What is your ministry?
I am a deacon in the local church, serving the two pastors and the elders. I am also a youth leader and worship leader. My church serves a very poor Roma community, but large numbers of people have come to faith and joined the church over the last 30 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many problems for our people, but it has also caused many people to return to the church or to ask to join it. We are anticipating a significant increase in the size of the church when we can return to normality. For now, we are still facing many challenges.
When did you trust Christ?
Together with my family, I came to Christ at the age of six. Originally, we as a family were of a Muslim background. My father was strangely enough married to a Muslim woman, but he himself was a hardcore communist. Our lives took a complete turn after my older brother was diagnosed with cancer at the age of nine. We were looking for medicine and after many surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation we were waiting for him to die. Then a group of Christians visited our home and prayed for my brother. From the moment they prayed, he started feeling better and better. Six months afterward, the results confirmed that he was completely healed of cancer. He is now 35 years old, happily married, and has twin boys. This was a great miracle of God that brought us all to Christ. My dad now works as a pastor of the church. I am one of the deacons and the youth pastor.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
I have spent my whole life in the church. It has been a slow process of God shaping me personally. But if there is one thing that has caused me to grow, it was the two-year period outside of my family and country, in Australia, where I graduated from Influencers Bible College. My time at school shaped my character and defined my walk with Christ. The director of the college was also my personal mentor; he had an amazing impact on me and was truly a role model that I wanted to follow. My faith has grown. I have learned to rely on Christ no matter the circumstances. My relationship with God grew like never before through my time at the college and has a firm foundation.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I am looking to grow in my experience of Christian leadership by learning from senior leaders. I believe in the fact that when the leader grows, the ministry is going to grow as well. I am eager to get to know different people from different churches and organisations. Everybody has a story to tell and has something to share with others.
I want to grow in leadership, character, and skills. I am particularly interested in being able to spend some quality time with Maurice Nightingale and Mike Betts, the leaders of the mentoring group. Our church is independent and so seeing how a wider movement functions in unity for mission will be very useful. I also want to understand more about the foundations of church life and what leaders can do to ensure that these remain healthy. Lastly, I am keen to grow in my faith in Jesus and to develop in my character as a disciple of Jesus, setting an example to others so I lead well in the long term.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I served as a coordinator for the CBNI projects in Leskovac as well as a trainer for KATW (Kids Around The World).
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
My church is planting churches in Roma villages across South Serbia. There is the potential to see hundreds of Roma people come to faith over the coming years. I have a call to leadership and want to grow and develop. My church is planting churches, and I am supporting this work.
