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NAB Work Team Builds Community Center in Donji Petrovci, Serbia
“Where can we meet?” That has always been a problem in the Roma community in Donji Petrovci. Years ago, when Pastor Petr was leading a revival, more than 100 Roma from nearby villages met under a tent for church. That was not sustainable, especially in winter. When Marijana Čizmanski and her ZZ Serbia team began community development in this poverty-stricken village they held programs in the hot sun, the rain, and the cold. No houses are big enough. This was not sustainable either.
In September, Donji Petrovci’s Roma community received a gift: an industrious and generous team from NAB Churches in North and South Dakota came and built a community center. Team leader, Erv VanVeldhuizen, and his hard workers constructed a metal framed container-style structure which will be very suitable to meet the village’s needs. The facility was constructed and left ready to sand and paint in just two weeks.
The building is planned to be used by ZZ Serbia during their community development project for Community Health Evangelism (CHE) outreaches and training sessions, children’s programs, adult activities, community events, health clinics, Bible Studies, and church services.
You can read more about this building project at our website: justaseck.wordpress.com. Click on the “Happenings” page and scroll down.
NAB Church Partners Needed to Enter Open Doors into Two Roma M*sl*m Communities
A young Roma mother squats on the ground outdoors, washing her dishes in a small pan of brown water. I ask if I can take her picture. She says, “Yes.” Around her are several jugs of cloudy “clean” water she has lugged from a water source coming from the village’s trash site.
Children in this village are filthy from the scarcity of water and sick because the water they do have is contaminated and because sewage water runs down the mountain streets. The electricity to the 1000-member community is shut off because the people have not paid their bills.
As we enter the village, men and women run to us pleading for help. Their community is in crisis and they do not know what to do. The government has failed or refused to help them. These Roma are M*sl*m but the Imam is more interested in intimidating them to come to mosque by refusing to bury their dead if they do not attend regularly than he is in helping them. It is every person for himself. The village lacks any unity.
This scene is duplicated on the opposite side of the same mountain in Macedonia.
The doors are wide open for Gospel ministry!
We have already begun the planning and training of a Macedonian Christian outreach and development team. But we need church partners to help with some of the heavy lifting.
Do you or your church want to walk through this door?
Read more about this opportunity on our webpage justaseck.wordpress.com. Go to the “Happenings” page and read the new article on Macedonia. Then contact me at ronseck@me.com.
Ron and Jeannie Teach a Community Health Evangelism Training Course to Christian College Students in Tirana, Albania
Each month, International School of Theology and Leadership students, the young and future leaders of the church in Albania, come to the capital city of Tirana for a week of concentrated instruction. Then they return to their home churches to put into practice what they have learned before returning to take a final course exam.
When Ron and Jeannie were invited by the ISTL to join Agron Aga, Director of CHE Albania, to teach a course on CHE basics in September they were eager for the opportunity. Thirty-five students took their 15-hour course taught CHE-style. Most were enthusiastic and encouraged as they learned proven Biblical methods for reaching the poor and marginalized for Jesus Christ and then helping them to break their cycle of poverty.
Students were instructed to speak to their pastors and church leaders about what they learned and ask them to set up a CHE Vision Seminar to learn more. A training course for those churches interested will be held next spring by the CHE Albania team.
Community Health Evangelism (CHE) Teams Hold Annual Gathering in Albania
One of Ron’s responsibilities as CHE Central Europe Coordinator is to plan and lead the annual gathering of CHE teams and boards that make up the CHE EuroNet Network. He also oversees and facilitates expansion of CHE teams into new countries and regions. The number keeps growing, praise the Lord!
For 5 days in early October, 75 CHE-related Christian workers from Slovakia, Hungary, Holland, Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Switzerland, and the US met on the Adriatic Coast of Albania at a beautiful resort facility. The Gathering is usually part retreat and part in-service training.
Prayer
- That God will raise up vigorous partners among our NAB Churches to walk through the doors He is opening in the poor and marginalized communities of Central Europe and the Balkans.
Praises
- The Community Center Building project was completed in Donji Petrovci, Serbia, in September.
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world …. My kingdom is from another place.”
John 18:36