Mission to Montenegro newsletter

More Missionaries! Over the past two years, God brought to Nikšić two families (The Henegars and the Kremers)  with the desire to be in Montenegro as long-term missionaries. Now there are two Romanian families (The Tamas's and the Ilie's) who are in the planning stages of moving here, with the desire to reach the youth of Nikšić .  We first met them more than 15 years ago (as young married couples) when they came to help out with early Camp Monty outreaches.  

 

In closing, we want to say once again how truly blessed we are to be co-laborers with you all in seeing God establish His church here in Nikšić. We truly could not be doing what we are doing without you.  

We appreciate your earnest prayers, your sacrificial support, your quick notes and cards, and the blessing of working together for God to be exalted here in Montenegro. 

One with you in Christ,

Stan and Vicki Surbatovich
 

---

---

Vicki's Snapshot:  Cultural differences:  Celebrating Easter!

---

The timing of this newsletter is such that whether following the Western calendar or the Orthodox calendar, everyone has just recently celebrated Easter, the central event of human history.  With such providential timing, let’s look at Easter Traditions.

The observation of Easter begins weeks ahead of time with a period of fasting. Of course, not everyone fasts, but a surprising percentage of the population does.  In fact, despite the fact that most people who claim to be Orthodox have not gone to church even once, there are enough who engage in fasting to make it economically viable for products to be made both traditionally and “Posno” (“For Fasting”).  For example, these cookies which can be enjoyed plain but are also used in making several types of desserts:

Petite Butter Biscuits (cookies) with butter            Petite Fasting Cookies           

I learned (the hard way!) about this widespread fasting many years ago when we invited a local over for Sunday Lunch one fine spring day, a Sunday which happened to be in the Lenten period.   After happily setting out a lovely lunch—grilled meat, grilled veggies, robust salad with feta cheese, homemade bread glistening with an herbed butter rub, luscious cake—I learned my lesson. 

Our guest (a non-religious, non-church-goer) did, in fact, follow the Orthodox tradition of fasting. And while Catholics abstain from meat, Orthodox fasts forbid all animal products—no meat, no cheese, no eggs, no dairy, no butter.  So our grilled meat main dish?—obviously a no go. My fancy salad? (Why, oh why, did I think it’d be a nice touch to add feta?)—also nope.  Bread?—alas, no. Rich cake? (hah! sob!)—absolutely not.

The best I could do was to whip out a (sad) little can of tuna (placed ‘artfully’ in a glass dish) to accompany the grilled veggies (Thank you, Lord!) and some store-bought, “posno safe” bread.  I also managed to arrange a plate of dried fruit and nuts for a dessert.  Fortunately our guest was very understanding, but now I know to be far more mindful of fasting months and to find out (in advance!) who fasts and who doesn’t because it is not obvious *at all.*

*********

Our very first Easter here took place just a few weeks after our move in March 1996.  I remember very little of that first Easter.  We were in the throes of sleep-deprivation as baby M was still on her US schedule which meant she was sleeping during the day.  So Yay! (We could knock off quite a few tasks) but also Boo! (She was awake most of the night and so were we.) 

However, one thing we couldn’t miss discovering that first year:  The tradition of dyeing Easter Eggs followed by ‘Easter Egg’ battles.  With eggs as ammo (more on that!), families don’t dye just a carton or two of eggs, but upwards of 50, 60, even 100+ eggs. In the week leading up to Easter, the grocery stores have huge pallets of eggs stacked in the aisle to meet the demand.

Good Friday (a school holiday) is set aside as egg dyeing/decorating day.   The very first egg (or the nicest looking!) is supposed to be dyed red (from red onion skins) and kept for the year as the čuvarkuća (literally: protector of the house).  I asked a couple of friends if their family followed this tradition—one said no as their father felt it bordered on superstition, and the other said yes—just for keeping the tradition alive.  At the first whiff of rottenness, though, that čuvarkuća egg got tossed.  

Traditionally eggs are colored with onion skins, giving them rich red and golden tones.  I wasn’t brave enough to dye eggs naturally in those early years here, having grown up with brightly colored eggs.  For years I carried over food coloring and we mixed up our own dyes to color our modest twenty or so eggs.

Funnily enough, now that those bright color dyes—vivid reds, blues, purples, greens, oranges, yellows —are available to buy here, I’ve been attempting to dye our eggs the old-fashioned way.

On my first attempt (about 6 years ago), my eggs turned out beautifully; I felt such a sense of accomplishment and solidarity with our local community.  The following year (I have no idea how or why because I used the same techniques), my eggs turned out black as coffee.  I still think of them as my “Goth eggs.”  They were edible but the look!  I didn’t put those eggs out at all—I kept them hidden in the dark recesses of the fridge because I didn’t want to give any traction to the rumors that Protestants are 'a sect and a cult and into dark arts.'

The next year I fell back to using my tried-and-true food-coloring dyes, but honestly, I didn’t find it nearly as satisfying.  And frankly, I didn’t want to give up on mastering this time-honored, culturally-appropriate, centuries-old (so really, how hard could it be?) tradition.

Since then, I’m happy to report that I have had modest success.  Many creative souls place leaves on the eggs which act like a stencil, giving the eggs a rather pleasing aesthetic (God’s designs are the best!)  Even though I am not naturally talented with crafts, I thought I might be able to pull off this simple but stunning technique: 

              Gorgeous! (But not by my efforts)

Alas, I discovered I could *not* pull it off—I struggled mightily (those parsley leaves and dill sprigs do not willingly cling to those eggs!) and my results were laughable.  I now know to keep things very simple:  I save my onion skins over a few months; then a day or two before Easter, I dye my 15-20 eggs; on Easter I put them out; some I give away, the rest we eat.
 

Ta DA! My modest success

But wait!  I mentioned “Eggs as Ammo.” What is *that* about?  There is a long-standing tradition of “Egg tapping” battles—this is for everyone who comes by over the Easter holidays (which is why you need so many).  Two people each pick up an egg, they then tap/slam them together end to end and see whose egg cracks first.  

 

The winner is the person whose egg remains intact.  Battles can go on for awhile, especially if someone is determined to be a winner after a long losing streak. 

*************

I spent so much time telling you about eggs because that is *the* big tradition here.  There is no Easter bunny tradition nor egg hunts like in the States.  And while more people do go to church on Easter Sunday, it is not a ‘tradition’ because we are talking perhaps several hundred in a city with tens of thousands of people.

However, another tradition here (and my favorite) is the call-and-response greeting that everyone, religious or not, gives on Easter Sunday:
 

Hristos je vaskrs!  Zaistina je Vaskrs! 

 

These words do not translate directly as "Happy Easter!"  No, the greeting translates as “Christ is risen!” with the response “He is risen indeed!”

In fact, the holiday is called “Vaskrs” which is rooted in the word for resurrection:  Vaskrsenje.  The very name of the holiday reminds us of what believers are celebrating and provides us with a very natural bridge to explain this gospel truth to the many who don’t know Christ though they follow these traditions.  We praise God for this annual opportunity to make Him known.

Soli Deo Gloria!