On a quiet field in Slovenia, a handful of boys wait for a man holding a baseball glove. There is no church building. No youth room. No microphones or stage lights. Just dirt, grass, and a simple game. This is what ministry looked like when everything else shut down.
Twenty years earlier, Mesa worker Shawn had heard a simple, unmistakable word from God: “You’re going to Slovenia.” He couldn’t have known then that obedience would one day look like standing on a baseball field during a global pandemic, wondering what doors were still open.
When Shawn and his wife, Christena, first settled in Kočevje fourteen years ago, ministry moved quickly. They launched a youth group in a local church that had never experienced anything like it—hosting English camps, teaching Scripture, and investing deeply in young people. Camps filled. Lives changed. The church grew stronger.
Later, they sensed God leading them to help build something new alongside a different church. They stepped forward in faith, but not long after, the pandemic halted gatherings across the country. The youth group they had felt so clearly called to build was suddenly unable to meet. Like so many others, they found themselves asking what obedience looks like when everything familiar disappears.
The answer came in an unexpected form: baseball.
Outdoor sports were still allowed. So Shawn began showing up at local fields each week, glove in hand. Before long, young boys started to gather. What began as a simple game became a doorway for relationship, community, and quiet conversations about faith.
Remaining began to mean something new.
Over the years, Shawn and Christena have walked through more than their share of hardship—from the disruption of COVID to the devastating loss of their home in a fire. There were moments when leaving would have been understandable. Instead, they chose to stay. In a country where trust has often been fragile, their steady presence spoke louder than any sermon. Neighbors and friends watched as they rebuilt their lives. Their choice to remain became a testimony.
Today, the youth group includes young people who first connected through baseball and others from churches across the region. Some travel more than an hour to attend. Many have never stepped inside a church before.
One of them is Lucija. She arrived knowing no one, holding a flyer from a friend who had never attended herself. Her family does not follow Christ, but she is searching for truth. Her attendance was a glimpse into the lives being touched through the ministry and through Shawn and Christena’s faithfulness.
Global ministry is rarely defined by dramatic moments. More often, it is built through steady presence—choosing to stay when leaving would be easier. It requires trust that God is moving faithfully, even when the fruit is slow to appear.
In Slovenia, that trust looks like a baseball glove, a room filled with young people, and a quiet, persistent yes to remaining.
Stories from the Field
