Part of the Plan

Greetings from Paul and Mary.

Wow…it has been 5 months since we’ve relocated to Serbia.

What’s been happening? A virtual cornucopia of love, grace, big steps forward, some steps back, admin stuff, and a growing sense that it was the right thing to do. In no particular order it looks like this:

• Propel is set up as a recognised Serbian NGO. This allows us to work in Serbia and gives us potential access to governmental and corporate grants.
• The Propel Initiative (official name of US charity) is an approved 501c3 organisation! This will allow us to accept donations and support as a tax-exempt entity.
• We are still waiting for the word on our visas. In the interim….we carry on.
• Two students have been full funded for the 2016-2017 school year. We are in the process of identifying more in hopes of sponsoring 8-10 kids this year.
• We hired a Serbian accountant yesterday and Mary has developed the chart of accounts for bookkeeping.
• Mary, and all the ladies, are having a great time and growing together as part of the Nexus Roma Fellowship Bible Study.
• Paul is working with the men at Nexus Church. They have started a group called GT, which could mean Guy Time, Good Times, Grace Time, Gospel Time, Grub Time….you get the idea.
• We are making in-roads with the school administration in one of the Roma (gypsy) communities. This village, Sangaj, will be the focal point for our work.
• Strawberries here are fantastic, and there is rhubarb!
• We are still madly in love.
• We were crazy enough to say Propel would sponsor and run a Roma Kids Camp this summer.
• It sounds like a lot of “stuff”, but it is all essential to fulfill the vision and dream. We can think of no better place to be.

Looking forward we dream about…

• Every child in Sangaj enrolled in school.
• Adult Literacy courses in the Roma communities.
• Every home and community with their own gardens.
• A Roma home church in Sangaj.
• Hosting 4-6 teams in 2017.
• Introducing micro-enterprises.
• Providing a new education program to help parents prepare their preschool progeny.

If you have read this far…Thank you.
If any of this resonates with you, on any level, let us know. Your voice is important. It could be sharing your ideas, being part of a team, supporting the work, prayers, recipes, concerns, questions…whatever. Just click the proverbial link>>> Tell Me More!!!!  (Don’t be shy!)

Zagrljaji i poljupci iz Mari i Pavla

We’re running on faith, but we’re not running alone.

Don’t miss this news!!!

Only an insane person would volunteer to spend 5 days with 20+ kids at a camp…it takes a different kind of crazy to sponsor the event… and it takes some lunatic friends to help make it come true… Click the link to … Join the craziness!  This is  a Win! Sandra Our first fully-funded student for 2016-2017. When we first met her she rarely spoke, or even smiled. Now her smile is as bright as her future. We hope to sponsor up to 10 more kids this year. Interested in helping to rewrite someone’s future? Click here for more info.