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Delegates and TEN staff team at Refresh 2024 |
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We are especially grateful to Tedi and Didi Opernovi and everyone at First Baptist Church of Sofia for hosting us so well. Ami Stavrou and the worship team led us in beautiful worship which lifted our hearts as we sang together. Thank you to all our speakers who led our main sessions and seminars. You challenged and encouraged us. A massive thank you to our UK volunteers who helped our staff team deliver the conference - we could not have played our part without you!
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We live-streamed and recorded our main sessions together - below are details of each talk with a link to each recording. |
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James Vaughton (UK): Refreshing Our Relationship With Jesus
TEN's CEO encouraged us to rest at Jesus's feet and to be like Mary in a Martha world. |
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Erion Cuni (Albania): Radical Disciples
Erion, who is a pioneer of gospel ministry in Albania, challenged us to be radical believers who follow our purpose, being faithful and like Christ in everything we do. |
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Artur Krasniqi (Kosovo): Being the Free People of God
Artur who leads Fellowship of the Lord's People in Pristina encouraged us to recognise Satan's strategy against God's people, persevere, and remember that the battle has already been won through Christ. |
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Dr Beni Micle (Romania): Refreshing Our Vision
Dr Beni Micle focused on the encounter on the road to Emmaus. As Jesus draws near to us in what God calls us to, He will refresh our vision as we invite Him in again to all we are and all we do. |
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Vera Kuranji (Serbia): Evening Service with Communion
Vera, a church planter, pioneer and evangelist shared stories from her life of service so far. Vera encouraged us to be faithful and invest our time in people to serve God and change lives. |
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Churches Work Together in Montenegro
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In October 2023, Boris and Ursa Curcic were ordained as pastor and deaconess of Christ Gospel Church in Podgorica, Montenegro. Jovica and Savka Backvanski who faithfully led the church returned to their home town Novi Sad in Serbia to open Christ Gospel Church there.
Ursa wrote:
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We consider ourselves the same church but we have expanded. |
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In November, the church started meeting with all the churches in Montenegro each month. Relations between different church denominations have not been good. The idea is to heal those relationships through love, forgiveness and praying together - for each other and Montenegro.
Ursa continued, '...we believe that when we Christians have love for each other then the people of Montenegro will recognise us as a family of Christ and would want to join us.'
We are delighted by this positive step forward with other churches and ask you to pray for the Good News of Jesus Christ to reach many in Montenegro. Our partners often report that people in the country are very difficult to share the gospel with. You can read more about the country by clicking the button below.
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Earlier this month, on 8th April it was International Romani Day and so we flew the flag on our social media to acknowledge our wonderful Roma brothers and sisters who work hard to bring the gospel of hope, particularly in their communities.
TEN has worked with Roma partners for many years as well as those working with Roma people. We have connections in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia. We are privileged to be connected to church planters and pioneers.
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At our Refresh Conference, Roma partner Danijel Reckovic (pictured here with Alexandra, his wife) who pastors Good News Church in Lebane, Serbia led a seminar on encouraging Roma leaders. He used the call of Moses and his own testimony to encourage people who may feel incapable, to be confident in God's call.
During the seminar, Danijel said:
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God doesn't call those who are prepared but prepares those who He calls. |
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Danijel responded to that call and as well as pastoring Good News Church in Lebane, he has planted a church in Bojnik. We hope Danijel's words and example encourage you in what God has called you to.
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Thank you so much for your support. We hope you are encouraged and inspired - you really make a difference.
Be blessed, especially those of you who will celebrate Easter on 5th May - Happy Easter!
The TEN team.
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