Crosslinks Oct 2004 magazine

General Secretary Andy Lines visited the MacCurrachs in August and these extracts from his report make for salutary reading: “Serbia is slowly emerging from the traumas of the 1990s when it became a pariah state in the eyes of the world, but the scars are very evident . . . mission agencies flocked to Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo, but not to Serbia . . . I found very little evidence of any external help for the churches . . . protestant groups are small, scattered and divided . . . the evangelical churches are stagnant . . . even now a new law is being drafted demoting several denominations including Baptists from churches to citizens’ associations . . .”

Despite huge problems including the ending of their placement with the Bible college after six months, the MacCurrachs have remained faithful to their calling. Their involvement with Gospel work includes an Alpha course, a marriage course, and following up a Bible study leadership course. This they believe is of strategic importance in a culture where the pastor is expected to do everything, so that growth and mission are limited. Other projects include encouraging a new start for the Serbian Evangelical Alliance which has been a casualty of conflicting agendas, and exploring a church training programme, Project Timothy, for Serbia’s fragmented and tiny evangelical church.

They seek to be servant-hearted, listening, prayerful and always ready to support and encourage the local church as well as their Orthodox, Catholic and non-church friends and neighbours. The Baptist pastor in Novi Sad, Zarko Djordjevic, told Crosslinks “We like Rob and Tricia because they are not like professional missionaries!” Says Rob “We took this as a compliment! Friends recently pointed out that we are ‘Christ’s ambassadors’.

A sketch by Tricia of the church at Kotor; cemeteries remind us of the long history of war and displacement; a modern Orthodox icon St Paul; TV mast still bears marks of the ’77-day NATO bombing campaign; much of Serbia is still a rural economy; damage caused by a cruise missile in central Belgrade

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Without a structured job we are sometimes tempted to feel that we are not achieving much ‘success’, but we know God’s work is a spiritual struggle and often invisible. We have learnt that prayer and intercession are our most important work. When we feel powerless to penetrate cultural gloom or change anything for the better we can be reassured that God has chosen his people.We are his envoys in a land and a work that belong to him!”

Andy Lines comments “What they are doing is absolutely crucial at this time in Serbia.A number of Serbians told me of the Serbian suspicion of foreigners but that the MacCurrachs are different. They have made the most of pioneering opportunities presented to them.” He also believes strongly in Crosslinks’ involvement in the region: “There were no other appropriate mission agencies in the area and Crosslinks is not defined by geography but by Gospel need.”

For more about the MacCurrachs click here or sign up for their prayer letters by contacting Suzy Wakefield on 020 8691 6111.