Mission to Montenegro newsletter
Blog entry for 16 September 2012
September 2012 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. Rev. 1: 4b-5a
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
God has been busy amongst us this past month; we will have to hit the highlights of the highlights!
- R., the older woman who had visited twice when we wrote last time, has continued to come faithfully to our Sunday morning worship service, and even to a midweek prayer meeting once. She is now hopeful that her husband might begin to come to service as well. Please pray for him to come and hear God's Words of life.
- Two Danish young people are now with us: Randi (young woman, for the next 9 months) and Anton (young man, for the next 3 months). They are here to reach out and minister to both university students and high schoolers. Please pray for them as they settle in, adjust to Montenegrin life, attempt to learn the language, and most importantly, for opportunities and boldness in sharing their faith.
- Wedding in Belgrade. Earlier this month, Stan was honored to preside over the wedding ceremony of S. and B. B. grew up in the church here, was one of the first to be baptized, and is very dear to our hearts. It is a joy to have witnessed in the past year three weddings of Christian young people who are establishing new points of light in their communities, extended families, and work places. Praise be to God!
- Landlord Concerns The Landlord for the church is very concerned about the church sign as he believes it makes the building a target of attack and is considering what to do about it. His fears are not unfounded: we did have 3 men hanging around the sign/door one evening after a service and they were very hostile to the idea of a "sect" in the area. (Note: This occurred while Stan was away. Danijel ended up speaking with these guys and witnessing to them and ending everything on pleasant terms (though they still couldn't understand why we just weren't Serbian Orthodox)). One EXCITING possibility that the landlord mentioned was selling the entire building/land at cost to us, because then it would be our problem, not his. Please pray that we would consider this offer wisely, taking ALL possibilities into account.
Upcoming Ministry and Family News
- Resuming "Normal" Ministries. With school now started, the weekly student bible studies, teen meetings, one-on-one Bible Study, and Ladies' Coffee Times are all back in action. Please pray for the unbelievers to be challenged to come to Christ, for all to be encouraged.
- Stan and Josiah had a whirlwind two week trip getting Josiah outfitted for his new life as a university student: driver's license, bank accounts opened, cell phone stuff, school books bought, and more. Josiah is now settled in at the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, in the Physician Assistant Program and starting his third week of classes. Please pray that he would find a good church home.
Stan and Vicki Surbatovich
Mission to Montenegro
Prayer Bulletin Points
- For R's husband, to come to church, hear the Word of God, and be saved.
- For Randi and Anton, to be effective in their witness and ministry.
- For S+B, that their marriage would grow in love and maturity, and they would glorify God through their union.
- For our church meeting location and landlord, that we would be able to have a sign and building suitable for worshipping the Lord as a growing body of believers.
- For all the regular ministries of the church: preaching of the Word, prayer meetings, student Bible Study, Ladies' Coffee fellowship, and individual mentoring.
- For all our children: Anna, Amy, Christian (3rd year university student), Josiah (1st year university student), and Milijana (high school senior): to grow in favor with God and man.
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