Five Trevecca Nazarene University graduates are settling into new lives in Croatia, where they are helping Southeast Europe Field (SEE Field) leaders launch the Church of the Nazarene.

Brittany Argabright, Hope Brock, Emily Humble and Jerry Romasco, (all 2010 graduates) along with alumnus Michael Hendricks (’09), arrived in Croatia September 2.

“Their objective is to learn what it means to be Croatian through exploration, relationships, language learning and study and then to create an outreach based upon their cultural understanding,” said Teanna Sunberg, a missionary in Bulgaria who is helping to lead and strategize the relaunch.

As the new missionaries move into apartments and meet people in their neighborhood, a local Church of Christ congregation and a non-denominational Croatian church are welcoming and assisting the young people. Simultaneously, denominational leaders are beginning the process of registering the Church of the Nazarene with the government.

“It’s a wonderful example of the body of Christ pulling together across denominational lines,” Sunberg said.

Sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia is home to almost 4.5 million people. Nearly 90 percent of the population claim Catholicism as their faith.

Mission Corps missionaries began ministering in Croatia 10 years ago, Sunberg said. Through friendship evangelism they made initial contacts, including one young person who subsequently attended European Nazarene College. However, the church was never registered or officially organized, and has not had a presence in the country for the past five years.

The young people have wasted no time in observing and learning the language and culture.

“At first everyone told us that Hrvatski [the language] is so difficult and we should just help them practice English and speak that,” wrote Humble on the team’s ministry blog. “But we have been as persistent as possible and they now love to hear our attempts and are so encouraging. Don’t worry, we’re still pretty terrible but we are improving day by day.”

A new friend took the young people to visit a gypsy village in a rural area. The team brought food and juice to share, and a woman invited them into her poorly constructed home.

The young people are also getting to know the public transportation system, filling out government paperwork, setting up bank accounts and are developing a growing sense of dependence on Croatian people to help them navigate the new culture.

“On our way home from church, Brittany, Emily, and I were waiting for the bus and it started to rain. While we stood in the rain, this little old lady who was also waiting from the bus came over and put her umbrella over our heads,” wrote Brock. “She spoke to us in Croatian and we said say [sic] we do not understand Croatian but thank you. She just smiled and patted Brittany’s arm and then huddled under the umbrella with us until the bus came. And the three of us just took a deep breath and thought everything is okay.”

Trevecca Nazarene University is working to keep the flow of missionaries to Croatia unbroken. Three of the missionaries have committed one year to the project, and the other two plan to stay two years. Trevecca will also send summer mission teams to add momentum to the project.

Dave and Betsy Scott, Mission Corps missionaries to Montpelier, France, have been reassigned as missionaries to Croatia and will arrive in October.

 

Watch video interviews with the new missionaries to Croatia here:

 

 

 

 

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