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together is better
the website of Dejan & Julie
Serving in Serbia
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What We Were Doing In Subo
Dejan
Translation & Assistant Pastoring
Dejan has been working on translation much of
the time, and was also assisting our pastor at the church. This included administration,
organizing church events, and just generally being available to people during the week and
before and after services. He also taught the Wednesday night Bible studies and did
the many practical tasks related to the church building. Subotica is his hometown, this
is his home church, and it's a privilege to be part of the ministry there.
Dejan also is blessed to be
translating the messages from Pastor Chuck because the solid teaching of God's
Word is badly needed in all of Serbia, and hopefully we will be able to distribute both the
transcripts and the audio to other small fellowships and pastors, in addition to eventual
radio broadcast. This is a long-term project and the work is often slow. Please keep it in prayer.
Men's Bible Study
We were gathering once a month for a discussion-style
Bible study, going through the book of Acts. The purpose is to strengthen and deepen their
faith, to see them grow in their roles as godly spiritual leaders at home, on the job & in the church,
and to provide an environment of greater accountability and closer fellowship than many of
them pursue in the weekly church services. Getting them to talk also helps the pastors know where they
are with the Lord, what they think about spiritual things, and helps them correct and direct
appropriately. They are a great group of guys and it's a blessing to see how God has worked in
them since it started in winter 2005. When we came to America (November 2007), two of the church deacons
took on the continuation of this ministry.
The devil would love to have all of us fall asleep
in our faith, but God's Word says that we need to look out for one another. In Hebrews He says,
"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today,"
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
Dejan's prayer is that these monthly Bible studies will enable the men to obey this command
and grow in godly leadership and caring for the faith and growth of those around us.
Reaching the Youth
Dejan is a song-writer and guitarist for a Christian
hardcore band called "xUPRIGHTx". This style of music is well-received by a large number of
youth in Serbia and they are using it as a tool for evangelism.
Before we came to the States, the band was meeting for almost weekly practices and trying
to put together a demo of their newest songs. All the guys in the band work and are pretty busy,
and they've been able to play twice since forming, but even when they don't have concerts,
people come to their practices at the church. This is great because it gets unbelievers coming
to the church and then they see that it's not some strange cult like the rumors say about
evangelical (non-Orthodox) churches (whom the Orthodox refer to as "sects"). The band believes that
God desires to use them as a music ministry, building up the saved and reaching the lost.
Julie
Lanugage Study
She was still working away at learning Serbian,
with one teacher learning grammar and vocabulary, and with the other
practical/conversational speaking until we left in November.
As a progress report, she functions in church with little need
for translation (only a few words here and there), and can carry on conversations with people
fairly easily, albeit in some bad grammar. Running errands in town is do-able without too
much trouble and she was even able to navigate a doctor's appointment decently, but still lacks confidence
in formal or technical things and alot of casual conversation bits throw her off.
She's come to learn that just "shootin' the breeze" with people actually
requires a high level of knowledge and skill. It's annoying to not be able to naturally
converse, since it requires immense concentration, but it's going forward, so praise God for
His enabling.
Women's Ministry
The Lord has called a team of ladies in the fellowship to exercise
their gifts in helps, hospitality, music, and translating in forming a true
ministry to the ladies, not just a Bible study. They met twice a month, once for Bible study
and the other time for fellowship, prayer and hearing one of their testimonies.
They were looking at "Women in the life of Jesus" in 2007, and God spoke powerfully.
They also hope to have more women's conferences, since the first one hosted in October 2006
went so well, so they can again invite ladies from the other fellowships nearby and continue
to reach out to unbelieving family and friends with God's Word. It was encouraging to watch
how God opened hearts wider to Him and to each other through this ministry, and as the months passed,
He also helped Julie grow in teaching His Word.
A Big Dream: Reaching the Deaf
A guest speaker in our church once said, "Dreaming
is free, so dream big. God has a bigger dream for you than even you have, and nothing is
impossible with Him." One of Julie's hopes for the longer-term is to get into the deaf school
in Subotica with the purpose of volunteering in order to get to know the deaf community.
There are over 30,000 deaf people living in Serbia, and there is a sizable group of them
in Subotica. Ever since she heard of the school her heart has been drawn in that direction.
And even before that, for about the past 10 years, there has been a tugging on her
interest for the deaf. This is just an interest; if it is part of God's plan,
that will become clear through time. Last year a friend of Julie took an introductory sign
language course at her school, and shared some of what she learned. Another girl at the church
has a cousin who is a teacher at the deaf school, and we met several deaf people at the grocery store.
Though her focus is on Serbian studies, her eye is on these things as well. One
great thing about walking with the Lord is that He will truly lead if we let Him, and we
won't need to strive to make things happen if they are part of His plan.
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