Marijan Zilic

“I was born in Yugoslavia. I didn’t attend church and did not have any kind of relationship with God, but I grew up in very strong Catholic community. When the war started in my country, well, I believe that's the point that my life changed.

The war split the country in two sides because of ethnicities. My city, where my family and I lived, was occupied by the army and they put me in a war camp. The camp was just a small gym, but there were over 500 of us in there. It was packed. There was so much fear and so much confusion. All I was thinking of was how to survive. You never knew if you were going to be alive the next day or not. I spent four and half months in the war camp until I was part of a prisoner exchange.

After that war camp I joined the army on the Croatian side. I was the guy who just came out of prison, you know?  And right now, I’m on the line trying fight the enemy who put me in that prison. So, you can understand how I felt. In war, there is nothing good. It does not matter what side you’re on. There are only evil thoughts, evil words, and lots of hate.

One time I was on the night watch. I remember there being lots of snow. The night was so clear and beautiful, and there were so many stars in the sky. When you are on duty during the middle of day, you can see everything around because the enemy is just yards from us. But during the night, it felt like it was just me. In that moment, maybe for the first time in my life, I lifted my eyes up to heaven, threw my weapon away from me into the snow and prayed, ‘God, if you exist and if you are there, please help me get out of here.’

I believe that from that moment I gave God the green light to do something with me. Maybe I didn't realize it then, but God found an open door in my heart for Him to work with me. Three weeks later I made the decision to escape. 

I decide to escape over the border from Bosnia to Croatia, where my wife and son were. You have to understand how important that decision was because escaping from the military, if they catch you, it can immediately mean going to prison. I was supposed to cross the river and travel about 150 miles. There were military police everywhere, and lots of checkpoints. Yet, I made the trip without anyone asking me a single question. 

Seeing my family was a happy reunion, though we knew we had to keep moving. That’s when we heard that Sweden was accepting war refugees. Sweden is north of Europe, about 2000 miles from where we were. The trip took two days. We had nobody waiting for us and no place to stay, but we were looking for a new life. I strongly believe that was an important decision for all of us.

When we arrived in Sweden, the police asked us why were there, and we replied that we had heard they were accepting refugees. ‘Whoever told you that story, it's not true,’ they replied. But they still let us in, and we spent ten months in Sweden. That was exactly enough time for God to send some Adventist people in my life. For the first time, at the age of 27, I started reading the Bible and understanding what God is about.

Shortly after, the Sweden government made the decision to kick us out of the country. The family who had introduced us to the Adventist message had just recently moved to Germany, and they helped us move near them. We lived in Germany for two and a half years. Again, this was just enough time to solidify our faith and our understanding of the Bible and the Adventist message. When the German government decided we couldn’t stay any longer, God opened the doors for us to move to the United States – and by this point our faith was strong enough to stand alone.

I praise the Lord because he showed me the complete truth. He waited for a little open door in my life so that He could work in me. He was always there, and He is still here. I want to be living testimony every single day, not just in my past stories, but in the way I live today and tomorrow, too.”

- Marijan Zilic from the Bowling Green Church, KY