More about our first few days in Serbia 2012

 Friday July 27 was a quite day, a walk in Padina, a trip into Kovacica to the Art Museum, talking and sharing ideas, a visit from friends.....

checking for messages

Pastor Janko, Marty, Martin, Suzana

Debra and Nick 'skype' their children

3 UMC pastors

Early Saturday morning John, Loletuth, Nick and Debra head to the airport for their flight back to Kentucky.

Our first Thursday (market day) in Padina was spent this way -

Visiting the English/Sports Camp sponsored by the Padina Baptist Church and a group from the USA. We were invited by the director (whose Christian growth was greatly impacted by Pastor Janko) to bring a group of 6-8 persons to help next year with the camp.

In the afternoon we toured the Ethno House and one of the deep wells that used to provide water for Padina

In the evening we attended Bible study at the Kovacica UMC -

                                        John leading the study, Daniel translating

                                        Looking at the English classroom/youth room
                                           
                                    We had a good time of sharing after the Bible study

Susie & Marty are in Serbia again!

We arrived Wed. July 25 in the evening from Spain, just minutes before John, Loletuth, Nick and Debra arrived from Macedonia. Check out their trip at  www.mkcall.blogspot.com    Pastors Janko and Daniel Sjanta met us at the airport with their station wagons for the ride to Padina - a 1+ hour drive. Liljana had supper waiting for us when we arrived.

We feel so blessed and privileged to be back in Serbia to continue friendships and to worship together again. We will be watching the progress of the fellowship hall addition to the Padina UMC and hopefully lending a hand too.

This is our fourth year in a row to be in Serbia yet we must go thru 'the change' again!  From our comfort zone of normal American life to Serbian/Slovak, Eastern European life where few speak English.  We always feel so welcome by all.  The Sjanta's really make us feel loved and at home.

We are standing near the large Lutheran Church - the Slovaks who moved here 200 years ago brought with the their Lutheran faith.


In the next few days we hope to fill in the missing 'days of our lives' here in Padina.

Time to move on....

Our six weeks in Serbia has flown by......in 3 hours (it is midnight here) we get up, pack the Opel, drive over to the Sjantas and head to the airport.  It has been a rainy fall day here and a day for goodbyes.

We know we will miss many people and ways...

many pleasant memories we have

Thanks for your hospitality !!

We will be posting some more pictures and thoughts within the next week.....

Friday Oct 15

On Friday Marty drove Elena's 1983 Yugo to Kovacica to work

Susie has a cold and stays home

Imagine how great the new Church building will look with a plaster facade!

Liljana, Elena, and Daniel are attending the Annual Conference in Strumica, Macedonia
UMC missionary Carol Partridge works in this town

Another new task for Marty - sanding the plaster to a smooth finish

Janko has gone to pick his father up from the hospital!

the UMC in Serbia - Vrsac, Pancevo, Jabuka

Andrea Sjanta came home Friday evening after 2 weeks in the hospital.  He still has some recuperating to do.

Visits to 3 more churches -

Traffic on the way to Vrsac

The UMC in Vrsac where the Sjantas served for 14 years

Pastor Micky

Buying pizza and pastries

a Romanian Orthodox Church

Pancevo
a German Lutheran Church that is no longer used by them
but a few Methodist meet here -  Pastor Lilla from the Jabuka
UMC holds services here

the Jabuka UMC (for a while was also the pastor's apt.)
Jabuka means 'apple'

Sanctuary at Jabuka
about 40 in attendance each week
mostly Roma (gypsy heritage)

work continues...

Fine plastering begins (good time to level an old wall)

up the stairs the process begins

around the windows

time out for car repair

two nice Yugos

splitting firewood to fit the stove


Let the lumberjack games begin!

log toss

head balance

Katerina gives it a try


where the wood ends up...

typical room stove

filling the wheel barrow with corn cobs

building a fire in an old fashion room heater (like the one at the museum)

more wood to cut


Our modern conveniences help us forget an important spiritual lesson......electric heat, city gas, fuel oil furnaces - we just turn up the thermostat and we stay nice and warm. Go to church once in a while, say a prayer, listen to Christian radio occasionally - automatic faith? A real relationship with Jesus Christ takes effort - just like any relationship - fires must be stoked, fed, wood cut, coal bought and shoveled.