Kick start of the year!

Finally, we are back here on the blog after the summer vacation! We look forward to share the beginning of this school year with all of you.

Sowing seeds in Niksic

To one of our team meetings a couple of weeks ago, we were studying the gospel of Mark 4, 1-20. Something that really touched us regarding our ministry with students, but who has applications to all christians too.

Jesus tells a parable to a large group of people who has gathered around him. It is about a sower, who sow seeds in different soils: along the path, rocky places, among thorns and in the end some fell on good soil. The seed only grows well in the good soil, while it quickly dies in the other kinds of soils. As with all other parables, Jesus uses this story, to show an example of how his word works and how different responses to it will be. Later on in the text, Jesus explains the parable to his disciples in the following way:

"Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like the seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - some thirty, some sixty, some hundred times what was sown." (v.15-20).

Through our work with students, we have experienced all the reactions of the word of God.  Easily, it can be discouraging to experience many times where the respond rejects Jesus or only for a sort while seem to bloom in a person's life until the person suddenly turn away again. However, we find a huge encouragements in this story. Our calling is to sow the word as wide as possible, the consequences of how people receive it is not up to us, our calling is just to sow. If God can't and will not force anyone into faith, how are we suppose to do so? In the same time, if hearts are opened, we are not the ones who can create faith and growth spiritually in people's lives. Paul describes it in the following way in 1. Cor. 3, 6-7:

"I (Paul) planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither one who plant not the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow!" 

With this encouragement in our lives we will face this year and pray that God will reach the hearts of students!

Jelena
One of the biggest changes this year is, that one of our team member, Jelena, has got the opportunity to go to London for one year, attending Cornhill Bible institute. While doing so, she will also work as an intern in a church in London.

We sincerely rejoice with her over this exiting opportunity and look forward to follow the work she will be doing in London, while she will be greatly missed by us in Niksic. We wish her all the best in the calling and path God has given her for this year.

Summer is over! 

The first couple of weeks after the vacation was over, we have used time on two things: catching up with students after the summer because many of them go to the coast to work or spend the time with their families in other cities. Secondly, we have prepared the school year by looking into the strategies we want to use and the activities we want to do. We are exited for this year and ready to show students who Christ is.

Kick off! 

We already hosted a couple of events to kick of the year. Last Wednesday, we had our first event on university where we especially wanted to welcome new students and share who we are, while inviting them to join some of our weekly activities. We had the event on the café on university where we normally also have the Conversation Club. Pete and Danijel were playing a couple of song, Danijel introduced EUS, and then we had invited a couple of students to play music too. In the same time, we had made a questionary the students could answer. The idea behind that was to give us an idea of which questions students have regarding faith and God, so we can focus on those in our weekly student meetings. All-in-all it was a succesful event where we got a chance to invite both new as old students to join us.

Danijel and Pete sing and play.

Dragana Stijepovic, one of the students
singing and entertaining us.  

Svetlana Bubanja, also student and musicean.

Former philosopher student, Dino, plays blues.

Some students spontaneous join in with a
track or two.

Already the day after, we had our next event. The first Conversation Club after the summer. We saw a couple of new faces and had a good time together.

A couple of days ago, we had our first student meeting of the year. We were having a pizza night with a talk about EUS, saw an advertising video, listen to music and used time talking together and enjoy fellowship. Unfortunately, not many students came even though we had invited many. However, some of them are still out of town and will first come back next week. Despite that, we had a great time together.

What are we doing in EUS? 
If you want to know more about what we are doing, you can watch this link with a video about us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUmIaQKI5Mg

Prayer requests: 
Please pray for:

- Jelena: For God to bless her year in London.
- For our team: that we will find a good balance, now when Jelena isn't a part of our team.
- For the students: that they will hear the calling from God and receive Jesus in their hearts.
- For our weekly activities: that God will lead us to focus on the right things.
- For different bible study groups both one-to-one and in groups. That God's word will find good soil to grow in and create fruit in students' lives.
- For God to open new doors.