Christmastime Outreach

We are so blessed by God to have children who love to share in what we are doing! They enjoy serving alongside us, especially when it is to help others or help them to hear about Jesus. Our oldest in particular is full of ideas. Earlier this year she suggested, "Can we go Christmas carolling at the mall?" (As in, the huge West Edmonton Mall, aka WEM). It seemed like a feasible idea, so it was approved tentatively. Then we added an idea that came to us late last year (as in, too late to use it then) of passing out candy canes and a small message at the mall as an outreach to the shop-workers.

As usual, God took our slim small idea and multiplied it to something better and greater. It all ended up coming together like this:

We went to a book launch for one of my recent students at the end of November. A week or so later, we were at home reading a couple of Christmas books and *ta da!* inspiration came on our oldest to write a book for her own "book launch". And as she dreams the big dreams of childhood, she wanted this event to take place at the mall. So........ we got all the text out of her in about 15 minutes and over the next couple of days she worked on the illustrations. After scanning and arranging the pages, we printed out 20 copies, bought a box of candy canes and got ready to hit the WEM.

Getting ready to hit the stores

A couple years ago, I purchased an angel costume set at the dollar store for "future use". The Author chose this as her attire and her sidekick, (we'll call her Curly), chose reindeer antlers. Baby V wore the Christmas tree hat. With over 800 stores and very few parking spaces to choose from, we prayed and sought out stores where there were no other shoppers or where there was a worker obviously not helping someone.

Mostly we ended up in formal dress shops, but almost without exception the scenario was as follows:

Walk into store. Sensor beeps. Worker greets.
Author and Curly approach worker. "Merry Christmas!"
Greeting returned.
Author: "I have a Christmas gift for you."
Worker: "For me?"
Author: "It's a candy cane and a book I wrote all by myself."
Worker: "Really? Thank you! But I don't have anything for you!"
Author: "That's okay. This is for you. It's your Christmas gift."
Author and Curly (singing): We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!"
Hugs exchanged.
Worker: "Thank you again so much!" Smiles.
Author and Curly exiting: "Merry Christmas!"
Leave store.

At one of the last shops

Believe it or not, it took us a couple hours to get everything handed out, but little legs stayed strong through the whole upper floor of the WEM and it's hundreds of shops with nary a complaint of any kind and the little Christmas tree took a nap.

Just before leaving the mall, and on the way out of the parking lot, we talked about what we just did (knowing that any spiritual activity generates opposition) and prayed that God would use our little gifts in big ways in the hearts of their recipients. If you'd like, you can pray too, that these seeds would be fruitful.

"Santa praying to the baby Jesus"

oc•cu•pied

Many people are busy. It is a buzzword of our day. Sometimes it seems like it is a standard answer to the question "How are you?".  But what's the big deal about that?

Jesus told His disciples in a parable, "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13). But Jesus wasn't talking about just filling up our time and busying ourselves as a distraction to pass the time, nor simply making efficient use of our time, which is a much voiced topic as well.

It seems from the context that His emphasis lay on what the occupation was. He was teaching His disciples about stewardship, taking care of the business of the master who is away. Jesus is that very master, and as His full-time occupation was ministering God's love and God's Word to all around Him so should ours be.

The last several months we have particularly felt pressed for time. There is just so much that can be fit into a 24-hour period and a 7-day week, and as two people we are doing our best to walk circumspectly, with the 2-3 established ministry times per week, family, school (homestyle), and "tent-making" (Dejan plods away at translation when he can and Julie teaches music and prenatal classes once each per week).

At the start of His ministry, after coming out of the wilderness, Jesus preached alone. He went about this preaching, the Bible tells us, before He called Simon Peter, John, James, Andrew and the others to come follow Him. Once the others joined Him, we read much more of what happened through His ministry (the part of His solitary preaching is actually just one line of one gospel account!). This is not to say that before He had disciples His ministry was unimportant or insignificant, it was just different.

We feel that we are in these same types of days here in the work the Lord has set before us. We are fully doing, but we do it in a solitary way. And the work is slow, perhaps seemingly insignificant. This is particularly the case with Dejan and interfacing with the outside world. He is in the marketplace weekly, but it is just him. Julie's ministry comes as she and the kiddos are out and about.

We are blessed to be able to be here. Amazingly blessed! It is such a thrill to be involved in a new work, and we know that Jesus has promised to build His church. Sometimes it just seems like all that we are able to do is like a drop in the bucket of the one million souls that surround us in this great city. Will you pray with us?

Our prayer is for God to show us how to do this work in this season, the second year; to bring us opportunities that are ordained by Him, and to see both those inside the church and those outside of the church to come to know Jesus more and more. And if we had others join us, great! Jesus in effect multiplied Himself through the calling, equipping and sending of the disciples, and we'd love to see co-laborers here. Until then, though, we must remain occupied and faithful to do what we can with the resources of time, energy, availability and opportunity that we have been given.

In Him,

Dejan and Julie <><

Anniversary

Well, it's November 1st. A significant day in our calendar because it marks one year from our departure from Pocatello as our home church lovingly sent us out here to Edmonton.

What's in a year, you may wonder? To summarize:

• we moved from meeting in-home to being in a church building
• there is a small core of people who are joining us regularly for fellowship, study and worship
• our children's ministry expanded from week-to-week plans to an ongoing curriculum
• we are ministering weekly Bible study at an assisted living facility
• there is a bi-weekly men's group studying and sharing fellowship together

and last, but certainly not least

• we had our first outreach team and an awesome week with them!

We are amazed at how the Lord has begun this work, and we are curious how He will continue to grow the church as we continue to follow Him in the days and months ahead! THANK YOU to all of our prayer partners for faithfully interceding on our behalf and seeking God's will to be done here in the ministry, and THANK YOU to our faithful supporters who are giving resource to this work. We are blessed to labor here and to co-labor with you in the Gospel!!

Please continue to remember us and the work here. You are always more than welcome to come up and see what God is doing, or to help out in person. The invitation is open!

By His grace and for His glory,
Dejan and Julie

Part-time job

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." ~Jesus, Luke 10:2

"Also, I heard the voice of the LORD saying, 'Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am; send me.'" ~ Isaiah 6:8

WARNING: The following post is a direct plea for help to our fellow Christians outside of Canada. Please read with this in mind, and then join us in prayer. You may find yourself being part of the answer...

We are earnestly praying and asking the Lord to send others to join us here in Edmonton. There is much to be done and only two of us to work at it. Perhaps at one time or another you have had a thought to come visit, or maybe you've even heard the cry, like Paul, "Come over here and help us" (Acts 16).

Do you feel like you might like to come up but committing to moving is just too big a step right now? No problem! Why not consider coming when you can? If that means a weekend, a week, a month, great! We'll take part-time workers gladly.

     What men can do: evangelism with Dejan in the city, prayer by neighborhood, join Dejan during the assisted living ministry Mondays, Sunday set-up and take-down and ministering to the church body

     What ladies can do: pray, be available during the assisted living ministry, assisting with the children's church during service and child care before and after service, bulletin prep, craft prep

Here are some ideas for how you can find time to get involved in the work of the Lord here in Edmonton (remember, we are only a day's drive from our home church and a relatively brief flight from just about everywhere else.):

• students/teachers: come for part or all of Christmas break, during your spring break, summer!
• workers at 8-5 jobs: come for a long weekend, save up sick days, use part of your vacation and turn it into a ministry vacation!
• retired: make us your destination on a northern sightseeing, camping or road trip!
• anyone: come for American Thanksgiving and forgo-gasp!-Black Friday shopping (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October), if your job allows take a period of time off just like you would for any other outreach trip

The first step is to dare to come, then to pick a time, and then we can work out logistics of accommodation and meals. Trust God to lead in all things--He is faithful!

Our absolute biggest need is for willing hearts to join in evangelism, as this is how the Lord adds to the church. Our second and third priorities are things pertaining to the Sunday service and covering the city systematically by prayer (prayer from anywhere is great, but praying through the city is what we mean here, specifically).

We are so excited about what the Lord is unfolding before us as we serve Him! We hope to hear from some of you as soon as the Lord moves you to take up Edmonton part-time.

Location, Location, Location!

This is such a memorable slogan for the real estate industry, and it encapsulates our most recent development. As of this Sunday, September 1, 2013, we will be gathering for our weekly Sunday afternoon worship services in a new location!

Upon our arrival in Edmonton last November, we began meeting for Sunday worship, Bible study and fellowship just east of the city in someone's home. Fast-forward six weeks and it moved to our own home in Edmonton proper, a somewhat central location.

We have enjoyed having everyone in the home setting, but we believe that the door has been opened to us to meet elsewhere. A nearby church is allowing us to use their building on a weekly basis, for the cost of insurance as a measure of Christian good will.

Dejan met with the pastor at St. Timothy's Anglican Church just after the team left a couple weeks ago, and after signing the insurance contract and paying the small fee, we now have building keys and a weekly meeting location!

We will be meeting in a small chapel which is just beside the main sanctuary and is accessible through its own set of double doors (pictured here). The children's worship space will be in the nursery which faces both chapel and sanctuary. There are no stairs to climb for those who may need assistance, and the walkway is also not terribly long for shovelling in winter. The building also has a kitchen and enclosed courtyard.

We are so thrilled to be given this opportunity to meet in an existing church building! From a practical, logistical standpoint, we don't need to buy, haul, store or set up chairs. (Hooray!) We don't need a sound system due to the acoustics. And as long as we don't meet in the evenings, our use of electricity will be minimal, as the entire building was constructed with skylight ceilings. It is also fairly close to where we live.

From a spiritual perspective, we hope that by being in the community there will be no barriers preventing any and all who will from coming out. We recognize that meeting in a home is more personal, but for many it is a setting that exceeds their comfort level. It also means we have practically unlimited room for growth (this was a particular concern for our space at home for the children).

Praise God for His gracious provision! We are trusting on His promise in Jesus that "I will build My church" (Matthew 16:18). It is a privilege to serve Him here in doing this!

In Their Own Words

The team left us last night after a blessed time of fellowship and prayer and talking over the events of the week. We were so boosted by their hard work this past week! Our words cannot adequately describe the varied experiences we shared as a group, so here is a summary of the outreach, in their own words.

"This week has been amazing! It was a great encouragement having friends sharing the Gospel along with us and showing us the way. When we were tired or feeling down the girls always managed to make us laugh. The trip was such a blessing and so much more than I ever expected!" ~Naomi

"This week has been a true blessing. We had trouble at first, but the Lord helped us through it. The Heritage Festival was great. I got to talk to the most people in my life. Even if we have trouble, the Lord will help us (Hebrew 13:6)." ~Spencer

"I grew a lot while on this trip. I had lots of love towards other people like strangers. I like to read about Moses in Exodus 4, how he thought he couldn't be used, but God really used us on this trip. Such a blessing to help Dejan and Julie plant a church." ~Nick

"It was a blessing to see every member of the team have a willing heart to be used by Jesus for the purpose of spreading His Gospel." ~Rick

 "Wonderful experience! Absolutely blessed to have been able to do the outreach at the festival! The Lord is going to do a mighty work!" ~Pastor Jeff

"How wonderful it was to serve alongside you. I had such a great time... May God bless your ministry. I will be praying for you." ~Greg

"I love your city - such beautiful cultural diversity - so rich! It was a joy to encounter so many different people in conversation! God will establish His work - His church! 'Be still and know that He is God--He will be exalted among the nations'!" ~Christina

"What a blessed trip! Around the world in three days, seeing firsthand what the Lord's heart truly is - to reach the lost. This trip produced growth in boldness, trust, and love for the nations in a new way. What an encouragement to see faithful hearts in our dear family in Edmonton. We pray for continued strength for them. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and love. Overall a beautiful trip blessed by the Lord." ~Christine

Continue in prayer for the seeds sown and watered in the city this week. We got a glimpse of what team mission here in Edmonton can do, and we are still praying for more laborers to join us!!

Teamwork, part 2

Dejan and the team labored long and hard at the Heritage Festival over the weekend and had many Gospel encounters with people of a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Thank you for your prayers for this huge event! You can read more details at their church blog.

The next couple of days we are shifting gears a bit, as the festival has ended. Please continue in prayer with us as we go out into the heart of the city to pray and preach the Good News!

Tuesday
We are going to two parts of the city, the grounds for both the city and provincial governments. So the team is headed downtown to walk the streets a bit, tour the city hall, pray and witness on the square. Then we will be off to the legislature grounds for more of the same.

Wednesday
Dejan and a couple of guys from the team plan to meet with a contact we have at the University of Alberta who heads the local Campus Crusade for Christ (called Power to Change here). Then the team will be off for more evangelism in the arts district of Strathcona, and possibly returning downtown.

Thursday
What is a visit to Edmonton without seeing one of its main destination attractions, West Edmonton Mall? The team will be there for the day with the throngs of shoppers. It will be more of a free day, but this team is unlikely to forgo sharing the Gospel there as well. We plan to end the day with dinner together, followed by worship and prayer for the week.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• boldness to speak the Gospel, wisdom in individual conversation
• open minds and hearts to receive the message
• physical strength and stamina with all the walking and talking
• safety for all

Teamwork, part 1

A team of eight brothers and sisters has arrived in Edmonton to spend the week working with us! We are blessed to have visible, tangible love from our home church in the form of these co-laborers!

Last night we met for a meal, fellowship, worship and a time of prayer for the week's events. We have our way planned, but we are seeking the Lord to guide our steps. If you would like to join us in prayer, here is what's ahead for the weekend. 

Saturday

One of Edmonton's biggest events is this weekend, Heritage Festival. A myriad of cultures will be showcasing their national dress, food, music and dance at the largest park in the city. Through the weekend, over 50,000 are projected to attend. The team is aiming to do the work of evangelism throughout the weekend there.

Sunday

Time will be split between the festival and our service/Bible study. 

Monday

This is a long weekend in Canada, for their Civic holiday, so the festival extends through this evening. The plan is to split the team between the festival and serving with Dejan at the Assisted Living facility where he teaches a weekly Bible study.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• boldness to preach the Gospel
• wisdom/sensitivity in conversation
• receptive hearts and minds
• safety and physical strength

Blessing to the Nations

Every July 1st, Canadians celebrate their nation with Canada Day. Similar to July 4th in the U.S. in how it is celebrated, people are in the mood for picnics, barbecues, get-togethers and fireworks. However, it is interesting to consider this holiday in Canada calendar of annual celebrations.

The nation of Canada was officially organized in the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867, ruled by Great Britain and its monarchy from across the Atlantic. It wasn't until 1982 that Canada signed its Constitution Act to officially render it an independent country. In the intervening years Canada Day was called Dominion Day.

Canada has such a diverse population, and Edmonton definitely reflects this diversity. Nearly daily we are amidst people who have immigrated to Canada from nations far and wide. In the past several weeks the nations we have been in conversation with are Chinese-Canadian, native Albertan Canadian, Serbian-Canadian, Libyan-Canadian, Italian, Ukrainian and British Columbian-Canadian. Over 150,000 people become Canadian citizens every year, many of them on Canada Day.

Just thinking about the concept of "dominion" and how Canada celebrated its incorporation under Britain's rule across the ocean made me think of how we are called to be here in this world as Christians. We are to be dominated by Jesus Christ (in Latin dominus is the term for Lord or Master) and as He is on His throne ruling the universe, and we are awaiting His bodily reign here on the earth, we are to celebrate His Lordship in our lives by living peacefully under His direction.

The nations around us, the people who do not yet know His rule, whether they are native to our land or not, are awaiting the blessing of Jesus and His saving work of redemption at the cross. We are thankful to be here and to have the daily privilege to let the blessing of God flow through us to the nations around us.

Happy Canada Day!!

On Account of Weather

Spring is here in all it's greenery and blossom! All that green and color does come at the small cost of rainy days, but it is worth it. It is so beautiful to look outside and see the city all leafed-out (Edmonton has the largest area of urban park land in North America), and we get outside in it often. The mosquitoes haven't even been as bad as we've heard--not yet anyway--which has allowed us to be outside more easily with our children.

People are out and about as we are, and generally everyone is in the famed Canadian mood of easy-going. It makes for fairly easy conversation starting, and we have had the chance to talk more and longer with people than ever before.

For example, on Father's Day, we planned to go to an outdoor free event for dads and their children near to where we live. However, as we were dressing to leave, the sky darkened and the rain started falling. So we changed our plans and went to an indoor event instead. While there, our girls noticed two other girls their ages and started playing while in one of the common areas. 

Eventually we met the mother, who graciously stayed until we could take care of a 10-minute errand, so the girls could play longer. We then ended up in a Gospel-centered conversation for over half an hour and exchanged contacts at the end, before heading outside for the girls to play still more until we left. This would have never happened in the winter (due to darkness and cold), or if we had gone to the other location. On account of the weather, the Lord had us in the right place at the right time.

So no matter what the weather brings our way in the non-winter, please keep praying for us to be directed into just the places we need to be to meet those we can serve in the name of Jesus.

Signs of Life in the City

Winter has finally ended here and spring has arrived! The leaves are budding on the trees, the grass grows greener every day, people are out in their yards planting and the city is strategically sweeping up all the gravel that got dumped on ice and snow during the long winter months.

It's nice to see people walking outside and fairly relaxed; moms with their little ones at the playgrounds and parks, people out strolling with their dogs, children riding their bicycles and scooters and skateboards.

The city hall has bistro-style tables and chairs peppering the square before it, two ping-pong tables, two large chess boards and a huge game board complete with box-sized dice and toddler-sized playing pieces. Yes, this town is showing signs of life in a way we haven't seen since our arrival.

Of course, people have always been around and we've seen them, but now we see them when we are outside, and they aren't just hurrying from the store to their car or their car to the next closest building. Just like the birds are socially chirping and singing their public songs, the people around us are more active and engaging. It's good to see them, really, and to meet some of them.

We are so glad to be regularly rubbing elbows with people, but also now to develop some kind of acquaintance with several. Dejan has been visiting the Serbian culture centre since January on a weekly basis for our oldest to go to a language class. Both during and after class time, he's been striking up conversations with several of the men there and has had a few very good spiritually open encounters with a couple of them. The "school" for language class ends in June, but if the centre carries on with other aspects during the summer, he will continue going alone for this purpose.

Julie has been taking the girls out weekly to a dance studio for the past six weeks or so, and all four of us ladies ride the bus and LRT, so we have met lots of people. Our excursion takes us right to the heart of the city. At the studio, all the parents pass the time in various ways. For the past month I am conversing each week with a mom who moved to Edmonton from Milan, Italy for her husband's oil industry job last July. Her two daughters are the same age as our first two and she is ready to practice her English, since she has all Italian friends who also moved for the same work. There are three more weeks of this class before it ends for the summer.

We met one of our neighbors across the street back in November who have a 7 year-old, and aside from a few encounters at the sledding hill, and brief conversations at their home or ours, plans are now afoot for some playing time together for the girls. The door seems to be opening more each time in our conversations as we become greater acquainted. They know we are Christians and why we are here, and this hasn't deterred them from continuing to offer relationship.

Please pray for and with us about all this. We desire in all things to be a blessing to the people around us, and to have the opportunity to not only discuss spiritual subjects, but as Paul the apostle said, to have boldness and "utterance" (what to say) in presenting the gospel and for their open-heartedness. Particularly with our events that will be ending in a few weeks, we desire prayer.

We don't take these opportunities for granted. It is amazing to watch how quickly a person can shut off their previous openness when we just try to converse in the natural realm about things of God without approaching it in prayer or from a spiritual base. And of course, even if their minds and hearts seem open, it is equally amazing to see how awry other things can get with our children when something spiritually good is going on. Our enemy knows well how to interfere, but our God is greater and stronger still. It is to Him that we appeal for help.

Lastly, the spring weather seems to have played a part in the hearts of some of the residents at the retirement home where Dejan teaches each week. A couple of them expressed the desire to come to our Saturday night services, too. However, since our main door is up a flight of about 13 stairs, this is an accessibility problem. We don't want anything to hinder anyone from coming for any reason, so we are wondering if we need to prayerfully consider moving our location at this time or not. We would appreciate prayer for direction.

We hope you are enjoying your springtime activities, and that the Lord also grants you opportunities to serve and bless others in your path!

Until next time...

Dejan and Julie <><

A Beachhead in the Lord's Army

Beachhead a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a beach by sea and begins to defend the area while other reinforcements help out until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived.

Today marks exactly six months since we crossed the border into Canada. Half a year. Wow. In some ways it seems like a long time, and in other ways it is of course, short. But so much has occurred in our lives, and our sense of time is a bit skewed.

We came here to plant a church, but looking back over these several months we see how we ourselves have been planted here. In that sense, part of our vision is accomplished; we have established a beachhead, spiritually speaking. We're here, and we're operational. It's truly amazing to us, when we pause to think about it. Six months ago we rolled into town, and now, six months later there's a weekly schedule of ministry happening.

None of this would be possible without all of the support we receive from our brothers and sisters who pray diligently for us and regularly support us. Without all of those parts of the body of Christ, we would absolutely not be able to be here. We would be without help. The mission would fail.

So, we gratefully thank God for all of you who are working hard at your jobs and fully involved in your own lives and ministries, that you take the time to pray and stay in touch and send in your support. You are being used by the LORD in all of the work of the ministry here by doing so.

We truly feel that we are just seeing the very beginning of the work that is in the heart of God for Edmonton with Calvary Chapel. We are excited for what He has in store in the coming weeks and months as we pray and serve and work during the warm months. And our heart's desire is to see more laborers being raised up and sent into the field here to join us in the work, so we can move from being a beachhead to a post, and one day, if God is gracious, a spiritual base from which other works can begin.

Gratefully,
Dejan and Julie <><

PRAYER REQUESTS

Winter lives on here in Edmonton, though we get glimpses of spring certain days. While we patiently await the milder weather, we are continuing in the things God has put before us. Here are some of the foremost needs to cover in prayer. Please join us in lifting up these things to our faithful Father.

The Gospel is for believer and non-believer alike. It alone is the power of God for salvation and for keeping us in the truth. Please pray for the Word of God to work effectively in us and through us!!

• Effective preparation time for Bible study: Dejan is ministering Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays in the Word.  
• Personal growth in the Lord: We need daily filling of His Spirit, fresh grace and encouragement.
• Strengthened family relationships: Though we're "busy" about our daily things we want to have quality interactions and stay close, to be pleasing to the Lord whether anyone else is around or not, and so when we do go out or people come in we will be a blessing.
• Peace in our home: We are under constant spiritual attack as we seek to live and serve.  We need physical rest and safety, to be godly in our marriage and parenting, and we desire sensitivity in our children's hearts.
• Outreach in the city: Divine appointments and boldness to share the gospel thoughtfully as we go on prayer walks, meet people on the street and public transport and while handing out tracts.

And last but not least...

• We would like to include a request here for laborers to join in the work. We are about at the maximum that we are able to do with just the two of us. Our fervent desire and hope is for the Lord to bring at least one other couple or family to share in the work of the ministry to the believers here as well as (and largely) the work of evangelism. This has been weighing greatly on our hearts in the past six weeks or so. As Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, to send forth laborers into His harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38)

By grace,

Dejan and Julie <><

Covered

     At the beginning of March, we were beginning to see some signs of the weather slowly warming to the coming spring. We even had a day of rainfall and significant thawing that left us with lake-sized puddles. But alas, winter is still here. In fact, yesterday's hovering snowstorm dumped over 12 inches on the city (in some places 15 and more). It looks more like Christmas is coming than Easter.

     This little-major storm caused some reflection. The snow was falling and falling (and falling) and the air was thick with huge flakes, and despite attempts to shovel and plow and brush off, everything was quickly completely covered in it. Everything. And no one was looking at anything much but the snow itself. It commanded the full attention of those who were out in it, and no small amount of attention from those who knew they would be in it at some point.

     God likens His clearing of our sin to the snow in Isaiah 1:18. His desire is to pour out His mercy and grace through Jesus so that everyone is completely covered. That all of our innate waywardness and sin is blanketed by His loving forgiveness. He longs that we live so completely in His grace that no one looking at us can see much else, because His grace is commanding the attention of those who are around us rather than our own personalities and failures. That even those who don't know Him but know that we do are given cause to think a bit about how the course of our interaction will be when we are together in their company.

     Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "God...always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. to some we are a scent of death leading to death, but to others, a scent of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like the many who make a trade in God's message for profit, but as those with sincerity, we speak in Christ, as from God and before God." (2 Cor. 2:14-17)

     If you are praying for us, continue to keep in mind our personal safety as we travel about the city and for wisdom in how to connect with people given the weather challenges. But we also desire to be living fully in the grace of God so that when people are around us, that is the primary thing they notice: His grace. And further, that it would make them more open to God Himself.

Ways to Pray

We are beginning our fifth month here in Canada. It is amazing to us how simple availability to the LORD can become ministry for the LORD. And what a blessing to watch Him open doors for us to begin serving others here in Edmonton. 

Please pray for these things we are engaged in weekly:

• Summerwood Village - Dejan is teaching a weekly Bible study in the gospel of Mark at this retirement community
• Serbian Center - while our oldest has a language class, Dejan is engaging people in witnessing conversation
• Home Bible Study - The adults are in John 13 and the children are still working through the parables of Jesus. There are two married couples and a single dad who come regularly. Last week another couple and a single brother came for the first time. So including us and our children there are 6-10 adults and 4 children meeting each week. We share communion the first service of each month.

Since the start of 2013 we have been mixing with the crowds at the city's festivals (we posted about it here). Edmonton is known as Canada's festival city, so we figure it's good to get to know the festivals by utilizing them as opportunity to witness the gospel. With such little ones and no partners, we must admit it is a challenge, but it is an enjoyable one.

Dejan is also on the street a day or two per week (well, really he's in the shops, but it's for the same purpose: evangelism). Please pray for open hearts and divine appointments in all our comings and goings (including festival outreach) and for fellow workers.

Please also pray for us as a family for rest, adjustment, safety, strength and growing love. These are our greatest needs at present.

If there is anything else that you are drawn to pray for us, please do! We are grateful for all the prayers on our behalf.

Alberta is currently known economically as the place to find work in Canada, but we also see a spiritual parallel, as Jesus said, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matt. 9:37-38).

By His grace,

Dejan and Julie <><

Reasons

Two weekends ago we were absolutely blessed to be able to travel to Calgary for a few days. We attended one of the morning services at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel and were greatly encouraged and ministered to. Our girls also enjoyed being in the flow of established church life and were full of energy and smiles despite a very early morning and long 3-hour drive.

We enjoyed much fellowship and were loved on by many of our brothers and sisters. Dejan shared a bit about us with the church elders and an exhortation at the evening service. The whole day we felt spiritually lifted up, as we received love and prayer from the saints.

In thinking about it since, there is nothing but joyful memories. It's the way the Bible declares our time gathering together as the body of Christ should be: edifying, building one another up, exhorting one another, praying for one another, the saints ministering from the equipping they receive through the teaching of the Word of God. Paul often noted in his letters that he remembered the churches with joy and thanksgiving. We join him.

We also see very clearly why we are in Edmonton from a fresh perspective. That this blessing can be available here. Who wants to drive 3 hours every Sunday to go to the nearest Calvary? Practically no one. So here we are. A handful of people meeting weekly for worship, prayer and Bible study.

Our aim is to reach the unsaved in Edmonton and the capitol region with the good news of Jesus, but it is also simultaneously to minister to the saints who desire to make Calvary Chapel their church home. By the grace of God, we will see Jesus building His church here and that others will be built up and encouraged by the gathering together of the saints of God, each one using their gifts to bless the rest. That is our prayer, and the reasons are clearer than ever before.

In His service,
Dejan and Julie <><

PRAYER REQUESTS

As we have emerged from our settling in period and the holidays, and as we wrote to you of our initial steps in doing outreach, we have faced some delays. Four of the five of us have gone through a virus which kept us nearly housebound with fever, aches, coughing and the like. Dejan remained well, by God's grace, but the pace was definitely slower around here these last 10 days or so.

 We are so thankful for and dependent on the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Here are the current specifics that we are asking the Lord for.

We would like to go to pass out tracts this weekend at the next winter festival (for the curious, it's called Ice on Whyte, an ice sculpting-based event).

• Health and strength, full recovery for all the girls with no relapses so we can all go
• Boldness to share the Gospel, how to approach people
• Prepared/open hearts of those we meet

We finally made it to the Serbian Cultural Center when they were open! (They were closed several consecutive Fridays due to the holidays here in Canada and then Orthodox holidays in January.)

• Getting to know people (we are sort of an exception since we have a "mixed" marriage of Serbian and American and therefore don't speak Serbian at home. Doesn't the Bible call us a "peculiar people"?)
• Wisdom in sharing with them

We are slowly getting to know some people in our neighborhood. Our handyman is a Jehovah's Witness pastor. The Jewish Community Centre is located here. Our immediate neighbors are--so far--hard to come by. 

• Open doors to our community, in the Lord's timing of course, to connect with people
• Open hearts to the Gospel

Thanks!!

Winter Warm-Up

Edmonton's population is about 1 million, and thousands upon thousands of them are apart from Christ. So, the big question we've been tossing around our house is, How do we find all these people and start talking to them...in January? We can't go out street witnessing, in the traditional sense of the term. It's just plain too cold to stop even to chat (-15˚C today with heavy frost), much less have a conversation of any length outside. 

While we have been trying to put our fingers on the winter pulse of the city, here's where things have gotten so far.

• Edmonton has 3 winter events in January-February, two of which are free. They are designed to get people out and about together in the city during winter to rub elbows with each other in a relaxed setting. 
• Our aim: go to these festivals with tracts and hand them out as we pass through and see what happens. Since they have warm-up spots, the kiddos can avoid frost-bite and stay interested while we do the work of evangelism. 

• Edmonton is divided into over 200 neighborhoods. 
• Our aim: go to 1-3 neighborhoods several times per week to walk them and pray, starting with those closest to us and fanning outward.

We began this part last week in a sense, as we went to a park looking towards downtown to pray for the city in general and the government, for the Lord to open doors to the city. It was a major blessing.

Of course, when Julie takes the girls out sledding on nice days (anywhere around freezing feels downright warm) we are trying to meet people from our area. So far, we've been the only ones at the park except for a resident hare, but we will be joining our community league in order to be involved in what happens in our corner of the city. We have also begun what will be weekly visits to the Serbian culture center, where they offer enrolled Serbian language lessons for children, during which time we hope to get to know others there.

Pray for us concerning these things. We have that promise from the Bible that "those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution", and spiritual warfare is very obvious when we are getting ready to do anything related to any of the reasons we are here. (Funny, getting groceries or going to the bank is relatively easy but getting out the door to go pray is another story.)

Bottom line: we're blessed to be here and have our hearts and eyes wide open to opportunities around us, to shine the light of Jesus in this dark world right where the Lord has called us. As our preschooler put it so well, "When we came to Canada we're like the foot in the body of Christ because we came to tell other people about Jesus." Well said. 

Till next time...