I wonder what's going on with them?

If that thought has crossed your mind, or you have even wondered aloud, "What is going on with Dejan and Julie now? Where are they at?", this will provide some answers.

Last time we updated, we were in Pocatello, spending the month near Julie's parents and our sending church. At the beginning of January, we loaded up a small U-Haul trailer with winter clothes and gear, some house and kitchen supplies and some odds and ends, and moved our family tentatively to northwest Montana. Dejan was invited to join the staff at another of our sending churches, Calvary Chapel Flathead Valley, and our family was offered to rent a vacation cabin from one of the church members over the winter months when it was vacant. We say we "tentatively" moved up here because this area is very popular as a tourist destination, but in recent years the population has swelled due to people moving in from out of state to enjoy the beauty, slower pace, and lower cost of living Montana offers. Because of that, though, the housing did not stay low cost; due to demand it skyrocketed, so we weren't sure if we could afford to live here permanently, or if there would be longer term housing available.

Over the winter months our famiy got involved in the congregation here, and when spring started coming on, we began searching for where to live, as our winter rental had a time limit. We were searching both for rentals and to buy, working with a realtor from the church and the prayers of lots of people as well. So many doors closed on us, but by God's grace, we were able to get into a house and began moving in last week.

Dejan is doing website work for the church here, filling in with teaching for the youth, men or the main services when needed and was asked to serve in the area of missions recently. This is a blessing, since we of course have a huge heart for missions, and if we can't be out on the mission field ourselves, then the next best thing is to be part of organizing short term trips and working with missionaries who are on the field. He is involved in planning one trip to Mexico next month and going along on a second trip to Mexico in October, when he will be teaching a 2-week block theology class at Calvary Chapel Bible College's campus in Ensenada.

The church in Edmonton has been persevering since we have been gone these nine months (already!). Two of our elders are sharing the teaching for Sundays and running the mid-week prayer meeting, but we are thankful we are also still able to be regularly involved. Dejan has continued to teach the Wednesday evening Bible study each week as well as the men's Bible study every other week. Julie has also carried on with teaching the monthly ladies' Bible study, and we have recorded songs for use in worship, since there is currently no one in attendance who can fill that role each week. We are so thankful to have these connections to the church we labored to plant. Some people have moved out to other congregations for various reasons, and that has given us mixed feelings, but overall, the church is being what it should be: a body of people who love and serve each other, pray for and with each other, and walk together through life. Please keep them in prayer, as there is a need for them to have a full-time pastor and worship leader as well as a more permanent leader for the children's church. In the mean time, we praise God to be able to serve them in the several ways that we are and have retained our status with Go! Ministries accordingly. Lord willing, Dejan will be able to take a trip to visit sometime over the summer months.

We appreciate the prayers and encouragement of everyone who has reached out to us over the past several months. It means alot to our family as the ups and downs of transition off the mission field into a totally new ministry and region have not been without tears, concerns and uncertainties. May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may you know His hand leading your life. We welcome visitors if anyone of you are wanting a Montana vacation!



By God's grace, Dejan and Julie <><



Prayer requests: -for our family, as we continue to adapt to living back in the U.S. -for our children, who miss their friends and life in Alberta, as they make new friends here -for Dejan as he is serving in familiar yet new capacities, his role on the pastoral staff at CCFV -for us, as we continue to minister to CC Edmonton -for the CC Edmonton, as they wait for a pastor, worship leader and children's church leader

Update (delayed): you're definitely going to want to read this one

We appreciate the patience of everyone who has been waiting for news about us. We were in a situation of having to use our phones for internet, and we ran out of data before Thanksgiving, but we're back online now!

This move is not like any other we have done. Most moves are "point A to point B". Not this move. This one has so many moving parts, locations and steps, it has felt like a confusing dance diagram, and it has been challenging not to clumsily fumble around in the process. :)

When we came out of Canada, we were graciously giving a "landing pad" by a family member. All told, we were able to live in that one spot for about 3 months, which was SUCH a blessing! We had a place to come back to when we traveled and didn't have to continually uproot everyone. Not having to pay rent also helped alot, as our house is still on the market in Canada.

For weeks we were in a state of flux, not knowing what our next step would be. Since mid-September to the end of November there was an inkling of direction but no firm light. It was hard. Finally, after many weeks of praying, discussions and waiting, we finally got some clarity last weekend. As a result, we are passing the month of December with our primary sending church in Idaho. The LORD provided help to rent a furnished house for four weeks in town. His kindness astounds us!

Then, going forward, Lord willing we will move to northwest Montana at the beginning of January. Our other sending church is in need of another staff pastor, and they have offered to be a "base" for us--a place for us to be and serve actively in the longer short-term while we seek the Lord for His longer-term direction. Dejan will be employed through the church full-time, and we can stop wandering from house to house so much. We are so grateful for light from the Lord for another step!

Prayer Requests

This of course means we will be moving mid-winter, although the place we will be renting is fully furnished. So logistically we are keeping much of our household items in storage for the next half-year or so. This month we will be attempting to streamline this storage and take out the things that we have learned are true necessities for our household (which we have been without the last several months). This is a daunting task, and we appreciate prayer. We do not want to have to open alot of boxes!

The church in Edmonton is thriving, and for that we praise God. They are still in need of a full-time pastor, so please keep that matter in prayer. The Lord knows who He is calling to pastor the church, and we wait on Him to let us know, too!

For Dejan, we are not fully clear just yet on all of the roles he will be taking on at the church in Montana. Please pray for the elders and pastors there for vision and clarity. We also appreciate prayer for finances, as the cost of living is high there, and we still have expenses in another country, in addition to the rising cost of our current situation. Nothing is impossible with God, and we know He is faithful.

Two items for prayer back in Alberta:

1. Our house is on the market with some offers here and there, but nothing firm yet. We have had three fall through, and are currently negotiating on a fourth.

2. The Canadian tax authority selected us for audit (on our missionary support or our U.S. refund, it is unclear which). They responded last week to our submission of information that they requested, saying that we owe a further large sum, which is in addition to the hefty tax that we already paid when we filed earlier this year. If you recall, we had to get a new accountant, and we thought everything was squared away. We have also never been audited before, so it is a frustrating situation. The calculations page sent to us by the tax authority was unclear, but we have to resolve the issue before Christmas, as there is a due date on it.

We appreciate your prayer for these matters as they are somewhat stressful.

Last, we ask prayer for our children (their health and their hearts, as they are weary of not knowing their future), our marriage (that all the different stressors won't have a negative but strengthening effect), our health and strength (so much moving, lifting, etc. has left us pretty exhausted at times).

Thank you to those who are reading our updates and lifting us up in prayer. You may not know how precious your support and care are to us!!

We wish you a blessed December and will update again in a couple of weeks.


By God's grace, Dejan and Julie <><

Remembering

  This update is a bit overdue. There has been alot going on in our hearts and it has been a challenge to put feelings into words. We have had alot of logistics to take care of, such as health coverage and home insurance and snow removal for our house in Alberta which is still for sale. We also faced some health challenges for Julie that began just after the retreat she attended last month and which lingered through our time in California and on into our return. Praise the LORD it seems like everything is stable now with her health, and we thank you for your prayers for our family while we were traveling. It was a blessed time, and the LORD brought us back safely.

Did any doors open for us while we were there? Not in those areas, but any door that is not open is still direction from the LORD of where we are not to be. So we are still waiting and seeking. We are also still waiting for our house to sell. There were two offers that came in, but neither culminated in a sale. Patience and prayer is the path forward.

We were able to connect with many friends in California and Nevada, most of whom we served in missions with in Eastern Europe through the Bible College in Hungary. We also went to several different churches and worshiped with diverse congregations, meeting with several of the pastors as well. Some of our friends we were able to see multiple days. It was a blessing to see how God is moving in all these places and we are greatly encouraged by the times of fellowship.

        .    

            

 "I will remember the works of the LORD..." (Ps. 77:11)

"Remember His marvellous works which He has done..." (Ps. 105:5)

Today is the 10th anniversary of the church in Edmonton. Our first ever service was November 11, 2012, with 3 people in the living room of the house of a couple who had moved recently from Calgary. Dejan started right in with teaching in the Gospel of John. Julie had children's church with 6 children, three of our own and the three of the couple, an age spread of newborn to 12 years old. 

All of our things were in boxes in their garage. We didn't even have a place to live yet. But since we came to plant a church, the husband of the family asked if we couldn't just start then, so we did. The following week one of our current church elders and his wife joined us, and the week after that we met the family who our missionary friends in Mexico and whom the church supports to this day.

our second service

Fast forward just one year to 2013 and we were  a small group meeting in the little chapel at St. Timothy's Anglican Church. And for several years the church has met in the fellowship hall downstairs where it has only grown over the last 5 years, even in spite of the difficult situations of 2020 and 21.

God has done great things.

There is a song by Phil Wickham with a similar title. One verse says, 

                "You've been faithful through every storm, You'll be faithful forever more; 

                You have done great things. 

                And I know that You'll do it again, for Your promise is 'Yes' and 'Amen'; 

                You will do great things. God You do great things."

This is a true testimony in our experience, and it forms the base of our hope in this season. God is faithful. 

We were reminiscing last night on how our current situation mirrors, in many respects, our situation ten years ago, on a purely logistical level. We are again staying at someone else's house, looking for a place of our own to live, at the start of winter. The cost of rent where we are now is 3x what we were paying for housing where we came from, identical to our move from Idaho to Edmonton ten years ago. Our money is worth less and everything costs more now, just as then (though for different reasons). And God, who gave us the ability to make that move and start to minister in the midst of a set of improbabilities, has not changed. He is the same. He is able to cover us again, even though the circumstances are filled with what seem like improbabilities, even impossibilities. 

We are missing the people and places we came to know so well during the last ten years of our journey in a more acute way this week. But we are thankful for the body of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit, who can transcend borders and time.  

Thanks for keeping us in prayer. We will update soon.

By grace,

Dejan and Julie <><

Waiting

 

Dear Friends and Partners in prayer,

Wow, we have officially been in the U.S. for one month as of today. We are more or less settled in to our temporary lodging, though we have taken a decent number of trips. Every weekend Dejan has shared or taught from the pulpit. He has also carried on with Wednesday Bible study and prayer, as well as the men’s study in Edmonton via Zoom.

We have enjoyed seeing family after three plus years apart, and our children have made some precious memories with grandparents and cousins. All of us are feeling more rested. God has been taking care of us in various, sometimes surprising, ways, and we are blessed by the various gifts of food, funds and other care in this time of transition. The body of Christ continues to shine beautifully, and we are humbly thankful for His care through our brothers and sisters.

So far in our search of what the Lord has for us in the future there has been little light. We are making contacts, praying and waiting, with many who are coming alongside to encourage as we wait.

This week we are headed to a couple of ministry events: Julie is signed up for a Calvary Chapel pastor’s wives retreat and Dejan was invited to attend a men’s retreat with a long time friend from Bible college. We are driving down to southern California with our crew for a few weeks, and we hope the Lord will not only refresh and speak to us, but that He will also give us some direction, if it pleases Him. We have tentative plans to visit some friends while we are there as well as to stop on the way back up to visit more friends and possibly a couple of pastors.

Our prayer requests for this trip are:

Safety in travel for the entire trip

Health/safety of our family

Refreshing times at the retreats

Blessed times with friends we served with and have known for years

Direction and leading of the Lord

Our house in the Edmonton area is still on the market, and we are praying eagerly for its timely sale. The home insurance policy we have expires in mid-November, at which time we were advised the underwriter would most likely not renew the policy because the property is vacant. Please pray for the soon sale of our home and for a fair sale price.

We are continuing to be involved in the ministry in Edmonton, and we are also hearing good reports of how the congregation is doing there. We praise the Lord for being the Head and being faithful in building the church at Calvary Chapel Edmonton. Please join us in continued prayers for the elders as they lead, for those who are stepping into new areas of ministry, as well as a pastor to faithfully lead in the next season.

Thanks for taking the time to read our update. And if you pick a request or two (or more!) to join us in seeking the Lord, we are greatly blessed.

In Him,

Dejan and Julie

A Time of Rest

 Well, we are officially temporarily "settled" for the time being here in Idaho. It is quiet here! Our biggest noise disturbances (outside of our own children) are the grasshoppers flapping, the occasional car driving on the dirt road and some small airplanes doing sightseeing tours and the like.

THANK YOU for your prayers as we left Canada! Those requests were almost all answered!

The two days of driving were super tiring and fairly long. Crossing the border was relatively simple, and we got everything processed in under an hour. One officer even told us "Welcome home!". It was thankfully received from our band of sojourners. We had one near out-of-gas, and the last stretch was tough to stay awake, but by the grace of God we had no accidents and arrived safely, though very late, in southern Idaho August 28.

We are grateful for the small armies that helped us on both ends. First, the amazing crew in Edmonton that showed up for two days to pack us up, clean our house and load the truck. They sweated it out the first day and then worked through the rain the next! So many people also looked after our children, feeding them and taking them to the park. We got what we prayed for! This group covered us in prayer as they sent us off with our two drivers, one for Canada and one for the U.S., both men of faith and encouragement we were so blessed to have alongside. 

On the receiving end, there was a welcoming crew in Pocatello who were incredibly patient and hard-working, as we had a triple unloading. They hauled things off the truck, down the stairs to one storage spot, and other things back onto the truck to go to the second storage spot, where there was more unloading, and then they re-loaded and unloaded the remainder to store in a room at the church building there. It was a hot day, and they were so cheerful and willing, though we were all exhausted at the end.

Julie's dad brought us up to his cabin that Tuesday, and we used the rest of that week to rest and take care of some immediate logistics. After the month of packing and then moving, our bodies took the opportunity of quiet and solitude to catch up on much needed sleep. It is such a blessing to have a place to stay without pressure of renting right now, esp. since the market here is so inflated and we are in transition.

We are feeling a bit more settled being here for now, although it still feels kind of like an extended vacation. Dejan continues to teach Wednesday nights and lead the men's study for CC Edmonton, and Julie is also still hosting the monthly ladies' fellowship, all of which are a great blessing. It encourages our hearts to see and fellowship with the church our hearts are so knit with during this huge time of change.

NEW REQUESTS

Our house in Canada was put on the market to sell the last day of August, though there is no buyer as yet. It is hard to be patient and wait, but it is completely in the Lord's hands. We ask for prayer that He would bring the right buyer in His time, and that before our home insurance expires at the start of November it would be sold for a fair price so that we can close our financial affairs in Canada.

Next weekend we are headed to visit family and for Dejan to speak at a Calvary Chapel in Montana.  He shared briefly last Sunday at our sending church in Idaho, and we also went to service here today. There will be alot of travel and sharing in the coming weeks so our prayer is for safety of travel and also that the Lord will show us where we are to be. It seems like such a far off thing right now, that we will ever know, or how we will know, but we are trusting that through prayer, He will reveal His will.

Last, please also keep our children in your prayers through this transition. They have started school this past week, so that is a familiar activity, but they struggle on and off with emotions and loss and questions, though they are being such troopers and are soldiering on, trusting God in their beautiful childlike faith.

Thank you so much for covering us and staying current with our situation. We are blessed to be in the body of Christ, and among friends who love and follow Him and share the love and care that we are receiving. 

in Him,

Dejan and Julie

Travel update

 And we are off! Like a herd of turtles, as the saying goes. Not too fast, but our caravan of 2 cars and moving truck towing a trailer left Edmonton last evening around 6 p.m. Rainy weather and the late hour brought us to southern Alberta before we had to stop for the night. Our aim is to finish the journey today. 

Here are our immediate prayer points:

1. Safety on the road - yesterday we had two near misses, one due to visibility for one of our cars plus a passing driver and the other when an impatient driver swerved around to pass on the right as we were moving over to let them pass on the left. Praise God for His hand of protection!

2. The border - we will be stopping at the Canadian border office to give notice of our voluntary departure before entering the line for U.S. Customs. We have several importation steps to go through for our vehicles, cat, and household effects which we hope will be straightforward. Patience, for the little ones especially, is needed.

3. Strength - the past several days have been physically demanding and taxing. We will need to make it all the way to our destination, as well as unload all that was loaded Friday and Saturday. Pray for a good crew of helpers at unloading. (It is a bit overwhelming to consider that at some point we will need to re-load in future when we know where the Lord is ultimately leading us, but that’s for a future time and in the Lord’s hands).

4. The church - SO many people came out to help Friday and Saturday, doing everything from carrying boxes to wrapping large furniture, loading the truck and trailer, cleaning, yard work, bringing food, taking our children to the park, giving encouragement, the works. We know they are likely very tired and somewhat spent emotionally and physically as we are. As they gather today in our absence, our hearts desire is for the congregation to know the presence of the Lord, to worship Him, and to maintain and grow close bonds with one another in His love.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We are upheld by His grace and have been experiencing His transcending peace because of the prayers of many.

More soon,

Dejan and Julie <><

Mission Impossible Update

 “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18). “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

We are staring down an impossible week here, finding comfort that though we are unable, our God is able! To those who are following this journey and praying along with us, we want to give a fresh update and some specific prayer points.

Church

Today, Sunday, is our final in-person Sunday at CC Edmonton. Please pray for grace and strength for us and the church. Dejan will be laying hands on the elders to commend them to overseeing the ministry. Our children are going to be leaving their children’s church as well, which is all most of them have ever known. Pray for their hearts’ comfort.

Legal and financial

We have many calls and appointments this week, while we continue packing. Please pray that we will get things set up with our lawyer (for the house and our personal affairs; the paralegal has been on vacation the past two weeks), the realtor (we are binding our contract for the listing of our house), the insurance company (and our house sitter to check on it while it is vacant) and our bank. We will continue to pay our mortgage until the house sells of course, so we also pray for things to go quickly.

Move-out

We need to leave the house in move-in ready condition and need to do all the cleaning and touching up that comes with a usual house move. Please pray for a small army of volunteers to help with this. 

Parting

Last, please pray for all of us as we start truly saying “good-bye for now” to people. Until now it has been processing things together and we have spent time packing or meeting but we have still had the opportunity to meet once or twice more. At some point it will be the last time, and we need God’s help with that. Especially our children, the youngest of whom can’t really understand, and the older ones who know what’s coming but are struggling to leave their close and dear friends.

Thanks for holding us up before the Father in these matters. We will update again later in the week, Lord willing, with some logistics details on crossing the border and landing back in the U.S.

Until then, by grace,

Dejan and Julie <><

Prayer points for this week: move-out and church transition

Dear praying friends,

Last week we spent a number of days hammering out some things and trying to project our logistical needs. We also started packing. Several of us in the house were sick so it was slow going, but most of us are recovered now, or mostly so, which makes it easier to tackle this monumental project. As with any move, everything has to leave the house, be it by packing, donation or trash. It's just such a tight time frame, as we now have a move-out date of August 27, about 2 weeks from now. 

Please pray for us!

For the move-out:

• no injuries as we are lifting and moving heavy items like boxes and furniture; safety for our kids as their house comes apart piece by piece
• strength, energy and focus to get things done quickly and efficiently
• wisdom on what to part with
• provision for all the logistics and expenses of cross-border moving (import fees, permits)

and

• the legal paperwork for everything with the house, bank accounts, etc.

Praise God for:

•  friends who offered to take our daughter's rabbits
• compliance letters for both our vehicles so we can import them into the U.S. 
• offers to buy at least some of our food pantry items which are not easily imported into the U.S. without lots of paperwork

The Church

Dejan has met a couple of times with the elders of the church to go over things and so far everything is looking good. He has also met often with those who are taking on the website and various accounts of the church (Facebook, YouTube, etc) and though the meetings have been long, they have been productive.

Pray for the church!

• next week's funeral for one of our members
• provision of an interim pastor (this is a huge need and is looking very hard to fill)
• provision of children's ministry leader and worship leader (both short and long-term)
• that the church stays together and people remain in the congregation through the transition (this is hard on everyone, since it is so sudden)

Pray for our hearts!

• especially for our children; they have varying degrees of sadness, loss and also hope and excitement
• grace: things are happening too fast to process emotionally for us as adults right now

Thanks if you took the time to read this, and double thanks if you are praying. 

More soon,

Dejan and Julie <><

Update on visas

After over 5 months of waiting and praying, we finally received an answer to our visa renewal applications over the weekend. We were refused. Each of us received a letter briefly explaining the reasons the border officer was issuing this decision, and since our current visas have already expired, we must leave Canada "immediately". This generally means within 30 days or we will be deported through legal action. 

Of course this came as a great shock, since nothing has changed on our end and our other renewals were always granted. We have spoken several times this week to an immigration consultant referred to us to see if there is any recourse. In considering the various options he gave and the current border restrictions, as well as many other factors, it seems tenuous at best to pursue any of them. 

This week we have been in touch with our overseeing pastors, our supporting pastors, our sending pastor, our missions organization pastor and others, and in this counsel we have concluded that our season here is coming to a close. 

We are filled with a flurry of emotions, but we have made the difficult decision to leave Canada permanently.

This doesn't mean the church will end; Calvary Chapel Edmonton is a successfully planted church! Dejan is working with our church elders to transition to this new season and will be involved throughout that process.

In the coming days and weeks we will post more, but for now, we wanted to announce this turn of events and ask for prayer. We need wisdom, strength, guidance and clarity as we move quickly to enact all the various logistical factors. We need grace to process along with the church this sudden news. We will need provision and favour in our financial obligations for moving. And we need encouragement from the Lord as we are stepping into an entirely new situation.

We are grateful for all of you who stay up on our news and who support and pray for us.

More soon,

Dejan and Julie <><

The season of renewal

 Wow, winter has officially ended, but you wouldn't know it by looking out our windows! A fresh blanket of snow, atop the dwindling but stubborn snow pack, greeted us this morning as a reminder of how far north we actually live.

Spring is the time of renewal; nature reveals how much the rest provided by winter has made it possible for new life to start bursting forth. Our tulips have just braved the surface of our front planter as a sign of hope. But like all the years we have lived here, we wait. We will wait for weeks, usually well beyond Easter, for true spring. The effects of the equinox and lengthening days have an influence, but it just seems to take SO LONG for the winter's cold to finally yield to the changing season.

Our family is in another season of renewal: visa renewal. And there is waiting, and there are implications to it, too. Yesterday, our visas expired. We are now again in a period of "implied status" here, kind of like bureaucratic limbo. We have submitted our applications over a month ago, but, like the lingering winter that is slow to respond to the coming spring, we have a lingering hold while our applications are processed; approximately a 130-day wait.

Please join us in prayer that the Lord would be gracious and grant us our documents, so that we can continue to serve the church plant here. Until a decision is reached we are permitted to stay, but it is always a strange time that feels unsettled.

While we're waiting we have a few other needs. Some logistical, some personal. All for prayer.

First, a new tax accountant

Our Canadian accountant let us know that he is no longer doing personal taxes for any clients who don't also have a business. As our international tax situation is complicated, we have relied on him for years to help us navigate the complexities of our U.S.-Canada taxes, in partnership with our U.S.-based accountant. We are in need of a new accountant here a.s.a.p. and appreciate prayer for God's guidance to the right person or firm. Last year, due to our short visa status in 2020, we had no clergy tax credit and ended up paying a hefty sum to the Canadian government and will likely do so again because of the same reason. If our visa renews, it will be Lord willing, for three years, and we can avoid these heavy taxes for next year.

Second, health coverage

Every time our visas expire before we get new ones, we have to apply for a health care coverage extension. The extension is 90 days. Please pray that we will get the extension easily and for no health emergencies (both overall and in the meantime). Praise God our recent health issues (eye checks, new glasses, a broken finger and injured toe, all on different people) don't need any further care and our other  care is separate and self-pay.

Third, safety

We have had a string of physical ailments or injuries over the course of fall and winter. Many are from trips and falls; some are adult, some children. Nothing too serious, but it has just seemed like alot. 

Julie has had an autoimmune disorder for years and now one of the girls does as well. Also, Julie's has re-surfaced after decades of dormancy (but this seemed to be connected pretty directly to a tetanus shot she got at the end of 2020 summer). 

Dejan had a toe injury that got re-injured recently at church when something got dropped on it. The podiatrist said it's not going to get infected, but most of the nail bed will not recover from the trauma. He also either displaced or (likely) broke a rib in October moving straw bales in our back yard. Thankfully he has recovered, but it took several months. 

Three of the girls have had minor bone breaks; one a big toe, another a small toe, the third a pinky. Thankfully our little guy has stayed clear of injuries, but we would really appreciate prayer for safety!

Last, harmony

Please pray for our children. They love each other, but they live together pretty much 24/7, and being in ministry, with Dejan pastoring and counseling people we get our fair share of spiritual warfare in the home, which often shows up as discord of some kind. This can happen between them and also between them and us as parents. Wednesdays and Saturdays seem particularly challenging due to Dejan's prep for services. We are so blessed to be able to serve the Lord as a family, and we treasure all the time we get together, as well as the multiple opportunities to pour into our children spiritually, but some days are just hard. Your prayers and ours combined are a powerful force against the enemy who wants to drag them and us down, and a vital lifeline to access God's grace in our times of need.

We hope this update finds you blessed in the love of Christ. He is the Rock that never fails!

In Him,

Dejan and Julie <><

Summer 2020 update

Wow...it's been a while!

We sent out an emailed news update at the start of the year to try to keep up with people that way, thinking it could be a quarterly thing. And then, of course, the world went into a tailspin.

So the good old blog seems the best way to get some news out at present!

The Necessary "Hassle" of Missions: Visas

This year our visas for Canada expire in November. We have lived here for almost 8 years now--wow! Our hope was to see if we were eligible for something like permanent residence so we could avoid the bi- or tri-annual renewal process on our visitor visas. Dejan has a work-permit exemption for clergy on his visa and Julie has an "open" work permit that has allowed her to teach Kindermusik and Bradley Method childbirth classes as the family schedule allows. We have re-applied for our visas twice since coming in 2012 and both attempts were successful. 

We learned from an immigration lawyer in June that we do not qualify for Canadian residence permits, so we have re-applied the last week of July for our visitor visas. We are asking prayer for God's favor in this visa renewal, as the lawyer indicated that denial of our applications will only be a matter of time; maybe not this time, but eventually. It was unsettling news, but we know that God can move the hearts of those in authority, despite what the "norm" may be.

One bright hope we have is to get Dejan a work permit. Originally we were informed by the lawyer that he should ask the church in Calgary to apply for a special assessment required by law for Canadian employers seeking to employ non-Canadians. It is "very difficult" to get approved. This was discouraging. However, upon filling out our visa applications, Julie noticed an exemption field on the application for this assessment. After further investigation in the immigration law, we believe Dejan may be eligible to apply for a work permit as clergy through an exemption. We cannot apply at this time because his passport expires in 2022 and the U.S. Consulates are not accepting passport renewals yet due to the pandemic. As soon as that becomes an option, we hope to pursue it immediately.

Church Planting in the Pandemic

We have been blessed by the LORD over the past 5 months by His sustaining grace in our church fellowship. Alberta started to shut down for the pandemic in mid-March, and at first we were still able to meet, since we are a small church and our gathering numbers were below the limit. After a couple weeks, no gatherings over 15 people were permitted, and since our family alone is 7 people, the church presence shrank considerably. We ended up sending Dejan to service alone so more people could be present and had our children's church just like in the beginning: in our house, with very minimal trappings. It was kind of nostalgic. 

Both the men's and ladies' Bible studies met virtually throughout the spring and early summer, which was a blessing because for both groups, new faces joined. Some previously had schedule conflicts, some were in the age group not recommended to gather, and others were just new to the church, using the downtime to check into a new fellowship. This was an unexpected side-effect of being closed!

We have now resumed in-person Bible studies as they are hosted in private homes, but we are still unable to gather as a congregation. The church we are renting space from is not yet open for an undisclosed reason, so we are broadcasting via our church Facebook page for Sunday and Wednesday services and prayer. The biggest "missing piece" is our children's church, as we have not been able to have anyone besides our own family, nor will we for the foreseeable future. Our Sunday services are staffed by elders, the sound person, pastor and worship leader. It looks and feels so bare, but we are blessed to live in the era of technology which is keeping us virtually connected.

Ladies' fellowship is back!

Church, minimalist/pandemic style

Throughout the strictest part of the public health restrictions, Dejan met with regional Calvary Chapel pastors bi-weekly online, which was a great time of encouragement. All the pastors were able to connect more or less face-to-face and share how they personally and their congregations were adapting to the challenges. It was a real blessing. Those meetings have ceased as restrictions relaxed at the start of summer, but perhaps they will resume in fall or winter if they are not able to gather in-person for their yearly pastors and leaders retreat.

Family

Our children have been pretty resilient overall. They had to flex immediately at the beginning, as the girls' ballet performance, AWANA car race and closing ceremony, and their brother's birthday party were all cancelled within a week. It was especially disappointing for our oldest, as she was to graduate from AWANA. Eventually, we did a drive-by pick up for our AWANA awards so there was closure. And their dance classes were hosted online, which helped keep them involved in some physical activity as well as a bit of routine.  

Our biggest blessing by far has been that we were already homeschooling, as it proved a key stabilizing factor for our family. They even finished school 2 weeks early due to a cancelled family trip and other canceled activities! Our school devotions in March were about trusting Jesus in the storm, and in April the focus was that, when life changes/is scary/hard/sad, God is good. A true anchor. Being all together, all the time, has put our children to the test in their relationships, but we are glad to see many sweet interactions between them, even with the extra squabbling. 

              

 

Health

Health-wise we have been pretty well. The one exception has been for Julie. In 2016 she developed a pinched nerve in her upper mid-back that causes little to no perceptible pain. It does cause worrisome symptoms when it is pinched, however, mimicking heart and brain issues. Once we learned about this, we started addressing it with regular physiotherapy/chiropractic care, and Julie has been fine. However, when those offices closed in March because they were considered non-essential services, Julie went 6 weeks without treatment. 

In late April she experienced an incident of severe shaking and other symptoms, and we were advised by a health nurse to call in EMS which further resulted in Julie driving herself to the ER. The ER doctor gave her an IV suspecting dehydration and ran a thyroid test, and she came home. The test was negative, but she had another event of shaking a couple days later. Thankfully, she was able to contact her physio care provider and qualified for "emergency" treatment under Alberta health guidelines and only had one further "shake-down" since. We suspect this was part physical, part spiritual and appreciate all who prayed with us and through this time and continue to pray.

Marriage

In June we celebrated 15 years of marriage. Thankfully, things were open enough here that we were able to go out alone together and have a sitter in! Our marriage has been marked by ministry from the start, and we've been so very blessed to serve the LORD in Hungary, then Serbia, the U.S. and now here in Canada. We have learned to make our home in our relationship and in service rather than a location, but now more than ever we are looking forward to being in our heavenly country. We are so thankful to be serving side by side here in the church.

Major Prayer Requests

• approval of our visitor visas; ability to renew Dejan's passport and apply for a work permit
• continued stability in Julie's health and healthcare
• for the church fellowship to remain encouraged and knit together as we are still unable to gather for worship
• opening of our host church so we can resume meeting

Other Prayer Needs

• spiritual stamina, physical strength
• that all we do would be by the power of the Holy Spirit
• our children and their relationships with each other, with the Lord and with us
• our personal devotion to Jesus and each other to increase and remain strong

Thanks for reading through our update and for praying for our requests. We know everyone is dealing with an ever-evolving situation in your own lives. We truly are grateful for your love and support, as we press on here in the ministry.

Much love in Jesus,

Dejan and Julie <><

Update & Prayer request

Hello from Edmonton!

It has been a few months since the last update, but we are doing pretty well, praise God. Here is a summary of what is going on with the church and our family.

Mid-week
Dejan started teaching a mid-week Bible study through the Minor Prophets in early May that will run through the summer months. We are blessed that we are able to use our meeting space for this purpose. Though Canada is stereotyped as being cold, our summers are quite hot at times (up into the low 90’s), and the downstairs hall where we meet is cooled. It is also good to do a bit of surveying in the Old Testament as Sundays we are consistently working our way through the New Testament.

Children’s Church
The children’s church has stayed at a consistent size throughout the schoolyear, with most Sundays having attendance between eight and thirteen children ages 3-11. When our baby was born earlier this spring, we had a new children’s ministry servant join Julie in teaching , as well as a couple of people on rotation to be a class assistant. This has been a great blessing in many ways for both adults and children.

Baptism
Over the winter we had a baptism, with a couple of people making that oublic declaration of their faith, and it was strengthening for the whole church, even for the children’s church, as our oldest had a special experience with the Lord and made that choice. Several kids had questions afterward, and it opened up good discussion between them and Dejan as the pastor as well as between us in the children’s church. We are thrilled that our Sara is growing in her faith.

Ministries
Both the men’s and ladies’ Bible Studies are going well. The men meet twice a month and have a discussion on their study topic, while the ladies have met over the year once per month for a time of teaching regarding issues specific to women. We ladies will be taking a break for the summer before resuming in the fall with a new study.  Please pray for these groups, that we will both have wisdom in leading discussion, fielding questions and ministering to the men and women who attend.

Outreach next week
A team will be coming up from Calvary Chapel Pocatello next week, May 30-June 4. They will be helping out in the church as well as doing outreach/evangelism in the city. Please cover their visit here in prayer, as logistically, physically and spiritually we desire their success and safety. The team is comprised of a family with young ones and several youth and young adults.

Family update
As far as our family is concerned, we are healthy and overall well. We will be celebrating 13 years of marriage next month, and it always amazes us how fast the years seem to be passing. We desire to continue to grow as a couple, especially as things with the church and our children have a big demand on our attentions and energies. Prayers always appreciated there. Our children are growing and learning (sometimes by their mistakes). We will be finishing our school year late next month and look forward to a summer break. Our little guy is growing and healthy so far, with the exception of a potential tongue tie. We will know more about that next week, so that is also a matter for prayer.

Special Prayer Request: accident
One other matter for prayers is that this morning we were in a minor accident on our way to an appointment. We were waiting for a parking garage door to raise when a delivery truck slowly backed into our rear passenger door and crunched it, with all of us inside. We were totally trapped as far as being able to escape the collision, but apart from shaken nerves and a logistical and glass mess, none of us were injured, praise God. There was lots of help from bystanders and a shop manager who witnessed the event, and we were well taken care of getting all the young ones away from the scene. Thankfully their appointments provided an activity to transition them mentally to something different while Dejan sorted out all the phone calls.

So our car has gone to the shop. We appreciate your prayers for the insurance and repair process, as well as replacing all of our car seats (which is Canadian law, as we were informed by the adjuster, even though the impact was so low speed - almost at a crawl). Please also pray for Sara as it was right at her door and all the glass fell onto her, as it of course unnerved her quite a bit. Praise God the delivery driver stopped at the sound of our blaring horn, so that the car body did not crush onto her.

We always pray when we go out in the car for safety and no accidents, so we have to trust that the Lord has a plan in the midst of this situation. We continue to cover your prayers generally for our health and safety while we live here in this very busy city.

Send us a note if you can. We’d love to hear from you!

By God’s grace,
Dejan and Julie <><

Prayer Request

Hello from the Frozen North!

We have had such a cold, icy winter this year; it has been beautiful to look out the window, but with wind chills of up to -40 degrees, we haven't been outside too much.

Our heart-felt thanks are due to all of you who follow along with our updates and pray for us regularly, as well as those who are continuing to support us financially as we serve here. All together we are a team!! We couldn't be here without the back-up from our senders and prayer warriors.

Currently, we are experiencing some financial strain. We received our January support about 10 days early (it was still December), and then went 50 days before receiving the following month's support, almost 3 weeks longer than usual. That was quite a long stretch, and we have not yet recovered from it, as our February support was 50% less than we have seen fairly consistently since our move here.

Will you please pray for us regarding the LORD's provision? He is doing good things here, and the church is growing, but we still need to feed our growing family! The cost of living in Edmonton is astronomically high compared to Idaho and Montana (where most of our supporters reside), but even with the current exchange rate that favours the U.S. dollar, making things stretch that far is not working.

Thank you for standing with us in faith and for your continued love and encouragement through messages, cards and outreach teams, and of course, prayer.  We can do nothing apart from abiding in the LORD and trusting in Him.

In His love,
Dejan and Julie

PRAYER REQUESTS - Personal & Ministry

Here is a list of the current needs we have as we are living and serving here in Edmonton. We are blessed and thankful to those of you who are serving with us by carrying us in prayer.

Personal/Family

These are in addition to the general requests for our spiritual growth, our marriage, our safety and for God to use us here.

• Our Visa Renewal: We were granted visas for 2 years when we moved here in November 2012, and we have submitted our applications for extension/renewal of our visas. We are hoping for a favorable and timely response.

• Our Physical Health: It is rare for all of us to be ill or unwell, but we currently all are either run down/exhausted or ill, some more than others. We need restful sleep and healing.

• Our Parenting: We are always in need of wisdom and guidance, but we feel a more keen need for it at the present, as our children are growing and the dynamics of our parenting must change and grow with them.

Church-Plant/Ministry

We are blessed to be serving alongside many of the people who attend the church weekly (more than half of them are involved in some way besides attendance). They help set up and clean up and participate in the service in a variety of ways. 

However, Jesus sent out His disciples by twos, and though we are a pair as a married couple, in our ministry duties we operate singly due to the nature of what we do, particularly on Sundays but also during the week. Our desire is for at least two other people to join us in the following capacities:

Partner/Worship Leader

• Partner: Dejan is somewhat limited as to what situations he can minister by himself in preaching the Gospel because he goes out alone. Some scenarios are unsafe/unwise for him to approach alone and even just having a witness seems important, if the person didn't feel confident or comfortable in evangelism. Of course the need for on-the-spot prayer is always acute, and there are other practical things that need doing through the week.

• Worship Leader: Julie is currently splitting her time during the service between leading worship and running the children's church. This takes someone from the church away from part of the worship time to care for the children and Dejan takes them the remainder, which prevents him from being in with everyone. 

*It would be ideal if another person could assume the music ministry and also be the partner for Dejan during the week.

Assistant in Children's Church/Home

• Assistant in Children's Church: For accountability and practicality, we would be blessed to have a permanent helper in the children's church. On the accountability side, this means that no accusations can be brought against the church in regards to how we care for children who come through our doors. On the practicality side, this means that someone can take little ones to the bathroom without stopping the entire class, be an extra pair of helping hands during the art/response time, be able to help those who need extra attention or presence, etc.

• Home Help: When we lived and served at the Bible College, there was an area of student ministry to the pastor's families which included several hours per week of in-house help for the pastor's wives. Most of it was practical home help which enabled the wives to devote more of their time to ministry, either to their children or to others, rather than feeling pressed by the ever-present needs of housekeeping with multiple young children. They also supplied the need for a sitter in certain cases. 

These needs are coverable by singles just as easily as by another married couple. Even if someone would only be able to come on a visitor visa for a short-term commitment of 6 months we would be greatly helped. We are managing without outside help and have been, but we are seeking God for these things and believe He has a plan that extends beyond our family for this church-plant. 

Thanks for taking the time to include us in your prayers over the coming weeks!

By grace always,

Dejan and Julie

Major Update, Part 1: Personal

We're posting our update in two parts, personal and ministry. Since it's been a while since we've updated you will see the * symbol throughout. If you want all the info we're updating, you can read the starred information below each section. For a shorter version, skip the stars and italics and continue reading the section below it.

Emerging After Winter: Health
After a long, deep winter, we finally have reliably mild weather here in Edmonton. At our last post, we were in the middle of what turned out to be a six-week stretch of illness for most of our family*. So our late winter was alot of plain perseverance. Our weekly schedule kept going, and so did we. Thankfully it seems to be behind us now.

*more info on health--(One child went first and was just starting to recover when the other two both had a brief period of illness, but the wear of taking care of all three sent Julie into more than a month of hard illness. First strep throat, then not long after recovering from that she developed an acute kidney infection. Because of her health history she is not able to take antibiotics so it was a lengthy process of healing both times. Thankfully, Julie's mom was with us for 2 1/2 weeks of that period, so God provided help in a wonderful way!) 

Housebound
Like much of the North America and Europe, we had an unusual winter here*.  So it was pretty tough to get out to be with people and the streets and events were sparsely populated. For all the snow, we hardly got to get outside to be in it. Over the last few weeks, however, things have warmed up and people have started to venture back outside. We have reconnected with neighbors we haven't seen much of since Christmas and hope to get more connected to our neighborhood community.

*more info on winter--Our expectation of Canadian winter was always that it would be long and cold. However, last winter we were able to quite a bit outside, including several visits to outdoor events where we sought to do outreach singly or as a family. This winter, however, we had several weeks of straight -20C temperatures and a few days of drizzling, spitting rain in between!

Learning Curve
We have been here in Edmonton for 18 months exactly today, and we are amazed at how much the Lord has done in and through us in this short time! Overall, I think we both see how much bigger this whole mission is than we are; we have a lot to learn. Thankfully, the Lord has called Himself our Teacher, so we are in good hands. We have made mistakes and miscalculations, but God is able to direct us and we are thankful for His correction and guidance in our decision-making*.

*more about decisions--We took on a pretty full schedule this year and that brought to light for us our true priorities. The things we were doing have all been good things, but because we are limited, we have come to see what is the best use of our time and energy. As a result we are each going to be moving away from a weekly teaching responsibility over the next few weeks so we can focus more on some of the foundational matters in the church plant.

Needs
Some of our greatest needs right now as a family are below. If one or more of them particularly strikes a chord with you, we'd be grateful for your prayers in any of the following areas:

-more restful sleep for the two of us (our girls are sleeping pretty well)
-relief from back pain
-for Julie in homeschooling
-our relationships with our neighbors to flourish and grow
-increasing oneness in our marriage (things are growing and we want to keep them that way!)
-our parenting and for growing love between our three girls

Thanks
Thank you for taking the time to check in with us! We are so blessed to be able to live in Edmonton and to serve the Lord here! May He bless and lead you where you're at right now. Keep in touch as He leads.

Dejan & Julie <><

To read more about how things are going with the church plant, click here.