US Team and YWAM Team

We got back from our short triplet to Croatia, and our next US team arrived. This time it was just 12 of them, and as they were with us under 2 weeks, we did a shortened version of our orientation with them, before they got into the swing of things with fun game nights, pub quiz, etc. 

They were all studying in North Carolina, and so I could tell them about my visits there to see my friend Greg (who visited me last year!). They were a sweet team and it was fun to have them come and join in with our students and volunteers. 

After they left, we had just 2 days before our final team (from YWAM Trentino) before the summer break arrived. There were 6 nationalities amongst the 7 of them: USA, The Netherlands, Chile, UK, Brazil and New Zealand. 

They were heading down to the camps at Boracko Lake, and the idea was to have an orientation to the country and then help out where they could with us. Some of my colleagues had already left on their summer break, so it was just Kate and I doing the orientation for them.

After that, they helped a lot around the building - helping me with getting my supplies ready for our children's ministries (read: sharpening of pencil crayons!) and also helping me get rid of a lot of stuff from our office. And we also managed to find the right person for the job... of fixing how the books were organised: 

It is so fun when you give someone a job that they absolutely love, and do a great job with it!! 

It wasn't all work and no play, they did go up to Banj brdo lookout with our volunteers: 

And we had a fun last night with them, playing pictionary and other games: 

And then it was time to say goodbye to the last team of the spring/summer and head out on my own summer break! 

Rocky Mountain Region Team 2026 part 2

After I got back from the conference in Hungary, it was time to engage once again with the team. (If you haven't read part 1 about the team, check it out here)

Twice a week the team ran fun events, ranging from fun game nights, to trivia evening and a great cultural dance night - with dances from locals, Americans and Indian students. It is such a great way for the team to learn about the local culture and for locals and International students to learn about American culture! It is also a lot of fun! Below they are learning the "kolo" or Serbian circle dance:

Michael Ots who is the Field Director of FEUER (The Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe) and an author of numerous books came and spent a weekend in Banja Luka, where he was able to speak on two events: 

The first night was about some of his travels to 75 countries around the world, ranging from meeting the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein to sharing how he sees God in the wonders of New Zealand. It was fun and engaging and encouraged even more people to attend the next night where he shared on the topic "What makes us human? Faith and hope in the age of AI". 

At this event he not only shared more deeply about faith and the meaning of life, but he was also able to share a copy his new book "Making sense of life" to every one who wanted one. Many stood in line to chat with him afterwards and get their booked signed! Here is one of our amazing volunteers, Vlad, with his signed copy: 

Then all of a sudden, it was time to say goodbye, and we had the traditional pizza/karaoke goodbye party. And the turnout was testimony to the relationships formed over their month with us: 

So, to end off, I do have to share one of the hard parts about hosting teams - and that is when something goes wrong or someone is sick...

Team directors, Hannah and Micah (above with our team) had been staff on 2 previous teams. And both those times, someone had needed to go to the hospital... When they arrived, Hannah jokingly said that they had gotten a "name" for being on the teams that always had someone get really sick and hopefully this time would be better...

Well, this team kind of said, "Hold my beer" to the previous two teams!! This time we had 3 people need to go to the hospital, 2 of them in the middle of the night (poor Ljilja!) and one of those two was really sick and needed help multiple days. Thankfully in the end they all got better (one was a broken toe, so that is still healing...). But the good news is that Hannah who was sick most of the previous two times, didn't get sick herself this time, so we are taking it as a win!!! 

It might not always be easy to host teams (especially big ones like this one), but I can truly say that it is always worth it!

Rocky Mountain Region Team 2026 part 1

I arrived back from South Africa into Zagreb on the 18th in the morning, and waited 6 hours at the airport until this wonderful team of 31 Americans arrived. They are all students in colleges in the Rocky Mountain Region of InterVarsity - from Colorado to Utah and Arizona. We send a chartered bus for them, and so I helped with communication with the driver and got us all on the bus for the trip to Banja Luka. 

We then spent 3 full days doing orientation with them - from history and culture, to do's and don'ts in this culture... it also allows them to get to know us better and we have a fun time. I also managed to get all 31 names (it helps that there were returners and staff that I already knew). 

We end that week off with a fun sports day with our teenagers. Always a highlight: 

After that week, they go to different faculties to get to know the students and also get to understand more about the culture. Here we are at the English department. Because of illness, the  promised lecture on cross-cultural communication was cancelled, but I think the exercise they were given instead was equally valuable. The local students were given the task to translate some of Ivo Andric's "Signs by the roadside" which was a difficult exercise, but actually the Americans appreciated the difficulty of translating by the end and learnt a lot about the language and the culture along the way. 

Here they are trying to figure out what Ivo Andric is trying to say in different groups: 

And then each group was able to share their translation of the different texts to the class: 

Here we all are afterwards: 

More on the rest of their stay with us in another blog post!! 

US InterVarsity Team

We had an incredible month hosting a team of 36 from the Rocky Mountain Region of InterVarsity! This was the fourth year in a row that they have been here in Banja Luka and the partnership keeps getting better! This time there were 4 returning students who act as student leaders, and 5 IV staff and then 27 new students who had never been before.

One of my main roles with the team is to help with their orientation:

We try to help them get a better understanding of the history and the culture of the area. Here I am going through their answers for the Scavenger Hunt that takes them around all the different landmarks in Banja Luka and they have a great time finding them all! 

After orientation, the American students spent time doing life with local and international students - sharing meals, having honest conversations, walking through doubts and faith, and forming deep friendships built on trust, compassion, and Christ-centered love. Learning about a different culture, while sharing about their own - a true cultural exchange. 

They hosted loads of fun events: from Quizzes to Dance parties!

And three afternoons a week we hosted anyone who wanted to come to our place at "Cafe Ihtus"

This was all a great way to hang out and grow in relationships in a neutral space. They also went on activities organised by the local and international students - like hiking up the hill with a lookout over Banja Luka: 

Our first event with the team was a Teen Sports Workshop which brought together teens, American students, and our wonderful local volunteers for a day full of fun, games, and shared joy.

The team also stepped into academic spaces across Banja Luka: We were honored to take part in the 30th-anniversary student conference at the Faculty of Philology, where we could interact with the students in between different presentations.

We were also warmly welcomed at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics—engaging with students from across the region and planting seeds of mutual respect, curiosity, and future collaboration.

We also hosted two sessions at the English Department led by two Christian psychologists from the U.S. on "The Nature of Trauma" and "Family of Origin", sparking important conversations around healing, identity, and hope from a Biblical perspective.

We also had two more serious events at the Church. One was by the two psychologists, based on "Emotional Awareness":

 The other was called "Art for the Soul". A highlight of that evening was the powerful monodrama “Writing Against the Silence,” written and performed by Jovana, one of our local volunteers. Her powerful performance shared the story of a soul seeking truth, freedom, and forgiveness through written words. Her honest, heartfelt story of finding voice, healing, and freedom deeply moved all who attended.

The month flashed by, and we had to say a sad farewell to these wonderful students. We had a little time of sharing at the end, and it was amazing to hear their stories of how the trip impacted them, and also all those students whom they met and encouraged. We look forward to their next team coming again in 2026!

Ballet Magnificat! in Banja Luka

Last year, we were offered the opportunity to have the Christian ballet troup, "Ballet Magnificat!" here in Banja Luka and we decided it was an opportunity we couldn't miss. We had a contact who knew someone in the National Theatre, and so when things worked out for us to get that, we knew we made the right decision! 

We decided it would be a fundraising event for the Children's Home and for the special needs school. Ljilja did all the heavy lifting of working out where to host them, their transport, etc and it all came together wonderfully in the end. The story was of the Prodigal Son, and it had such a lovely message of love and reconciliation.

We were a bit concerned that we wouldn't sell enough seats, and although we didn't fill the theatre, it was close, which made for a good time for everyone! Including our volunteers (pictured above with the company) who helped man the doors and hand out programs. The Minister for Education and Culture came with her granddaughters along with the local press - we made the nightly news on the National TV station:  https://www.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=600092

In the morning, Ljilja and I took some of them on a tour of Banja Luka, and here they are in front of the theatre with the posters for their performance (and looking like very different without their performance make up!) 

In the evening, we had a great photographer come and take pictures, and it captures just a slice of what it was all about:

During the tour, I was chatting to one of the dancers and she said it was hard on their bodies as they travel a lot between putting on their performances - so they go from sitting all day to then putting their legs up straight - kind of like the pic below... and yes, it must be hard to keep limber when travelling! 

Some stunning classical ballet: 

And lots of the whole company dancing together: 

So beautiful! 

At the end they got a well deserved standing ovation, and we look forward to hosting them sometime in the future again!! 

InterVarsity Athletes and Center Church Teams

Two years ago, we had a visit from some of the leaders of the InterVarsity Surf and Turf region (they cover campuses in central California and southern Nevada).  During that time we dreamed about having a group of InterVarsity Athletes come and help us run Sports Camps for kids. Last year a team failed to come together, but this year we had a group of athletes wanting to come. At the same time we were asked if a small group could come from another church and we decided to combine the two teams, and it was a great combination! 

We ran 3 camps which were "Day camps" just coming together each day, and the kids had a blast learning new sports and playing games they had never played before! We also had many new volunteers joining us to help translate (always a blessing) and join in the fun themselves! Below is a pic of our last camp, with kids from our sponsorship project, local volunteers and the American teams: 

One of the camps was at the Children's Home and that was so much fun! At first the kids were reluctant to even start playing and making all sorts of excuses, but in the end they didn't want to stop playing when it was time for us to go! We aren't allowed to show the faces of the Children's Home kids online, but you at least get the idea: (and many of the kids didn't want to be in the photo which is their choice!)

The kids got to enjoy flag football which was totally new to them... and so fun! 

Even for the smallest kids who joined us at the home, so cute: 

The teams also held a fun "Cultural night" for students with a quiz on flags... no prizes for guessing this flag! 

The Center Church team left before we got a group pic, but the Athletes took us out for a thank-you dinner at the same restaurant where the "dreaming" started - a full circle moment! 

As usual, it was very hard to say goodbye to these wonderful teams, but I look forward to the day when we will meet again - if not in this life, then in the next! 

InterVarsity Rocky Mountain Region team

Once again we were honoured to host 28 students and staff from the Rocky Mountain Region of InterVarsity for one month. This is the 3rd year in a row, and we think this partnership will continue for many years to come. It has been great for them to have their students learn about other cultures and for us to have extra people coming to teach English and work with students. 28 is a LOT of people, but some had been previously and they are also very well organised so we don't feel like it is too many people! 

One of my major roles is to help with orientation to the country, history and culture. Here we are in the church figuring out who had won the "Scavenger Hunt" around Banja Luka! They have to go around and find answers to questions about different places in the city. It is a lot of fun for them, and means I don't have to take each team on a tour of the city! 

Here is our team with the staff team - they had 4 staff members and then 5 student leaders who had already been previously and were helping to lead the different small groups that the team was divided into. 

While the team is around, we have different events for students - ranging from Dance nights to Trivia Quizes. We also had some outside speakers come to do some 3 events while the team was here. One was on "Where is God in Suffering?" and here is a pic of that event - with our speakers Michael Ots, Andy Mayo and Piyush Jani are in the front left. 

Michael Ots has written a few books, and we also gave away copies of them, which have been translated into Serbian. 

And Andy played a few songs for us and gave away copies of his CD. 

This year, I insisted on having nametags during the 3 days of orientation, and because I could see the names, I was able to make sure I remember all of their names! I enjoyed hanging out with them here and there and after a month together it was really hard to say goodbye to all of them when they left!

April in Banja Luka and Bulgaria

I got back to Banja Luka at the beginning of April and hit the ground running!

Week 1 - hosting a team from YWAM Hurlach:

Luckily they were kind of low-key, just doing an exploratory trip to see the possibilities of bringing other teams in the future. They also picked up Andreja, who is in YWAM in Slovenia, on the way, so that was fun to have her as well! 

 I showed them around Banja Luka, and gave them a bit of the history. And then put them to work sorting out all the stuff in our classroom!

Then week 2: Travel with Ljilja and Siniša to Bulgaria for the "Refresh" Partner conference with TEN-UK:

They are an organisation who has partnered with our church for many years, and currently help the church with finances for various humanitarian projects - e.g. wood and chickens. More info on the conference on their website: TEN-UK

Week 3&4: Team number 2 from YWAM Enniskillen

This team was a "Foundations in Counselling Ministry" outreach, so they were able to do some workshops for our students and Moms as well as help us run our Easter outreaches (next section!). 

We finished off the month with them doing Easter Celebrations with our children... which is in the next blog post!