Over the past year and a half, you may have heard us mention things about Montenegro and use the term “target nation.” Target nation means what you think it means, a nation that we target for ministry and outreach.

In January of 2015, we had a staff retreat at the base where we gathered all staff and kids to pray for a nation to focus on. We ended up with a big long list of countries; it felt like half the world could be a target nation! At that point we slowly kept narrowing our list down. We felt it should be in Europe, we wanted it to be a country that needed help in ministry and growing the church body, and it needed to be accessible and open to ministry. We eventually got our monstrous list down to 4 countries: Albania, Slovenia, Poland and Montenegro.

This past year, we thought we would take our DTS students on outreach to Montenegro and Albania as a way to “spy out the land.” We were able to make contacts and talk to the believers there and see first hand what was going on in the country. It was very beneficial for us to be there for an extended time.

Since not all our staff were with us when we first went to Montenegro, we wanted to take other staff to also experience and meet the believers there. We recently went back with one other family from our staff. Together we were able to pray and talk together what it would be like if Montenegro was our target nation. When we chose a nation, it was to be for all staff and for a long-term commitment. This would not just be a Megan and Lance decision.

So the time has come, we have prayed and talked with our staff and prayed some more, we felt that we should adopt Montenegro as our target nation.

‘And now what’, you may ask. Well our goal is to come along side the existing churches and believers to encourage them and assist them in building the ministries there. Our goal would be in 3-5 years to have a YWAM base planted in Montenegro. There may be other things that come out of this partnership but we are excited for the future and look forward to what God has in store for this beautiful nation!

Back in 2015, we worked with a local coffee shop to bring hope to the city, read about it HERE, Lance was able to work with the same people again to bring a love for Ukraine.

Lance and I try to get out into the countryside as often as we can. We believe that getting to know your surroundings will encourage a greater understanding of the people and nation we are serving. Not to mention, a greater love for the beauty it holds! Some of the pictures Lance has taken has captured the attention of others in Ukraine.

Our favorite coffee shop asked Lance to print a few photos to display in the shop. Of course Lance was excited for the opportunity to share his photos and his love of exploring Ukraine. Lance printed about 20 photos and prepared a short speech to encourage exploration of Ukraine.

We truly do love Ukraine and we have realized that many people do not know the beauty that is with in the country. We want to inspire Ukrainians to love their country and to see more of it. This opportunity of showcasing the beauty within Ukraine was a great way to motivate others to visit historic sites in Ukraine. Each photo was printed with the name of the village and the number of kilometers it was from Ternopil.

We are hoping that more young people will get outside of their city to experience first hand, the beauty of Ukraine!

You can see most of Lance’s photos on his Flickr site.