2 February 2011 Pristina, Kosovo [Nikola Aslimovski, tedNEWS] Pastor John Velimir Bogdanovic Stevens, Sr. held a series of daily lectures at the Grand Hotel in downtown Pristina, Kosovo. The lectures were translated into Albanian and accompanied by wonderful video presentations. All lectures were recorded for the local TV channels, including the two cable providers IPKO and KUJTESA that insured coverage throughout all of Kosovo. The lectures aired daily at a very desirable time slot of 21:00 local time and were replayed every following day at 16:00.
The series of lectures were advertised through several media channels – on the radio (RTK), in the daily newspaper Koha Ditore (Daily Times), on billboards and through distributed flyers featuring the lecture titles. Many complimentary copies of Pastor Stevens’ book Amazing Prophecies of Hope were given away. Free copies o by Ellen G. White were also given out. Both books were translated into Albanian.
The series of lectures were concluded with the baptism of a young married couple that attended 
every lecture.These two newly baptised believers were Roma Gypsies, an ethnic group in Kosovo. About twenty others that attended the lectures expressed interest in studying fundamental biblical principles, and another six were later baptised.
The baptism of these local people in Kosovo, where Islam is now 98% dominant, shows very clearly the presence of the Holy Spirit and its influence in these evangelistic programmes. In another story later revealed, a refugee couple from the Middle East was being housed at the government-appointed Adventist Church refugee shelter (where the official ADRA headquarters in Kosovo are also located) for some time that overlapped the lecture series. Refugees M. and S. attended the firstlecture which dealt with the subject of the last ruler of Babylon and was entitled “Mene, Mene Tekel Upharsin”. When Pastor Stevens asked the young man if he understood the lecture, he said that he did; furthermore, he revealed that he was one of the world’s few experts in Ancient Semitic languages and was in fact a Jew
descending from the tribe of Benjamin.
The couple later shared that the fact their long journey led them to being housed in an Adventist church in Pristina at the same time the lecture series was taking place was enough proof of God’s leading role in their lives. Their experience from these events convinced them that God was continuously revealing His perfect plan for them.
Not long after the couple directly felt God’s leading through their past experience, a friend from their home country joined them in Pristina. After studying the basic Biblical principles, the young businessman also asked to be baptised and that day, instead of a business suit, he wore a bright grin that showed his joy and excitement at his baptism.
In total, eight people have been baptised since the series; the cable TV broadcast of the series has yielded 63 addresses of interested families that could potentially be a link to even 250 believers!
One of the viewers that contacted the church wrote the words, “I am yours!” The doors are open for evangelism in Kosovo. Jesus’ words of “The harvest is full, but the workers are few” are being fulfilled. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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