In June 2024, the second Luke 10 Exploration Trip to Eastern Europe took place. The following is a report written by a member of the team, Jonelle Liddell.

The team of five adults and two children included EFM Missionary Candidates Fred and Jonelle Liddell, along with their two children, Alex and Jael, Vivian Titus (EFC-MAYM), Jon Fodge (NWYM), and Patrick Neifert (RMYM).

The team was in Eastern Europe from June 7-22. They were able to visit multiple countries and towns while there. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we traveled to Čapljina, Mostar, Trebinje, and Sarajevo. In Croatia, we traveled to Metković, Orebić, and Dubrovnik. In Montenegro, we traveled to Herceg Novi and Podgorica.

Despite each adult on the team getting sick at some point and never having all of us healthy at the same time, God kept us moving and gave us some really helpful meetings with pastors and missionaries in each country we visited. We met friendly and helpful people in almost every town. The overall impression we got from our conversations with Christian workers here is that there is a great need for more workers, especially those focused on spiritual and emotional healing and peace-making/reconciliation ministry. We also learned that ministry here would be similar to working in a closed country in many ways. However, our experience was that throughout our trip, especially in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, random strangers went out of their way to help us.

In Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, we spent the day with a family who works in a variety of ministries. They shared about various needs and opportunities they saw in this region, about their own history in this region, and about what it is like to raise a family here. Their kids took our kids under the wing, and the grownups had a sweet time of fellowship that lasted through the evening.

We spent one full day in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It started with a walk to the Red History Museum, focused on the history of this region under Yugoslavia. This interactive museum was well worth the visit. Next, we walked to the only protestant church in the area. Two churches meet in this building; the next closest church is two and a half hours away. All three of those pastors, the only pastors in the southern half of the country, met us there, along with one of their elders and the only missionary couple working in that region. They shared about what ministry is like in that part of Croatia, their testimonies, and the needs that they see for more workers to come alongside them. Needs like many towns without so much as one believer in them, much less a church, or large numbers of low-income workers moving to Dubrovnik from the developing world. They asked great questions about what Friends believe and emphasized the value each of them places on working across denominational lines with others who hold the same core Gospel. One pastor told us that “the fields are ripe for the harvest.” We also learned that this missionary couple will likely be retiring soon and one of the pastors may be as well. After lunch, we said goodbye and headed into the Old City for some exploration and a long, beautiful walk on the city walls.

We met with one of those pastors again, nearer to his church, in a town that he and the missionaries both pointed out as a high-priority place for new work. We had visited this town, Orebić, a few days prior, and the whole team had a sense of peace when we arrived that increased over the course of the trip. Part of the team enjoyed cappuccinos and further discussion with this pastor while Jonelle and the kids played in the Adriatic Sea. This town’s centrality, the area’s need, the prospect of partnering with this pastor, and its proximity to other high-need towns in the region, make it a very promising place for a new team.

The team came away with a strong sense that we should open this field. We recommend focusing on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, possibly in Orebić, but see that with the right team gifting this field could be extended to southwest Bosnia and Herzegovina or northern Montenegro. We recommend a follow-up trip, either a prayer trip or a pre-launch planning trip, to look more at the specifics of getting a team on the ground.

We look forward to sharing more news as it becomes available about what we are finding and discerning in EFM’s Luke 10 Initiative.

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We left our home around noon, to begin our 26+ hour journey to Čapljina, BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Vivian had an even longer travel day from Wichita, with two more layovers, and met up with us at the Istanbul airport for our last flight to Sarajevo.

Meanwhile, Patrick had already made it to Sarajevo, nine hours ahead of us. So, he got to explore the city while he waited for us. Patrick is a last-minute addition to our team after plans changed and Stan would be staying home to care for his family. We miss having Stan with us but are glad to have Patrick join us and help us in this discernment process.

We finally made it to Sarajevo and met up together as a team. After taking this picture we went to get our rental van from a kiosk near this sign, only to be told that the office is inside the airport on the 2nd floor (3rd floor in American terms). So, we trekked back up to find out the office had closed for the night. We paused for a moment to pray and ask that God would help us now in this last leg of travel and we got a call from the office right after that, with the manager telling us he lives five minutes away and would come back to rent us the van.

We struggled to get the car seats installed in the van, especially due to a misunderstanding of where we could stop to load. While we were trying to get the kids situated a line of cars built up behind us. It was stressful, but we got it and made it safely to Čapljina that night.

The next day (Sunday, June 9) we went to the church in Čapljina. It is a small Evangelical Church of about 12, and the building was just built 20 years ago.

The pastor was at a church in another city that day and a pastor from Mostar preached. We stayed after for coffee and went to hang out with a missionary family who told us about the church activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On Tuesday we visited three pastors in Mostar, at one of the Baptist churches. They shared what they were doing in Mostar especially, and again have church sizes of about 12.

The kids have done great. Alex is adjusted to the time change, but Jael is still struggling at night. They have quickly taken a liking to Vivian.

We visited a group of pastors in Croatia and the GEM missionaries for the region, in the church in Dubrovnik. They were very nice, and the meeting was very helpful in understanding where the needs and the opportunities are in this region.

Here is Alex showing the GEM director his dinosaurs. The GEM missionaries told us that they felt Orebić was a key spot for a new work, and the pastor from Vela Luka concurred. We plan to meet that pastor in Orebić on Monday to discuss this more.

May God be glorified,

Fred

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The following is a report from team leader Jonelle Liddell. The whole team is grateful for your prayers and support!

The team was comprised of:

• Jonelle Liddell, NWYM
• Fred Liddell, NWYM
• Stan Leach, EFM Executive Director, FSW
• Vivian Titus, EFC-MAYM, Future Missionary

In addition to this team, little Alex Liddell accompanied his mom and dad on the trip! When we arrived in Hungary, we joined up with EFM missionaries Tony and Agi Frei.

We based out of Tolna, Hungary where EFM missionary Tony Frei works and pastors. We visited his Roma ministry sites in Kolked, Hungary and Backi Monostor, Serbia. The potential new field sites that we explored were in Sombor, Serbia and Osijek and Vukovar, Croatia. We ended the trip with a partial day in Budapest.

We were on the edges of where we want to be but even on the edges we sensed an openness to conversations about the gospel and to deeper connections. All three cities have very little Protestant/evangelical presence. They are mostly Eastern Orthodox (in Sombor) and Catholic (in Osijek and Vukovar), though it seems that religion is largely cultural. So there is a great need for the gospel, specifically for the gospel to be shared in a culturally sensitive and aware manner.

God seemed to be giving us a pretty clear welcome in Osijek. Our first four interactions were: a woman giving us her permit for the paid parking lot with an hour left on it, a woman giving us Croatian cash for the rest of our parking cost before we had a chance to exchange money, a woman at the restaurant giving us peaches from her garden for Alex, and the waiter letting us all leave when we were short of Croatian cash (due to an ordering miscommunication) because he trusted that we would come back to pay the balance.

While we were in Osijek, Stan had a good connection with a group of junior high boys that started with his question about liking ice cream and ended with a brief discussion on whether they knew people who prayed. Tony met and connected with a young family who had a Presbyterian background but were not involved in a church, to our knowledge. And Vivian, Jonelle, and Sabrina (our interpreter) had a long conversation with a Catholic nun who helped us understand the religious landscape a little more and was generally very welcoming.

God also answered many prayers about transportation issues, flight delays and cancellations, interpersonal communication, and individual direction during this trip. Specifically, all three potential future missionaries on the trip came away with far greater clarity about their next steps regarding missions and EFM.

We look forward to sharing more news as it becomes available about what we are finding and discerning in EFM’s Luke 10 Initiative as we continue to explore where EFM may launch new mission fields.

Matt Macy
Director of Mobilization

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