Jelena Milicevic is involved in the leadership of the preaching movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She also facilitates a preaching club and is a member of the Women’s Advisory Group.
War and witnessing faith
Jelena’s journey to faith began in wartime in her region of Yugoslavia. She reflects, “I became a Christian in the war. There was a big war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So I was 22 when the war started. I was finishing university, and it really felt like somebody took the carpet from under my feet.”
Raised in a communist atheist family, Jelena had never sought out God. She explains, “We didn’t believe in God. We didn’t search for God. We believed in goodwill among people and just humanity.” But the war forced her to question everything she once believed.
During the war, Jelena felt on the wrong side of everything, the wrong part of the city and the wrong nationality. She says, “I started to hate everything. I just wanted to leave and go far away from all of that.”
It was during this time that Jelena’s mother became a Christian, which sparked her curiosity. “My mother became a Christian. She started to go to church, and it was very interesting because church was all nationalities in together, and it was very strange for me. But she stopped crying, and she, she was different. I noticed that.”
Jelena began reading books left by her mother, including Peace with God by Billy Graham. She says, “I read it and I realised that if God is real, then I have a problem because not only do I live in the war, I am in a war with God.”
After understanding the weight of her sin, Jelena tried to make herself deserving of God’s forgiveness by her own merit, but it only got worse. Soon she realised that fully surrendering to God was the answer!
Jelena shares, “I still remember that prayer…God, please help me now to live for you. And since then, I started to follow God. And I never regret that decision.”
A gift for loving God’s Word
After coming to faith, Jelena got baptised and started attending church. She soon got involved in children’s ministry. The more she learned and understood, the more she felt she didn’t know, so when she heard about Bible school she was excited about the idea.
Jelena explains, “I really wanted to go to Bible school, but I was embarrassed to ask. And then my pastor asked me, ‘do you want to go to Bible school too?’”
Jelena quit her job and went! Her time at Bible school helped Jelena discover a passion for God’s Word. She says, “I learned a lot about God, about Jesus, and there I saw that I have a gift for, and love for His Word and for teaching His Word.” This led her into full-time ministry, where she has served ever since.
A new methodology and ministry
After some years in ministry, Jelena encountered Langham Preaching when a friend, Slavko, invited her to a seminar in Macedonia.
Jelena says, “I was preaching at that time already, but I really liked the methodology of Langham Preaching.”
Having completed all three Langham seminars, Jelena began applying what she learned. “I put into practice things that I had learned in my preparation for the sermons.” Jelena was working full-time in church ministry at this time.
Soon Jelena, at the invitation of Slavko again, got more involved with Langham Preaching as a board member for the movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She joined and is still involved today, but now as the National Coordinator for Bosnia and Herzegovina Langham Preaching.
In addition to her involvement with Langham, Jelena is still working in church ministry in a leadership role, with particular care and passion for children’s ministry.
She says, “ I still work a lot with the children and with women. That’s my passion, children. I really want children to know Christ when they are young. So they start to follow Jesus from an early age and they don’t need to go through life obstacles without God.”
Honest feedback and fellowship
Jelena finds the Langham Preaching approach particularly beneficial for ongoing growth and development.
She explains, “I really like the preaching clubs. When you are in leadership and you are preaching all the time, it’s so hard to get honest feedback. So, Preaching Club for me, that’s something that I really cherish the most because that’s a place where we can learn together.”
She also values Langham Preaching’s emphasis on Christ-centred sermons. “Langham Preaching really encourages preachers to stay focused on the Word and to make sure their sermons are Christ-centred. It’s so easy to go left or right from that spot and start preaching about some actual themes.”
Sometimes those Jelena encounters don’t see how directly relevant the Bible is. So Langham’s methodology and preaching clubs are a great resource in supporting and teaching those people!
She shares, “Sometimes people don’t see that they can preach exposition of the Bible and still preach about relevant themes. And that’s something that really excites me about Langham, that we teach every sermon needs to be faithful and relevant and clear.”
Pray for the needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Christian community is still very small and very unreached. Jelena explains, “Bosnia and Herzegovina is still very unreached. People are very busy and it’s hard to motivate them and encourage them to invest their time into the preaching clubs.”
Pray for Jelena and the team in Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- For the development of new strategies to reach people and get them to join Langham Preaching training and clubs
- For the spread of the gospel and for more people to know Jesus
- For Jelena in her church leadership, that she might have wisdom and perseverance