Slovenia Bog Blog

Each year the Bible Society of Slovenia organises a week when the Bible is read for 24 hours a day for 7 days. They call it the Bible Marathon. People from around Slovenia can come to a chapel in central Ljubljana and read the Bible aloud. Usually churches organise a few hours one day when they all come together and take turns to read chapters. The event opens and ends with pray and throughout the week there are some talks to accompany the theme of the Marathon. This year the event was held at the beginning of October and theme came from Jesus' words in Mark 5: "Don't fear, only believe".

I am very supportive of the work of the Bible Society throughout the world. For years this society has been involved in publishing the Christian Scriptures into all the different languages of the world. My eyes have also been opened to the vital role this society plays within Slovenia. They have been publishing the Bible here for many years, but within a diverse theological context. For example, they have to accommodate a very large Roman Catholic presence in Slovenia. There may be a few Catholic influences in the Slovene Bible translations, yet it means that everyone has access to the Bible. The society helps people read it, whenever they hold their Bible Reading marathon. Furthermore, one of the aims of the society in Slovenia is to engage in evangelism whenever and wherever they perceive the church is failing in this.

This year Peter Novak, the pastor of the Reformed Evangelical Church (REC), who also happens to be my boss, organised for us to give two talks in conjunction with the Bible Society Marathon. The titles for the talks were "Do you understand what you are reading?". This was Philip's question to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. Our goal was to help people consider an appropriate approach to read, understanding and applying Scripture. Using the narrative from Acts 8:26-40 as my main example for this approach, I spoke on the basics of comprehension skills, the centrality of Jesus Christ for understanding Scripture, and the importance of reading a passage in its context. Peter Novak's talk picked up these ideas, and focused more on reading the Old Testament.

If you would like to look at the talks, follow these links to Youtube:

Mark's Bible Society Marathon Talk 2012 - English with Slovene translation

Peter's Bible Society Marathon Talk 2012 - Slovene

Personally, I found the preparation for this talk rather challenging. Usually I speak to audiences which understand the importance of reading the Bible and then put this into practise. In Slovenia I might assume that some people would say the former, but there would be no evidence of the latter in their lives. The questions at the end of my talk confirmed that there was a very broad spectrum of attitudes towards the importance and place of reading the Bible. So I had to work hard in preparation, making my presuppositions and assumptions clear, being practical, as well we faithful to Scripture.

Overall, I think the Slovene Bible Society Marathon is an excellent opportunity. It really is just a start too, since it seems that it is the only exposure to the Bible that a lot of Christians receive throughout the year.

What is the greatest need for Christianity in Europe at this present time?

That is a pretty broad question to ask, but it was in the back of my mind as I went to the 2012 European Leadership Forum (ELF) conference in Eger, Hungary. In order to make the most of this conference, I had considered this broad question as well as what are some of my personal and the Slovenian issues we face as Christians, and how such a conference could aid in answering these things.

The Forum is clear on what its is trying to achieve, not just at a conference, but throughout the year through their networks (see the conference website for a list of the Forum's goals). Our work in Slovenia would fit into several of their categories. For example, we all want to present the gospel confidently, lovingly, and persuasively. Likewise, we want to find efficient and effective strategies to reach into Slovenian culture with the gospel. As a pastor, I want to develop my gifts and abilities in teaching and pastoring. At a conference there is obviously an opportunity to have a concentrated time of working through these aims and organising leaders to achieve these goals.

So let me reflect upon how the conference went about fulfilling these aims and how they are seeking to answer the needs of God's church and gospel work in Europe. Firstly, some background on the participants and what actually happened.

The ELF Conference

This year the conference hosted over 600 participants from countries all around Europe. The main speakers for the morning and evening talks came from England and the USA, and featured influential Christians like John Lennox (mathematics professor), Oz Guiness (influential social commentator), and Lindsay Brown (of the IFES Gen Sec and Lusanne fame). The various sessions were lead by Europeans like Stefan Gustavsson (who did some debates in Slovenia at the universities in ~2009/10). There was also a large group of Americans at the conference who basically served everyone through ushering, recording all talks and sessions, videoing all talks and sessions, organising feedback forms, running an information desk and book shop, etc.

After a large buffet breakfast (I promise I ate sensibly!), John Lennox gave Bible talks on the book of Daniel (you can find a large collection of similar ELF 2011 talks here and I believe the 2012 talks are now available). Then we all split into various network groups until lunch time. I attended the Bible teachers and Preachers Network strand for first time participants. There are about 18 different networks from University Evangelism, to church planting, to Apologetics, to Scientist and Theologian strands.

After lunch there were two workshop sessions each day which covered a large range of topics. I suspect some of these topics were making specific strand information available to a wider audience, for example, preaching techniques or apologetic issues. However these sessions were mostly new material and covered topics from recent archeology discoveries to family issues to numerous other passions and concerns from a Christian perspective.

Each evening sessions was primarily a talk by different speakers on different topics, but all were probably of concern to European leaders e.g. families, freedom, pressure and stress in life, and mission. One evening was an arts/culture appreciation night.

So how did the ELF conference help me and help towards addressing gospel needs in Slovenia? From my perspective (which I have clarified below in an Appendix), Slovenia needs churches which are lead by men who are able to teach Scripture, who are able to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and who are able to equip Christians with Scripture so that can also make disciples.

An Assessment

Firstly, the Bible Teachers and Preachers network strand was fantastic (although the final day was a bit wasted and we didn't finish all our course material). The main training we did each morning was how to read a Bible passage in its context (exegesis), understand what it meant for its original audience then understanding what the passage means for us (interpretation), and how it applies to us (application). I have covered and even taught such material before on numerous occasions. Am I bored with it? Never! This is exactly the type of training I need to be continually reminded of, especially if I am going to be a faithful Bible teacher and preacher. I need to help people understand God's Word, to allow God to speak to people, rather than using the Bible for proof-texting or as a spring-board. That is, I need to be reminded and shown how not to use Scripture to tell people what I want them to hear, and to show from Scripture what God is saying. My understanding of God's Word calls me to be an expository preacher and anything less is not evangelical.

Unfortunately this strand was not particularly good for networking. The other men and women in the strand are working in their own contexts (e.g. churches) throughout Europe. Likewise for the men teaching the material. I hope in the future that similar training from experienced pastors will be run for other Slovene pastors through working with organisations like the Langham Partnership. I'm praying that God will be raising up godly, evangelical Slovene pastors with whom we can network and utilise such training.

Furthermore, I think it is unfortunate that the methods and material we looked at during the Bible Teachers and Preachers network was not illustrated in the main sessions of the conference. Consider John Lennox's studies from Daniel. His talks were excellent as far as illustrating how God speaks to us now through his Word, showing us how we can face similar opposition from society as its wants to change our identity, values, worship of God, and so on. A whole first talk on the structure of Daniel was probably excessive, but it showed us the need to understand all passages in their literary context. And John's teaching against liberal theology was excellent, showing how God used prophecy to tell Daniel very specifically what would happen in the future.

However, John seemed extremely hesitant to mention Jesus Christ. Often it seemed John held some sort of dispensational perspective that didn't allow him to see Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the prophecies (as per, say, Luke 24:26-27, 44-49). The final talk ended with a very powerful call to remain faithful and know the Scriptures, but I still can't see from the passages he was working on how he came to this application. Powerful and right, but it was more John's message and passion than God speaking to us from Daniel. The evening sessions were interesting, however I feel they were a lost opportunity to feed and encourage us even more in the Scriptures. It seemed there was enough opportunity to hear these speakers during other afternoon sessions, so I am unsure the reasoning for the general topics covered during the evening times.

Although the question "what is the greatest need..." is probably not the best to ask, it is helpful for considering how we should use our limited time, energy and resources (I am also tempted to say that the word 'greatest' in the question probably misleads us). I think it is vital for God's people in Slovenia and Europe, that we have trained and mature pastors and teachers, who are clearly teaching what God is saying in Scripture, so that Slovene Christians (and Europeans) are equipped for disciple making and serving others. Such pastors and teachers could work in numerous serving contexts (churches, universities, amongst children, etc). The ELF conference was helpful for clarifying this to me, however the whole Forum is so diverse, that 'my greatest need' is lost amongst all the other issues in Europe. However I personally found many talks and sessions very encouraging and continue to pray and work towards the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ and growth of God's people through the clear explanation and reading of Scripture.

So what would you consider the greatest needs of Europe?

Appendix: The Criteria for my Assessment

It is probably helpful for me to clarify my criteria for assessing such a conference. Some of this will be implicit and other parts it will be helpful to explain. For example, I cannot speak about everything at the conference because I didn't hear everything. Furthermore I cannot comment on all the network strands because I didn't attend them. Consequently, a large percentage of the conference is beyond my assessment. Likewise, the conference was my first major exposure to ELF, so I am well aware I do not have a broad understanding of all parts of ELF.

Before the conference, I had thought that I should approach the conference as "an assistant missionary pastor of REC" and "with a concern for God's church in Slovenia". So my initial focus was seminars which would help me grow as a pastor (including personal life, family, training as a pastor, etc.), rather than considering all areas of ministry in Slovenia (e.g. universities, children, church planting, etc). As a missionary assistant, I was concerned that our Slovenian Pastor, who also was attending the conference, was being trained and equipped as a pastor. So we chatted a lot about what we heard and our impressions of the teaching. Furthermore I wanted to attend seminars which helped train me in leading and serving the people of REC (our church). Because ELF has a primary strategy of networking with other Christian leaders, I also considered how we could build God's church in Slovenia (again, from a pastoral perspective).

To consider what God is doing throughout the world should also be clarified, because people tend to approach this differently depending on their 'church tradition'. My presupposition is that God is continually working by his Holy Spirit as the news about Jesus Christ is proclaimed. The 'gospel' is this message about Jesus, often called the Word of God. The Bible is also called the Word of God, because foundationally it is in the Bible that God and his gospel about Jesus is revealed. So Scripture is everything necessary to knowing and growing as either a non-Christian or a Christian.

Consequently, this work of God through Bible explanation and gospel proclamation both calls non-Christians to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and it builds Christians in faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ. So in my mind, to be "Evangelical" is to be of a tradition which has a thoroughly biblical gospel - a gospel completely informed by Scripture, and which allows God to speak to its hearers. God delights in his people proclaiming this message and teaching others so that they can serve God in other ways.

Note: I would love to add lots of Bible verses to this section, but this post has blown out too much already.

[This blog has been reproduced from another blog report I produced for our church.]

At the moment we are in the middle of re-organising our visas. Everyone who desires to live for an extended period of time in another country must give reasons to the government for why they should have permission to stay in that country. I can understand their concerns. You do not want people just turning up and taking benefit of your country, taking up space or jobs, not contributing to society (i.e. paying taxes), and so on. For a start this usually annoys current inhabitants who vote you into government. Consequently, there are usually processes for people to apply for visas - the official government tick of approval.

Visas usually come in a variety of forms. Most tourists get their passports stamped with a 3-6 month tourist visa when they arrive in a country. There are visas for permanent residency, temporary residency for work purposes, voluntary work visas (for when you are financially supported outside of the country), visas so families can be united (i.e. spouse and children can live with their working spouse/parent), and no doubt numerous other options. Since Slovenia has a long history of Roman Catholic association and influence, there are nice categories for religious work visas as well. I fit into a sort of mix of all these. For the past 8 years I have had a temporary residency visa because I am a voluntary worker who has been invited to work for a Slovene religious society (and that in itself tells you a lot about Protestant Christianity in Slovenia). Rochelle and the children have had temporary residency visas based upon the unification of families.

Now visas tend to be issued for varying lengths of time. My current visa (which expired last week) was for 3 years - its still a shock that it was for so long. The rest of my family seem to have had a very random duration for their visas. It has basically meant that every year I have submitted applications for someone in our family.

So you would expect that by now we would know the application process back to front. I wish it was. Unfortunately, there seems to be an on-going communist influence in the Slovene bureaucracy. Despite the Office for Foreigners having a marvelous new, clean waiting room and a superb ticketed and calling system (I think its more simple than the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority system), you still need to get your application past the person at the front desk. They make the decisions on what is acceptable and what isn't, despite everything being processed in the back-offices.

So my recent visits to the Office for Foreigners has turned, metaphorically, into a light-bulb joke. How many visits does it take for your visa application to be accepted at the Office for Foreigners? Hmm .. once to get the forms; another time I was rejected because I needed to have the whole family present; another time because I assumed that upgrading my visa to a more permanent form would be possible, but it isn't, because I need to have the old form of visa more current than a month, even though they don't accept applications earlier than a month, so I had to fill in forms and apply for 2 different types of visas at the same time and our mission organisation isn't going to like the look of that expense next month....argh!

Even though I have submitted a huge collection of forms and documents, I have been told my passport photo does not fit their required dimensions (yeah .. I don't get that one either). So I'll have to take in a new photo. Plus I am still waiting on birth and marriage certificates to come from Australia with Apostile Stamps no longer than 6 months old in validity that have been officially translated into Slovene... I trust you get the picture.

Here is the point: while it can be a bureaucratic nightmare to organise our visas, I am very thankful to God that we have the possibility of obtaining them. We fit into a category which allows us to do solid gospel work full-time, rather than seeking another form of access. It is a stress and time consuming for a few weeks, but so far we haven't faced any major hurdles or been asked to leave. Hopefully our current application will be the last time we need to apply (we're all trying for permanent residency).

Thanks for giving me a shoulder to cry on. I trust the Office for Foreigners don't read too many blogs .. I would hate to have to go in again for the purpose of bursting into tears.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today our children went off to preschool dressed as Spider Man and a beautiful Princess! This is not our normal habit, although if Philippa had her way it would be! The past few days we have been celebrating “Pust”. This is basically carnival time in Slovenia, with the aim of scaring away winter and welcoming in Spring. While we don’t support the superstitious undertones of this, at the end of a cold winter it is fun to dress up and look forward to sunshine, flowers, warmer temperatures and spring. As I write this today, the sun is shining and the snow is melting.

Here are some prayer points for the month...

• A few weeks ago we had a television crew come and film our REC bible study group, for a  “religious” program that is run regularly on national TV. The program seeks to  inform people about different religious groups in Slovenia, so we were happy for them to come and see what we do and why. Pray that when the program goes to air, people who see it might be challenged to read their Bibles and consider the truths of the Scriptures. We hope that it will also be positive advertising for our church.
• Our women’s bible study group have come to the end of our study of Galatians. We were all particularly challenged by the practical instructions of the last chapter; to make sure our actions are in step with a Spirit filled life, to carry each other’s burdens and to not become weary in doing good. Pray for us as we seek to live this out in our day to day lives. We all decided that for our next series of studies, we will look at the topic of “contentment”. For this we will be following a series of six studies produced by the Good Book Company in England. This is an area that many women (all over the world) find challenging. Please pray that God will help us to understand his will for our lives and give us the gift of contentment.
• It is visa time again! Mark received a temporary working visa several years ago, and the rest of the family have had visas for shorter durations over this period. It has been a blessing that we have been able to obtain visas during the past 8 years without too much hassle – just a lot of paperwork. All our visas are again due for renewal at the end of March, so Mark has been collecting all the documents in order to obtain permanent residency here. This is taking our residency status here to a new level. The only real benefit of this is the reduction in effort required to continually renew visas. We are hoping it has tax implications, allowing us to pay tax here (which we wouldn’t because we don’t earn enough), and hopefully will result in lowering schooling fees for the children. Please pray for a smooth visa application process.
• Praise God that our health has been considerably better over the past month. Thanks for your prayers. The children still have niggling colds, but overall we are enjoying much better health.
• On the home front, Rochelle has been busy with school enrolments for Matej (he will start at our local school in the new school year starting September) and organising for Philippa to transfer to the preschool around the corner from our new house (also in Sept). We are very thankful that we already know the principal and her assistant at the preschool, as the children’s current preschool comes under this main one. They have been very kind to us in allowing her to transfer and making it as smooth as possible for us (a very rare thing!). Although it is while off, please pray the both children will be put in good classes, with teachers who can accommodate non-native speakers.
• We are looking forward to Rochelle’s parents joining us for a few weeks at Easter. It will be lovely to spend time with them and have some extra helping hands around the house. The children are already counting the days until they come! Pray that we will have good quality time with them and that we might be able to recharge our batteries a bit while they are here.

In Christ,

The Groombridges