It is so encouraging to see a person who has lived a long life finally reach out, repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior! Ivan in Serbia lived his whole life apart from God until very recently. He felt his life needed purpose, so he began attending a church.
Although Ivan became actively involved in that church, he still felt a lack of purpose, love, and peace. Then, he met one of our church planters, Filip, and one of our local pastors, Pavle. As he spoke with them, he realized that the reason for his emptiness was because he had merely been practicing a religion rather than being involved in a relationship with the Savior.
Ivan joined Filip and Pavle’s evangelical congregation and attended devotedly; however, he found it difficult to set aside all of the rites and traditions he had become accustomed to in his former church. Filip continued to disciple Ivan, but Ivan really struggled with putting his full confidence in Jesus alone. Eventually, he decided to stop attending the church meetings.
One evening, Filip prayed for Ivan and asked God for His intervention. The following day, Ivan called Filip and told him of his decision to put his full trust in God! “Nothing will hold me back from obedience to Christ,” Ivan declared.
That same day, Ivan came to church and was baptized, publicly proclaiming what God had done in his life. He now shares how God opened his eyes to see what faith truly is: “Faith is not about us, nor what we can do, but about Christ and what He has done on the cross for us!”
