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News from Drago and Jaroslava!

Drago renovating the church building

We are so pleased by the good news we are able to share with you.  We are engaged in founding a church in our home town Ruma.

We have been praying for a bigger space for our services. With great joy we report you that Lord did provide a new space for us. This place fully satisfies our current needs. House we rented has service room for 30 people, room for children class and even a room for mother with small babies. We are very grateful to Lord Jesus Christ for providing this place for our church. Thank you for your faithful prayers, that helped all this to come true.

Again this year, at the beginning of march we started Alpha course, and it is about to last for eleven weeks. This time four people applied for the whole course. We are also proud to say that one of the women who studied the course last time volunteered to help us with this year course as a team member.

In cooperation with Gideons camp from Sremska Mitrovica we managed to give away 1470 New Testaments since the beginning of this year…

Again, God is giving new opportunity to publicly speak about Him and His love. Near new place for our church there is

Practical work completed!

an office building for the local community. The local government allowed us to rent their hall there for the purpose of public services. We had two evangelistic meetings there. Our plan and desire is to have public services at this place, at least once a month so that wider circle of people can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to serve Him. Thank you for being faithful in your prayer support…

– Drago and Jaroslava

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“If a man loves God he will show his love by caring for others…”

Jovica and Kaca continue to do all they can to share with those around them in their new home city of Kraljevo about the God who cares so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die for us.
Recently they heard about a family living in very poor conditions, without water or other simple necessities.  Jovica went to use his skills to install a bathroom and to decorate their home…
Serbian television heard about what he had been doing…

TV PRESENTER: “This is  Jovica Gecan, leader of the Baptist Church who helped many people following the earthquake.”

JOVICA: “If a man loves God he can’t only go into the street and shout, ‘I love God’ but he will show his love for God by caring for others – particularly those he has never met before.”

It seems that many deeply appreciate Jovica and Kaca’s presence in the city.  Acquaintances are intrigued by the thought that there may be a God who can so change a person’s heart that he would step out to show this sort of kindness.  As Jovica and Kaca continue to carefully explain their motivation and point to the risen Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible, their lives are having a great impact…

Click below to see a clip from this news programme.

Click here to view clip of Jovica on news

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Graduate Daniel writes…

Dear friends,

I send you warm greetings from Montenegro.

It is my pleasure that you are standing together with us and that’s why I would like to share with you about the ministry and prayer requests. After a long time and a lot of prayer the meeting room has become too small for us and since a couple of weeks we have to put more chairs in in order for everyone to get a seat.

God gave us in a special way people that are interested in him and that also invite others. It began with me being discouraged because the ones I invited all the time did not come. I prayed “God please send the people that honestly seek you” and God did a miracle. I started to get phone calls from people that I didn’t know and they were asking me if there was a church here and if they could come.

At the moment we have Montenegrians, Russians, Americans, Germans and Serbs in our meetings. How amazing it is to hear Him drawing people, so please join me in prayer for these people and praise God together.  Let us pray that God will work in their hearts.

One woman we prayed with now says “I am rejoicing to praise God every Sunday”.

Please pray for us that God gives wisdom and everything that is necessary in order for his church here to grow.

– Daniel

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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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News from the Earthquake Zone in Kraljevo – Jovica writes…

Jovica on a roof with an improvised crane.

“I’d like to share with you what has happened here in Kraljevo. 

“We planned that five people would come for five days.  SIXTEEN people come for TWO WEEKS!  We’ve worked in SEVENTEEN locations repairing roofs, walls and chimneys.

“This has all had a great impact and been much appreciated in the area…

“I am sending some pictures!”

– Jovica

On the roofs above Kraljevo, a team of sixteen helped to prepare the damaged houses for the winter.A new roof takes shape.
A new roof takes shape.
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Earthquake in Central Serbia – Jovica & Kaca Request our Prayer

This morning, Kraljevo was the centre of an earthquake in Serbia that was felt even 200kms away in Belgrade.  Two were killed and scores have been injured.

Graduates Jovica and Kaca moved to Kraljevo to begin to plant a church there this summer time…  (Click here to read more about their move)  They are safe but appreciate our prayer.

As we spoke, Jovica described how many in the town fear after shocks.  He collected his son from the hospital where he had been receiving treatment for a lung infection before the earthquake struck as some fear that the building is now not safe.

Jovica and Kaca feel that at times such as these – when we feel our vulnerability – that many ask more searching questions about their lives.  Pray with them that this would be a time of great opportunities to serve their community and speak about the Lord Jesus.

“Half an hour ago there was another aftershock.  It is good to be here in Kraljevo at this time so that we stand with these people.  Many are outside their homes now.  I will be helping people to repair  their roofs, speaking with people.  Pray for us and for the people of Kraljevo – may God bring these people to Himself.  Thank you for your prayer.”

Click here for a 1 minute video and to read about the quake on the BBC

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News from Serbian Worship Musician, Dario…

Dario’s CD project

I was thinking about the messages in songs I have written and all of this encouraged me to take some concrete steps concerning recording of my CD.  I feel that now is the time.  Together with Igor Kis, friend, musician and music producer from another church we have made first pilot recording this week . When I sung to him my latest song he was excited and immediately had an idea of how the song should sound. My plan is to record at the same time both Serbian and English version of my songs.

Please pray for this project…

My hope and desire is that by promoting this CD, I will have a chance to visit many churches in region, encourage believers, organize evangelism meetings, meet leaders who are in worship ministry and build a network of leaders for future school of worship, and some other projects.

To read much more from Dario, including news of the growing church, please click here to read his full letter:  Dario’s News Letter Summer 2010

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News from Drago and Jaroslava…

We are grateful for the opportunity to share with you the events from our life and ministry that has been trusted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have wonderful news!

On 3rd July Jaroslava gave birth to a baby boy. His name is Boris. We are thankful to God for such a great blessing. Also, we are very grateful to all those who encouraged us and pray for Jaroslava and me. 

Serving in the church in Sremska Mitrovica and Establishing a new church in Ruma:

Over this last months I preached many times in Ruma and Sremska Mitrovica and prepared 12 people for baptism through a set of  lectures.   

On 18. July 14 new believers from Sremska Mitrovica, Ruma and Belgrade have been baptized in river Sava in Sremska Mitrovica. We are encouraged by seeing how Christ transformed the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ and hove He multiplies our Christian family.

Milan, one of the people who have been baptized said: “I am happy to leave behind my old life and all bad things. I trust that my future will be filled with good things!”

 

I’ve also been leading prayer meetings on Tuesdays in Sremska Mitrovica and helped the new believers from Ruma to become regular part of our prayer  meetings.

Of course there is also a lot of work individual time spent with new believers – for example meeting with and spiritual counselling a lad who has been for five months in the process of drug rehabilitation.

A new Church building?

Unfortunately we could not reach the agreement with the owner of  the  house about renting the house for our church. However, not long after that we have been encouraged by the municipality officials to submit a request in which we ask city to provide space for the church. Right now, we are prayng while waiting to hear back about our request.

A Christian Concert:

On 2.May we organized evangelization evening in Sremska Mitrovica. Between 40 and 50 people from Sremska Mitrovica, Ruma and Sid came to this event. We organized concert of Christian music, and shared the good news about Jesus Christ with the visitors.

Over these next weeks…

…we will continue with our regular church activities and our work with people.  In September we will start with Alpha course in Ruma and Sremska Mitrovica on which we will invite our friends and their families.  August will be the month of preparation and prayer for this coming event.

We would like to thank for the support you have shown to us and all your prayers. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our work.

Prayer requests:

  • Please pray that God strengthen and spread His Word and establish His church in Ruma.
  • Please pray for a church building.
  • Please pray for people to be changed and touched by God in Alpha course in Ruma and Sremska Mitrovica.

 We are thankful to our God Jesus Christ for the privilege to be part of His great work.

                     Yours in Christ.

                                                   Drago and Jaroslava

 “ Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3