What is your ministry?
Grow Trnow: a once-a-week program for kids 10-14 years old in Trnovo (part of Ljubljana) to help them grow and experience life in a safe environment where questions and curiosity are welcomed. Fusion Ljubljana: a pop-rock choir with a band that aims to connect with high schoolers in Ljubljana and introduce them to Jesus. Both of these programs usually put up summer camps each year as well. Discipleship: meeting one-on-one with a college student girl, reading the Bible, and walking through life together.
When did you trust Christ?
I accepted Christ as a high school student attending English Camp by Josiah Venture, but I recommitted my life some years later in college when I was finally free of an unhealthy relationship holding me back.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
I found community and family within my first church in Maribor, Slovenia. As a high schooler, an important part was an outreach program (English Club) where adult believers accepted and cared for me. Later, I could make a big step forward by attending a program for college students in our country called Theology and Youth. It's a two-year (three summers) program designed for students to learn about God, step into discipleship, and grow personally. Zala Cempre partly leads the program.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I want to grow and develop skills to reach people better and meet with them one-on-one in my everyday environment: college and, after that, the workplace, which I'm transferring to in the summer/fall of 2024.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
Primarily, I volunteer in outreach programs and summer camps organised by Josiah Venture in my country. In Maribor: I co-led English Camp Maribor (for kids 8-14 years old) in 2018 and 2019, volunteering with Fusion Maribor in spring 2020. In Ljubljana: Fusion Camp 2020, GrowTrnow Camps 2022 and 2023, and now GrowTrnow and Fusion Ljubljana. In the year 2020, I also applied for a summer internship with JosiahVenture which was canceled due to the coronavirus.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
It provides a safe space for kids and high schoolers to develop and grow without shame and judgment, where they can ask questions and find answers. I would also like to invest more time into academic space (colleges and people there), where in Slovenia, we currently face great darkness and a lack of understanding for Christians.
