This was our third trip to the Balkans this year, once at the beginning of the year, then later in June. Both of those trips were with our own staff and team, this third trip was actually to meet with other people interested in starting something in Montenegro.

The YWAM base in Albania hosted this gathering and advertised to other YWAM locations to get people together with a common interest: to work in Montenegro. Lance and I and one other staff represented our base, there was a British man working at a base in Sweden, a Norwegian man working in Norway, another Norwegian man and a Dutch man both living in Albania, and several of the YWAM Albanian staff from various countries such as Canada, Ukraine, Brazil, Norway, Chile and Albania. We were quite a diverse group!

Lance and I really enjoyed this time since our previous trips were just with our own team, this time we got to have a more diverse viewpoint of Montenegro. We spent two days in Albania listening to a pastor serving in Montenegro, then praying for the country, and coming up with a strategy for our next two days which were to be in Montenegro. We decided to pray and ask the Lord where we should go in Montenegro, we felt to go to several cities.

As a group, we traveled to Bar, a city in the south where we talked to the pastor of church, then we went on to Tivat to hear from some German missionaries. We spent the night in Kaminari with a couple from Bosnia who have been working with orphans and in the morning we went to Niksic to visit with a pastor there and ended our time in Podgorica, the capital talking with missionaries and a pastor there. It was a whirlwind tour with lots of conversations and fun memories with new friends.

It was sunny and warm when we left Albania…

We see this time as super important and valuable for us as a YWAM location since we have chosen to target Montenegro for future work. It was encouraging for us to hear from other people to get new ideas we didn’t think of and to have confirmation for some ideas we already thought about. We really believe that this is an important time for us and for Montenegro and that Ukrainians will be great missionaries, particularly to this part of the world, there are many similarities. Both countries have had communist governments, both use a Slavic based language, both are very warm-cultured, both are Orthodox, and both are super relationship-oriented.

We are truly excited for our future in Montenegro!

In July, my grandfather passed away at the age of 97. He was always seen as solid, faithful, hardworking, and witty. His passing was peaceful and with family but no less difficult to process. Lance and I decided that it would be good for me to go home to be with family during this time. My time in the states was only for two and half weeks since Lance stayed in Ukraine.

I was honored to be at my grandpa’s memorial at the National Cemetery where he was given military honors. I enjoyed being able to see family members I hadn’t seen in a long time. I am very glad that I made the short trip home for this time.

I also got to spend some good quality time with my family doing a few hikes together, eating meals together and running errands together. Had a short trip down to Oregon also to see family there. I can never get tired of time spent with family.

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!

In 2014, my dear friend Joanne moved to Turkey to volunteer with a group there. We went through TESOL together in Washington, we taught English together for several years in Ternopil, we were in Romania together, we lived together and spent many late nights together watching old black and white movies.

Our 2010 TESOL graduation photo, where we first met.

When she asked if I would be in her wedding, I of course said “YES!” Turkey is not far from Ukraine so it really was not difficult for us to go. Joanne knew my parents and family from our trip to Romania and from my wedding so it was a fun bonus to have my parents join in the wedding festivities too. We were all able to travel together to Turkey with other friends from Ukraine.

Together again!

We came a little early to be there for a bridal party and help with extra planning. We did get our nails done with all the bridesmaids and had extra time to fellowship.

Another happy couple

The wedding site was in an olive grove, how cool is that! Joanne had made simple decorations but the beauty was already there. Joanne met her husband in Turkey while he was also volunteering. They are both so loving and compassionate!

Giving a toast to the newlyweds

With the happy couple

There were a few fun Turkish elements to the wedding that made it unique and memorable. One was that there was a bridal party dance, the bride and her bridesmaids are on one side of the dance floor and the groom and his groomsmen are on the other. The bride dances and her bridesmaids must copy whatever she does, then the groom dances and his groomsmen copy his moves. Let’s just say it was hilarious! Turkish men know how to dance and have fun on the dance floor.

Bridal party dance

There are also lots of sparklers and flares and sparkler fountains, anything bright and flashy. They had sparkler fountains going all around the cake when it was brought out. Sparklers when they left and flares when they were about to leave.

Don’t worry, the cake was fine

We had so much fun celebrating Joanne and Isa. They will be a dynamic couple in Turkey.

After the wedding, we got to see more of the area and were able to take a day trip to Ephesus. We all enjoyed seeing the ancient ruins of the city that Paul writes of. There were interesting facades and motifs everywhere you turned, little passages to go through and colonnades to to stroll. It was quite a large area and of course there were mobs of people but we still enjoyed soaking in the history.

Exploring is our specialty!

With my parents at the library of Celsus in Ephesus.

At the amphitheater

At the Church of St. Mary

At the Basilica of St. John

Skipping rocks in the Aegean Sea

And we are off with them! Yep, outreach involves leaving your place of training and going to a new location. This year, our outreach was in Ukraine, Montenegro and Albania.

The students did a lot of work between these three countries. Montenegro and Albania were new outreach locations for us and therefore we did not know what to expect.

Home sweet home

In Montenegro, we were divided between two locations, some of us stayed in trailers, some of us in a church office, and some of us in a home. It got a bit chaotic sometimes for us to get together but we did! We were also in Montenegro for three holidays! Christmas on the 25th, New Year, and Orthodox Christmas. We did a lot of celebrating!

Our ministry was more spontaneous and fluid than we had hoped. We discovered that the holiday time is not the best time to come to Montenegro. It made it difficult to have events or meet with people. Our group was great at building relationships with locals and sharing the Gospel message with those they met on the street though and we did see a level of trust and understanding from those that we talked to.

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas again!

Kids club

Singing Ukrainian songs in church

Evangelism on the streets

Preparing tracts to give away

Albania held different activities for us. We were able to partner with the local Youth With A Mission to do some evangelism on the beach, prepare an English and craft lesson for a local public school, help with some practical needs, and share in a church. We have some gifted artists so they were able to show off their skills at church and in painting a prayer room for the YWAM base in Albania. We were able to serve the YWAM base by doing some practical work for them. They have just entered into a lease with an old hotel and there is lots of work to be done. We came at the right time to bless!

Sharing our talents and testimony

Craft time at a local school!

Landscaping at the YWAM base

Evangelism on the beach

Making vareniki for Ukrainian culture night

Painting a prayer room

The whole team in Durres, Albania