sladjanmilenkovic

June 12, 2013

Nove vesti od Milenkovica – jun 2013.

Dragi prijatelji,

Veliki pozdrav iz Memfisa od svih nas Milenkovića. Radujemo se što možemo da vam se opet javimo sa vestima, a takođe i da vam zahvalimo za vaše molitve i svu podršku koju nam pružate.

Najveća stvar za nas je da je Sara završila hemoterapijama. Slava Bogu!

Bilo je teško, ali je gotovo. Njeno telo je mnogo oslabljeno posle svega, nije uzimala hranu skoro četiri meseca i sada to ide veoma polako. Pred nama je sada njen oporavak i nadamo se da će to ići dobro. Molimo se da što pre počne koliko toliko normalno da jede.

Ono što nas je mnogo obradovalo i ohrabrilo je to da su njeni zadnji nalazi skenera od prošle nedelje jako dobri. Uopšte nema znakova tumora i to je odlično. Hvala Bogu! Doktori su veoma zadovoljni kako je sve išlo. Molimo se da tako i ostane.

Još uvek neznamo kada idemo kući, to zavisi od Sarinog oporavka, ali očekujemo da to bude do kraja jula. Nekako nam je teško verovati da ćemo ići uskoro kući.

Naša Jana je završila sa školom, a naš najmlađi član porodice, Sofija Lena, raste i svi uživamo sa njom.

Bog je zaista pokazao i pokazivao svoje milosrđe u sred svih bura kroz koje smo prolazili. Kroz mnošto ljudi i okolnosti mogli smo videti kako je On, naš nebeski Otac nad svime. I ne samo to, nego nas je učio i uči kako još više i bolje da mu verujemo. Bog nam je obećao večni život kroz veru u Njegovog Sina Isusa Hrista, ali On nam nije obećao i da će naš zemaljski život biti bez boli. Elizabet Eliot je rekla: „Patnja nikada nije uzalud. Ona je tu da bi ti i ja mogli da se saobrazimo sa likom Hrista.”

Hvala vam dragi prijatelji što ste uz nas na ovom „putovanju“ i hvala za istrajnosti u vašim molitvama. Molimo vas da nastavite da se molite za Saru i za sve nas.

Iskreno vaši,

Slađan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana i Lena

June 12, 2013

The latest news from Milenkovic family – June 2013.

Dear friends,

Greetings from Memphis from the Milenkovic family. We are happy to be able to write to you with the latest news again, and we’d also like to thank you for your prayers and all the support you are giving us.

The most important thing for us is that Sara’s chemotherapies are over. Praise God!

It was hard, but it’s over. Her body is very week after everything, she hasn’t been in-taking food properly for the past four months and now the recovery process is going very slowly. Her recovery is what is now ahead of us, and we hope it will be going good. We are praying for her to start eating normally as soon as possible again.

What made us really happy and encouraged was that her latest scan results from last week are very good. There are no signs of tumor at all which is great. Thank God! The doctors are very satisfied with how it all went. We are praying for things to stay that way.

We still don’t know when we are going back home, it all depends on Sara’s recovery, but we expect it to happen at the end of July. Somehow it is hard to believe that we are going home soon.

Our Jana has finished school, and our youngest family member, Sofija Lena, is growing and we are all enjoying her.

God has been really showing us his mercy in the midst of all the storms we’ve been going through. Through many people and circumstances we were able to see that He, our heavenly Father, is above all. Not only that, but he has also been teaching us to trust him ever more. God has promised us the eternal life through the faith in His son Jesus Christ, but He never promised us that our earthly life would be with no pain. Elisabeth Elliot said, “Suffering is never for nothing. It is that you and I might be conformed to the image of Christ”.

Thank you, our dear friends for having been with us on this “journey”, and thank you for the persistence in your prayers. Please keep praying for Sara and all of us.

Sincerely yours,

Sladjan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana and Lena

April 15, 2013

Pray for Sara

Our dear friends and all of you who are thinking and praying for Sara and our family,

Thank you for standing with us faithfully in these times when we need your prayers and support so much. I am writing this letter as I sit next to Sara in the hospital before the very beginning of the third cycle of chemotherapy. We are halfway done, but thank God for all the strength and guidance so far. We’ve been going through a rough period, but we have truly seen God work in many situations. God is here and He answers prayers, hears the cries and responds. We’ve been able to see many times how God shows His grace and helps in these moments when it’s really hard. We have seen Him do miracles and the doctors confirm it, we have seen Him give the supernatural strength when the human strength is completely gone. He is faithful, always, even when our faith yields, our worries overpower us and our flesh takes over us and disables us to see clearly. He is faithful.

Sara is a great fighter and her spirit, warmth and joy not only do not decrease, but increase daily and radiate on all of us. Even though she hasn’t had a single normal meal in two months, and that she has to take blood transfusion, food through her veins, that she has nauseas and that she has to go through frequent procedures in the hospital, she is a happy girl who enjoys life, rejoices that her Mom and her sisters are now here with her, that she can read, play, even run sometimes, go to church…

We are happy that her last results from a few days ago are good and there are no signs of the further development of the disease. These are really encouraging and good news, but we still have a long way to go. The fact that we are all here now as a family is a big thing for Sara and each one of us.

Our baby Lena is doing well, she is growing and is very cute. Jana has started going to a very good school recently and it’s great how God has wonderfully lead all that.

Thank you for your letters, emails, messages, prayers and every kind of support that you give us. Thank you all who are forwarding the news about Sara and encouraging others to pray for Sara. Thank you all who might not be contacting us, but are reading this and mentioning Sara in your prayers. Thank you all who don’t know us personally, but you have a little 9 year old girl who loves life and is fighting this disease on your heart.

At the end, dear friends, never forget this: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. “ Ps. 100:5.

Thankfully and sincerely yours,

Sladjan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana & Lena

PS. If you are still not receiving emails from us, please send me a short email to sladjanmilenkovic@gmail.com and we will be pleased to send you our newsletters. Here is our postal address:

Sladjan Milenkovic

1811 Poplar Ave

Target House r.220

TN38104

Memphis, USA

February 11, 2013

Vesti i pozdravi iz Memfisa 11. feb. 2013.

Memfis 11.2.2013.

Dragi prijatelji,

Veliki pozdrav iz Memfisa. Ponovo smo Sara i ja ovde posle skoro mesec dana boravka kod kuće. Bilo je lepo što smo posle dva meseca bili zajedno na okupu.

Odlične vesti!

Novi rezultati magnetne rezonance su pokazali da nema nikakvih novih znakova bolesti nigde u telu i da sve izgleda mnogo bolje nego na prethodnom snimku pre zračne terapije. Čak i mali metastatički spot koji je zabrinjavao i koji su joj pronašli sada je daleko manji nego što je bio. Doktori su baš veoma zadovoljni i ohrabreni. Zahvaljujemo Bogu za ovo. Jako ohrabrujuće za nas.

Ispred nas

Čim smo stigli počeli su dugi dani sa puno pregleda, ispitivanja i procedura za terapiju koju će Sara početi da prima. Dalja terapija se sastoji u uzimanju njenih matičnih ćelija pre prvog ciklusa hemoterapije i njihovim vraćanjem u krv posle hemoterapije. Ova procedura se radi zbog toga što se Sara nalazi u grupi viskoko rizičnih pacijenata i zbog toga što će primati visoke doze hemoterapije.

Prvi ciklus hemoterapije počinje 16. februara. Molite se da Sara sve ovo podnese i da sporedni efekti ove terapije budu minimalni. Razgovori sa lekarima i stručnjacima i literatura koju sam dobio da čitam vezi s ovim što predstoji često nam, pored korisnih informacija, donose strah. Znate, upravo borba između onog što teološki znate i potreba da se to praktično primeni jeste ono što predstavlja izazov dok prolazimo kroz osećanja bola i tuge kao i zahvalnosti i radosti, nesigurnosti i straha i pored pouzdanja u Božiju providnost i suverenost.

Hvala !

Ali ono što želimo reći je veliko HVALA vama koji ste sa nama u ovome, koji se molite za nas, ohrabrujete druge da to čine i svesrdno nam pomažete na razne načine. To je velika stvar za nas da znamo da u ovome nismo sami i da nam je Bog dao jedne drugima. Hvala mnogo vama koji ste nam i praktično pomogli da Jaroslava i deca mogu doći da bismo svi zajedno bili ovde. Zaista smo dirnuti načinom na koji se Bog brine. Zar nije istina da je nama i sva kosa na glavi izbrojana? Zar se Bog neće pobrinuti za svoju decu, mnogo bolje nego što bi se mi brinuli za našu?

Spisak zahvalnosti je dugačak da bih ga ovde pisao, ali ostaje ono što nas drži u svemu – Bog je veran i On je dobar.

Refren ove poznate pesme inspiriše nas da verujemo onome kome vredi verovati, koji se ne menja, koji je isti juče, danas i zauvek.

„Slaviću te u ovoj oluji

Podići ću ruke

Jer ti si Onaj koji jeste

Bez obzira gde sam ja.

Svaku suzu koju sam pustio

Ti držiš u ruci

Nikada me nisi ostavio

I iako mi se srce kida

Slaviću Te u ovoj oluji.“

Iskreno vaši,

Slađan i Sara sa porodicom

February 11, 2013

Greetings and news from Memphis – 11. feb. 2013.

Memphis 2/11/2013

Dear friends,

Greetings from Memphis. Sara and I are back here after almost one month of our time spent home. It was good to spend time together after two months.

Great news!

The new MRI results showed that there are no new signs of the disease in her body and that everything seems much better than on a previous scan before the radiation therapy. Even a little metastatic spot that they found that was worrying us, is now far smaller than it was. The doctors were very satisfied and encouraged. Thank God for this. It is very encouraging for us.

In front of us

As soon as we arrived, the long days of many examinations and procedures for Sara’s next therapies began. The further therapy will consist of taking her stem cells, before the first cycle of the chemotherapy and putting them back into her blood after the chemotherapy. This procedure is performed because Sara is in a group of high-risk patients and because she will be taking high dosages of chemotherapy.

The first cycle of chemotherapy starts on February 16. Please pray that Sara is able to bear it and that the side effects of the therapy would be minimal. The conversations that I’ve had with the doctors and the specialized literature that I got to read other than useful information bring also fear. You know, the real challenge for us is the conflict between theological knowledge and practical application as we go through the feelings of pain and sadness, as well as thankfulness and joy, insecurity and fear even though we trust God’s providence and sovereignty.

Thank you!

But what we would like to say is a big THANKS to those of you who are with us in this, praying for us and encouraging other people to do it, helping us wholeheartedly in many ways. It is a huge thing for us to know that we are not by ourselves in this and that God gave us each other. Thanks so much to those of you who helped us practically so that Jaroslava and the children can come, so that we can all be here together. We are really touched by the way that God is providing. Isn’t it true that every hair on our heads is numbered? Won’t God then take care of his children much better than we are for our own?

The list of those we are thankful to is too long to write it here, but here’s what sustains us in everything – God is faithful and good.

The chorus of this well-known song inspires us to trust the one who is worthy of our trust, who never changes and who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

„And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.“

Sincerely yours,

Sladjan and Sara, with the family

January 13, 2013

Milenkovic family news – January 2013

Our dear friends,

Warm greetings from the Milenkovic family.

After a longer period of time we are writing to you with the news on what is happening with us. Sara and I have been back home since a few days ago. We are thankful to God that the family is reunited after a log time, together with the new member, Sofija Lena. The two months of our life in America passed, and how was it? It was good and hard and sad and joyful. There were many situations in which we could only pray to God to give us strength to endure, while thanking Him for bringing us to a place like St. Jude hospital. Sara had great care there, and other life conditions, and a possibility to keep enjoying the things that make a child’s life. We are thankful to our brothers and sisters there who made an effort, visited us and cared about us, making us feel at home as much as it was possible.

Because of the side effects Sara would sometimes feel very weak and exhausted, eating poorly, losing weight, but what she’d never lose was her cheerful spirit and courage to cope with everything. In these few months she has become a more mature person. It even seems that she took the hair loss easier than we did. Other than all of that, we tried to life lives as normally as possible. We would go to church regularly and meet many wonderful people. Sara enjoyed her Sunday school classes. We would go to the Zoo, shopping, watching cartoons and skyping with our family back home every day. We are staying home four weeks altogether, that is, until February 3, where Sara’s chemotherapy will start, which would last about 5 months. Sara is in a category of high-risk patients, which is why she was taking high dosages of radiation, and it is going to be the same with the chemotherapy.

Our battle with the cancer has only started. We believe God that He could end it today, but we trust that same God that He knows all our days and our future. We know that sometimes sufferings which seem so painful to us bring a purpose which is so much higher and more wonderful. How did God see His own Son’s pain and death? Could He have saved Him from the cross and death? Who can listen to a child’s cry and not respond to it, or watch His own child’s death, being able to stop it, and still not do it? It is God, because He knew that precisely this death would bring blessings to mankind through the millennia.

We pray every day that God would give us strength to trust Him even though we are sometimes overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness and a desire for an instant solution. We will do everything that we can to provide the best care possible for Sara, but we know that it’s all in God’s authority and His hands

Today is Sara’s 9th birthday. We rejoice that God gave us Sara to have her through all these years and that she is with us. Sara bought a bracelet to her mother, on which it is engraved that every day is a gift from God. This is true for both her and me and all of us. If there are a few more days ahead of us to live, it is a gift from God, and if not, again, it is all from Him.

We would like to have Jaroslava, Jana and Lena join us in America at the end of February or the beginning of March. There are many things to arrange about visas, traveling, accommodation there. Please pray for all this to be possible so that we can all be together during this long and probably more difficult period for Sara.

Things at HUB are going great. Last semester finished and 5 students finished their one year long education at the school. The rest are continuing their education and in a few days only, a couple of other students will join them. A youth camp at HUB finished yesterday, where we were able to be their hosts. What a privilege it is to serve others! Thanks so much that you keep praying and supporting the ministry of HUB and the Bible school.

Thank you for praying faithfully for us as a family and for asking us about the news. Thanks to all those of you who sent us emails, letters, presents, greeting cards etc. So much care and love, from those we never even met. We usually were not able to respond and personally thank you for it, but we do thank you now wholeheartedly.

May God help us all in this New Year to have Him closer and more dear to us than ever.

Yours,

Sladjan and Jaroslava, with Sara, Jana and Lena

Milenković

January 13, 2013

Vesti od Milenkovica – januar 2013.

13.1.2013.

Dragi naši prijatelji,

Veliki pozdrav od porodice Milenković.

Posle duže vremena javljamo vam se sa vestima o tome šta se dešava kod nas. Sara i ja smo se vratili kući pre nekoliko dana. Bogu smo zahvlani što smo posle duže vremena porodično na okupu, zajedno sa našim novim članom Sofijom Lenom.

Prošla su naša 2 meseca boravka u Americi. I kako je bilo? Bilo je i dobro i teško i tužno i srećno. Prolazili smo kroz mnogo situacija u kojima smo samo mogli moliti Boga da nam da snage da izdržimo, dok smo u isto vreme zahvaljivali Bogu što nas je doveo na mesto kakvo je St Jude bolnica. Sara je tamo imala odličnu negu, uslove za život, mogućnost da i dalje uživa u onim stvarima koje čine detetov život. Zahvalni smo braću i sestrama tamo koji su se trudili, posećivali i brinuli oko nas i učinili da se tamo što više osećamo kao kod kuće.

Zbog sporednih efekata zračenja Sara je nekada bila jako slaba i iscrpljena, slabo je jela, gubila na težini, ali ono što nije uopšte izgubila je njen vedar duh i hrabrost da se sa svime nosi. Za ovih nekoliko meseci postala je tako zrelija osoba. Čak i gubitak kose joj je, čini mi se, lakše pao njoj nego nama. Pored svega trudili smo se da vodimo živote što je moguće normalno. Redovno smo išli u crkvu, upoznali mnoge divne ljude, Sara je uživala na časovima u nedeljnoj školi, išli bi u zoo vrt, kupovinu, gledali crtaće i svaki dan skajpovali sa našima kod kuće.

Kući ostajemo 4 nedelje, tj. do 3. februara, kada se vraćamo ponovo u St.Jude gde će Sara početi sa hemoterapijama, koje bi trebale trajati narednih 5 meseci. Sara spada u kategoriju visokorizičnih pacijenata zbog čega je primala visoke doze radijacija, a tako će biti i sa hemoterapijama.

Naša borba sa rakom je tek na početku. Verujemo Bogu da je On može već danas okončati, ali tom istom Bogu verujemo koji zna sve naše dane i naše sutra i znamo da nekada patnje koje nama izgledaju tako bolne, donose neku svrhu koja je mnogo veća i izvrsnija. Kako je Bog gledao na bol i patnju svog sopstvenog sina? Da li ga je mogao spasiti krsta i smrti? Ko može da sluša vapaj deteta i ne odgovori, gleda smrt svog deteta, a može da je spreči, a ipak to ne učini? To je bio Bog, jer je znao da će upravo ona doneti blagoslove čovečanstvu kroz milenijume.

Svaki dan se molimo da nam Bog daje snage da mu verujemo i ako smo nekada savladani osećanjem bespomoćnosti i željom za instant rešenjem. Mi ćemo činiti sve što je u našoj moći da Sara ima najbolju negu, ali znamo da je sve u Božijoj vlasti i Njegovim rukama.

Danas je Sarin 9. rođendan. Radujemo se što nam je dao Saru da je imamo svih ovih godina i što je i dalje sa nama. Sara je mami kupila za Božić narukvicu na kojoj su urezane reči: „Svaki dan je poklon od Boga.“ Ovo je istina i za nju i za mene i za sve nas. Ako imamo još koji dan ispred nas da živimo, to je dar od Boga, a ako nemamo, opet, sve je od Njega.

Želeli bi da nam se Jaroslava sa Lenom i Janom, krajem februara ili početkom marta, pridruže. Puno stvari treba rešiti oko viza, putovanja, smeštaja tamo,… Molite se da ovo bude izvodljivo i da možemo biti svi zajedno tokom ovog dužeg i verovatno težeg perioda za Saru.

U HUB-u stvari idu odlično. Prošli semestar je završen i 5 studenata je završilo svoje jednogodišnje školovanje. Ostali nastavljaju već za nekoliko dana i njima se priključuju još nekolicina novih studenata. Juče je u HUB-u završen jedan omladinski kamp, gde smo mogli da budemo njihovi domaćini. Kakva privilegija da služimo drugima! Hvala mnogo što se i dalje molite i podržavate službu HUB-a i Biblijske škole.

Hvala što se verno molite za nas kao porodicu i što nas pitate za vesti. Hvala za sve vas koji ste slali mejlove, pisma, poklone, čestitke, itd. Toliko brige i pažnje, čak i od onih ljudi koje nikada nismo ni upoznali. Uglavnom nismo uspeli da odgovorimo i lično zahvalimo na tome, ali iz celog srca vam sada zahvaljujemo.

Neka svima nama Gospod pomogne da nam u Novoj godini On bude bliži i draži više nego ikad.

Vaši,

Slađan i Jaroslava, sa Sarom, Janom i Lenom

Milenković

November 23, 2012

Milenkovic family news. Sofia Lena has arrived! News from Memphis

Dear friends, brothers and sisters, our faithful prayer supporters,

We are happy that we can greet you with some wonderful news. Yesterday, on Nov 22, 2012, Jaroslava gave birth to our third daughter, who weighs 2850 g and is 50 cm long. Her name is Sofia Lena.

Yesterday, here in America, it was Thanksgiving. It is a big holiday with a lot of feasting. We spent it with a wonderful family of our friend Richard Hall. As the name of the holidays says, it is a day when people give thanks for all the wellbeing that they’ve had during the year. As Christians, even in the greatest storms of life, we always have reason to be thankful and no life circumstances can take that away from us. What contributed to mine and Sara’s joy was this wonderful news that we got the fifth member of the Milenkovic family. We are thankful to God that everything went well, and that He gave us another precious gift.

It’s been almost two weeks since Sara and I arrived here to Memphis. I have to say that everything is far above what we had expected. Sara has a fantastic care here. The doctors and all the staff, the quality of care, accommodation, the conditions of life etc. are truly extraordinary. This is a place of miracles. Children from all over the world come here for treatment. There is a huge campus with hospital buildings, which looks like a big village. Everybody says “hello” to each other, everything is in peace and in great, even cheerful atmosphere, even though all of us who are here with our children are going through the most difficult times of our lives. We could say that Sara’s at the best place possible in the world.

The days behind us have been pretty tiring because Sara was going through many diagnostic procedures and preparations for the further therapy. A few days ago her radiotherapy started and it is going to last the next 6 weeks. The good news is that there is no cancer in the bones and the spine, which often happens with this type of tumor. After this therapy and a few weeks break, she will undergo the chemotherapy which will last 4-5 months. Sara’s been handling all this really well and she’s really happy to have such good care here. One of our fears was how she was going to emotionally handle going so far away from home. But she is so thankful to be here and is saying that we’re at the best place possible. She trusts the people around her even though she often doesn’t understand them.

Sara has started school that she has here in the hospital. For now, she only has individual classes of English language, before she starts attending other subjects as well. We have been put us into a beautiful building, where all the families with the children who are treated in the hospital are accommodated. We have a comfortable apartment here.

We have such wonderful friends here in Memphis who are wholeheartedly open to help us and serve us while we are here. We are thankful for them from the bottom of our hearts. Life with them here, far away from home, will be much easier.

Thank you all from across the world and Serbia who are praying for us and helping us, our family back home and the ministry of the Bible school. Thank you for being with us and for the fact that we can see the wonderful and mighty hand of God in all this. Please keep praying for us, for Sara and her recovery. We do not know the future and it’s not in our hands. Even though we are often scared of thinking about what might be out there and what all may happen, we trust the Lord and pray that He would give us strength and faith in Him, day after day and that is it. Today’s lifestyle somehow teaches us to live and behave as independent people who can do anything, but in circumstances such as this one we learn that we are actually not the gods of our lives, but that we always need the One who loves us immensely and who gave us to live our lives, who gave us our families and everything, and upon whom everything depends. Such is our God.

May the peace of the Lord dwell in your and our hearts as we begin or continue to trust Him.

We love you.

Yours,

Sladjan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana and Lena

November 3, 2012

Sara’s update 3/11/12

3/11/12

Dear friends, prayer supporters, brothers and sisters,

It’s been a while, but we’re writing to let you know about our daughter Sara’s situation.

We are thankful to God that Sara’s been recovering well after the surgery and a long time spent in the hospital. Other than the occasional vomiting and tiredness, mostly everything is fine. Sara and I are now back home after a full month and we are finally all together as a family. We find the usual things, that we’ve had all this years, so precious now: lying on the bed all together, talking, laughing, enjoying every moment… Thank God for these moments, for which we only now can see how meaningful they are.

Unfortunately, this all is not the end. The tumor which has been removed is malignant, which means that we need to continue with the further radiation and chemotherapy. We have a great battle in front of us, with an uncertain outcome for us, but not for God. We trust God who has been leading us in these tough moments. He knows and is in control of everything.

We prayed that God would open the door of the St. Jude hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and that Sara’s treatment would continue there. Although the chances were not great, we have just received the news that she’s been admitted. Praise God for this news! Let us pray that God would keep leading our steps about visa and all the practical steps which are necessary to take so that we could go there as soon as possible.
We also contacted another hospital, in Munich, Germany, which is doing a different kind of treatment and we’re waiting t see what they think.

Please pray for our further steps. It is hard, because it seems that Jaroslava, whose 9th month of pregnancy has started today, will give birth to our third daughter without Sara and me around. It’s going to be hard to be separated, especially in these moments when we all should be together. The best thing would be if we could all go and be with Sara and each other, but that’s not possible for now.

Thank you for continually praying for us. Please keep having us in your prayers and encourage others to do it too. Pray for Sara’s doctors and her further treatment and curing, and above all, pray that God’s will would be done in everything.

We have to say that every email of yours, every letter and encouragement that we’ve received are such a precious gift for us. Even though we couldn’t answer to them, we read those precious words that you wrote withe joyful hearts and often with tears in our eyes. Thank you so much for it.

We love you and thank God that we can go through all this with you, our friends, brothers and sisters, as with a big family.

May God bless you.

Yours,

Sladjan and Jaroslava, Elizabeta Sara and Aleksandra Jana Milenkovic

October 22, 2012

Sara’s surgery went well. Praise God!

Dear friends,

Thank you for your persistant prayers. Praise God, the operation went well. It lasted 5 hours, it was hard, but successful. The tumor has been removed.

Sara’s receiving the intensive care, she has woken up and can talk. She keeps vomiting, but they say that it’s normal after such a long anaesthesia. I’ve had a chance to see her briefly. Her words were: “You have finally come.” To my question, “How was it?”, she answered, “I’ve survived.”

I won’t spend this night with her, which is the first time after 21 days. Please keep praying and thank you for your endurance in all this.

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,

Sladjan, Jaroslava, Sara and Jana Milenkovic