Raise Up Critically Needed Eastern European Leaders Having Christ Centered Convictions and Capacities Who will Count the Cost and Raise Up Others Especially in the Muslim Areas of Eastern Europe and RussiaRaise Up Leaders Who Raise Up Others
Raise Up Leaders- the Story of Blerina
With profound joy and deep gratitude to the Lord (yes, even teary eyed as I write!), I share with you now the faithfulness of our Lord of the harvest. I, David, first met Blerina through an Albanian friend who brought her to our small church plant in Tirana, Albania. Blerina, a Muslim by tradition, was a quiet, first year university student who seemed a little overwhelmed by the big city and big university life of Tirana. She heard the good news of our Lord and Savior through us at church and through the mutual Albanian friend and soon gave her life to Christ. We encouraged Blerina to get involved with our university campus ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ) and later she joined a church home group led by Yulia and myself.
On hearing of an up-coming baptismal service (my first ever as a baptizer! :-), Blerina expressed the desire to be baptized and wanted me to do the honors. With great joy, I honored her request. Yet, with greater joy, I was watching the Lord transform a shy, awkward student into a student leader. The Lord used her to bring several of her dorm mates to faith, and now she was leading a Bible study with these young believers.
By the time of her fourth year in college, Blerina knew what the Lord wanted for her, and it was what she desired most. Blerina wanted to serve the Lord full-time as a missionary with our university campus ministry. As her pastor, I encouraged her in this direction. With her acceptance to staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and confirmation of her calling, she again honored us with a request: “Would you and Yulia like to be partners with me in ministry, to pray for me and to support me financially?” We responded, “It would be our privilege!” “[We] have no greater joy than this, to hear of [our] children walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4), and giving their “Utmost for His Highest.” The Lord of the harvest had raised up a leader!
Who Raise Up Others- the Story continues
Blerina’s first ministry assignment was to help open up a new campus ministry in the predominately Muslim city of Elbasan. She and her other four team members desired to be used by the Lord of the harvest to reach several thousand university students and to raise them up as Christ-like leaders.
The Lord was at work and Blerina saw a number of students come to Christ. Yet, it was difficult to see these young believers grow in their faith because of pressures from Muslim families and friends. Blerina continued watering and the Lord, in His time, caused the growth (1 Cor. 3). Now, after three years, Blerina has a core group of disciples who have caught her disease of leading no matter what the cost!
Recently Blerina shared with us some great news! In her own words, "Gezohuni me ata qe gezohen...” (Rejoice with those who rejoice), she continued, “I desire for you to rejoice with me for this reason: three graduating seniors from my Bible study, Blerina, Kela, and Zana, have applied to serve full-time with Campus Crusade for Christ and this weekend they received an answer. And the answer was POSITIVE! I am overjoyed that the Lord is raising up laborers in His harvest from among the college students of Elbasan.”
Catching-Up and Training in the States
As you may know, we are presently on furlough in the States, trying to catch up with family (my father’s surgery, and parents 50th wedding anniversary!), and friends (ministry partners and others). We desire to share with you personally all the Lord has been doing and all we are trusting the Lord to do in Eastern Europe and Russia. Of course, the task of scheduling travel and personal meetings across several states is daunting in light of training demands (see below) and having a family with an infant and a toddler. We will try to organize small group gatherings to help facilitate our desire to see you, and will let you know of a gathering nearby (time and place).
We are also on furlough for training purposes as I research and write a Thesis on a relevant topic to ministry in Eastern Europe and Russia as the final requirement of a Master’s of Theology degree. Our goal is to return overseas to Hungary on July 13th.
“Overseas” Ministry in the States
Sounds a little ironic, doesn’t it? “overseas”…in the states.” The other day, the Lord brought overseas (Albania) to the States (Georgia), when Yulia and I met two Albanian women (daughter and mother) in a Georgia dentist office. Not only were they shocked that we could understand and speak Albanian, they were shocked speechless to hear that my Albanian language instructor and his family with whom I lived in Albania in 1992 were close friends with these two women! Now that is a divine appointment!
As we talked about the Lord, the daughter, Catherine, a former member of the Albanian national team of marksmen under Communism, shared with me an unforgettable experience. She was allowed to travel outside repressive communist Albania to western countries for international competitions. On one such trip to Finland, she found a Finnish-English Bible and arranged to have it smuggled back to Albania. Bibles were not allowed in Albania at that time. She still has that Bible to this day!
Catherine and her mother still do not know the Lord. Pray that our “divine appointment” and Catherine’s previous conversations with my language professor and his wife (both now believers living in Georgia) will help lead them to salvation!
Thanksgiving
• God’s abundant provision for our needs while in the States on furlough
• Lord of the Harvest raising up laborers for the harvest.
• David’s father successful hip-replacement surgery and quick recovery
• Flexibility of family with travels of furlough
Upcoming Activities and Prayer Requests
• Preparation for training time in Albania
• August Training of Albanian missionaries (Inductive Bible Study Methods and Marriage and Family)
• Effective researching and writing of Thesis
• Yulia’s pursuit of God through the daily challenges of training Tosha (2 yrs.) and Evan (6 months) while on furlough.
• Suzanna-Yulia’s former disciple from Minsk, Belarus, who has strayed far from the Lord.
• Blerina’s mother- sick for awhile now and has seen many Albanian doctors to no avail.
Grateful for Your Partnership with Us,
With profound joy and deep gratitude to the Lord (yes, even teary eyed as I write!), I share with you now the faithfulness of our Lord of the harvest. I, David, first met Blerina through an Albanian friend who brought her to our small church plant in Tirana, Albania. Blerina, a Muslim by tradition, was a quiet, first year university student who seemed a little overwhelmed by the big city and big university life of Tirana. She heard the good news of our Lord and Savior through us at church and through the mutual Albanian friend and soon gave her life to Christ. We encouraged Blerina to get involved with our university campus ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ) and later she joined a church home group led by Yulia and myself.
On hearing of an up-coming baptismal service (my first ever as a baptizer! :-), Blerina expressed the desire to be baptized and wanted me to do the honors. With great joy, I honored her request. Yet, with greater joy, I was watching the Lord transform a shy, awkward student into a student leader. The Lord used her to bring several of her dorm mates to faith, and now she was leading a Bible study with these young believers.
By the time of her fourth year in college, Blerina knew what the Lord wanted for her, and it was what she desired most. Blerina wanted to serve the Lord full-time as a missionary with our university campus ministry. As her pastor, I encouraged her in this direction. With her acceptance to staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and confirmation of her calling, she again honored us with a request: “Would you and Yulia like to be partners with me in ministry, to pray for me and to support me financially?” We responded, “It would be our privilege!” “[We] have no greater joy than this, to hear of [our] children walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4), and giving their “Utmost for His Highest.” The Lord of the harvest had raised up a leader!
Who Raise Up Others- the Story continues
Blerina’s first ministry assignment was to help open up a new campus ministry in the predominately Muslim city of Elbasan. She and her other four team members desired to be used by the Lord of the harvest to reach several thousand university students and to raise them up as Christ-like leaders.
The Lord was at work and Blerina saw a number of students come to Christ. Yet, it was difficult to see these young believers grow in their faith because of pressures from Muslim families and friends. Blerina continued watering and the Lord, in His time, caused the growth (1 Cor. 3). Now, after three years, Blerina has a core group of disciples who have caught her disease of leading no matter what the cost!
Recently Blerina shared with us some great news! In her own words, "Gezohuni me ata qe gezohen...” (Rejoice with those who rejoice), she continued, “I desire for you to rejoice with me for this reason: three graduating seniors from my Bible study, Blerina, Kela, and Zana, have applied to serve full-time with Campus Crusade for Christ and this weekend they received an answer. And the answer was POSITIVE! I am overjoyed that the Lord is raising up laborers in His harvest from among the college students of Elbasan.”
Catching-Up and Training in the States
As you may know, we are presently on furlough in the States, trying to catch up with family (my father’s surgery, and parents 50th wedding anniversary!), and friends (ministry partners and others). We desire to share with you personally all the Lord has been doing and all we are trusting the Lord to do in Eastern Europe and Russia. Of course, the task of scheduling travel and personal meetings across several states is daunting in light of training demands (see below) and having a family with an infant and a toddler. We will try to organize small group gatherings to help facilitate our desire to see you, and will let you know of a gathering nearby (time and place).
We are also on furlough for training purposes as I research and write a Thesis on a relevant topic to ministry in Eastern Europe and Russia as the final requirement of a Master’s of Theology degree. Our goal is to return overseas to Hungary on July 13th.
“Overseas” Ministry in the States
Sounds a little ironic, doesn’t it? “overseas”…in the states.” The other day, the Lord brought overseas (Albania) to the States (Georgia), when Yulia and I met two Albanian women (daughter and mother) in a Georgia dentist office. Not only were they shocked that we could understand and speak Albanian, they were shocked speechless to hear that my Albanian language instructor and his family with whom I lived in Albania in 1992 were close friends with these two women! Now that is a divine appointment!
As we talked about the Lord, the daughter, Catherine, a former member of the Albanian national team of marksmen under Communism, shared with me an unforgettable experience. She was allowed to travel outside repressive communist Albania to western countries for international competitions. On one such trip to Finland, she found a Finnish-English Bible and arranged to have it smuggled back to Albania. Bibles were not allowed in Albania at that time. She still has that Bible to this day!
Catherine and her mother still do not know the Lord. Pray that our “divine appointment” and Catherine’s previous conversations with my language professor and his wife (both now believers living in Georgia) will help lead them to salvation!
Thanksgiving
• God’s abundant provision for our needs while in the States on furlough
• Lord of the Harvest raising up laborers for the harvest.
• David’s father successful hip-replacement surgery and quick recovery
• Flexibility of family with travels of furlough
Upcoming Activities and Prayer Requests
• Preparation for training time in Albania
• August Training of Albanian missionaries (Inductive Bible Study Methods and Marriage and Family)
• Effective researching and writing of Thesis
• Yulia’s pursuit of God through the daily challenges of training Tosha (2 yrs.) and Evan (6 months) while on furlough.
• Suzanna-Yulia’s former disciple from Minsk, Belarus, who has strayed far from the Lord.
• Blerina’s mother- sick for awhile now and has seen many Albanian doctors to no avail.
Grateful for Your Partnership with Us,
David, Yulia, Tosha, Evan
Financial Support (Acct.# 0376846)
Secure Giving On-Line:
http://give.ccci.org/give/0376846
Giving By Mail:
Campus Crusade for Christ International
P.O. Box 628222, Orlando, FL. 32862-9841
Hungary Address: Stateside Address: Email Address:
Duna ut. 60/B c/o Rev. and Mrs. David C. Beatty beattydavidj@hotmail.com
2049 Diosd 2106 Walton Way yuliamk@yahoo.com
Hungary Roswell, GA 30076
Financial Support (Acct.# 0376846)
Secure Giving On-Line:
http://give.ccci.org/give/0376846
Giving By Mail:
Campus Crusade for Christ International
P.O. Box 628222, Orlando, FL. 32862-9841
Hungary Address: Stateside Address: Email Address:
Duna ut. 60/B c/o Rev. and Mrs. David C. Beatty beattydavidj@hotmail.com
2049 Diosd 2106 Walton Way yuliamk@yahoo.com
Hungary Roswell, GA 30076
