He told me, “If you sign that paper and refuse to carry weapons, you will be sentenced to military prison for three years.” At that time, I was ready to sign the paper. Every day, I prayed that God would give me strength to endure this trial so that His name would be glorified. The third time when the General Zivanovic called me, he was holding the same document in his hand, and for the last time, he asked me, “Do you want to sign it?” I said, “I will not sign it!” Suddenly, he tore the document and told me, “You can go. I will make sure that you have no military activities on Saturday, and you will not have to go to the court martial. I thanked the Lord for this experience.”

My aunt Mira and her two daughters Dragana and Ivana, came for my swearing-in-ceremony. For the next 30 days, after I took my oath, I didn’t have to work on the Sabbath, while the soldiers on duty went to work in town on Saturdays. General Zivanovic commanded the younger officers not to put me on the list for the public work in town. Amazingly, there were always ten soldiers who volunteered to go in my place.

About three kilometers from the city of Pirot where the main barracks were, there was a military shooting facility. After the young soldiers take their oath, they first have to come to this place to become familiar with bullets and flameproof weapons. As I did not carry a rifle, I was standing on the side, while everyone else was shooting the plastic targets.

On that day, General Zivanovic also came to the shooting range. He called me, “Goran, come here.” I came to him and addressed him.

Then he said, “Goran, listen to me. This coming Saturday you and I are going to have some fun! You can wear your military uniform or dress as a civilian. Early in the morning we’re going to the Orthodox Church to pray to God. After that, we’ll go to a good restaurant to eat some pork. And don’t worry, I’ll pay for everything.”

“After we eat well in the restaurant, we’ll go to a night club. You are only a young soldier, so you need this.”

I was shocked when I heard this. At the first instant, I imagined myself going to all those places with him on the Sabbath, and realized that I would transgress almost all of God’s commandments. The General pressed me to give him an answer immediately.

I told him that I could not go with him and do all those things. He replied, “You can leave for now, but it will be so.”

I stood on the side and I wondered, “What happened to this man? So far, every Saturday he helped me not to work on the Sabbath, and now he is asking me to transgress the Sabbath.”

I went outside and prayed earnestly to the Lord to give me strength to endure. After half an hour, General Zivanovic invited me to come in again and he repeated, “Everything will be just as I said.”

He also added, “Listen to me, if you are not willing to come voluntarily, I will tie you to two armed soldiers and they will lead you.”

To me, this looked like “the devil, as a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

I walked away, and all afternoon I prayed to God for deliverance. War was raging in Kosovo, and Nis and Pirot belonged to the Pristina Military District. Unexpectedly, a few days later, we were told that our barracks would be dismantled and we would go to help the barracks in Pristina. All the preparations needed were to be completed by Wednesday, and on Thursday we would be moving to Kosovo.

That morning before the officer on duty started to wake up the army, I heard as if through a dream, someone calling me in the hallway, “Wake up Goran Andjelic, and tell him to take all his belongings to the attic. Then let him go out and wait for further orders.” For a few seconds, those words were a reality to me. At that moment the officer on duty walked into my room and gave me the same orders. While everyone went to breakfast, I was standing in front of the dormitories at the barracks, waiting for further instructions.

After about 15 minutes, another soldier came out as confused as I was. We both did not know what we were waiting for. In the distance, we could see trucks and war equipment being prepared for the move to Kosovo.

After a while, our favorite army general approached us. He drove us to his private vehicle on the parking lot inside the barracks. We got into his car and we went outside the barracks. He told us to go first to the city and then to the shooting range. After walking around the city, we headed towards the shooting range to the same place where General Zivanovic had talked to me before.

While we were driving to the shooting range, the Captain explained that we were going to replace the two soldiers who worked there. They would go to Nis for a review, and would return tonight. Now we learned that we were going to replace these two soldiers briefly. The kind Captain also told us that we can call him for anything we needed whether it be day or night.

When we arrived at the shooting range, we waited a little for the two soldiers to change and soon they left. So, just the two of us were left behind. We felt a little strange that the Captain told us that we would have to work only until the evening, but then he told us to call the main barracks whenever it was needed.

So, what happened next? I stayed there for almost two months until the time of the resettlement. General Zivanovic, who had threatened to take me out on Sabbath to eat pork in a restaurant, and to go to a nightclub was the first one to go to Kosovo. So, thank God, I never saw him again.

It was God who allowed me to remain in this quiet place where there were no guards, where there was no roll call and no military drills, and where I didn’t have to carry weapons. There was more food than I and the other soldier could eat. We got a lot of salad, and the other soldier didn’t like salad so I had plenty. Since I didn’t eat meat, he could eat all he wanted.

While I was working at that shooting facility, I heard that not just any soldier was given that job. It had to be a soldier who had a good connection with the higher-ups. What I realized at that time was that my great connection was with the almighty God! He had arranged to give me this great position. I thank God for that experience.

Are you asking, “What kept you strong in the faith and near to God during those trying days in the army? God’s promises! I felt that the promises in Psalm 103 were written especially for me.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:1, 2). While I was in the army, I was constantly keeping before my mind’s eye the many blessings God had given me. He had forgiven me my sins (Psalm 103:3) and helped me to be baptized.

While my comrades were transferred to Kosovo, where the war was raging, the Lord allowed me to stay in the same location, where it was peaceful and I didn’t have to bear arms. My God had “redeemeth thy [my] life from destruction; who crowneth thee [me] with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:4, 5). During that time, God truly provided good vegetarian food for me in great abundance.

“The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed” (Psalm 103:6). General Zivanovic was planning to oppress me by forcing me to go to the restaurant with him and eat pork. He then planned to take me to the night club on the Sabbath. He was sure that his plan would work, but the Lord protected me from His schemes and I never saw him again. Truly the Lord was merciful to me. “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him” (Psalm 103:11, 13).

Although I had lost my mother to an early and sudden death, and although I was not close to my earthly father, my heavenly Father was always by my side, teaching me, coaching me, comforting me and loving me. What else could I ask for? I can just say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”