Since 1937 C EF CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOW SHIP Reaching children worldwide SM April 2016 family ADAMEK PRAYER LETTER Home adress: Pustorečka 44; 18116 Brzi Brod; Serbia; E-mail: darkoadamek018@gmail.com Dear friends, We rejoice that we can, once again, share with you the fire that God has ignited in our hearts and how He is working among us. Our prayer is that God will open doors to us every day in our ministry to bring a new generation of children into contact with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In every village, city, ethnicity, and country where He sends us, we will go, speak, and serve! Teenagers at our home for New Year's Every Child Every Nation Every Day Life on the mission field often means that the missionaries' children don't have a lot of Christian friends. Our children and many others are separated by 100 or 160 km from each other and only have the chance to be together at summer camp. For this reason we organized a three-day meeting for them in our home for New Year's. In addition to having fun, our coworkers, the Valentinis, organized a spiritual program. We thank God for this chance to open our home to the 15 teenagers who we were able to serve. Visiting the workers Our Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) team numbers 20 workers (with a total of 20 children) in three countries. These are wonderful coworkers, and I thank God for each of them. In the first quarter of the year I had the opportunity to visit each of them in the cities where they live and serve. The challenge common to all of them is this new generation of children who are growing up without respect for the authority of their teachers and parents, and who are focused only on their own desires. This new age asserts itself, leaving traces on the next generation of children. It's difficult to reach large numbers of children at once, so the work is done one by one. There are few visible results. Every CEF worker mentioned this challenge. How do we meet new children, how do we keep them coming to the Good News Clubs (GNCs), how do we instill the need into the parents of the importance of giving their children a spiritual upbringing? Kais family in Bosnia & Herzegovina CEF team in Montenegro Page 01
Pray with us for these challenges that the workers grow in faith that God can make it possible to serve children in the cities and villages, that they persevere in their efforts to evangelize children and parents, and that they believe and expect great results, because God can act to start great things! It isn't easy to work in the Balkans. You must be extremely patient, persistent, and tenacious. Pray these characteristics increase in us. Perhaps you have these qualities and are looking for a challenge for yourself. If this is so, contact us because we need longer-term volunteers who would work together with us in the field to reach children with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lidija with Renata Halasz CEF worker in Serbia Possibility of new workers in Bosnia-Herzegovina We were excited and grateful to God to see how He was advancing the CEF ministry in Bosnia-Herzegovina when we formed the CEF national board and registered the organization there last year, and trained and accepted the first CEF workers in that country, the Kajiš family. And today we are witnesses that God is continuing to work in the hearts of His children. The Sinij family, missionaries from the Ukraine who live and work in Prijedor in the autonomous region Republika Srpska, are open and prepared for full-time ministry to children. This is wonderful news and opens the door to reaching a greater number of children in more cities and areas. We pray for Jurij and Svitlana, their children, and their desire to complete the CEF Children Ministry Learning Course. We pray that God opens the door for their joining the CEF team established as full-time workers in Republika Srpska (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Construction at the Camp The CEF camp in central Serbia is a great place where the children love to come and where they connect with other children from throughout Serbia, are spiritually enriched, learn many things, and return home changed. Our wish is to invest in the camp each year, and to better equip and improve the campground. We had great ambition and desire for an extensive reconstruction of the camp before the summer camp season begins, but the Lord did not want us to do that right now. We've put off this work until September. The main reason was that we haven't raised the money for the first phase of this work, 30,000. Will you please join us in praying for the donations needed for this capital investment in the camp at Mrčajevci? If you want more details about the project and needs, write me, and I will gladly answer you. Team Meeting with Sebastian Edelman At the beginning of May we plan to gather for our team meeting at our campground in Mrčajevci where we have our summer camps. Pray for a blessed time spent in fellowship with each other and for a strong word from our leader Sebastian Edelman from Hungary. Page 02
Project: One Child, One New Life Like earlier years, we have again opened this project. With your donation of 90,00, you can send one child to camp, helping children whose parents cannot afford to pay for camp or travel costs due to their difficult financial situation. Please pray for this project. If the Lord puts it on your heart to support one or more children, please follow the instructions at the end of this letter. I'm passing on one of the many stories we hear in ministry. Arandjel (13) and Živka (15) live in a village near Niš. They come from a poor family. Their parents aren't employed, and along with caring for their children, they also care for an invalid grandmother. Most of the money they receive goes to medicine and medical tests. They live in a house, and in their yard they have a small plot of land that they work. Also, next to their plot, they keep animals that they care for. Along with school and their other activities, Arandjel and Živka help their parents care for the animals and work the land. They had been to our camps earlier through cooperation with another organization, so they were very excited to learn that we would have camps again this year. The only problem that would keep them from camp was financial. Because they received help from the project "One Child, One New Life," they were able to attend the Teenager Camp last year. They were excited about the lessons, the songs, the place, the program, etc. They enjoyed every day at camp. After camp, Živka began to attend the Teenager Club regularly. Recently she even brought her friend. Attending camp means so much to these children. Many of them are reached by God's love there. Sending a child to camp can mean the birth of a new life! Together we can reach a greater number of children. CEF Conference in Germany After so many meetings with workers and national boards, solving various administrative tasks for the government, working on projects, etc., we as physical, emotional, and spiritual beings need to know to stop and recharge our batteries. We are glad that our CEF leaders have organized a conference in Germany where we can do that. We need prayer and financial support for our travels and for the cost of the conference. Can you pray for us? The total cost for is 960,00, but we have already raised 380,00. We pray for the amount remaining: 580,00 for the cost of the conference. Page 03
A little about our family Lidija has had some problems recently with sciatica. Pray that the pains in her back go away, and that they will not happen often. I regularly travel on Sundays to the city of Bela Palanka where our brother Miodrag opens his home for a new Good News Club, and then a church service after. He has renovated and expanded the space. Our church has raised money for ten new chairs and for shelves for his library of Christian literature. Pray for the children who come and for their parents (one parent from each child attends the service). Pray they understand the message and rely on and trust in Christ! We pray that the number of those interested in God in this city will grow. Currently we have about 20 people. We would love to take these children to camp this summer, but they are from very poor families. Pray with us for this need. Damian, is still playing volleyball and is improving. When our children are free from school obligations, we engage them as volunteers for the Good News Club. Debora has been diagnosed with dyslexia. We need to spend more time with her as she does her homework and find the best way to do this. In Serbia there isn't any material for helping with dyslexia. Pray with us for this. A nice thing is that she's learned to ride her bicycle. Dajana will be registering for secondary school (high school) this year. She would love to sign up for the Art High School. She has a lot of extra classes and preparations for this and will have to pass various exams. Pray that she will be able to register for the school she wants. We are happy to see that her friend, Tijana, who she led to Christ, is active in the Teen Club and in the church, and that she has expressed the wish for believer's baptism. We need to speak with her parents, so we need wisdom and prayers because this could be a problem here in Serbia. Tijana was baptized as an infant in the Serbian Orthodox Church so her parents may view this as changing her faith. Dušan (16) One day Damian came home from school and said that he felt bad for Dušan who hadn't eaten in three days. Later we learned many more sad and tragic details from his life. Dušan was born out of wedlock. His mother, Klara, is now a believer and regularly attends all the church services but faces the consequences of her earlier sinful life. She was in a women's shelter several times. Her most recent unmarried partner, Dejan, mistreated, abused and beat her and Dušan. They all needed some peace, security and stability. The church took over the care of Klara and helps her. We took Dušan for a while, and he has been with us now for over a month. We thank God that on Dušan's second day with us, he confessed, repented, changed and decided to live a different life. He gave up his cigarettes and bad friends and now reads the Bible with Damian. We speak together a lot and study the Bible. He has a prayer life and witnesses to his friends and teachers at school. Pray for Dušan, his mother Klara, and his two younger brothers Radomir and Vladimir who live with their mother, that they would all experience complete freedom and change. God can do this! Page 04
The church has a new name and a bigger space After months of prayer, the Christian Assembly "LOGOS" will be moving into a larger rented space. This next week we will be working on the space, painting and outfitting it for its grand opening. Pray for the work of the church, for the elders, members, candidates for baptism, and for reaching more people in Niš adults, teens, and children. We believe that God is able and willing to soon make this new space too small. PRAY WITH US: - Our children: Damian 16, Dajana 15, Debora 9 - Dušan 16, Klara, Radomir and Vladimir - Preparations for summer camps - The building adaptations and general readiness of the campground - Wisdom in leadership, in guiding and raising a family, the CEF team, the national boards, church, and mission stations. I trust that these few things which we have shared with you give you a clearer picture of what happened recently with us. Thank you for your time, as you read our letter as well as for your prayers for us. YOUR FRIEND AND BROTHER IN CHRIST, DARKO ADAMEK IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT MINISTRY IN SERBIA, YOU CAN SEND YOUR DONATION TO CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP DONATION TO THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT: In UK: National Office 73 West Coats Road Cambuslang, Glasgow G72 8AW Great Britain In EUROPE: CEF European Center Kilchzimmer 4438 Langenbruck Switzerland - Capital investment in the CEF camp Mrčajevci Indicate: Camp Project Serbia - Project: One Child, One New Life Indicate: One child at camp Serbia - Increase in regularly-given personal support Indicate: Adamek family Serbia - Travel to the CEF conference in Germany Indicate: Conference in Germany Adamek - Setup of our yard Indicate: Yard Decoration Adamek Serbia CEF OFFICE IN SERBIA: Radoja Dakića 49a/21 18000 NIŠ Phone: +381 18 548 087 E-mail: kancelarija@decijamisija.org "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brothers, pray for us also. Greet all the brothers." 1 Thessalonians 5:23-26a Page 05