Getting acquainted

Pastors and friends for get acquainted day

Meeting and greeting

                                 

                              Sharing about churches in Ky

Discussion time

new sidewalk from exterior entrance to
Church building entrance
Anyone want to buy a new gate for the Church??

arriving at Kovacica

checking out the new sancutary

future SS classroom/youth room

a good place to preach

typical kitchen


A good day was had by all !

http://revkalzserbia.blogspot.com

Today, Wednesday, the pastors from the UMChurches will be meeting together for a time of sharing and encouraging one another.  We are looking forward to seeing these people again.

 - the 'REVS' stepping forward into God's call -

Check out John and Loletuth's blogspot as well.

John and Loletuth Arrived!

Pastor Jano and his American visitors

On Monday  John and Loletuth arrived at noon in Belgrade – we are so thankful Daniel Sjanta drove us to the airport to pick them up.  Big city driving is not for me!  After their safe arrival we drove west of Belgrade to visit a small UMChurch in Stara Pazova.  We were warmly greeted by Pastor Jano and his 15 year old daughter who speaks very good English. The congregation is small there but seems to be in the hands of a caring pastor.

Looking at the wonderful photo display of Life in Serbia in the Fortress park

View from the Fortress of the Sava River

Sorry the pictures not being put in correct order - they seem to go where they wish on this blog page!!

Does it go in?

Stara Pazvoa UMC

Stasha and Daniel

We then drove back to Belgrade thru the many towns that have now become part of   the big city.  What a reminder the city is of how many, many people there are in the world…..and God knows the number of hairs on our head and when a sparrow falls….

With Daniel as our expert guide, we walked through part of the large fortress that has guarded Belgrade for centuries. This area was once the borderland between the European world and the Eastern/Turkish world and has known many wars. 

Walking down the promenade we saw the influence of Austrian/Hungarian style buildings and communist era architecture.  We walked past street vendors, shops we could not afford to shop in, the Serbia Parliament building, a former king’s palace and on to the second largest Temple/Cathedral of the Orthodox Church (which is not completed inside). We had Serbian hamburgers – with ham/cheese inside the large meat patty served on chiplote bread (mmm). My legs welcome the trolley ride back to the car.

We are excited to introduce John and Loletuth to Serbia, its cities, towns and villages, to the friendly people and to those that are associated with the United Methodist Church here.

the promenade begins

walking around Belgrade

buying hamburgers

View from hamburger shop

Parliament building 

gardens in front of the Palace

St. Salva

Church bells

interior

interior

Dreams coming full 'cycle'

Yesterday Liljana and I went to Susana’s for coffee and to help her practice riding her new trike. After some wonderful torte (cake), strong coffee and good conversation practice began. She shared that she had learn to be content, at peace with being dependant on others to take her places or   buy things for her – she has had 10 years to learn that lesson…. 

But now she is DREAMING about riding her cycle and becoming more independent.    “ Maybe when people see me ride my cycle to church they will follow me and come to church too.”  How blessed I am to be able to see the joy and excitement on her face as she experiences the satisfaction of learning a new task – one that she never thought she would be able to do!  Although her knee hurts her she says it already is easier to ride than the first time she tried.

I can do this - I will

Sometimes the circumstances in our life limit us, put boundaries around us. Often however it is we ourselves who put limitations on what we dream of doing.

Jesus says that when we follow Him we will be ‘free indeed’ -  I like that way of putting it.  Expectations, hope, dreams, vision – and the desire to make them come true – are amazing gifts God gives us!

This is hard work!

As Suzanna’s pastor watched the short video of her riding the cycle he said “Thank you God” – his dream for her is coming true!

Flowers, etc.

Making pasta

There is beauty in everyday life....

Ditches, bricks, pipes and weeds

 Reaching a goal is often hard work -

         tedious, frustrating, dirty,

                    exhausting, time consuming, 

                             repetitious

Eighty years and still working