Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Ok that might be a bit dramatic, we haven't had that much snow but this last week it's definitely felt like winter again. The weather here has been pretty mild and I thought that maybe spring was coming early. Not yet, at any rate! These last two weeks have been quite quiet but still very enjoyable for me. Last week was a school holiday so many of my regular meetings were cancelled. It was very encouraging though that the teenage girls all still wanted to meet up to read the Bible together despite them being on holiday and could easily have wanted to stay at home.

This last week has been a really good week for me too as my sister and her husband came to Slovenia, partly to spend time snowboarding, partly to spend time with me. I spent a great day up the mountain on Saturday, seeing a new side of Slovenia as I have never skied or s
nowboarded before (I still haven't as I spent the whole day in the cafe!) Our time together, however, was shortened a bit after they had adventures driving up a mountain and decided not to risk it again. This meant that although I couldn't see them every day, it gave me time to finish all the work that I needed to before we took a mini break to Lake Bled on Wednesday and Thursday. That was when the snow really came and gave a fairytale quality to the mountainous region we were visiting. It really was very beautiful.

Although the last couple of weeks have been a bit easier for me, it was nice to have a little break. I also met with the other leaders of the youth group and we were able to plan what we will be doing this next semester and to start to think about plans for a spring camp as well as one in summer and the possibility of taking a group of our teenagers to the concert in Hungary I was talking about in my last post. It all looks very exciting. I'm also quite excited about the topic we will be studying this term. Some of you may well have heard of the book God's Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts. It has now been turned into a video course complete with a Bible study which is available for free online. We're planning to translate the questions into Slovene but will have to cope with the videos themselves in English for the time being. Please be praying for this and for the teenagers as they look at the overall story of the Bible.

Thank you all again for your continued prayers and other support. I really couldn't do it without you all. I'm still in the position where I need to raise financial support, especially for next year but also for my long term ministry but I can't yet confirm what my plans are. I'm sorry for continuing to be vague but I would be very grateful if you would be able to help me in this way. If you feel that you would be able to help support me in this way you can either email me at s.re.deacon@gmail.com or click the donate button on my ECM worker page: https://www.ecmi.org/en/worker-detailpage/01441085-2cdb-4671-88d5-488b3c3c7ef1
Thank you all again for all the ways that you continue to support me, whatever they look like.

This is the Day 2020...

This last week in Slovenia we had a very exciting event. Last Sunday night (9th February) there was a big concert/ worship session in the middle of Ljubljana with some quite famous names in the world of Christian music. Martin Smith, of the band Delirious? and Noel Richards along with some more local musicians played in one of the large concert venues in the city. This was the first ever event of its kind in the country and 1,100 people packed in to listen and to sing praises to our God. Let me put that into context for you. There are approximately 2,000 evangelical Christians in the entire country! 

The event was put on in collaboration with a Catholic group (although the event itself wasn't Catholic) which helps to account for the large number but still this was a great opportunity to praise God and many people I knew, or was somehow connected with, were able to attend. One girl I was stood with said to me afterwards that she couldn't believe that we'd been able to have such an event in Slovenia and why couldn't it happen every night!

The reason this event even happened in Slovenia needs a bit of background information. Apparently for the last 20 years or so, there has been an event in held in Hungary called Ez Az A Nap or This is the Day. Lots of different Christian artists have been part of this event and this year is no different. In July they are hoping to fill a 70,000 seater stadium in Budapest. As part of the efforts to encourage people to come to this main event, they are playing concerts in the surrounding countries. In Slovenia they only had 3 weeks notice! I still can't believe how they managed to pull it off and that so many people came.

My view of the stage

I'm trying not to make this into a concert review but it really was such an encouraging evening. One of the highlights of the night for me was when Martin Smith started singing one of his songs in Slovene (he did really well too!). As I've said many times, the language here is such an important part of the culture which is one reason why I'm trying so hard to learn it and to communicate with people in their own tongue. Seeing and hearing Martin putting in the effort to praise God in the Slovene language really made a big impact on the people in the room. I had the opportunity to speak with him briefly after the concert (I happened to be in the right place at the right time, I wasn't stood there waiting for him or anything!) and thanked him for making that effort. Overall it was great seeing so many Slovenes come together to hear about God and praise him together.

I'm hoping that we will be able to talk about possibly taking some of our young people to the main concert in July so please be praying that we will be able to sort out the logistics if possible.

Apart from this event, my weeks continue as usual with my many Bible studies and one-to-ones. Although not as dramatic as a big event, these meetings continue to encourage me as I see the people I work with wrestling with big questions and wanting to know God better. Topics and questions this week included the Trinity and the Doctrine of Election, so only small topics then! Please continue praying for the people and the church here as they seek to faithfully serve God in their different circumstances.

Please also keep praying for me and for my future plans. If you feel that you are able to support me financially please take a look at my worker page on the ECM website: https://www.ecmi.org/en/worker-detailpage/01441085-2cdb-4671-88d5-488b3c3c7ef1
or email me: s.re.deacon@gmail.com. Thank you all for all your prayers, love and support!