(pictured above) Shane McNary and Sasha Zivanov. Shane serves in Slovakia and Sasha serves in St. Louis, Mo.
Our Church is pleased to support CBF Global Missions in moments like these where unity and love are modeled and shared.
We met Rene several years ago when he was working at the Children’s Center, an outreach of Bethel Ministries/Litomerice Baptist Church. I was immediately impressed by his commitment to serving others and we remained friends even after the Center closed. I know Rene to be a compassionate and committed servant, and I was honored to be present at his appointment service. At the service, an elder who happened to be Baptist shared how meaningful Rene’s friendship has been to him. He said, “I consider him my brother.” He continued through his tears, “We are brothers here and we will be brothers in heaven.” By bridging generations, races, and church affiliation these two brothers deconstruct the rhetoric of intolerance against “anti-sociables” as the Roma are euphemistically called by some Czech politicians. Deconstructing the myth that Roma and non-Rom Czechs cannot relate to the other, the reign of God grows as these men from different worlds learn to live in beloved community.
-Dianne and Shane McNary, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Field Personnel, Slovakia