Two new births in Ruma!

 

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Ruma

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We would like to take this opportunity to share two very important events that have occurred during the past month.

As mentioned in the title, I would like to share the news about the two births – one in our family and one in our church.

Every birth is a very important and positive thing. New life brings joy, blessings and prosperity. So it is in this case!

 

                                                           Luka has been born!

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          As a family we are so glad that we got another child. Luke came as the sixth member of our family. All about Jaroslava’s pregnancy and delivery went well. Now we enjoy the wonderful gift that the Lord has given us.

 

                                                               Marko’s birth!

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Last month has been rich with the new beginnings.

I would like to tell you a little bit more about Marko. Marko is from Ruma and he is 34 years old. Last month he has been born also! Let me explain. Marko had actually been born 34 years ago, but last month Marko has experienced the new birth. He met and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. It was an honor and a privilege to baptize Marko. Marko’s baptism confirmed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I had a chance to talk to several Marko’s friends and they told me they were amazed by the change he underwent in such a short time. We rejoice and praise God, as Marko became part of our great Christian family.

As a church and as a family we would like to thank you for your continuous support for the work to which our Lord Jesus Christ has called us.

Drago and Jaroslava

News from Nis

My name is Karolina and in 1998 I came in Serbia as a missionary from Czech Republic. As a former student of the Oak Hall Bible school I serve with my family in South of Serbia, in the town by the name of Nis. Here are some specific stories of the work we do here as a church.
Four years ago we made our first contact with ladies from the local safe house, a refuge for woman and children who are victims of domestic violence. God led us and we were able to make contact with a few women, and there began a long journey together with them.
We have been actively involved in helping these and other ladies, particularly with their re-integration into normal life after leaving the safe house. Some of their greatest needs are friendship, understanding and acceptance. Sometimes the help they need is to drink coffee with them, to encourage them or just to talk about their children, life and work. Often they need practical help, for example someone to drive their sick child to the doctor’s,help with moving house, painting their flat or repairing the washing machine; also, many of them lack the resources to pay for those services. Sometimes they need someone to look after their children while they complete important paperwork, other times they need a child picked up from school.
One of those ladies, Milena, became a Christian after a few months, and she is now an active member of our church. She is a hero in her very hard life. She has now finally found a permanent job, and her daughter, Ksenija, is starting school in September. We have other ladies and their children from a similar background coming to our church or some of our activities. One lady comes regularly with her 4-year-old son, she is Russian and we are the only family she has here. We have also been able to help her with the necessary papers to get permanent residence in Serbia.
Parallel to this ministry is our work with children and teenagers. For more than four years we have organise regular workshops for children, with weekly craft sessions and monthly activity days, which are great fun and include a Bible activity, craft and games. Over the last two years we have also had regular meetings and activities with teenagers. About half of the children and teenagers we work with are from unchurched families and one of our main aims is to show them God’s love and compassion and to create opportunities to talk with them and their parents about the gospel.
We are so encouraged by our church’s first children’s summer camp in August 2013. We had 20 children, six of whom were from unchurched families and spent seven days in the countryside. We had daily Bible lessons, English classes, games, sports activities and so on and are delighted with the response from those who went.We now plan to continue this exciting work in the school year 2013/14.
We are so grateful for your prayers and support of the work in our town, Nis. Thank you so much for being a part of the mission here!

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YA68 – Oak Hall in the Balkans Wednesday

Today we drove from Sarajevo towards the East passing over the mountains towards the River Drina. At Zvornik we crossed into Serbia and then drove north to Ruma.

In Ruma we met Drago and Jaroslava along with Pero. Drago and Pero shared with us about the way that Jesus Christ has freed them from their heroine addiction. Now planting a church in this city, this dynamic team are connecting with others who have struggled with the same kinds of traps – and are pointing them towards the liberation that Jesus can bring…

Two more hours East and we reached Belgrade and the Bible School. Brilliant to be welcomed by Sladjan and the team…

Here are a few shots from our day:

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YA68 – the 68th Oak Hall journey to the Balkans

The 68th Oak Hall journey to the Balkans is currently underway… Like no other Oak Hall journey yet, we are visiting four capital cities in three different countries.

SATURDAY 24th Aug
On Saturday we flew to Zagreb and took a coach south across the border to Bosnia – here we are staying in the capital of “Republika Srpska” – Banja Luka.

SUNDAY

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Meeting with Banja Luka church.

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Meeting Mile…

MONDAY
After a morning in the city we take the train south…

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Waiting for the 1:35 train…

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South towards Sarajevo…

TUESDAY

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High above Sarajevo.

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In a few hours we leave to drive through the mountains towards Pale, Visegrad and over the border towards Ruma and Belgrade…

NEWS FROM THE HUB BIBLE SCHOOL 06/25/2013

Dear friends, brothers and sisters,

 

banketThe students of the 17th generation have now finished their 1st year at the school. During the year, the lectures were very intense. There have been many practical services, humanitarian events, visits to churches, mission journeys. In a few words, we can say that it was very busy, not always easy, but very blessed, both for the students and the school team.

The 1st year was finished by eight students from different parts of former Yugoslavia: from Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro. We even had one student from Switzerland.

During the three semesters they all grew spiritually, in character, and in relationships. They were getting to know the Word of God and God Himself.

As a school, we have tried to serve the students and prepare them for the ministry and mission. We are still praying for them, and would like to ask you too to pray for God to use them for His glory. Pray also for the next generation of students, for God to lift up the true hearts which would want to study His Word, desire to be edified and give glory to God with their lives.

Since June 24, youth camps have started in the facilities of our building. This summer, we will host six groups of campers. We are happy to be a part of these events, where many children and teenagers come, and we’re glad that they can meet Christ at a place like HUB.riste

With this, we would also like to bring you another happy news. On August 31, two members of our team, Riste (me) and Teodora will solemnly celebrate the beginning of their marriage. Preparations for the event are ahead of us so please pray that everything would go well. Also, pray that God would use our relationship and marriage to His glory.

 

We wish you many greetings and God’s blessings.

 

Riste and the HUB team

VESTI IZ HUB-a BIBLIJSKE ŠKOLE ZA 25.06.2013.

Dragi prijatelji, braćo i sestre,

 

banketŠkolska godina se završila za studente 17. generacije. U toku ove godine predavanja su bila veoma intenzivna. Bilo je različitih praksi, humanitarnih događaja, poseta crkvama, misijskih putovanja. Jednom rečju možemo da kažemo da je vreme bilo zaista ispunjeno, ne uvek lako, ali veoma blagosloveno, kako za studente tako i za tim škole.

Školovanje je upravo završilo osmoro studenata iz različitih krajeva bivše Jugoslavije: iz Srbije, Makedonije, Bosne,  i Crne Gore. Imali smo čak i jednog studenta iz Švajcarske.

Svi oni su u toku tri semestra rasli duhovno, karakterno i u međuljudskim odnosima. Upoznavali su Božiju Reč i samog Boga.

Kao škola, trudili smo se da služimo studentima i pripremimo ih za misijsku službu. Mi se i dalje molimo za njih, a molimo i vas da se molite da ih Bog koristi sebi na slavu.  Molite se i za sledeću generaciju studenata, da Bog podigne prava srca koja će hteti da proučavaju Njegovu Reč, želeti da se izgrađuju i svojim životima daju slavu Bogu.

Od 24. juna u prostorijama naše škole počelo je održavanje kampova. Ovog leta, ugostićemo šest grupa kampera. Drago nam je što možemo biti deo i ovih događaja, na koje dolaze mnoga deca i tinejdžeri, i drago nam je što oni mogu upoznati Hrista na mestu kao što je HUB.riste

Ovom prilikom želimo da vam donesemo još jednu lepu vest. 31. avgusta, dva člana našeg tima, Riste (to jest ja), i Teodora svečano će obeležiti svoje stupanje u brak. Pred nama su pripreme za taj događaj, pa vas molimo da se molite za nas da sve dobro prođe. Takođe, molite se da naš odnos i brak Bog koristi sebi na slavu.

 

Želimo vam puno pozdrava i Božijih blagoslova.

 

Riste i tim HUB-a

Vidovdan 28 June – pray for Serbia!

vidovdanJenny Blake has been travelling with us to the Balkans for a number of years, here she encourages us to take “Vidovdan” – in one week’s time on the 28th June – as a day to pray for Serbia…

Jenny writes,

“28 June is Vidovdan or St Vitus Day.  Vidovdan is an important day in the Serbian Orthodox Church calender and Serbian History.  The Serbian Orthodox Church remembers Prince Lazar and those who were killed at the Battle of Kosovo by the Turks on 28 June 1389.

“Other significant events in Serbian history have happened on 28 June.  For instance on 28 June 1914 Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, in Sarajevo – the event which triggered off the First World War.   Princip and the others who were tried after the assassination are remembered on 28 June as  visits are made to their memorial in Sarajevo.  They hold a small service in memory of the young men.  Slobodan Milosevic, in his campaign for power, appealed to Serbs in Kosovo to rise up against the Kosovan Albanians on 28 June 1989, exactly 600 years after the Battle of Kosovo – a significant event in the lead up to the Balkan Wars in the 1990s.

“Yet Vidovdan is also known as a Day of Light as illustrated by some in Sarajevo who on 28 June remember Miss Irby, a lovely Christian lady who left her wealthy background in Britain and devoted her life to founding schools in The Balkans especially for women and refugee children.

“So I think it’s important that Christians set aside this day 28 June – this important day to Serbs – to pray for Serbia, praying that Vidovdan would be a true Day of Light, that many Serbs would come to know Jesus, the Light of the World.”

Nove vesti od Milenkovica – jun 2013.

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Dragi prijatelji,

Veliki pozdrav iz Memfisa od svih nas Milenkovića. Radujemo se što možemo da vam se opet javimo sa vestima, a takođe i da vam zahvalimo za vaše molitve i svu podršku koju nam pružate.

Najveća stvar za nas je da je Sara završila hemoterapijama. Slava Bogu!

Bilo je teško, ali je gotovo. Njeno telo je mnogo oslabljeno posle svega, nije uzimala hranu skoro četiri meseca i sada to ide veoma polako. Pred nama je sada njen oporavak i nadamo se da će to ići dobro. Molimo se da što pre počne koliko toliko normalno da jede.

Ono što nas je mnogo obradovalo i ohrabrilo je to da su njeni zadnji nalazi skenera od prošle nedelje jako dobri. Uopšte nema znakova tumora i to je odlično. Hvala Bogu! Doktori su veoma zadovoljni kako je sve išlo. Molimo se da tako i ostane.

Još uvek neznamo kada idemo kući, to zavisi od Sarinog oporavka, ali očekujemo da to bude do kraja jula. Nekako nam je teško verovati da ćemo ići uskoro kući.

Naša Jana je završila sa školom, a naš najmlađi član porodice, Sofija Lena, raste i svi uživamo sa njom.

Bog je zaista pokazao i pokazivao svoje milosrđe u sred svih bura kroz koje smo prolazili. Kroz mnošto ljudi i okolnosti mogli smo videti kako je On, naš nebeski Otac nad svime. I ne samo to, nego nas je učio i uči kako još više i bolje da mu verujemo. Bog nam je obećao večni život kroz veru u Njegovog Sina Isusa Hrista, ali On nam nije obećao i da će naš zemaljski život biti bez boli. Elizabet Eliot je rekla: „Patnja nikada nije uzalud. Ona je tu da bi ti i ja mogli da se saobrazimo sa likom Hrista.”

Hvala vam dragi prijatelji što ste uz nas na ovom „putovanju“ i hvala za istrajnosti u vašim molitvama. Molimo vas da nastavite da se molite za Saru i za sve nas.

Iskreno vaši,

Slađan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana i Lena

The latest news from Milenkovic family – June 2013.

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Dear friends,

Greetings from Memphis from the Milenkovic family. We are happy to be able to write to you with the latest news again, and we’d also like to thank you for your prayers and all the support you are giving us.

The most important thing for us is that Sara’s chemotherapies are over. Praise God!

It was hard, but it’s over. Her body is very week after everything, she hasn’t been in-taking food properly for the past four months and now the recovery process is going very slowly. Her recovery is what is now ahead of us, and we hope it will be going good. We are praying for her to start eating normally as soon as possible again.

What made us really happy and encouraged was that her latest scan results from last week are very good. There are no signs of tumor at all which is great. Thank God! The doctors are very satisfied with how it all went. We are praying for things to stay that way.

We still don’t know when we are going back home, it all depends on Sara’s recovery, but we expect it to happen at the end of July. Somehow it is hard to believe that we are going home soon.

Our Jana has finished school, and our youngest family member, Sofija Lena, is growing and we are all enjoying her.

God has been really showing us his mercy in the midst of all the storms we’ve been going through. Through many people and circumstances we were able to see that He, our heavenly Father, is above all. Not only that, but he has also been teaching us to trust him ever more. God has promised us the eternal life through the faith in His son Jesus Christ, but He never promised us that our earthly life would be with no pain. Elisabeth Elliot said, “Suffering is never for nothing. It is that you and I might be conformed to the image of Christ”.

Thank you, our dear friends for having been with us on this “journey”, and thank you for the persistence in your prayers. Please keep praying for Sara and all of us.

Sincerely yours,

Sladjan, Jaroslava, Sara, Jana and Lena