Update and answered prayers

 Hello friends,

We have been in a season of waiting and a simultaneous flurry of activity these past couple of months. It has been a challenge, but we are thankful that we can lift all our needs to the Lord, and we are grateful for those of you who pray alongside us. Though we are unaware of who is praying and when, we know that without prayer support, our situation would be more difficult and our hearts more burdened. If you have been praying for us, thank you!

Visas

We are about half-way through the application waiting period for our visa renewals. We were able to apply  at the end of February, and the processing time is 130-140 days. Lord willing, we will receive a decision by mid-June, and we are praying it will be as before, that we are granted renewal. We applied for a three-year stay, but the final length of time we may be given could be less, though we hope for the full term. Please pray for God's favor, but also His will to be done regarding our visas.

Logitics

Accountant:    Praise the Lord we were able to find an accountant locally in Edmonton who could help us to file our taxes for Canada this year! We wrote that our previous accountant here stopped doing personal taxes and had to "let us go", so we were kind of left high and dry in a complex cross-border tax situation for many weeks. Our new accountant is very kind, and she even gave us a discount on her normal fee, to match our previous accountant's fee, for this year. We ended up owing a fair amount of tax in Canada due to a withholding oversight, but praise God for providing for that with our U.S. return this year! Praise God all our taxes in both countries were filed on time!

Extensions:    Since our visas are in process, we were thankfully able to extend our basic health coverage here in Canada for 90 days past our visa expiration. This will hopefully cover us through until we receive our new documents. We are grateful this process involved just a simple phone call. However, Julie had to renew her driver's license by Easter, and it wasn't so simple. She was told that without a valid, current visa, she would not be able to get a new license. It seemed the future included taking the bus or making Dejan the sole driver for a couple months, but by God's grace we got it resolved. Through some emailing and phone calls to both the federal and provincial government, we were able to obtain her "proof of status report" which was accepted at the licensing facility. We are thankful that both of us can continue to drive and for continued health care coverage!

In the Church

Congregation:    Like most (all?) churches, we have experienced a lot of staggered attendance and slow return of some people to worship in person due to the global health situation. We have a definite core group that come very consistently, but also many newer people, and some with work schedule conflicts. As a small congregation, these fluctuations have been challenging as we have sought to minister to people who are present one week and not the next, and some only months between. Pray for the members of our congregation to exercise wisdom but also not to fear and to not forsake in-person gathering as it is so critical to personal spiritual and church body health. We were so blessed to have a sizeable turnout for our Easter Sunrise service and breakfast potluck the other week!

With some of the ladies in the kitchen at Easter

Men's and Ladies' Groups:    Both the men's and ladies' Bible studies have been fairly consistent, and we have even met new people through these ministries. Dejan is taking the men through the book of Romans in a discussion format twice a month as he is training the men to articulate their faith and to raise them up. Julie is covering women in Genesis in a teaching format once per month. Both groups are able to meet at the church building which is a huge blessing, as it is central and people feel comfortable coming to this space. It may not be permanently available, as previously, the building was used Fridays by another non-church group. Please pray for open doors to continue meeting at the church building for men's and ladies' ministries.

A/V Ministry:    Over the past month or so, the Lord touched the heart of one of the men to learn how to run the A/V and manage the sound booth, livestream, and recording of the services. This was a huge blessing to Dejan and to the other A/V person who had been serving solo every service for several years. When that person was away sick for two weeks and Dejan had to both preach and run everything by himself, he was at home participating online. The next Friday at men's study, he presented himself to Dejan to help out, and he has been training ever since. Praise God for raising up someone to serve in this important ministry!

Children's Church:    By the end of 2019, we lost all of our children's church helpers and many children, due mostly to people moving away. Since re-opening last summer, we have had several new children start coming, and also one other adult to help. This is a great blessing, as we seek to always have two adults present for church accountability and also classroom management. Neither of our other two remaining children's church helpers have continued. We recently tried to incorporate others from the congregation but it wasn't a good fit for them. Please pray for the Lord to raise up another person or two who has both gifting and calling to serve in the children's church. This will enable us to have a small team so that people can rotate and sit in service at times, as the two of us currently serving are full-time with the children. 

Dejan's mom

We are blessed to report that Dejan's mom has been able to start walking using a walker! She was bedridden for many months and not even able to sit up for almost a year, which left her muscles weak and furthered the problem. Initially (about 30 months ago), she was diagnosed with having a stroke, then after extensive testing and x-rays in Serbia it was thought she had a brain tumour. This led her to getting into the neurological nursing home facility she has been at for the past two years where she has gotten physiotherapy that has been the game-changer for her situation. At first it was once a week, but the neurologist who owns the home does evaluate the residents, and he prescribed physio several times per week for Dejan's mom, which helped her turn the corner. She gained strength and made progress in sitting up, and then standing and now walking. The only thing preventing her from returning home at this point is that she is as yet unable to go from a seated position to standing with the walker by herself. The neurologist thinks her health situation is related to the re-surfacing of a work injury she had in her late 50s that drove her to early retirement.

Through this journey Dejan has been able to have more frequent conversations with his mom, as well as visiting her personally in early 2020 before all the lockdowns. This has been a big trial in her life, but she is not yet a believer in Christ. However, she has seemed more open to spiritual input lately, and she talks about God a bit here and there. We pray daily for her salvation. Her goal is to go back home; our goal is that she will go to heaven, and that she may be able to return to her home in Serbia renewed and regenerated in Christ. Please pray for her salvation.

Time-Sensitive: Dejan

Last Friday at men's study Dejan broke a tooth during their fellowship meal. It is in a molar that had an extensive filling put in it years ago in Serbia before we even met. Part of the filling and part of the tooth came off. He is not experiencing pain, but the dentin is exposed, and we don't want it to become painful before getting it addressed. We have contacted two dentists for assessment and are seeking an appointment in the near term. As it is a mercury-based filling, there can be health implications. Please pray for wisdom and resolution to Dejan's dental issue in a timely manner and without complications. 

Thank you for reading our update and for praying for any or all of these issues! May the Lord make you fruitful in the areas you are serving Him, and may He continue to show His love and grace to you and you walk in faith.

Dejan and Julie <><