The God of being broken

“God puts great value on broken people.”

This is how Lydia is praising God for the way he is working in ZVEŠ, the national movement in Slovenia. Originally from the UK, Lydia has been a ZVEŠ staff worker for ten years, which she hasn’t found easy. After a recent season of real personal discouragement, “feeling confused, lost, and disappointed that God didn’t help me as I thought he should”, she now shares her renewed faith in a God who loves to turn our brokenness for good. She is “striving to find my encouragement in God and keep my eyes focused on Jesus. Please pray that I would not depend on myself, but stay humble and dependent on him”.

Though student ministry can be challenging with only a 0.1% evangelical Christian population in Slovenia, God is providing blessings. The ZVEŠ discussion group for international students has had a great start to the new academic year, and half of those attending are not yet Christians.

Lydia has a new apartment in a great location in Ljubljana, where she recently hosted an open house to welcome students. Some are very enthusiastic about meeting together to study the Bible, while others are very unsure about their faith. Lydia wants to encourage them to think about reaching out, without alienating those who need a safe, nurturing environment to explore knowing Jesus for themselves on a more fundamental level.

Let’s pray for Lydia and ZVEŠ Slovenia:

Pray that God would continue to uplift Lydia spiritually and give her the confidence that God is able to bless her “abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that she needs, she will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Pray that God would sustain the ZVEŠ team more generally through various health problems. As Lydia says, “we have no idea how this year will go, but pray that through God’s grace he would use the little we can do and multiply it.”

Pray that God would continue to work in the lives of the students who are part of ZVEŠ, speaking to them, and meeting them wherever they are and drawing them more and more into a knowledge and deep assurance of the love of Jesus for them and truth and power of the gospel.

Thank you for supporting ZVEŠ Slovenia in prayer. If you feel led to contribute to their movement financially, you can do so here.

If you’d like to hear more from Lydia, sign up to her newsletter on the UFM website here.