Susan preaching at Wloclawek Pentecostal Church, Poland.

By Susan Shanklin

Just days and hours before departing for the spiritually hungry and scenic hills and plains of Central Europe, snowstorms hit Minnesota, and wind storms blew into Europe. This mission trip suddenly became daring and more challenging. Our flights were questionable. At first, they said we could be diverted to Rome. What?! 

All my expectations for this trip were out of the window. Of course, I over-packed because I believed the internet. My prepared messages were unused for the most part because God wanted things His way. My strict diet plan was shot in the foot, for I ate my weight in bread and chocolate. No regrets there, though.

Tom and I were a well-oiled machine, but I saw us more like a Holy Ghost rock band. I was the opening act for him, and sometimes he was the opening act for me. No matter the stage, God stripped the preconceived notions of the listeners about this American couple.

The people of Central Europe delighted in the lead guitarist and his wild drummer! God delighted in His Word being preached with authority and with signs following.

No country was the same. No church was the same. No message was the same … even if it was meant to be.

It was all new, new, new!

Susan teaching at Evangelism Conference in the Czech Republic.

New countries for us and a new coordinator, Pastor Sangyee Nam—race car driver, linguist, and our Gospel collaborator. New languages. Everything new and different. And, yes, we were new and very different!

I didn’t mince my words or hold back the drama. I just released the love of Jesus, and let their eyeballs retract back into their sockets.

What a joy to go to your “family” across the pond and say, “Hey! You have potential, and you are very much loved by your Father in heaven. Let no man or woman pour cold water on the Holy Ghost Fire! You are good in your Father’s eyes and nothing can stop you but yourself.”

Well, that’s kind of what I said the whole time. 

We were heavily booked to speak nearly every day. We drove for hours at very high speeds at times. My plan was to get our driver, linguist, and Gospel collaborator, Pastor Sangyee, to drink lots of tea and liquids so he would stop for toilet breaks. I just bit my tongue until he would say, “I need to stop soon, so WE can use the toilet.” Ha! YES!

At each church, I would unfold my legs and get out of the minivan to shake hands with the welcoming committee, and head to the “toilet” (the European term). Before we got to each place, I would quiz Pastor Sangyee if they were open to women preachers. For the most part, churches were very open to women ministers. There was one conservative church that would allow me to minister only when standing next to my husband.

Tom, in his Holy Ghost wisdom, asked if it was okay for us to minister down on the main floor instead of the stage. Tom requested a simple music stand, and we were both then given mics with lots of cord. Hallelujah, I am free. The opening act was a success!

The women loved it! Men did too, by the way. 

I think seeing and hearing a woman proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ not only encouraged the women, but also in the days to come will bring a release of a whole new crop of bold women proclaimers in the land!

The evening meetings usually started at 5 or 6 p.m. After the singing, preaching and praying, we would talk with people, and then sit down to partake of cheese, meats, breads, fruits, and vegetables. Not so bad, except it would be 9 or 10 o’clock at night! If we didn’t eat right there in the church, they took you to their home or to dine out.

Since our drive usually started in the afternoon, we were starving by the late evening, and I stuffed my pretty little mouth with the most delicious seeded dark breads in the world. Oh, people, their bread is divine. Hard and chewy crusts sprinkled with seeds and herbs. I wanted to wrap all the leftover bread in napkins and stuff them in my pockets.

Besides bread, soups were my favorite. Soup first, you know, which was just the first course. Creamy soups with a mashed potato ball right in the middle of your bowl. Heaven!

Heaven, too, was seeing the desire of the saints in Europe. It’s like they could see it and wanted it, but yet they thought perhaps it was just a little too far away for them to reach. It was my resolve to poke and prod them to KNOW all that God had available for them, and that it was His will for them to have it. If it’s in the Bible, you can take it to the bank. Their potential was palatable. 

Sometimes it felt like you were drawing back a thick heavy curtain that was blocking their spirit man, and flooding it with the brilliance of the throne room. It was startling at first, I think. They were so eager to step into the rays of God’s light. Tom and I were just used as headlamps. It was there all along! The Word will not return void, but it will accomplish God’s will and succeed, whether in Europe or in America!

The Word was not the only glow in these countries, but also their praise and worship time! Many stringed instruments, drums, and vocals. Such gifted and talented musicians and singers. They weren’t just up there entertaining but truly worshipping. No one stood out. It was a marriage of spirit and soul that pierced and penetrated the atmosphere. It flowed through our uplifted hands and heart.

I could write and write about the snazzy European dressers or sweet wrapped chocolates. Women wanting a selfie with you as if you were a rock star, and their kindness and generosity. Pastors longing to see a crack in their ice-encased people and community. Stoic men and women stained by brutal communist and Nazi control, slaughter, and butchery.

I could write about the baby in the European birth canal waiting to be birthed with forceps. Such guttural sounds and bearing down. Pushing and pushing to see an awakening in the dark and barren landscape. Europe is on the cusp of such a birth. Push!

Oh, please Lord, let no seed that was sown fall to the wayside or onto the rocks. Send more laborers to those white fields of Europe and the world!