In July this year, a team from Monmouth (USA) went on mission to Cesky Tesin (Czech Republic). The team was led by Jason Vana, an experienced youth leader with a passion for student ministry. The STM combined youth leadership training, outreach events in the local community, & a youth retreat, inviting contacts made through the outreach events. Here’s Jason’s story.

Jason: “I’m still in awe of what God did while we were in Czech. Leading up to the trip the team & I continued to pray that God would move big, & start something new & fresh in the lives of the youth in Cesky Tesin. I knew from talking to Ben, the youth pastor, that many of them were complacent & were dealing with some deep issues. So, we were really praying for a breakthrough…& God really showed up, changed many of our plans & moved mightily, saving many from complacency, fear, depression, condemnation & sin.

The highlight of the mission was the final night at the youth retreat. We’d been praying for 4 young men to come to know Christ. During the worship time, 2 of them came running to God on their own. They didn’t even wait for an altar call. I’m so glad they didn’t! Both of them walked out the room crying, & wanted to know how to have God in their lives. After they came back, their 2 friends started crying & wanted God in their lives too. All 4 came to know Christ that night! They later flushed all their drugs down the toilet without any prompting from us! It’s so cool when God throws your agenda out the window & does something like this. We’d planned worship, testimonies, preaching, even a cool candle illustration & then an altar call. We didn’t even get to the testimonies when these young men came to Christ!

It was amazing to see the response of the youth in the room. Unlike most American churches, these youth were on their feet, clapping, shouting, whistling & crying…because God showed up & showed himself ‘Mighty to Save’ (our theme song). We then had the youth come forward, hug these young men & welcome them into God’s family. It was a great time!

All-in-all the trip was amazing. Being my third time in Czech, I thought I had a good idea of what to expect. But God really showed up & did something amazing. And, although I didn’t think it possible, he broke my heart even more for that area of the world. He gave me a glimpse into my future, doing ministry in Europe… & it all happened because of this trip to Czech.”

It was also Crimea’s first Advanced Leadership Training Conference (ALTC) hosted by Jeff Brunton (Burnley): the 2 other trainers being David Belfield (Wigan) & Antonio Nasser (Vancouver). Greg Swinamer, (NLI) Jeff Chapman & Peter Paluch (Vancouver) made up the team. Travelling with 7 blokes certainly has some advantages – at least I always had a room to myself!

The ALTC went well & the delegates certainly appreciated the scenic location in Alushta (Black Sea coast). The conference combined quality training from experienced leaders, small group discussion & feedback times. There were some great times of worship too!

We visited several places with unpronounceable names, & heard couples share the vision for their church plant(s). On Sunday morning some of us travelled to Sachanyegalovka (Sugarhead!): Greg preached & we had an amazing ministry time amongst the 25 people who pack the Pastor’s apartment each week. At least one lady was healed from a back problem, & demonstrated this by leaping up & down. We then shared lunch together; a traditional rice dish called plov! (like risotto)

We were also able to meet potential project staff & get a feel for the kinds of challenges we might face in Crimea. I found this one of the most helpful aspects of the trip. I’ve never been involved in helping to set up an NLI CP project before; the STM side of things usually starts in year 2. My new role will involve helping to manage aspects of the project, (staff, budgets, mission teams, ALTC, etc) so it was beneficial to get early insight into how these areas might function in order to ensure effective ministry & give the project the best possible foundation.

“Emerge is a conference for women in church leadership. Everything is in the name. Emerge; ‘to appear out of or from behind something; to come out of an experience, condition, situation, especially a difficult one; to become known or apparent; to arise. The conference is designed for both emerging & advanced leaders: pastors wives & those who serve their local church in worship, women’s ministry, small groups, youth & children’s ministry. Everything about the conference will reflect the value & importance women have in God’s Kingdom. A holistic approach to ministry will be modelled, addressing the whole person; spirit, soul & body.” Quote from NLI website.

Emerge mission

Conference venue

From a week with a bunch of blokes (in Crimea) to a week with a bunch of women – nice! Seriously though, this was a ‘first’ for NLI; bringing together around 90 women from Slovakia, Czech, Romania, & Ukraine. It took 18 months hard graft to pull the conference off; a logistical challenge to say the least. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Bratislava & most delegates received sponsorship so they could attend.

As well as raising finance, NLI recruited a STM team to serve at the conference – 30 people comprising some great ladies from USA (& 2 husbands) plus NLI staff from UK, USA, & Slovakia. We even had an all-girl worship team.

The main speakers were Linda Howell, Gabriela Reinas (USA) & Judith Green (UK) ably assisted by some other leaders. My main input was some STM training with the team prior to the conference.

Most of the mission team serving at the conference

Myself & Kara (3rd right) with 4 great ladies from Lvyv (Ukraine)

I feel sure this won’t be the last Emerge conference. There is such hunger amongst the women of Europe & they need encouragement to ‘come out of the shadows’ & be all that God has called them to be. I pray it won’t be long before they are hosting their own conferences & passing on the blessing.

Finally, it was great to see some ‘old’ friends, women I have journeyed with over the last 3 years, but it was also a huge blessing to make new friends amongst the team. We rounded things off with a day in Vienna; a chance to relax, see the sights, laugh, & drink yet more coffee.

And now for more photos…