We are both grateful and excited to share the following news with you! Through conversations or a visit with us, you have likely heard of our vision to open a Center for Faith, Ethics and Culture. The first step to this was purchasing a building. To make a long story short, this past June, Pastor Ratko signed the papers and our church has become owners of a property on the most well-known street in Zagreb!
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| Ilica, the most well-known street in Croatia. Our new facility is the white building on the left. |
Over the last several years, the Lord has planted a vision in the hearts and minds of the leadership of Stijena Spasenja (Rock of Salvation). In thinking and praying for our local church and our city, we have often been inspired by Timothy Keller. His words: "Christians should seek to live in the city, not to use the city to build great churches, but to use the church’s resources to seek a great, flourishing city" helped articulate a vision for how our church relates to our location in the largest city in Croatia, right in the heart of the country.
We're excited to grow into a place that serves the city through education, public discourse and various cultural events. Although we are currently planning on using one floor of our new building for our local church needs, we hope to one day expand throughout all four floors of the facility and open the doors of the Center to serve the city of Zagreb.
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| One of the possible arrangements for the new sanctuary |
We are so grateful and humbled by the fact that we have come this far and were able to make this purchase. However, the need is still great. Although we had the money from our savings and a loan to be able to purchase the building, we are now raising funds to help with renovations such as lighting, sound, furniture, flooring etc. Would you prayerfully consider joining our efforts? Your gift goes towards a sanctuary that will serve the dual purpose of offering the local church a distinguished space to worship the Lord and the community a reputable hall for public lectures, round-table discussions and concerts.
We realize that there are so many projects to give to. With that in mind, our desire is that you would catch a glimpse of the vision, share our joy for this project and join us in expressing God's love for the city of Zagreb. You can partner with us financially by sending donations to NEW EUROPE VISION, PO BOX 9000, Peabody, MA 01961 (indicate that your contribution is for Stijena Spasenja).
Now for a bit longer explanation of where we've been and how the Lord sowed this vision in the hearts of the leaders of our church. Stijena spasenja church has been renting a space since we were first founded in 2009.
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| Celebrating the Stijena Spasenja's 10th anniversary in 2019 |
In 2020, we were forced to move out of the building we were renting. Since then we have been using a space only available to us on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately, this has not been not adequate to meet many of our practical needs like a nursery, children's ministry and space to hold weekly prayer meetings and other gatherings. Although we are always grateful to be able to meet in any capacity, we have long known that in order to be able to continue to flourish as a local church with a vision for serving our city, we would need a 'home'.
In 2019, as a congregation we decided to start putting away money specifically with the goal of one day purchasing property instead of continuing to rent. One large donation towards that goal gave us the push to start looking at land and properties more seriously. The building we purchased in June cost more than what we had saved. But with a lot of prayer and many advisors in the process, we decided to ask for a loan for the amount that we were unable to pay from our savings. One of the amazing components in all of this is that our loan request was granted.
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| The process of renevoating the space we would use for a sanctuary began this fall |
The size of the building means that there are currently three different businesses renting out various floors. Their rent will pay off our monthly loans and we still have plenty of space for a church sanctuary and additional rooms for Sunday school classes and offices. We are so grateful to the Lord for all the advisers He has provided along this journey to help us ensure we were being wise throughout the whole process.
The floor of the building that will be used by our church needs to be renovated and made into a proper sanctuary. The other rooms need to be updated to serve their various purposes. Again, we are working to build a high-quality and long-lasting sanctuary that we will be able to offer the community around us an up-to-date facility for public lectures, round table discussions and concerts. Building the sanctuary is the first step in our long term vision. We hope to move in by Christmas 2023! We are anxious to be in our own space and continue to grow while offering more ministry opportunities.
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| One of the possible designs of the foyer/cafe area outside the sanctuary |
Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated! Feel free to forward this to people who might share this vision with us.
We would love to hear from you and are more than happy to tell you more about this project and our future plans. Please let us know if you would like any additional information.
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