Her discipleship journey started with ABC
By L.J. in Macedeonia —
In the summer of 2013, students from Lancaster Bible College came to Macedonia for an English outreach. After the first night of classes, we gathered the students together to go out for a coffee or ice cream. I really connected with one of two ladies who was about my age — Vesna — and we sat down at the café to talk.
Now it’s not that uncommon for the talk to quickly turn to spiritual topics in Macedonia, because Macedonians love to talk about everything. So I wasn’t too surprised when during our conversation, even though I didn’t know Vesna, she started asking me about my faith and what I believe. I left that evening thinking, this is a friendship I want to continue. So we got together for coffee, lots of coffee, lots of long conversations.
After the English class ended, I invited Vesna to a Wednesday night Bible study that our team was holding at our church plant. She agreed to come, and she upped it — she not only kept coming back, she invited her son and one of her daughters to come, too.
Vesna had a lot of knowledge about God. Her grandfather had been an Orthodox priest, so she had grown up in and around the Orthodox church, but she had no idea what a relationship with Jesus Christ was. And, to be honest, her life was a mess. She had a fiery temper, a short fuse and a sharp tongue. She had recently divorced her husband of 20 years, and she had been struggling with some entangling sins.
But at our church fellowship, she really felt cared for and loved and prayed for, and she just kept coming back. The more she learned about Jesus, the more she trusted him. The more she got involved in our fellowship, the more she grew to appreciate and love the family of God, and she didn’t want to live her life apart from it. The more she got into God’s Word, the more she became aware of her sin — and she would confess to God and she would confess to all of us. She was very open!
Our family went away for a year of home service, and when we came back, I was able to see Vesna face-to-face, to really see how she was doing. Her life wasn’t perfect, but she had changed. The Lord was transforming her life. She was starting to be bolder in sharing her faith with co-workers and family members. And people were noticing a difference.
Later that fall, she was hungry for more of the Word, so she and I started attending a deeper Bible study. On the second Saturday of every month, she would sit with a small group of other Macedonian women, and she could see Christ lived out in their lives. And it was important that this was in Macedonian women’s lives, not just in my life as an American. I saw her temper and her sharp tongue start to come under the control of the Holy Spirit.
It seemed like every Saturday when we had this Bible study, a crisis would erupt in Vesna’s family — but somehow the Lord would pave the way for her to come. So we continued to grow together.
As a child, Vesna had been baptized in the Orthodox church. These last few years, she had said, “I don’t see the need to get baptized again. I don’t really see the point.” But in the last couple of months, our church plants had been coming together to plan our annual baptism service by the river, so baptism was a subject of discussion. Vesna started asking more questions this year, and it was an incredible joy for us that this summer — four years after we met — Vesna publicly declared her faith in Christ through baptism.
Vesna’s discipleship journey took her from English class to friendly chats to Bible study to joining a church to baptism — and now she’s taken another amazing step: In the last couple of weeks, after lots of prayer and planning and overcoming obstacles, Vesna has begun to lead an evangelistic Bible study for women in our neighborhood! It’s so neat to see this disciple reaching out to make other disciples!
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Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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