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Marina’s morning reflections:

MARINA DODD WRITES:

It is 12.30 on Friday morning. We have had a fantastic morning, everyone has fully entered into the spirit of the challenge to get this camp site ready for all the children who will be coming here in three weeks time. Then it will be full on for the next 6 weeks or so.

Today we divided into groups to achieve as much as possible in one day. One team is responsible for spreading gravel on to the lane leading to the camp which gets very muddy in wet weather.  We are expecting 10 trucks holding 150 tons of gravel during today. Already we have spread out 2 trucks and the 3rd has just arrived.

Another  team are laying lino in 4 or more dormitories, this means that the bunk beds have to be moved. (They were only put together last night for our group to sleep on!)

A rotten tree has been felled and the branches moved away.

The kitchen and bathrooms are having a spring clean, we cleaned the girls dorms last night, disturbing spiders that have made their home there since last year’s summer camps.

Some of our group have been busy preparing vegetables for the big pot that hangs over the camp fire. Our numbers are increasing every hour, 4 young people have just arrived from Sth Carolina so the mammoth task of feeding us all continues!

We are having good sessions in the morning and evenings as Andy is taking us through 1 John. It is interesting to be reminded that John, who was a disciple of Jesus, was known in the beginning as one of the ‘sons of thunder’ and now he is coming across as a loving, caring father-figure…  We have been seeing how important it is to not have double standards if we say we are followers of Jesus. We cannot claim to be in fellowship with God if we are unforgiving and unloving towards our fellow human beings…

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DAY 3: Renovating the Children’s Camp Ground

Last night we arrived here at the Children’s camp ground.

We built beds that we would later sleep on…

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We cooked our supper over a fire…

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…then read the next part of 1John before sleeping…

This morning we are working in three teams to further prepare this camp ground…

We are building a road through the woods – this involves shifting around 150 tonnes of gravel:

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We are also cutting trees, hedges and grass as well as installing flooring and deep cleaning different areas of the buildings here.

Please pray for :
– safety for us as we continue;
– the many children who will stay here through the summer time – that they will grow closer to Jesus through the teaching, refreshment and friendship here;
– God’s blessing on this team as He continues to wonderfully unite, challenge, use and inspire us through these experiences.

Greetings from all of us!

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DAY 2: Driving South towards the Children’s Camp

Darko and Lidija graduated from the Bible School and began to serve with Child Evangelism Fellowship. They now lead this excellent organisation in Serbia and, amongst many other valuable activities, run camps for children throughout the summer time.

Some of the children who come to these camps are from the refugee families who we used to bring aid for… It is amazing to see these children thriving in the company of the CEF team.

After hiring camp grounds for many years, the team have been able to buy a piece of land right in the centre of Serbia – in the beautiful “Sumadija” area known for its natural beauty and Serbian traditional folk culture.

This camp ground will bring great blessing to many children but there is a lot to do to prepare it for the summer. We will be working alongside the children’s workers team to help to get it ready. We will be involved in making a road and preparing some of the buildings.

The atmosphere in our two minibuses as we drive is excellent – already we have had so many experiences to talk about… We look forward to arriving and starting work in two hours’ time.

Tonight we are cooking for all at the camp – about forty of us. We will cook a traditional Serbian meal and share the recipe here!

Thank you for praying with us all!

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A New Year of great developments in Ruma…

We are living in Ruma and our work and ministry is mostly based in the city and its surroundings. Our most important work from which flow all of our other activities is the foundation of a church in Ruma. 

Successfully completed Alpha course!  

At the end of December we completed Alpha course, which lasted for 12 weeks. Four people were able to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Two of them want to continue studying the Bible with us. 

Christmas gifts for children! 

In cooperation with the local council and others, we distributed 850 Christmas gifts (Samaritan’s Purse) for children in Ruma, with Christmas programs and locally produced Christmas Cartons.

Children from families receiving social assistance and children orphaned were the priority of this event. We are grateful for this opportunity to be socially engaged in the environment where we live, where this kind of engagement is at a very low level.

Through these activities, we try to implement in practice the call of the Lord Jesus Christ:

You are the salt of the earth and light of the world.

 

Plans for this year:

Raising the leaders within the church. 

For more than three years we are in the project of the church planting. We are very encouraged to see over this period of time many new people who are ready and willing to take responsibility in work and life of the church. We believe that it was time to make this big step and invest in equipping of new leaders, which we believe is one of the prerequisites for further progress of the church. 

 

Finding space for the church 

As I mentioned earlier, we are looking for the space for the church to be rented for a minimum period of five years or more. That space should be in accordance with the needs we currently have, but also in accordance with our future needs, because we are the church which is continuously growing. 

We continue to spread the good news of Jesus Christ! 

We understand that this task is the most important part of the mission. As a church we do not not believe that the dissemination of the news of Jesus Christ is an isolated event that happens once or twice a year. We want this to become the lifestyle of every believer. Our plans are to work at the individual level of each believer, but also through group classes and events

Thank you for praying, 

– Drago and Jaroslava

 

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A Summer of Blessing! – Dragan and Danijela

Dragan and Danijela write:

We want to share with you about the blessing that we’ve had through the summer!  We were able to be students on the first ‘Balkan Insitute’ learning much and meeting new people…  We have now become part of the team of ‘Child Evangelism Fellowship’ and so are able to continue to serve God in this way.

Six Children Received Christ as their Saviour!

We then had a ‘Romi Camp’ with forty young people from all over central Serbia.  We involved them in drama, music, language and craft lessons.  Together we studied Daniel in the Bible sessions.

Over half of the children were on a camp for the first time and they very much enjoyed it!  Six of the children received Jesus Christ as their Saviour – we are really encouraged by what God is doing through these camps and we want to thank those who have been praying for and supporting us… We are very happy that we can serve our Lord together in this way.

Please Continue to Pray…

We need your ongoing prayer that God would lead and use us for His glory.

With many greetings!

– Dragan and Danijela

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Reaching the Children of Serbia: Dragan and Danijela serving with Darko and Lidija

Summer Camps Running throughout August

Today Dragan and Danijela finish an excellent course run by CEF in Serbia – “Child Evangelism Fellwship”. The course has been called “The Balkan Institute” – extremely practical, very intensive and developed by CEF over a number of years to equip children’s workers.

“Here we are at the end of the institute, we’ve worked hard – sometimes until 4am – but it’s been a real blessing to refresh what we knew and to learn much more…  We’re going straight to a camp now – 60 people will be there: a real adventure!”

The CEF team is dynamically lead by Bible School graduates Darko and Lidija Adamek and is committed to reaching the children of Serbia with the Good News of the Lord Jesus.

Now Dragan and Danijela will spend the next weeks leading camps.  Filled with laughter, friendship and a life-changing message, these times together will be the highlight of the year for many of the children enjoying them.

Please pray for these important events!

Holidays for Refugees…

Some of the children enjoying these camps this summer time will be from the refugee camps – children to whom we have been bringing humanitarian aid for many years…

Read On!

There is much more to read about what is happening through Darko and Lidija, Dragan and Danijela and those around them.  Click here to read Darko and Lidija’s latest bulletin…