Meet the NAB’s Newest National Worker — Marijana Cizmanski
The North American Baptist Conference has a new, Serbian, national worker, Marijana Cizmanski.
This summer, with the help of Ron Seck, NAB Central Europe Missionary, “REZ Serbija” became a registered, legal foundation in Serbia. Its mission is to do community health evangelism projects in poor villages and urban neighborhoods throughout the Serbian-speaking world and to stimulate others to do the same. In October the REZ Board voted to hire Marijana as their first director, pending NAB approval.
On November 5, Norm Poehlke, NAB Missions Director was in Hungary. He had opportunity to personally interview and approve Marijana for a position as an NAB National Missionary Worker. He also confirmed that there was a sufficient pledge amount in Ron and Jeannie Seck’s Field Operating Account to hire her as REZ’s new director!
Marijana Cizmanski becomes the fourth national worker on Ron and Jeannie’s Team, joining Hungarians Jozsef Csuhai and Laci and Eszter Daroczi-Csuhai.
Marijana and her husband, Emil, live with their two children, Marko (12) and Martina (10) in Novi Sad, Serbia. They have both recently graduated from theological seminary in Osijek, Croatia. Marijana has spent the last two years serving the Roma and doing volunteer work to form REZ Serbia. Previously she worked ten years for a Christian aid and relief agency and a Christian hospice ministry in Serbia. This summer, Marijana traveled to the Philippines to take the 5 week CHE Leadership Internship Course in preparation for her new position.
Ron and Jeannie are thrilled to have Marijana on their team. They appreciate her sacrificial spirit plus her love for the Roma and her passion to see them come to Christ and become healthy believers in healthy churches in healthy communities. When you support Ron and Jeannie, you now support Marijana Cizmanski as well!
Ron and Jeannie Seck and their MEK Hungary Team are going back to school!
Since September, every Tuesday and Thursday morning the MEK Hungary Team is teaching community health evangelism (CHE) classes at the Grassalkovich High School in Hatvan, a city about 60 kilometers east of Budapest.
This is a twelve week pilot project being undertaken in cooperation with the school’s Administration and the Hungarian Baptist Union. Grassalkovich is an “alternative education” institution for Roma high school students who have not succeeded in the mainstream system.
Currently, the MEK Team is using participatory learning activities (or PLAs) to develop relationships with the 100 plus students in their 6 classes. The PLAs lead these reluctant, sometimes angry and immature young people from at-risk home situations into discussions about their hopes, their fears, their contradictions and how they see the world and their place in it.
The answers are revealing. For example, what do you think would be the number one worry over the next 5 years for these 15 to 19 year old? Their answer: dying … from a serious illness. What two things do they dislike the most about their current life? Being sick and going to funerals! How much control do they think they have over these worries and dislikes? They feel these things are mostly out of their control!
We will use the students’ responses to these PLAs to develop a series of CHE lessons that addresses the issues they are most concerned about. The curriculum will include lessons on understanding who God is, dealing with death, avoiding diseases, overcoming bad habits and being a truly healthy and successful person. There will be plenty of opportunities for evangelism. Be sure to pray for our MEK Team and our students as we continue with this teaching.