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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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ASH – “How I got here and my prayer for this journey…”

I came to know of Oak Hall expeditions through a friend who is a keen ski instructor. I’d been browsing the brochure for ages, looking at many exciting opportunities! A mixture of the chance to see a part of Europe I’d not been to before, along with the desire to do something a bit ‘mission based’ led me to the Serbia trip. I wasn’t sure entirely what to expect, but booked in with faith for an adventure!

I have a passion for God’s name to be glorified through the building of his beautiful bride, the church. My prayer is that this trip ties into the glorious calling to “go and make disciples of every nation”, and that God works on me just as much!

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LISA – “My prayer for this journey…”

Lisa explained this morning…

My prayer for this journey is that as we spend time with people who don’t yet know Jesus, He will show his light through us.

It is an amazing opportunity to be allowed into people’s daily lives and (hopefully!) into their hearts as well, so it would be fantastic to translate those opportunities into opportunities to share the gospel.

I feel like we need to keep reminding ourselves that although meeting people’s physical needs is important, the greatest need we all have is to be in relationship with Jesus, so we do people a disservice if we neglect that by feeding only their bodies and not their souls.

I’m REALLY excited to see what God has up his sleeve this week for this amazing team he has put together, and pray that he, not us, will receive the glory 🙂

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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!

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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

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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.