Dear brothers and sisters,
We hope you are doing well! Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. It is a great honor to share with you what God is doing in Serbia. Please leave some notes in the comments section, we would be glad to read them and reply!
Ministry Updates
Stefan continues to preach in the book of Galatians to the church and it`s been a blessing. Most of the churches here are rooted in traditionalism and they need much prayer for God to free them from that so they can put the bible in the first place in the churches.
We continue our work with discipleship with some people. Mari also participate in patchwork this month and it was a great time with the women from church and the village, where they did crafts and read God`s word together.
Praise the Lord for the people that are partners with us in this ministry, because of you we were able to fix the hymnals that were originally printed in 1969. Those hymnals have been used for more than 50 years, they were falling apart and now the hymnals look new. We were also able to start the translation of the material for the biblical counseling course we will have in April.
Ministry Opportunities
In January we had the opportunity to serve with the youth in the church in Subotica and Stefan gave the message at the new year`s service.
We could also serve with Word of Life in the youth conference they organized. We helped with worship and games that they had. Youth from different parts of Serbia could attend and we could share the word of God with them.
We also were invited to help in the evangelization event at a church in Erdevik, in the mountains of central Serbia. We served together with the youth from our church leading the worship.
Parent`s visit and Pregnancy Update
In the first two weeks of January Mari`s parents and sister visited and served together with us, Mari`s dad preached on Sunday and we sang together a worship song in Portuguese. It was a great time together as a family, where we showed them a little bit of our town and life here in Serbia. It was their first time visiting Serbia.
Now at the beginning of March Mari completed 7 months of pregnancy, the time has really passed fast and we are very thankful to God that everything is going well in the pregnancy, and that our baby girl is healthy, and already kicking a lot.
Announcement of a big change – God still cares!
We are thankful to God for this time of service to the church and the community here in the north of Serbia, after almost one year of serving in this church at the beginning of March we finished the service in the leadership position of the church. This chapter of our ministry is closed but the work doesn`t end.
We continue serving in the church through preaching twice a month and doing discipleship with people, but we are praying for God to guide us in these next steps of our lives, we have ministry opportunities that God is opening the door for, but we continue in prayer for all the decisions we are making. We want to be always in the center of God`s will.
We are thankful for the ministry that we did until now. God has encouraged us through some people that came to us and told us that we arrived in Serbia at the right time and that God used us in their lives. We know God is in control of everything and He takes care of us.
BIG Project
For a long time, Stefan has been dreaming of an opportunity to gather a group of people that are willing to start a good Christian podcast that will produce sound teaching, quality Christian material, short answers to tough questions in Christianity, and much more.
This dream has finally happened with a group of people that are theologically educated and had the same desire. There are very few people that do create any kind of Christian content in Serbia and Christian content in this world is very important.
Now we have people, but we still need good equipment to start this podcast the right way. Things we need are: Camera, Microphones, audio interface, programs for audio editing, cables, lights, and some other minor equipment.
How can you help with this project?
First and foremost, we need prayer. Pray that God will give us wisdom, humility, time, devotion, and the correct mindset.
Secondly, we need financial support. This project is costly, and we cannot finance everything alone. We are going to give our personal camera as a primary camera, but we still need all the other equipments. Please consider giving to this ministry because it will be useful to reach not just the Christian community, but also non-Christian community through social media.
The information on how to give is on the button at the end of the newsletter, send with a message that the support is for the podcast. If you would like to know more information on how you may help, please contact us through email.
prayer requests
We are grateful for your prayers and for partnering with us in our ministry. Here are our prayer requests:
Praise: The pregnancy is going well and the baby is healthy.
- Churches in Serbia – pray for the churches in Serbia and for the traditionalism that is rooted in the churches, and that they will want to follow the Bible above everything else.
- Our Ministry – keep praying for our ministry and the next steps for us.
- Pregnancy – pray for Mari and our baby girl, that everything can continue to go well in the pregnancy and that baby can continue to grow healthy.
- Language learning – pray for Mari as she is learning Serbian.
- Support Raising – pray that God will continue to provide for us. We continue in the process of raising support so that we can work full-time in the ministry. Pray as well if God is putting on your heart to be partners with us in this ministry. Stefan has to work on the side to be able to support our financial needs, but we want to be able to focus full-time on the ministry. At the moment, since Stefan has to work on the side, all our support goes directly to the needs of the church and ministry since we have enough money for all the bills for now, but we are still praying that in the future we will have enough support to go full-time ministry as we continue to give all our needs before the Lord!
- Auto-immune Disease – as you know Stefan has a chronicle disease called Ulcerative Colitis, there is no cure but it can be controlled. He had some exam results that came high so the doctor had to readjust his medication. Pray that the medication will keep it dormant for the rest of his life and that he won’t have big problems with that in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We are very thankful for all of you amazing people who encourage us and pray for us!
Please let us know how we can be praying for you!
God bless,
Stefan and Mariana Vika.
Greetings Stefan and Mari,
How wonderful to hear about your ministry and how God is using you both! Stefan, Grandma is SO Proud of you! I knew you would do some Amazing things for God’s glory. I’m excited for you and how you want to expand the ministry.
I’m praying for each of you and your health and for your little girl, a gift from God. Praying also for God to bless your ministry and to help supply the needs for your podcast ministry.
Pray for me, I’m in good health and remain healthy. I turned 75 this year and feel very blessed that God has healed my heart and restored my health. God Is So Good.
Sending you hugs and love,
G ma
Thank you so much for reaching out Grandma! Indeed God has been doing great things! Thank you for your prayers. Even though we have not seen each other in a while, we are praising God for you and your eagerness to serve Him!
We will be praying for you, praising God for good health He has given you!
We love you and miss you and your loud, funny and loving laugh!
So glad to hear you guys are having your first baby ,and all God is doing in Serbia through you two ,and your parents .I will be praying for your requests as well .