national church and parachurch ministries banded together to help, and the AGWM missionaries jumped in to assist.

Katie organized a weekly coffee event and has been able to build relationships and share the gospel with several immigrant women. Even though immigrant populations are frequently transient, the Sassers have developed enduring relationships with families from places like Afghanistan.

For the Hobbs and Sasser familes, serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina has meant simply pitching in wherever help is needed, letting people know the Assemblies of God is committed to investing in them. In the future both families hope to start a business to engage the local community, provide jobs, and offer space for a church plant. They will continue to show up, roll up their sleeves, and serve people as an inroad to sharing the gospel.

He Prepared Me to Go, and Prepared Me to Stay

Growing up in church I remember hearing missionary stories that honestly scared me as a kid. Some were legitimately frightening, while others frightened me for other reasons… leaving home, leaving comforts, adapting to different cultures, etc … The stories added to the weight that the word “missionary” already held for me. I didn’t realize it then but God’s timing is perfect.

God knows the big picture. He sees the end before we take the first step. He knew I needed time to process this God-sized plan He had placed before me. A single girl leaving her family behind to live and do ministry in another country ... You can’t really process that overnight. He gave me those stories to begin shaping my thoughts and help prepare me for my current reality.

I have just begun my second term in Vienna, Austria, working with an incredibly diverse group of people and students. I’ve learned so much about myself, about intercultural studies, and about God’s faithfulness. It is mind blowing to me the different people that the Lord has planted in my life. I’m so beyond grateful for the missionary team we have here in Vienna that has become my family. God knew. He prepared me for leaving and He has prepared me to stay here while I do this work.

If you are praying about or wrestling with the idea of becoming a Missionary or Missionary Associate, don’t let fear stop you! It’s the most rewarding journey to embark upon. Trust that the Lord goes before you and is already preparing you and your heart for the next step in your life.

Learning to Be Served

Southeastern Bulgaria, near the borders of Turkey and Greece, is predominantly Muslim. Muslim cultures are collective, which means cousins are as close as brothers and sisters and shared decisions and ownership are the social norm. When Muslim people come to Christ, they may not just get kicked out of their homes; they may also lose relationships, possessions, access to food from the family garden—they could lose everything. This is why missionary Liza Johnson* says, “You have to form the body of Christ.”

Liza works among the Pomaks, and unreached Bulgarian people group with a militant background. Part of her ministry has been to facilitate a support system to replace the infrastructure that is lost when someone loses the Muslim community. Forming the body of Christ is more than being a shoulder to cry on; it’s being responsible for the physical and relational needs of those in your community⁠—much like the structure of the Early Church.

For Liza, this concept is just theory. She has lived it. When she moved to post-communist Bulgaria as a missionary in 1997, she was sent with the covering of only one local church. When that church stopped supporting her one year later, leaving her with nothing but a return airline ticket, she had to decide: Am I called to Bulgaria or not? Her Bulgarian Christian friends heard of her situation and said, “We have a garden. We have a goat and a cow. If we can live on that, so can you. You can stay with us.” From that moment, she learned⁠—how to live in community.

When missionaries head to the field, it is always to serve, not to be served. That’s the reason Jesus himself came (Matthew 20:28). Knowing that, Liza initially had difficulty accepting that her supporters were local people who brought her canned goods and that everything she had belonged to the family. Liza explains, “Being part of the community means letting others give to you, and that’s counterintuitive to those of us who have more.” If Liza has not learned to be served in those early years, she may not have earned the privilege of serving her community as an AGWM missionary in the years that followed.

As part of the community, Liza has seen incredible things happen for the sake of the gospel. Through the churches she has planted together with local Bulgarians, people have grown in their faith and responded to the recent influx of refugees. Through their outreach, dozens of people from the Middle East have come to faith in Christ and numerous families are entering ministry⁠—all because Liza learned the culture and the beauty of humbling herself to be served.

*Due to the sensitive nature of her situation, Liza’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Hidden People on the Street

The number of people trafficked into Europe is staggering. While some men are trafficked for forced labor, most victims are women and girls targeted for sexual exploitation. Coerced from Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America, these women are forced into prostitution throughout Europe, including places like Angers, France, where missionaries Joy Krajicek and Lisa Russi work with Project Rescue France.

Joy and Lisa work with men and women in prostitution and spend time on the streets distributing coffee and tea, offering help and prayer, and sharing Jesus. With the number of trafficking victims growing worldwide, they know their work must reach farther if they hope to make a measurable difference. Since beginning this work five years ago, Joy and Lisa have engaged local churches, igniting interest and participation from the French national church.

As Joy and Lisa host training sessions and outreaches, more French Christians catch the vision and take on the responsibility of bringing Jesus to the situation on their doorsteps. “The local church is being inspired to reach the hidden people on the streets of their cities,” explains Joy. “We are seeing open doors to launch other outreaches in other cities because the local churches are understanding the circumstances and the needs of people trapped in prostitution.”

In this type of ministry, results can be slow. Peeling back the layers of bondage and emotional damage in these vulnerable people can be difficult. Sometimes it takes months for someone to open up to the idea of receiving personal prayer. Through consistent time on the streets, Joy and Lisa have built rapport with people, as they did with one South American woman who was a self-proclaimed atheist. She appreciated their kindness and accepted the hot beverage they offered but did not want to pray. Now, eight months later, she regularly asks for prayer and has a completely different view of God and faith.

As ministry continues and more national churches continue to implement outreach ideas, Joy and Lisa hope many more victims of trafficking will no longer be hidden but will come to light, taking steps toward Christ and finding physical, emotional, and spiritual freedom.