Worshipping in a war zone proved to be a life-changing experience. I will never forget the night I was invited to preach for the first time in Karlovac Baptist church, for example. The brutal civil war that broke out following the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia resulted in the small congregation having to worship in the middle of the battlefield. But as I approached the church building I heard them lustily singing “Blessed assurance Jesus is mine, Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.” Now that’s what I call ‘a living hope’.
Dessa was one of the first people to impress me when I arrived in Croatia. She and her husband Slobodon were Bosnian refugees and had witnessed the most appalling suffering before finally finding safety on a bleak hill outside the coastal city of Rijeka. Dessa was pregnant at the time and had been advised that her child would be born dead. I can’t begin to imagine how she felt when she was told that. But then a friend told her that Jesus could help her, and in an act of faith, she laid hands on her stomach and asked Him to do just that. Amazingly she gave birth to a lovely little girl whom she named Nada, which means hope in English.
Few of us experience miracles of this magnitude, of course, but Dessa’s story has been a constant encouragement whenever I’ve met people going through a tough time. It’s allowed me to remind them of the angel Gabriel’s well-known words when talking about another unborn child: “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
Rob James, eadeirydd y Bwrdd Gweithredol, yn ystyried sut fedrwn ni ddangos gobaith yn ystod cyfnod y dyfodiad
Roedd addoli mewn ardal lle roedd yna ryfela yn brofiad ysgytwol. Wna i fyth anghofio’r noson honno pan gefais wahoddiad i bregethu am y tro cyntaf yn Eglwys Bedyddwyr Karlovac, er enghraifft. Fel canlyniad i’r rhyfel cartref a esgorodd wedi cwymp yr hen Iwgoslafia, gorfodwyd i’r gynulleidfa fechan addoli yng nghanol maes y gâd. Ond wrth imi nesáu at adeilad yr eglwys, fe’u clywais nhw’n canu “Sicrwydd bendigaid! Iesu yn rhan, hyn ydyw ernes Nef yn y man”. Nawr, dyna faswn i’n galw’n “obaith byw”.
Dessa oedd un o’r bobl gyntaf i wneud argraff arna i wrth imi gyrraedd Croatia. Roedd hithau a’i gŵr Slobodon yn ffoaduriaid o Bosnia a fu’n dystion i’r dioddefaint mwyaf erchyll cyn canfod diogelwch o’r diwedd ar fryncyn anial tu allan i ddinas arfordirol Rijeka. Roedd Dessa’n disgwyl plentyn ar y pryd ac wedi’i chynghori y byddai ei phlentyn yn cael ei eni’n farw. Fedra i ddim dychmygu ei theimladau o glywed hynny. Ond yna fe ddwedodd ffrind wrthi y gall Iesu ei helpu, ac mewn gweithred o ffydd, arddododd ei dwylo ar ei bol a gofyn Iddo wneud yn union hynny. Yn rhyfeddol, rhoddodd enedigaeth i ferch fach hyfryd a’i henwi’n “Nada”, sydd, o’i gyfieithu i’r Gymraeg, yn golygu “Gobaith”.
Does fawr neb ohonon ni’n profi gwyrthiau o’r raddfa yma wrth gwrs ond mae hanes Dessa wedi bod yn destun ysbrydoliaeth cyson imi pryd bynnag y bydda i’n cyfarfod â phobl sy’n mynd trwy gyfnod anodd. Mae wedi caniatáu imi eu hatgoffa o eiriau cyfarwydd yr angel Gabriel yng nghyd-destun plentyn arall oedd eto heb ei eni: “Rwyt ti’n gweld, does dim byd sy’n amhosib i Dduw ei wneud” (Luc 1:37).
