We are Isa and Elza… from Macedonia

Over the next few days, you will meet a number of the students currently studying at HUB…

We are Isa and Elza… from Macedonia – the area of Prilep.  We’re from Romany Muslim families…

Isa: When I was young, my uncle told me about Jesus and took me to a church.  Because my family was a Muslim family, my father eventually banned me from going with my uncle.

As a teenager I made many mistakes and problems – yet I knew that God could see everything.  One night, I had a dream of Jesus coming from the East in great glory and I was not good enough to say “Let me come with you”.  At that moment, I awoke and said, “God thank you that this was only a dream…”  I knew that I needed to experience change.  I started to read the Bible in secret and go to the church in secret too.

After a year, my father saw a change in me – neighbours no longer came to complain about me!  The money I earnt, I gave to my family instead of spending it on myself.  Finally, one day, my father asked me, “What is with you?  What has changed?”

I explained that I had become a follower of Christ.  I expected that I would be rejected by my family, told to leave my home and lose everything that I had but because of the positive change in my life, he said, “It’s better that you go to church than you create havoc in the neighbourhood.”

I felt like the happiest man in my county – I could now freely meet with others who love Christ.

Elza: The pastor in our local church is my cousin.  He came to my home for family events and he took these opportunities to tell us all about Jesus.  Each time that he spoke about Jesus, my older sister would listen but I would go and switch on the TV or the radio…  He thought I would never be open to the Message.  He gave me a little brochure with questions about Jesus and I used to take this and leaf through it…

A friend of mine invited me to come to church with her and there I heard Christians worshiping together, it was very good to hear. Over the next week, things changed very fast as I entrusted my life to Jesus.

My mother was a very religious Muslim and began to make problems for me because I went to church.  My father said, you are now 21 and no one will want to marry you because you go to that church.  I could see that they were trying to control me but I said, “If the day comes that God wants me to marry, He will provide a husband for me.”  The whole of my family and community rejected me as insane becasue of my growing faith and accused me of many things.

After a year, I met Isa…

Isa: We met each other and for three months I prayed that Elza would be my wife…

Elza: Meanwhile, I was praying that Isa would be my husband!  When we finally spent some time together, we knew that we would be together for always…

Isa: After 18 months of our marriage, we went to Veles to serve as missionaries alongside a local church.  We went to particularly work amongst Muslim Romi people.

Elza: We now have three children – Sara and twins Aron and Arona…

Isa: We have come to the school after these four years of mission work in Veles.  Throughout this time we have been praying that one day God would open the way for us to come to this Bible School.

We pray that this time at the Bible School would be one of refreshment and study.  Our hearts are with our people and although we don’t know exactly where God will lead us after our studies, we pray that He will use us among them.

Teaching at the Bible School in Belgrade

The Bible School has welcomed the 16th generation of students.  They are a wonderfully diverse group of people who are passionate about returning to their home towns following their studies to share with others about Jesus Christ.

The course that they are studying takes them – in a carefully structured way – through the whole of the Bible in year.  This teaching is shared by about thirty different teachers who come to stay at the Bible for a week to a fortnight each.  Around half of these teachers are from outside the Balkans, and around half are from this region.

This week I am here at HUB to teach through Acts chapters 1-8.  It is a deeply relevant book as God takes weak, ordinary people and uses them, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to bring the life-changing Message of Jesus Christ, first to their neighbours and then on to “the ends of the earth”.

The programme at the Bible School is also carefully designed to give each person exposure to the needs on the mission fields of this region.  Over the weekend, one team has been in Bosnia and another in South Serbia visiting graduates of the Bible School who are already putting into action the principles found in Acts.

Over the days that I am here, I plan to introduce you to as many of the students as I can…

 

 

“Hi, I’m Dejan…”

 

I’m Dejan from Veles in Macedonia and I’m 19 years old.

When I was seven, my father became very ill with cancer and then he died.  I was so shocked by his death that I began to have difficulty even to speak.

We lived very simply together as  a family – in a poor situation.  Six of us slept in the same room.

It was during this time that my oldest sister who was then sixteen years old met and trusted her life to Jesus Christ.  As a result of her connection, I started to meet with her church but as I continued to grow older, I did not live in a way that would please God.

One day, listening to talk in that church, I was struck by a new and a deep sense of my own uncleanness before a holy God.  It was then that I began to seek Him and call on His Holy Spirit to rescue and change me.

I have come to this school to learn how to share the Message of Jesus more effectively.

I want my life to be used to share His Message with others wherever I go.

 

The Sixteenth Year of the Serbian Bible School Begins…

Sladjan and Jaroslava write:

“What a fantastic beginning of the new school year! The students of the 1st and the 2nd year, 21 of them, came from different parts of Bosnia, Macedonia and Serbia.

 
“So much diversity at one place, with so much enthusiasm for studying the Word of God and for preparation for the ministry is something that we believe will make this year in the Bible school an unforgettable experience for them…”

::READ ON BY CLICKING HERE::

DAY 1 on our Oak Hall in Serbia ATOM Expedition…

Tonight we write to you from Belgrade.  It has been an excellent day of travel, introductions and orientation…

Highlights included:

  • watching the sunrise from the wide windows of an Oak Hall coach as we made the first leg of the journey towards Luton airport…
  • hearing something of each other’s stories as we travelled first on the coach, then by plane and finally by minibus to reach the centre of Belgrade;
  • exploring Serbia’s capital city – today 36 degrees Celsius – and sipping home-made lemonade in cafes before climbing the castle walls above the confluence of the mighty Danube and Sava rivers;
  • receiving a hearty Serbian welcome at the Bible College and being served “rostilj”;
  • praying about the week ahead and reading the first verses of 1 John – the book we are studying this week;
  • playing frisbee and then sitting by a fire and finally watching the sun set on the Vojvodinian plains beyond the Bible College;

Tomorrow after a welcome sleep, we head south through Cacak to begin our first assignment as a team…

Thank you for following this blog and praying with us!  Greetings from us all!

Oak Hall’s 67th Journey to Serbia leaves at Sunrise Tomorrow!

In the morning, the next Oak Hall “Taste of Mission” journey – the sixty-seventh – leaves for Serbia…

In 1991, as the wars in Yugoslavia were tearing the country apart, we used an Oak Hall coach to take supplies to a group of Christians in Serbia who wanted to serve the refugees flooding across the shifting lines of the fighting.  That journey was just the first – “YU1”.  As the wars continued and friendships with the refugees and local Christians deepened, we returned time after time.  We experienced many instances of God’s intervention and protection and had opportunity after opportunity to explain publicly about Jesus Christ – the One who is “God here” – who came to die in our place so that we could know the God who loves us.

In 1996, I moved to Serbia with my wife Faye to help to establish a Bible College for future leaders – some of whom had come to know Jesus Christ through our speaking about Him as we distributed aid…  The Oak Hall journeys continued, bringing supplies for refugees and friends who would go on to make a long-term commitment to pray for the students and team of the Bible School.

These “Taste of Mission” journeys have continued right up until today.  Each journey is unique yet our prayer for these “expeditions” is that:

  • those coming with us will be changed and challenged through the example of the small yet growing Church in Serbia including the graduates and team of the Bible College with whom we will serve…
  • that the journey will serve the Church in the Balkans through encouragement and the commitment to prayer for the Balkans that many will make on the journey…
  • that there will be those who hear about and respond to Jesus Christ as we serve practically and speak of Christ clearly…

With a 3:30am breakfast, the next journey begins in a few hours time.  Please pray with us  – we will post news here as the journey unfolds.

With warm greetings from all on “YU67”

– Andy

Vasa

It is with great sadness that I share this post with you.  Vasa studied at the Bible School in Belgrade through both the first and second year courses finishing studying last summer.  He has been a great encouragement to so many.

On December 24, Vasa went to be with Jesus Christ dying of a heart attack in his home.  Vasa was 25 years old when he died and lived his relatively short life deeply committed to Jesus Christ and seeking to share Him with those around him. Just days before he died, he wrote,

“I truly believe that the house of prayer is needed… in every town of our Serbia.”

Jonah 4:11 “…should I not have concern for the great city?”

Physically weak from birth, Vasa demonstrated deep spiritual strength as he continued to rely on Jesus Christ.  A very great priority for Vasa was the sharing of the Gospel in Serbia.  All of us who met him were always encouraged and touched by his graciousness and challenged by his servant-hearted approach to whatever task was before him.

On the morning of the day that Vasa died, he wrote to the team at the Bible School encouraging them that their work is a great blessing to many…  He also quoted from Psalm 23,

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Please pray for Vasa’s parents and those around them at this time.

New Term Beginning at the Bible School in Belgrade

Please pray for Sladjan and his wife Jaroslava as they head up the team and lead the work of the Bible School in Belgrade.

This week the new term has begun at the Bible School in Belgrade…

Studying the dynamic Gospel of Mark with visiting teacher Roger Pearce from the UK, this will be another week of clear and helpful Bible study combined with practical experience in communities around Belgrade.  Roger has been involved with the Bible School since its beginning and has been a blessing to many who have now graduated and are communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ across the Balkans.

Please pray with with the students and team that the Lord Jesus would be honoured as each student prepares for mission to their home communities following their studies.

Thank you for your vital role with us all as you stand with us in prayer.