8 September 2016 | St Albans, UK [Victor Hulbert] Zlatko Musija was elected as the new Youth Ministries director for the Trans-European Division at a meeting on Thursday, 8 September. Musija, who currently serves as president of the Adriatic Union Conference, will replace János Kovács-Bíró who resigned for personal reasons in June.
Musija states that he accepted the call because “the church in Europe has some difficulty to retain and reach young people for Jesus, so Youth Ministry is one of our greatest needs.”
He comes with solid experience having previously served as Youth and Children’s Ministries director in the Adriatic Union. He has also worked as a church pastor, a lecturer and dean at the Adriatic Union Theological College in Marusevec, Croatia, and as the Croatian Conference president.
“As Union president I have been trying to lead the church in Albania, Croatia and Slovenia to focus on God and His awesome character and to show His character to the world by being a friendly missional church that makes a difference daily in the community,” he says. His particular areas of emphasis have included the development of leaders in the church, a focus on children and youth through departmental activities and education, and outreach in unreached areas such as Dalmatia, Albania. He has also focused on media ministry and positive social engagement between church members and the community.
Leaving all that to return to youth ministry is simply, in Musija’s words, his recognition of a call to serve where the needs are great. “My own blessed experience of being involved and active in church life from my childhood, and the opportunity I have had to serve in different leadership responsibilities despite being relatively young, gives me a passion to see our many young people involved in the church. I want them to experience the blessings of being active for Jesus. I equally want church leaders to recognise the importance of total youth involvement.”
Musija is just starting to formulate his plans for the future. Next year’s European Youth Congress will be high on his agenda, but he will also be assisting youth leaders with “the spiritual development of our youth by concentrating on the biblical picture of God and involving many young people in the mission of the church.”
“The most important environments for spiritual development of our youth are not global events like congresses, but ongoing life in their families and local congregations,” Musija insists. As such, he will focus on developing strategies and materials that can be used for youth ministry at a local level. He also believes strongly in reaching across departments and working in synergy with other leaders. Important at Division level, he will also be encouraging such co-operation at all other levels.
Musija has one more reason to recognise the importance of youth ministry. It provided him with a wife. As Adriatic Union Youth director he attended a youth congress in Albania. It was there he met the young lady who was to become his wife, Sonila. Together they are the proud parents of five year old Natanael and eighteen month old Barbara. As a family they now look forward to a new adventure with God and seek your prayers and support.
In welcoming Musija to his new role Raafat Kamal, TED President, said, “The selection of Zlatko Musija followed a prayerful and intentional process, as youth ministries is one of the key focus areas of the TED. I have come to know Zlatko Musija as a resourceful man of integrity, enthusiastic about the mission of the Church, and dedicated to God’s calling on his life. I am confident that youth ministries in the Trans-European Division will be invigorated and strengthened under his leadership, and I look forward to him joining our team.” [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, director; Esti Pujic, editor
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