I met Matej few months after I decided to leave my country and accept an insane job opporunity in Thailand. I was working as a brain training engineer in a neuroscience clinic in Bangkok. Matej was living in a nearby coastal city called Pattaya. Through a common friend he got to know about the succes that our project had on treating brain disfuctions on many of our previous clients. As he was working with many people who needed help, he introduced me to a great number of patients that we could assist.
Soon, the big demand forced me move to Pattaya. It was another big change, few months after the huge change of moving to Thailand.
Through the whole process I started becoming more and more friends with Matej. He used to invite me daily for lunch and even hosted me for a week while I was looking for a place.
His home had an endless stream of visitors. People who wanted to be around him, talk to him, enjoy a bit of the wormth in this house. I didn’t blame them, it felt good to be there.
I enjoyed all the stories of his adventurous life. It was interesting to see all the creative ways that he would deal with problems, and all the confidence and trust in his beliefs. I admired the bond and deep love that he shared with his wife. And she is the perfect balance for him. So caring and curious. Kept under control every little corner in their castle.
Matej has devoted his life in helping people find Jesus. I am not a religious person, and I don’t really enjoy any kind of preaching. What I mostly respected about Matej, is that he never tried to mandate his beliefs in me. We had differences in our way of thinking, but we never let that be an issue for our friendship. The fact that he doesn’t need to enforce his ideas, means to me that he has an internal peace and certainty.
We later even worked together, and shared an unforgettable and fun story in this remote part of the world. This is Matej’s story.
I was born in Slovenia in a multinational family, dad was Serbian and mom was Slovenian-Austrian. Dad was a pastor and was invited to move to Sweden to start up churches forYugoslav people which also happened when I was six. We would often have guests from all over the world, which sparked my interest in other countries and cultures. I was an avid reader and read all the books at the local library. I loved studying the world atlas with photos of nature and wildlife in different parts of the world. I learned the countries and capitals of the world and imagined traveling there. I have also played chess since a young age and became a national master at the age of seventeen.
My early travels were with family and from 18 years up first with friends but then an interesting coincidence made me get into traveling alone. At the age of 19, I was supposed to go to the USA with my best friend to participate in the New York Chess Open, however my friend’s mom got very ill and he stayed in Sweden. After deciding to travel there by myself, I realised that I was getting much closer to locals and making lots of friends when I traveled alone. Also I didn’t have to compromise with others when it comes to choosing what, when and how to do things while traveling.
After this experience I started to travel alone quite often and at 28,, after having tried all kinds of different jobs, I decided to study in Russia. I had always been fascinated with the history and culture and really wanted to learn the language as well. I stayed for two years and did learn the language, however I also experienced a major life crisis in Russia. I was partying excessively and hooking up with random girls. It all led to a very deep depression, anxiety attacks and finally suicidal thoughts that I couldn’t shake.
I came to a point where I simply couldn’t take anymore and I was ready to commit suicide. But because I was raised in a Christian family, I called out to Jesus in a last desperate cry for help. That’s when my life was completely turned around in a split second. I felt how all my burdens and negative thoughts just left me. I was filled with a peace, a love and a joy that I had never experienced before. It changed my life and gave me a boldness and fearlessness that I hadn’t had before. I tried jumping out of an airplane with a parachute, later took my PADI diver’s certificate, first the Open Water and then the Advanced Diver certificate. I worked as a travel tour manager and it took me to countries and places I would never have been able to visit otherwise.
After that I took my motorcycle driver’s license and bought a Harley-Davidson that I rode all around Thailand, where I moved with my wife and kids in 2016. I also joined a Christian Motorcycle Club and I’m still ministering to men from other clubs, including the most well-known and feared MC’s in the world.
But I have to back up a little. Before this happened I met my wife in Copenhagen, Denmark ten years ago, just before I was going to travel around Asia for six months. After my return we moved in together and after a while we got married. Then we started traveling in South East Asia together every winter. We would travel around for three to six months at the time and stay in low budget hotels and fly with low cost airlines.
After our first son was born, we took him along. He was only 14 days old when he started traveling with us and had been to 25 countries before he turned 2. It was real easy to travel with him, he enjoyed being carried around in a baby carrier, he loved the warm climate and being able to swim in the ocean or in swimming pools.
We would always come back to Sweden for work though, until we decided to take a chance, bring our savings and move to Thailand. We were hoping to stay for a year and a half but ended up living there for more than four years. It was an amazing time with so many experiences, both good and bad of course.
We had our second and then third son and it was great for them to grow up with parents that were happy and stress free, one of the great perks that come with a nomad lifestyle. Meeting so many people also made the kids very sociable. It was an awesome and unforgettable time and we have made so many memories for life.
I’ve learned that you have to take chances and even risk it all, if you want to experience amazing things. Since two years, we live in Sweden again. I am working and my wife started her own massage salon. I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and supporting people who are dealing with hardships like depressions, anxiety or suicidal thoughts from all over the world. My faith in God has removed all fears from my life, which is enabling me to try things that my friends or family would consider crazy or at least too risky.
Now my life is about helping people to find the freedom , peace and love that Jesus gives me and my family. My faith in God guides me and helps me in making important decisions, but it also helps me see every circumstance, even very difficult ones, as a learning experience that grows my character. I don’t see anything as a failure and I don’t react negatively on seemingly negative or undesired outcomes. I am able to maintain peace and I trust the plan that God has for me and my family. He has never let me down, and life is never boring!
