Montenegro: camps, cars and other news

October 9, 2009

Here is a report from Vladimir and Marijana Cizmanski; Vladimir is the pastor of the Brethren Assembly in Podgorica, Montenegro. Stoneworks missionary Christina Melton will go there on October 20 for a three-year commitment to serve the church.

And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern that is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

Dear Fellow-workers,

We want to report on the teen camp we had this summer. We know that intercessory prayer is a vital factor in many aspects of our work and in bringing about changed lives. This time we had 15 participants – 11 from Podgorica and 4 from Niksic. We are thankful to the group of 8, from Stoneworks, who came from the USA to assist us with their presence, lectures and practical help in running this very important event.

The camp took place in the mountains as last year. Unlike the previous group, these teenagers knew each other as they had already been attending our Saturday children’s clubs. We can see that as a result of this on-going work with them the Word of God has penetrated into their young hearts and had a significant impact on their young lives.

The theme of the camp was “How to take the right decisions.” One of the subjects was: “What would Jesus do in my place?”

During the day two girls got into an argument and when I approached one of them and talked to her about the problem she asked: “What would Jesus do in my place?”

Without waiting for me to say anything she replied: “I know, He would forgive, but that’s very tough!” This disguised a second question: It’s not easy to forgive – it’s painful and costly.

But we still talked about the decision to forgive and about how it is not a question of our feelings but our will. There were lots of opportunities to get to know each other better, to chat, for spontaneous teaching and sporting activities.

Another girl lost a pendant in the shape of a silver heart. It meant a great deal to her as it was a present from her mother. We thought she must have lost it in the mountains when we had walked up to a viewpoint overlooking the river Tara. So we all set out to look for it in the bushes, grass, brambles and rocks beside the narrow mountain track.

There was very little chance that we would really find that little silver heart. On top of that, evening was beginning to set in. Helena was crying and there was no help for it, none of us 15 had found the heart.

When we got back to our house Helena brightened up and said: “I am not worried about the heart any more as I have seen that I have friends who are prepared to come to my aid. That is much more important to me than the heart.”

We all agreed with her and praised her for her mature attitude.

But God had a surprise for us: On the last day while the teenagers where playing in the field in front of the house, Maja saw something shining in amongst the grass and dust while she was doing some stretching exercises, and bending down was amazed to see – the lost heart!

We were all overjoyed that the lost “treasure” had been found “by God’s hand”. This was a lesson for us all to seek and to value the true treasure that the Lord has given us.

All the teenagers expressed a wish to continue to meet on a regular basis in Podgorica. We need your intercessory prayer as we try to organise this in a quality way and in a way that will communicate spiritual values in a relevant way.

As part of this process we are praying for a person who will be able and willing to lead this ministry. We believe that the Lord is working on this in the life of Christina Melton who feels the call to come to Montenegro. Christina is coming from USA to be part of our fellowship both in the work with the teenagers and in the worship team.

Immediately after the teenagers’ camp we had our church retreat which was really well attended. It was a real oasis for us all. In the end we decided that it would be good to organize this time of fellowship with prayer and worship in this special way as often as possible.

We are praying for the beginning of the discipleship process for all the new believers who want to become members of our fellowship. We are praying that our teaching really meets the needs of all those who come from a variety of backgrounds.

Milanka has been in our fellowship for quite a long while and we can see the changes that have been happening in recent times. There is also Momcilo and the newest person is Lazar who came to us from the Retro centre in Split. Lazar is aflame with the love of God and thankful to God for the many sins He has forgiven him.

We are praying for Jovanka who has been in our fellowship for a number of years and who needs prayer and financial support at this time. Her husband, who has not yet confessed to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his saviour, is suffering from lung cancer. He has had 5 sessions of chemotherapy that have exhausted him and he still has to go through radiation treatment. The doctors have prescribed him injections that will improve his blood and give him more strength but they cost 100 euros each!

Personal news:

In our last bulletin we told you that we had an opportunity to exchange our 23-year-old vehicle for a 13-year-old one in very good condition. On 30th July we had a road accident near Herceg Novi in which the vehicle was so badly damaged that we are no longer sure whether we will be able to exchange, i.e. whether it is worth repairing. We are still sorting out the damage claim and are praying that the whole process is completed as soon as possible so that we can decide how to move forward.

Thank you to all of you who support us in prayer and financially. Your unselfish and practical love is a great support to know that we are not alone in the battle.

Many greetings in His love,

Vladimir and Marijana

Posted by Mike | Filed Under Montenegro, News

Comments

One Response to “Montenegro: camps, cars and other news”

Jerry on October 24th, 2009 4:54 pm

It is a blessing reading about what God is doing in Montenegro. May His light shine brightly in that land and do a transformation in the culture. I encourage all Christians to pray for Montenegro.

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