Dachia ku-ji-tsa (decija kuc´ica): little house for children
Clyutch (kljuc): key
Hleb: bread
Da: yes
Ne: no
Str-ah-vo (Zdravo): hello
Awesome (osam): eight
^entire vocabulary, day three (on day four I learned Machka, or cat)
Right now, I’m sitting in the library of the Bible school (Hub, pronounced hoob) hosting my team, surrounded by hundreds of books on Christian theology, written in both English and Serbian. Next door, a preacher is giving a sermon while the piano, drums, and clarinet lead dozens of teenage gypsy summer campers in worship between his exhortations. We just finished serving and cleaning up breakfast, so for most of the team, it’s ‘quiet time.’
Friday was a hectic day. That morning, a pipe broke and flooded the outdoor basement where the school keeps most of its supplies for the two upcoming camps: this next week, for children with disabilities and their families, and the week after, for children with cancer and their families. The flood destroyed all of the food for the camps’ meals, caused thousands of dollars of damage, and knocked out our water.
Reportedly, when first arriving at the scene to assess the damage (which included a room and stairwell completely submerged), our hosts were heard laughing and quoting Titanic.
They continued to sing, “My Heart Will Go On” throughout the day.
With the water out, the current guests -a group of rowdy-but-endearing Roma gypsies and their German teacher- left one night and three meals early, but this only widens our host’s smiles: with the rooms free and people gone, we had more time to clean before the next camp begins on Monday.
At the time, the flooding, water damage, destroyed supplies, no water, and guests leaving seemed to be simply a bad case of difficult circumstances, in the midst of which our amazing hosts held onto their joy and peace admirably.
But this morning, we met Sladjen, director of Hub. He came home yesterday evening after a stay in Indonesia for a conference, and for the first time, we got to listen and learn his heart for his ministry:
While Hub is a essentially a Bible school, it is also home to a fair few of Serbia’s seven thousand Christians. Its many roomed dormitories, large dining room, and spacious grounds, make it the perfect location for retreats.
Last year, Hub opened its doors for two weeks, one week for children with disabilities and another for children with cancer. They were incredible weeks, Sladjen told us.
Disabled children are believed to be cursed and diseased, and are thus shunned and forgotten by society. There are no programs for them, no programs for their parents, or if there are they are few, far between, and pricey.
Children with cancer hold a special place in Sladjen’s heart: his eldest daughter suffered from brain cancer a few years ago. His family spent a lot of time between Serbia and Memphis, Tennessee, which was where he attended a camp for children with cancer and their families, an experience he hopes to recreate each year for Serbian families. To create an environment of respite and peace for these families is clearly Sladjen’s vision.
These next two weeks are extremely important. To him, to the families coming, to Hub, to the community, to the few Christians in Serbia.
And approximately $5000 worth of ruined provisions and damage have been dealt the weekend before. On the eve of two weeks set aside specifically for good, designated for the joy of a hundred plus Serbian children and their families, Sladjan’s dream is being threatened.
As a team here on the ground in Serbia, the only support we have to give is to work alongside and support Sladjan and Hub.
We don’t have $5000 to give.
We can’t fix the basement.
We can’t fix the pipes.
We can’t buy new food.
But we believe in a God of miracles, and we believe in the power of prayer. Between the seven people on my team, we have an immense force of prayer warriors standing behind us.
Please pray for miracles. Pray for those “mysterious ways” the Bible tells us about over and over again. Pray for the team here at Hub, for Sladjan, Jatsa, Magda, Jelena, Olja, Tanja, Sonja, Nihad, Lucky, and their families and kids, for peace over the circumstances, for renewed strength and protection against stress and anxiety. Pray for the families scheduled to come next week. Pray for my team (who I promise to introduce… next time… now that I actually know them a little better. It is only day 5, folks.)
Hvala 🙂
