God's love in sLOVEnia
![Slovenia photo.jpg](/l/library/download/urn:uuid:5e21386c-3c8c-4379-b093-b7f5d3546d35/slovenia+photo.jpg?scaleType=1&width=555&height=310)
Bostjan and Lidija moved to Maribor, Slovenia's second city, two and half years ago taking over pastoring a small Baptist church and starting a work among university students with IFES Slovenia. They update us on their ministry.
The first year was quite challenging, but God encouraged us through sincere, loving, relationships with our church folk and students. We became a family!
For the past year and a half together with the elders, we have been developing core values and vision for the church, praying and working to see people become more involved in ministry. Our emphasis currently, is on discipleship, as we seek to equip believers for this work. Week after week we can see fruit for our efforts as God changes the lives of believers both at church and among the students.
God has also blessed the students’ work. Over just two years, a group of 9 Slovene Christian students who regularly attend our Bible studies in Maribor, has come together. This is a major step forward for student ministry, as we are not allowed by law to hold any type of religious meetings within the university grounds. Reaching the students is done through ‘friendship’ evangelism and we can hardly believe how these 9 are growing in maturity and in their desire to reach others for Christ.
Urska told us. "I met the Lord two years ago. The group in Maribor with Bostjan and Lidija, is a place where I have grown constantly in the past two years of my University life, and I have learned so much about the Lord and His Word. My desire is to serve the Lord in Slovenia. Because so many people are struggling mentally and spiritually, I would like to combine knowledge gained from my Psychology studies with my knowledge of Scripture, to serve people as a counsellor."