The essence of education is to build a student’s character and mature personality, benefiting the community around them. The mission of the Živorad Janković high school in Serbia is to educate young people to think and act well, have a broad clarity of thought, and hold boldness in their convictions. The school promotes the acquisition of knowledge for personal and spiritual growth, leading to the adoption of life values and a love for God and people. Its goal is to provide a stimulating environment for the development of its students’ potential and talents in service of their community.
The strategy of the school is to be the change it wants to see in the world, because “even if we know all the secrets and all the knowledge and have no love, we are nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). As a student at Živorad Janković’s boarding school, an unexpected experience showed me the value of this philosophy and verse.
It was a cold winter evening, and my friend and I were walking outside. On our journey, we passed a large building, which turned out to be an abandoned factory. A little boy stopped us, asking us for food, and something moved us to sit with him. He told us how cold he was, sharing, “We live here in this building. We use this room on the first floor to sleep, and downstairs we have a toilet. There is no heating or water.”
Immediately, we knew that we wanted to help. We told the boy to wait for us, promising that we would return with food. An indescribable happiness awoke in both of us as we returned quickly to our school. Once we reached the dorm, we asked each person we encountered if they had anything that might help the little boy. We also packed things from our own closet, and our roommates joined us. Together, we filled four big bags with clothes, money, food, and hygiene products. At the last moment, we added blankets—not just any blankets, but those from our own beds. Although the blankets were owned by the school, we told the preceptor that we needed to take them because the boy and his family required them the most.
It was very late and getting colder, but God’s hand warmed us. We returned to the old factory and, when he saw us with the bags, the boy smiled and ran to meet us. For the next few days, at evening worship services, we regularly informed our friends that we were collecting items and carrying them to the boy and his family.
We informed our director about our actions, and he praised us with a smile. Almost the entire high school pitched in to help. We were constantly collecting and carrying things to the family. In addition to physical food, we also took books like Steps to Christ and The Great Controversy.
You might think that the story ends there. However, a few months later, the verse Luke 6:38, which states “Give and it will be given to you,” took on a special value. We traveled with our school to Maruševac, and when we arrived, a donation was waiting for us. Without any request on our part, we had been provided with new quilts, pillows, and bedding for all the beds in our dorm. After donating several blankets from the school to the vulnerable family, we received an incomparable return, multiplied a hundred times more. Our God is special and works in his own special way. He gives us more than we deserve.
Author
Maja Milićević
Maja is a student at an Adventist school in Serbia. She enrolled in this school as part of her search for God, which has led to many meaningful experiences and friendships.