Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thess. 5:16-18
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| Grace and peace to you in the name of God our Father!
Our brethren in the States will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day soon (Happy Thanksgiving!!), but all of us have great reasons to give thanks to the Lord our God everyday!
| ************************ In our morning services, Stan is continuing with special messages until after the start of the new year. The next few messages will be focused on what it means to be a member of a local church, followed by messages highlighting the true meaning of Christ's coming and birth. (Reminder: Christmas is celebrated Jan. 7th in MNE).
In the evening, Stan has resumed preaching through Revelation, most recently from Rev. 20, pointing out how the gospel has spread and will spread because Christ has already bound our enemy Satan.
Please pray for those who hear God's Word preached, whether in person or online, that God would enable all to comprehend the truth; and for those not yet saved, that they would turn to Christ, the great and merciful Savior. ************************ 
In our last newsletter, we wrote: "We began our Stateside trip on Oct. 8 and it has been an adventure!" Well! Our remaining two+ weeks in the States and return trip were just as full and perhaps even *more* adventurous.
But God's mercies covered all and we are delighted to recount them. Join us in giving God all glory, honor, and praise with thanksgiving for the following:
- Visits to 3 churches: Trinity Baptist Church, Roanoke, VA; Grace Baptist Church, Dolgeville, NY; Reformed Baptist Church of Louisville (KY), plus time spent at our sending church, Faith Community. Stan had the opportunity to preach as well as to share details about our Mission to Montenegro. We also enjoyed sweet fellowship with the saints and especially with some new(er) members to the churches.
- Catching a *very* tight connection which allowed us to attend the inurnment ceremony of Vicki's Stepfather, an especially meaningful time with close family.
- Attending the FIRE Pastor's Conference at Faith Community Church, CA Theme: Call to Freedom (from Galatians 5). Stan preached one session on Tuesday morning. We were both blessed to spend quality time with fellow church preachers, teachers, leaders, and pastor's wives.
- Several Lovely Dinners/Meet-ups with Friends.
- Several Meet-ups with family, both in CA and NY.
- Accomplished needful errands. God granted extra mercy and grace when we found ourselves accidentally ensnarled in a massive traffic jam due to the Dodgers World Series Win Parade Celebration.
- Wonderful time getting to know our So. Cal host family, the Thomases, who valiantly hosted us despite life's challenges including an emergency operation *and* evacuation orders due to the Mountain Fire on our last day. We are grateful for their sacrificial hospitality!
- With a delayed flight out of LAX, we missed our European connections. We were rerouted through Istanbul, spending the night in the airport. Thankfully, we had lounge privileges and could push two comfy chairs together to at least put our feet up.
- We safely arrived just one day late (Nov. 8). Our luggage took an extra four days(!) to make it but all arrived intact and undamaged!
Thank you all for your prayers on behalf of our travels and safety, and we thank God for His wonderful provisions!
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Full house at Church with Danish Team
Upon our return, we hosted a Danish team who just recently finished up a week in Nikšić working with the EUS team, reaching out to university students.
Despite a two-day national holiday during their stay, our Danish friends were able to be on the campus, meet students, invite them to events (concert, outings), host a bible study, and speak of life and faith. Several students have shown interest in knowing more.
 
Food, Fun, Fellowship, Farewell
Please pray for these new contacts to make time and effort to attend the EUS Student Bible studies, to meet for conversation, and to turn to God wholeheartedly.
Join us in giving thanks for all the good things the Lord is doing! May His name be ever more glorified!
We so appreciate your earnest prayers, your sacrificial support, your quick notes and cards, and the blessing of working together for God's name to be exalted here in Montenegro.
One with you in Christ,
Stan and Vicki Surbatovich
Vicki's Snapshot: To be continued next month, Lord willing.
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