Well into Autumn...

 

Ok, so that's a photo from last year, but we have had a little bit of snow this year... I just didn't get a photo of it.

Things here in Ljubljana seem to have settled down into some sort of regular rhythm. It's definitely getting colder and greyer so everyone is looking forward to the holiday season. For most of the young people, this is a very stressful time of year. They tend to start having tests in all their subjects on everything they've learnt since the beginning of the year. This has affected my one to ones a little bit since they need more time to revise and prepare. Please pray for these teenagers as they face all this stress! They also have to go to school everyday until Christmas Eve - it's so different from the UK and I always feel so sorry for them when I remember what the Christmas season was like for me when I was in school.

Since half term we have been looking at the Solas from the Reformation in our weekly youth group. This has been a good opportunity to cement in the ideas of Scripture alone, Christ alone, by grace and through faith alone. Last week we had our second meeting in Domžale. It was a bit stressful to prepare for since we didn't know how many young people would turn up since we'd had 20 last time. This time it was definitely advertised as a Bible study rather than a social which we'd had last time. In the end we only had one extra girl. It was a little bit disappointing but I know that a few people cancelled last minute and some were affected by the snow. We have another Bible study there next month. Please pray for us as we prepare since once again we will have no idea how many people will come. Please pray for the young people in Domžale, that they would want to hear the gospel and learn more about God.

I continue to be kept busy with my work for ECM. Thankfully this should quieten down until next year. As you may be aware, I am leading the group that is organising the seminars for our conference next year. I am very grateful that we have now finalised the seminars and the speakers. Please pray for the continued planning and preparation for next year, that it would be a blessing to the people who will come and that it would be a good chance for fellowship and rest.

Thank you so much, as always, for your continued prayers and support for my work here in Slovenia!

Working Together...

Last Friday, 25th October, we had a very exciting event. It was our first joint youth meeting with the church in Domžale. On a usual Friday evening we get about 6 or 7 teenagers regularly coming to our youth group in Ljubljana. I was expecting that maybe we would have 3 or maybe 4 young people from Domžale come join us for a social evening. Amazingly we had 20(!) young people turn up, plus leaders. It was more than any of us had expected. We quickly ordered more pizza, bought more drinks and just enjoyed the time together. It was just a social evening and by no means do I expect all 20 of these young people to start attending our youth group, but it does show the need for something for the young people in Domžale. We used it more as an opportunity to hang out with them and to tell them about our regular meetings. Please pray that some, if not all, would be interested in coming and learning more about the gospel. Many of the people who came were non-Christians and so it was a good opportunity for our youth to spend time with other teenagers. Thank God for this amazing answer to prayer and how the young people responded. Please continue to pray for this opportunity, and especially for the next meeting in Domžale on 22nd November. This time it will be a Bible study so we'll see what difference that makes to the numbers.

This last week has been half term here in Slovenia. My parents came to visit for the first time in a couple of years, so it was lovely to spend time with them and to explore more of the country. We especially enjoyed the good weather and a trip to the coast. It's hard to believe, sometimes, that this is still Slovenia!

My normal activities start again next week. Things have felt very busy for me over the past month or so, please pray that I would have the energy and the brain space to do everything that I need to. Please continue to pray for the work here and for all the young people I work with. Please pray that God would be working in their lives and that his name would be glorified here in Slovenia.