23. The dream

Having school-age children we tended to measure our time and make plans according to their school year. After a turbulent and exciting summer we were all happy to settle down into our family and new school routine.

Both Miriam and Natasha were well settled at school in regular classes and we all enjoyed being volunteers on Branislav’s pastoral team. His pastoral theory was that God invited our whole family, not only him, to serve Him in this special way. So, we spent much of our time organising church programmes, events and projects together. Branislav would take us for some of his pastoral visits and Bible studies. For all of us it was rewarding seeing people making decisions and taking new steps in life guided by godly principles.

We constantly kept in touch with the families in Croatia and Serbia. Everything seemed to be calm until the end of November. On one of mum’s regular checkups they realised that mum was out of remission, her cancer was active again. The operation was planned for middle of December. The plan was to take out the rest of the stomach that was left after the first operation. Mum was preparing herself for the operation ahead and the rest of us looked for all the information and understanding how to support mum in the new situation.

Mum was taken to the operating table. The doctors saw that the cancer progressed to the other organs; the most affected was the duodenum. The decision was made not do anything. They stitched up the cut and took mum to the recovery room.

As mum was waking up from anaesthesia she had a dream. As she described it, “I was in a church completely new to me. It was white, I was dressed all in white and got baptised in a baptismal pool.” This was the first thing that mum told me when we spoke on the phone. I took it more as if mum was trying to turn my attention away from her desperate situation and console me with that. At the same time, this was the most important thing that I considered that could happen in a life of a human being – Restoring a broken relationship between a forgiving God and a repentant sinner, being born again, making covenant with our Creator and Saviour. I got baptised on 26 June 1981, mum and dad were present at my baptism, and they were aware of the meaning and the commitment of this Christian ordinance.

Branislav was so excited when I told him about mum’s dream. Mum told him about the dream as well. Both of us wondered what she would do with it.

24. Face to face with death

We didn’t need to think twice how to spend winter break. Soon after Christmas we headed to our parents. Although not undergoing operation, mum was still recovering from the big incision. We were thankful for the opportunity to be with mum and dad at that time to support them in every aspect we could. Mum was trying to move our focus from her physical health to her dream. We listened to her and prayed to God to guide her in her decision.

The plan was to go to Branislav’s family, be with them for the New Year and on the way back to Germany spend a few more days with mum and dad. However, it didn’t happen that way.

On the 30 December we took Branislav’s parents and our girls to visit some friends, about 50 km from the village. We left the parents with their friends in Zrenjanin town and went to visit a friend of ours in the village 15 km further.

That winter there was much snow on the ground, but that particular day it was drizzling. It was already dark when we decided to head back, to collect the parents and go home. As we came outside it was so slippery we could hardly keep balance on the way to the car. With the fall of temperature the water on the paths and roads turned into ice.

We were on the country road and there was not much traffic. Suddenly as we came around the bend, to our surprise we saw a pedestrian and in the distance some lights. The road was narrow from the snow pushed to the sides. I got worried and shouted to Branislav, “Be careful.” Branislav instantly stepped on the breaks and completely lost the control of the car.

The car was swayed from one side of the road to the other hitting the snow bank. There was a pedestrian in front of us. I shouted, “God help us!” A cold feeling went through my body, a feeling that our lives won’t be the same; we were facing death.

The next moment the car went over the snow bank. Everything was happening so fast and yet it seemed like I saw it in slow motion. The car was swinging, the branches were hitting the windscreen, and after 10m we stopped upside down on the car roof. Branislav broke the silence, “I’m alive.” I responded, “I’m alive too.” “Miriam, Natasha!” Miriam responded but not Natasha. Fear that Natasha fell out of the car overcame me. “Natasha!” I screamed. And that woke Natasha up.

Branislav was trying to open the door. He stepped on the roof lights and switched them on and we all felt better. The girls were hanging on their seat belts. Branislav opened the door, came out and help us to come out too for the fear that the car might blow up in flames. He went to the road to see what had happened to the pedestrian. I helped the girls to find a safe spot where to wait for us.