Ka-boom! Ka-boom! Our windows rattled. My husband looked out and could see smoke rising from across the river. My husband and I had recently arrived in war- torn, Osijek, Croatia, so we were freaked by the smoke, the booming, and the rattling windows. We called a friend to see if we were under attack, only to find out that it was just a day the military had decided to start demining the fields of the thousands of landmines around the city. This was the first of many days in which we questioned what we were doing here. We were so far out on a limb with God, we knew that God showing up was our only option. It quickly became apparent that our neighbors hated us. They threw eggs at our windows which would bake on in the hot sun and be almost impossible to clean. They pelted us with tomatoes, cucumbers, and once a bottle of black nail polish. We got the message. “You’re not wanted here!” We could accept that our “heathen” neighbors didn’t want us, but one of the hardest moments came from Christians.

I was excited because I had been invited out for a coffee and I thought I had finally made a Croatian friend. At coffee, she informed me that I was an embarrassment, and I made my husband and other Christians look bad. I was crushed. At the same time, my husband was being told by another Christian, “It’s worthless what you are doing in Croatia. You should leave.” He was crushed. We had so many expectations and hopes about what ministry and life in Croatia would be like. We never dreamed we would be scrapping eggs off our windows, listening to exploding landmines, and being completely rejected. We had left good jobs, good friends and family, and a good life. We cried as we considered quitting.

We prayed and asked God if we should leave. We felt God ask us two questions in response. “Did I call you?” “Yes!” we answered. “Have I told you to leave?” “No,” we answered. We had a choice to make. We could obey God, or we could take the easy way and quit. So, we chose to lose our plans, our dreams, our expectations, and stay. And we have seen God move in such unexpected ways.

At one of our teen nights, a new teen joined us. Honestly, he was pretty scary looking with his arms crossed across a big muscled-up body, brooding eyes, and deep frown. I still smiled up at him and introduced myself, “Hi! I’m Winnie. Welcome to Zadarska!” He glared at me and answered gruffly, “I’m Tomi.” That night the Gospel was shared with him and he asked for prayer and left. What we didn’t know was that Tomi was hearing voices that were telling him to kill himself. That night he woke up and felt a presence pressing on his chest. He heard a voice whispering, “Kill yourself.” He thought back to what he had heard earlier in the evening and prayed, “Jesus, if you’re real, make this stop!” The voices stopped immediately, and the weight lifted off his chest. He showed up the next Friday to our teen ministry, and I introduced myself to him again because his countenance was so changed that I didn’t recognize him! His face was radiant and smiling.

As we began to disciple Tomi, we learned that both of his parents were deaf, and he had grown up in foster care because the government didn’t allow deaf parents to raise a hearing child. I was horrified. I started researching and discovered that there was no deaf ministry in all of Croatia. I vowed to learn Croatian sign language to help families like Tomi’s.

The next weekend I attended a women’s ministry conference that had a team of women from the USA leading it. One of the ladies asked me what God was speaking to me about, and I told her about Tomi and how I had volunteered to learn Croatian sign language. She gasped and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but I run the deaf ministry at my church in the States, and God told me that I would meet someone I needed to give this book to.” She pulled a book out of her bag about how to do deaf ministry! I decided that was probably a sign from God. I immediately looked for any place that taught sign language, and my husband found a university-affiliated class that started the day I would get back from the conference.

That Monday I signed up and spent three years earning my certificate in Croatian Sign Language. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. My brain would feel like complete mush after class. But it was in my last semester that I got the most frustrated and almost gave up. I hadn’t been able to start any deaf ministry. “God, why did You have me learn this?” I prayed. The next day I got a phone call. A man who ran a television studio in Zagreb had been praying about developing Christian videos for the deaf of Croatia and hadn’t been able to find any Christian who knew sign language to help him. He told me that he had prayed the day before that if God wanted him to do this project, God needed to find him somebody because he was going to quit! The next day, someone gave him my name and number. Within several months, we were making Christian videos for the deaf.

God’s plan isn’t always easy, and there are days when we still ask ourselves what we are doing in the Balkans, but when we are willing to give up our plans and follow Him, miracles happen. We continue to stay out of obedience to His call. Because this work isn’t about us, it’s about Him. We are privileged that He allows us to be part of bringing people into His kingdom. To Him be the honor and glory!

By Winnie Coleman-Horvat