Mission to Montenegro newsletter
Blog entry for 19 October 2020
October 2020 Mission to Montenegro Newsletter
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Psalm 89:1-2
Grace and Peace to you in the name of God our Father!
The day after pushing send on last month’s newsletter, our city Nikšić was put under Tier 4 restrictions (the heaviest) which included curfews, some closures, and no visiting privately in homes. Our covid-19 numbers have improved over the last four weeks (yay!), so now we’ve placed into Tier 2. What a joy it is to be able to go from house to house once again!
- Stan recently finished preaching from Exodus 30, putting forth how all that touches God must be holy: the priests, their clothes, the altars, the sacrifices, the oils, everything; and further highlighting the great gift of salvation, procured by Jesus Christ, which proclaims us sinners sanctified and lets us boldly enter the holy of holies. Hallelujah!
- In our Sunday evening Zoom meetings, Stan and several other men have brought encouraging messages: from Hebrews 7 (our assurance being rooted in Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice), from 2 Cor. 5:14ff (the compelling love of Christ to be His ambassadors of reconciliation), and from Psalm 1 (the blessed man (with God’s help) keeps himself out of the perishing path of the wicked.) Despite the terrible camera angles and audio lag times, the ability to see each other together electronically is a huge blessing.
**************
- The first installment of Osnovne Istine (Basic Truths) has been filmed and is currently in post-production. This is the start of our hoped-for series of 5-10 minute talks regarding basics of Christianity to be posted online. This first talk centered on why we need the bible.
**************
- We are also making progress with our book project: We’ve received formal permission to translate and publish Good News for Anxious Christians; we have narrowed down the choice of local publishers to two; we have a realistic idea of the costs involved; translation of the text has begun. Next steps: finishing the translation and seeking further funds to finish the project. If you would like to support this one-time project, please contact Stan* directly for costs/accounting.
Upcoming Ministry and Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the regular ministry of the Word as Stan (and others) preach and teach throughout the week at church, via Zoom and other social media, and even in (very small) groups. We are also hoping to have a Ladies' Breakfast at the end of October after many delays. May hearts be quickened and lives changed to the glory of God.
Please pray for the Osnovne Istine video series: For Stan as he prepares short talks and for the tech team (Peter and Danijel) who will be recording, editing (which has come with a large learning curve), and posting. May God use these humble means to bring people to Himself.
Please pray for book translation progress and consider contributing to the financial needs* to get it into print.
Please pray for the members of our own fellowship: for unity, for reaching out to one another, for perseverance in grace and charity, for the financial needs as well as the emotional needs of those hard-hit by closures and disruptions, especially the families with school-aged children as they have much to juggle with ever-changing school scenarios.
Please pray for continued health and strength for us and BabaC (Stan's mother who lives with us).
With great love and appreciation for your ongoing prayers and support,
Stan and Vicki Surbatovich
* If you would like to know more about contributing to the Book Publishing project, please contact Stan directly at stan . surbatovich @ gmail . com (no spaces).