What a start of the day!
Strong headache, toothache, exhaustion, heavy breathing…oh Lord, how long will this take..
I know that today I have to go to visit village Jasenica, will I be like this whole day, what should I do… Whole morning I was feeling bad, weak, down-hearted, exhausted..While I was thinking about visit, deep inside of me was one thought: Lord, how I will encourage someone, comfort someone, lift someone when I am in this condition..I feel so bad, I give up from this visit, I can cancel it once, it just feels so impossible. I told Caca, “We won’t go to visit.”
As soon as she heard we don’t go, she knew something serious was about. “It is good, now I will lay down and take rest, I won’t feel pressure.” But that was just my big wish. All time while I was laying and reading preaching of David Platt “Different to make difference” (that preaching I have on tablet that I got from you) In me there was fight – I just knew that God wants something from me, but I also knew if He wants to use me today, He will give me strength for what is in front of me. Simply, through this preaching He encouraged me and lifted me up, this touched my heart so much that I react as soon as I read it. As time was passing, I started to get my power, my headache was lower and I started to think about visit, but my first plan started to change.
In the afternoon, around 4 o’clock with Caca I visited house church in village Toponica. We gathered in house of brother Velja. We were surprised by what we saw, only Velja and his wife. We expected some more people to see. But, they didn’t hide their happiness when they saw us, and they told us that they wanted to spend this time alone with us because they had something to tell us. When we took coffee and juice, Malina started to tell a story about hard experience which she had last two months while they were on work. They were on seasonal work – collection of potatoes. Since it is dirty job, every worker should have gloves. Potato are collected in this way, they put their hands deep in the ground and then they take it, and once when Malina put her hand in ground the same moment from ground jumped out a few mice and one of them bit her! This was a big shock, but after a while she continued to work. She didn’t notice, but when they finished with work, and she took off gloves, on her hand was scratch, and same night there was nub under her armpit and then she couldn’t move her hand at all. Next morning she went to an ambulance. And since doctors didn’t have adequate equipment, they scared them and sent them to Nis to some private clinic. Since they didn’t have money for it they couldn’t care for her right then. Malina and her husband were scared, some of the neighbors told them it was cancer and to expect the worst. The stories from doctors and these stories were similar so it made it worse.
Malina and Velja after while collected some money to go back to Nis, and there they said it happened because of mouse bite. With that information she came to Prokuplje where she got adequate therapy. (Medicines, injections every 6 hours). After 10 days, the swelling got smaller and everything came back to normal. Malina told us, that once they had to go by foot from Toponica to Zitoradja (6 km/3.6 miles), because they didn’t have transport. All that time during the trip she had pain and she was crying and praying to God. With her there was Velja and he was supporting her but he couldn’t stop his tears in front of God. As they were closer to the doctor, the pain became less hard. They were sure that God listened to their prayer and somehow it comforted them everything will be fine. So it was. Malina is now good, there is no more troubles.
Reason why they wanted to be alone with us, is just that they wanted to share this hard story with us, and after that we read Psalm 50:15, “…and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” We talked about this verse. Somehow we felt God wants to do something. We talked about God’s promises, about His intervention, about status of those who give their life to Him. While we talked about it, Malina started to ask some questions about it. When we explained what it means, she said she wants to become child of God who will celebrate it with her whole heart. During that visit Malina accepted Christ in her heart, and then Velja thanked God for His mercy and Caca and I finished the meeting with worship for Him, and for what He did during this visit. When we asked Malina why she decided that this night, she answered that she is aware she has no good relation with God and she wants to change it. “I learned lesson on hard way, only He saved me. So, how cannot I give my life to Him when only He can help me?” – that was her answer.
Incredible feeling, it was just like we could feel the work of the Holy Spirit. Since my Bible was opened the whole time on the table, brother Velja asked if he can get Bible. I had one Bible in my bag (Bibles that Rodja brought to us) I didn’t took that Bible out of bag, but I told to Velja that Americans who were at his house wanted to bless us and send us free Bibles. When I took it out and put it on table, his eyes were full of tears. He just looked at his wife and left. He went to kitchen and came back to table. Brother Velja put 500 dinars ($5.00 US) on the table and said this is our contribution for church. He was so grateful to our brothers from America for Bibles. He took Bible in hands, and was quiet for few moments, and then gave Bible to Malina. She took it with pleasure, opened it, kissed and left on the table. Velja said: “Brother Marijan, you will see, from tonight this house won’t be the same. Since now in this house will be new life – life as He wants from us” What a wonderfull feeling, what a nice experience. It is great work of God and presence.
During talk we also found out one more thing, when we started to visit village, there was 9 Roma families, 8 of them know Gospel, and they were on our meeting. Everyone of them got New testament, CD with Roma Christian songs, book “Life of Jesus Christ”. Now in that village left 5 Roma families and all of them visit house church meeting. Rest of families left village. We pray for those people who live in another village or town, to call us to visit them and share our service and share Gospel there where people don’t know it.
When we came back home, my health condition was great, just like nothing happened that day to me. My walk with the Lord is exciting and full of surprises and turns. Sometimes it is hard to accept some things during my traveling with God, but my God is sovereign, He always finds a way to encourage me and lift me. Let all honor, glory and majesty belong to my Father and Lord Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ, Marijan and Slavica
Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Linking Partners, so we can continue to purchase Bibles for those like Velja and Malina who have never had one. $100 provides 10 Serbian Bibles. Donate here.
