Security Code: N- no restrictions

OM BOSNIA PRAYER UPDATE sept-oct/2008

God is doing great things! We are thankful for our praying friends all around the world. We know that we are in the middle of a spiritual battlefield here, so every success is a result of many prayers! Following are just some of them.

A. YEAR OF PRAYER

1. LAST CONFERENCE COMING UP 

B. BIHAC

1. DISTRIBUTING SCHOOLBAGS

2. THE GREAT DAY IN OUR CHURCH

3. WOODPROJECT 

C. SARAJEVO-DOBRINJA

1. WELCOME-PARTY TO THE NEW SPACE

2. PRAYER-MEETINGS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

3. HELPING THE GRIEVING AND SICK...

D. GENERAL PRAYER REQUESTS

A. YEAR OF PRAYER FOR BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Many of our friends and partners worldwide have been faithfully praying for Bosnia-Herzegovina daily for 10 months now. Don't stop yet, please, there are two more months to go! Keep lifting up this country in front of God's throne! We also keep adding new information on our web-page, www.pray4bosnia.co.cc Please go and check that too!

 1. LAST PRAYER CONFERENCE COMING UP

We have started preparing for the last prayer conference of this year. It will take place in the city of Tuzla from 5th - 7th of December. The church in Tuzla is very excited about being the hosts of the conference! We expect about 200 participants, national believers as well as foreigners. The registration has started and we already have the venue for the conference. Now we need to work on finding best options of food and accommodation.Our financial resources right now are still low,  but we trust that God will provide everything we need. 

PRAY:

- that all the churches get encouraged to come and participate

- for those who are doing the preparations:  for wisdom in their decicions and that everything would get done

- for the hosting church in Tuzla

- for finding the best options of accommodation and food

- for enough finances  to run this conference

If you want to get more involved,  take a look in our websitewww.pray4bosnia.co.cc  

If you would like to give financially towards this event please fell free to contact us.

B. BIHAC

1.DISTRIBUTING SCHOOLBAGS

300 filled schoolbags were ready to be distributed through the school in the neighboring town. First we had thought to hand them out at school, then had to change plans. The school-director did not want any Christian literature in the bags and we did not want to give the bags without it. During one time of prayer, God showed us clearly that the Gospel is the true gift that we can give! Without it, the bags are just a nice material blessing. So OM-ers decided to go from door to door. During 5 days, the  OM-ers and the local believers knocked on every door in 4 Muslim villages and gave bags to every child they could find (grades 1-8). Some did not take the bags, saying that they already had all they needed. But most families were happy to receive an unexpected blessing for their children! We showed the booklet about God as a special gift for the parents. They could choose to take or not. And we were surprised by the positive reaction of people! Everybody, except for one family, took the booklet too. During the next few days some people even called and asked for the second part of it! Many people said: "This is the first time that somebody offers anything for free!" 

PRAISE GOD
- for the physical and spiritual protection of the workers

- for good response from people

- that God kept us safe and our van did not break down during these days

PRAY:

- that people will read the booklet and let God speak to them

- that many more would call for getting more literature

2.THE GREAT DAY OF OUR CHURCH

The main focus of OM-team in Bihac is to be a church-planting team. The church in Bihac has existed for 12 years by now. So far, altogether 11 people have been baptized. But last month we were able to celebrate the baptism of 5 new believers! Looking at the statistics, that means our church membership grew 31% all at once! Fantastic! Now we need a lot of wisdom on how to disciple and support our new believers. There is no other church in our area, all of the spiritual input is basicly coming from the two OM-ers. We are seeking God's help in how to help the local believers to develop deeper friendships with each other, so that they can also learn more from one another. Right now, they are still mostly looking to the OM-ers to "come and feed them", but there is only so much that the 2 of them can do...  

PRAISE GOD

- for the 5 who publicly confessed their faith in Jesus

PRAY

-that the local believers would start learning from each other

-that God would tear down walls pf prejudices and heal old wounds between them

3. WOODPROJECT

We have started our woodproject already. By the end of this month, 44 people will be in warm room! Our goal is to provide for 100 families, wea are now waiting for more donations to come in. This year we do not deliver foodpackages to them. But the OM-ers still try to make a personal visit to as many families as they can. Just some days ago Jael had a very good visit with one lady. She asked good questions about God. At the end of the visit she took every piece of Christian literature that was in Jael's bag!

This is our last year to do the annual firewood project here in Bihac. It has been a great blessing to the community. Now we feel that it is time to move on to other methods of combining practical help with sharing God's love. We are looking for ways  that can be easily carried on by the local believers even if the foreigners are not here.

PRAISE GOD

- that 44 families have a warm room 

PRAY

- for enough donations to help 100 households

-especially for ADRIJANA (name changed): that God would speak to her through all the books that she got

C. SARAJEVO-DOBRINJA

1. WELCOME-PARTY TO THE NEW SPACE

Dobrinja-team moved their office and reading-room into a new combined space, called "Dobrinjski Kutak" (the Corner of Dobrinja). The team had their first open event there last Sunday. Claudia, the team-leader there writes: " It was a prayer, worship and fellowship time. That was very encouraging to get together seeking the Lord and to see our guests being part of it. Praise God for those who came! May God continue the work in their lives and may they bring more people along through their testimonies and experiences with God.We are planning to have this fellowship time every other week and we want to see more and more Bosnians joining us. It is often hard for people to come to a church fellowship. Some carry hurts from the past, others are afraid of the unknown. We believe that once people get used to it they will come." During the week The Dobrinjski Kutak is open for people every day. The team is thinking of different activities and events that they could organize there to invite more people (like English nights, different classes).

PRAY

-that those that have been invited have the courage to come

-that the Counselor will bring  healing and restoration to those who have been hurt before

- for the next English night that will happen on Oct 29

-that the team will have right activities that are interesting for the local people

2. PRAYER-MEETINGS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

The Dobrinja-team has a tradition of having their team's morning prayer-meetings in the coffee-bars of their neighborhood. Now their new office is also functioning as a public space for anybody to drop in, then once a week they started to pray there.  Claudia writes: "It has been good to get to know our office's new neighbors through it. We had also gone for coffee with them, given them some of our books to read and shared a little bit of who we are and what we are doing here. It has been a good start and they even talked about us to other friends and neighbors that have also visited us." 

PRAY

-that through that, the team could  be able to introduce Jesus to the neighbors.

3. HELPING THE GRIEVING AND SICK

Last month, many of the team's contacts have been sick. HADZERA (name changed) and her family have been also struck with grief. Her father-in-law passed away a few months ago and 3 weeks ago her mother-in-law also died... It has been very hard for the whole family. Her husband is not a follower of Jesus yet. But the OM-ers there can see that with all this God has been working in his heart towards Him. Also their two girls (14 and 9 years old) have got very sick. It has been a lot of coming and going to hospitals and doctors and a lot of medication to take... All these things bring a lot of stress to Hadzera. God stretching her faith! The OM-ers are glad to see that in the middle of all the troubles she wants to stand firm in the Lord.

PRAY

- that this family would see God even more in this hard time

- that the Holy Spirit would bring comfort and peace to their hearts

-for the extended family and all the issues they have to deal with now

-for healing to the kids

D. GENERAL PRAYER POINTS

PRAY

- for our process of finding a new Field Leader for OM Bosnia. There is a nominated candidate for taking up that role but the final decicion still needs a lot of prayer. Pray that God's name will be glorified in the process and in the final decicion

-for Sean, as he is trying to deal with all the byrocracy and paperwork necessary for OM as a registered organization. Pray for favor and wisdom as he is going to different offices, for clear understanding of the law and God-appointed meetings with just the right people.

An old hymn says: "To God be the glory, great things He has done..." And you, our prayer-partners, are making it  possible through your prayers! Thank you for your work behind the scenes for us and for Bosnia !

On behalf of OM Bosnia, Jael Puusaag