Music Training in Bosnia
This trip was for five days from 28th Feb 2008 at the evangelical church in Sarajevo, and around 25-30 people from throughout Bosnia Herzegovina attended.
The main brief was to encourage musicians, worshippers and sound technicians to get the best out of their instruments and sound equipment. So who better to be the main inspiration at this event than John de Jong, director of Angel Mountain Ministries (AMM) a life-long musician and worship leader who has been ministering in Europe for over 20 years; John has a degree in sound technology and worked in the industry before running the Creative Worship side of Manchester Vineyard. He now heads up AMM and is also a well respected worship leader and teacher, traveling extensively in Europe but mainly in Czech Republic. John wrote this in his latest newsletter:
"It was a privilege to partner with Missionary Ventures International and take part in a training event in Sarajevo a few weeks ago. Lukas Hradil and John Nuttall came with me. In a country which is predominantly Muslim, and where the Christian community is numbered in hundreds rather than thousands, it was a special privilege to train local people in music and technical skills, as well as look at the theology and practice of worship. We also looked at how to more effectively engage with our culture as Christians. It was one of those places where we felt a real connection with local people and I would not be surprised if we went back one day."
(Lukas, whom he mentions joined us from the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic; he runs a music club in a high profile clubland area in that city and is well respected, so he was able to talk effectively about cultural relevance!)
We do look forward to returning to spend time with these great people and ask the Lord to bless the work He is doing there. There was some really good networking and I would not be surprised if people from Bosnia-Herzegovina end up visiting UK, Czech Republic and vice-versa - all part of God's wonderful plan which we were privileged to be part of.
John Nuttall,
Rochdale