Category: Montenegro

Our life and work in Montenegro

Stoneworks — News from Montengro

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Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia and is located in the Balkans, across the Adriatic Sea due east of central Italy.  It’s a small country (pop. 650,000) with only about 200 protestant believers.

Stoneworks continues to partner with the Brethren Assembly in Podgorica, one of only three Evangelical churches in the country.

In May, I’ll go with a team from the University of Georgia to do a variety of projects — prayer-walking in cities where there is no local church, running a four-day youth camp, leading children’s ministry meetings, teaching English and most important of all, building relationships.

Here’s a report from Vladimir Cizmanski, pastor of the Brethren Assembly:

Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Eph.5:15-16

 

It has become a tradition for us at the beginning of the year to write about the distribution of shoe boxes full of Christmas gifts that we receive thanks to the international organization Samaritan’s Purse.

The difference this year was that we received twice as many as in previous years (20,000 this year).  This project is becoming more and Shoe boxesmore important to us as we have more personal contacts each year.

 

This time over 1,000 children came to our building to attend our Christmas program and receive a shoe box.  We were able to take the opportunity to inform their parents about our other activities such as Saturday children’s club, English Language course, summer camps and special events.

We have recently had twenty eight children coming to the Saturday Children’s club which is a great thrill for us.  We are praying for this ministry that is so important for the future lives of these little ones.

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A Quick Guide to Montenegrin Family and Friends

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I realize that it may be confusing to keep up with all the people you see in pictures from Montenegro. So, here is a quick guide to folks we know in Montenegro:

Alla Pavetic:  Olga’s outgoing and fun twin sister; married to

Zhelyan Pavetic: an engaging,  strapping Montenegrin. Zhelyan and Alla have a son:

Andrej Pavetic: born in January 2010, he is a sweet, quiet child, surrounded by adults who love him gobs. His aunt, Zhelyans’ sister is

Violetta Pavetic:  a bright, sharp young lady; whose mother is

Slavitsa Pavetic: a strong and faithful mother to Violetta and Zhelyan.

Vladimir Cizmanski:  Vladimir is the pastor and founder of the Brethren assembly, attended by the Pavetic family, the church we serve when we’re there. Vladimir is a good pastor and administrator; he has a big heart.

Marijana (pronounced mary-ahna) Cizmanski:  Vladimir’s wife, a gifted evangelist and servant. Vladimir and Marijana have become very good friends.

You’ll also see —

Tanya Yaskevich: Olga and Alla’s mother

Svyeta Kouzyakova: Alla’s maid of honor and good friend to us all

New Faces, New Places

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I (Mike) am going through a transition as I take over the role of Executive Director of Stoneworks.  Here’s a note we sent to people connected with Stonework, MIR and ourselves.

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A note from Dave Hulley —

It is hard to believe that in December Stoneworks International will celebrate its fifth birthday! During these years God has enabled us to minister in many fruitful ways, including working in camps and orphanages and maintaining relationships with a
group of children as they moved into adulthood. We have had several short term and longer term workers, in a variety of programs. You can read more about the programs on our website, www.stoneworksint.org/.

I am happy to announce we have been blessed with some personnel changes which will aid us in our future ministry. Michael Cantrell, Director of MIR in Russia, and a Stoneworks Board member, has agreed to take over my responsibilities as Executive Director. Mike is quite experienced and he needs almost no new training to move effectively into his new role.

We are also welcoming Mary Jean Preece as  Administrator. She will take over many of the behind the scenes functions I have performed. Mary Jean is capable and experienced, but most importantly, she feels a calling to serve the Lord by serving orphans and children in Russia and elsewhere. Welcome Mike and Mary Jean!

“Where am I going?” you may ask. I plan to remain very involved in the work of Stoneworks as Chairman of the Board of Directors. For the near future I will also remain as special liaison to the work in Belarus. This will allow Mike to focus on some other aspects of transition while be builds relationships with workers of Spring of Revival in Belarus.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have prayed for and encouraged us, and to those who have made donations over the years.The fields do remain white unto harvest. Let us all continue to do our best in all things as unto the Lord, and to serve and love Him with all our heart, soul and strength. Continue reading →

A Postcard from Montenegro — Surprising Blessings

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I (Mike) arrived in Montenegro on July 2, a day before the team from St. James UMC in Athens, GA arrived. We’re in the Montenegrin mountains for two purposes this summer — 1) to help host a church retreat, and 2) to help run a youth camp.

We’re staying at a house on the edge Tara Canyon, the second deepest gorge in the world. It’s a bit of a working farm, but we didn’t know that when we booked the house a few months ago. Pictured above are Lee Davis of Athens and Sasha, one of the young men attending the camp. They were helping gather hay, building a relationship as they worked together. As I planned this trip, I never expected I’d take a picture like this. Our time here has been full of great surprises.

A little background — the population of Montenegro is about 650,000.: Christ Church, a Brethren assembly. Vladimir Cizmanski is the pastor, and his wife Marijana (pronounced like marianna) leads worship.

The church retreat last weekend went very well. The church members and our team were a good fit. This is the first retreat in the church’s 10 years of existence. Everyone enjoyed it very much and want to do it again next year. We’ll see them again this weekend at their church service. It was surprising how quickly we bonded with the church, and our short time with them felt much longer. They love to worship the Lord. The are picture at left and below on the right.

Vladimir has hoped to run a youth camp for 10 years, and now we’re able to help. It’s an honor to help establish traditions that we hope will continue for years to come. There are four kids from a refugee camp; they’ve lived there for about ten years after their families fled from the war in Bosnia. One of the young men told us that this camp the best thing that has ever happened to him. At left are the kids on an outing we took to Durmitor National Park.

We are teaching about godly relationships, but since many of the children have not heard the gospel and know little about church life, we’re also telling them basic truths about God and the church. For instance, when Jerry Meredith, the pastor of St. James, introduced himself as a pastor, Marijana (who was translating) said, ‘they don’t know what a pastor is so I need to explain it to them’.

Each day has many pleasant surprises, and this is a joyful time for us all. I am honored to be serving this church and these people. We are in the midst of a precious and special time. As we prepared for this trip, we sensed that God wanted us to focus on loving Him, loving each other and loving the people we meet. People are more important than programs. And I can say that we have experienced the power of God’s love.

Olga is in Russia now. She’s been helping the mission teams there as well as visiting Elama and the campers there. She is now at dacha. It’s good for her to be there, since her grandparents’ health is failing a bit and they are very happy to have her with them. I’ll return to Russia on the 17th and immediately go to Elama to work with the youth camp there and visit the teams we have working in other camps. This summer is full of good relationships, good work and good places. It’s a blessed time.

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