0:00:03.991,0:00:07.427
<i>Adventists in Serbia have made[br]meaningful connections with people</i>

0:00:07.428,0:00:08.954
<i>through healthy activities.</i>

0:00:09.344,0:00:12.018
<i>Health clubs have drawn a lot[br]of interest from the community.</i>

0:00:12.642,0:00:15.089
<i>Groups go hiking, exercise together,</i>

0:00:15.342,0:00:18.548
<i>hold health lectures, [br]and conduct cooking demonstrations.</i>

0:00:19.235,0:00:20.768
<i>If not for these activities,</i>

0:00:20.769,0:00:24.055
<i>it’s likely that the participants[br]might never meet an Adventist</i>

0:00:24.344,0:00:26.531
<i>or be exposed to [br]the Adventist message.</i>

0:00:26.763,0:00:30.451
Here it’s important to[br]actually build friendships first

0:00:30.452,0:00:32.908
and then you can say who you are.

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Otherwise they will[br]reject you from the start.

0:00:37.927,0:00:40.733
<i>Personal connection[br]is how Jesus ministered</i>

0:00:40.734,0:00:42.020
<i>when He was on earth.</i>

0:00:42.255,0:00:44.601
<i>So these church members[br]are following His lead</i>

0:00:44.602,0:00:47.015
<i>by implementing Christ’s[br]method of ministry.</i>

0:00:47.695,0:00:49.915
<i>This is key to building relationships,</i>

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<i>especially in the growing[br]cities like Belgrade</i>

0:00:52.926,0:00:56.039
<i>where people tend to stay focused [br]on their own busy lives.</i>

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This is a community[br]that lives in big buildings.

0:00:59.580,0:01:01.766
There are a lot of skyscrapers here

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that has a lot of people there.

0:01:04.247,0:01:08.417
It’s a very, very big area [br]to actually outreach to.

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There are a lot of people[br]who actually live here

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and don’t know anything about God.

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They are not that religious.

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People don’t want to[br]learn and search for God,

0:01:18.278,0:01:20.721
because they live in that kind of society.

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Now, no one wants to know about God.

0:01:23.620,0:01:26.519
So, it’s hard to actually[br]talk about it with people

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who don't know or want [br]to know about God.

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That’s the challenge here.

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I mean, it is a secular country.

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<i>Just a few years ago,</i>

0:01:36.358,0:01:40.178
<i>the area known as Novi Belgrade [br]had no Adventist church.</i>

0:01:40.598,0:01:43.744
<i>Any time church members who lived[br]in this part of the city wanted to gather,</i>

0:01:44.168,0:01:46.634
<i>they had to travel far to[br]get to the nearest church.</i>

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<i>In 2020,</i>

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<i>a portion of your 13th Sabbath Offering [br]helped establish a church</i>

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<i>in Novi Belgrade!</i>

0:01:57.996,0:02:00.236
<i>They were able to get[br]a space with two levels</i>

0:02:00.450,0:02:02.936
<i>and are in the process [br]of renovating the lower level</i>

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<i>to be an urban center of influence!</i>

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It means a lot to us,

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because we have our own services,

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we can invite friends.

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The facility is very good,

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and we are very grateful to God [br]that it has two levels.

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The upper one, where we are now,

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where the services are held,

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and the lower part,

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which is very convenient[br]for various activities.

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This is going to be a center of influence,

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and we are going to have [br]the health clubs here.

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We are going to teach people[br]how to cook healthy food

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and maybe some kind of crafts.

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There are a lot of people[br]here who like crafts,

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like making soaps [br]from healthy ingredients,

0:02:54.842,0:03:00.355
as well as decoupage and quilting as well.

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<i>Your contributions to[br]the 13th Sabbath Offering</i>

0:03:03.530,0:03:05.596
<i>have already been received with gratitude.</i>

0:03:06.203,0:03:09.023
<i>The new space feels like home [br]to this congregation,</i>

0:03:09.506,0:03:11.520
<i>and hopefully, it will allow them to grow.</i>

0:03:13.447,0:03:16.066
I am very grateful [br]to those that helped us,

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all the brothers and sisters[br]from all over the world,

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because this is a big municipality [br]where we are

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and where our church was not.

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Believe that we have prayed [br]for over 20 years.

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We have prayed to have this church,

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and that’s why we are also[br]ready to give our offerings

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to those who also need[br]to have their own church.

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I have so much gratitude.

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Thank you.

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I’m grateful to God

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that He gave those people[br]the will to actually give,

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and that He inspired them to give.

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That tells us we actually have to work

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and to justify what we already got.

0:04:03.010,0:04:05.850
And that we have actually [br]prayed for God

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to actually use us where we are [br]to fill this building,

0:04:10.741,0:04:13.067
so we have to find another one.

0:04:13.487,0:04:14.954
<i>Please pray for this church</i>

0:04:14.955,0:04:18.874
<i>as they soon open an urban center[br]of influence in a new part of Belgrade.</i>

0:04:19.389,0:04:23.049
<i>Thank you for giving to [br]the 13th Sabbath Offering in 2020</i>

0:04:23.386,0:04:26.859
<i>and making this congregation’s[br]dream become reality!</i>