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DAY 4: Finishing at the Camp, to Kragujevac and the Belgrade

Right now we are finishing our work at the camp…

Floors are being laid, a fire of branches cut from trees that overhung the road we laid yesterday burns, rooms are being cleaned for a final time…

All of this work is punctuated by interviews with Bible School graduates who are coming and going. Jovica and Kaca shared about sharing about Jesus following the earthquake that hit their city (see older blog posts for more about this including videos). Jan and Ruzenka spoke about their next challenge as they move to a new city to plant a church there…

In half an hour we leave from here to head to the university city of Kragujevac. Here we will eat and explore Serbia’s fourth largest city before continuing north to Belgrade to the Bible School.

Thank you for praying for our safety and success for this stage of our journey. Amongst other things, we’ve laid a road that is about a quarter of a mile long, made thirty beds and laid flooring in eight rooms…

Here’s a photo of us this morning as we finished our next study in 1 John:

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“STRAVA!”

AS A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES TONIGHT, MERVYN WRITES:

The Serbian word that best describes this experience so far is “Strava” which means Awesome”

It’s awesome that so many people from vastly different backgrounds and experiences have come together to share this time and already after what seems like at least a week, but which is merely 3 long days, there is incredible bonding as we share this work, putting our hands to things we’ve never tried before (I’ve never laid lino, a gravel road or used a ride on mower, but hey! What fun.)

More than that we’ve shared our faith in our conversations as we’ve worked together preparing this place for the children & young people with whom the team here will have the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus who can transform their lives as he has transformed ours.

Today we met an incredible guy called Jovitsa, a Serbian Christian who felt called by God to move to Kraljevo, a city 15 or so miles from here. I’d met him at the Bible School a few years back. As he was talking with us his phone went off. Was it a surprise to hear the tune: “Our God is an AWESOME God.”

Along with so many others on this trip I thank God for all he has done in my life and all He is doing here and still has planned.

Ending with one of my favourite verses (from Jeremiah 29:11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a hope and a future.” What a promise for us and for Serbia!

– Mervyn Roberts

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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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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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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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“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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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