Joni and Friends Opens Joni’s House Serbia to Support Families with Disabilities

AGOURA HILLS, CA, October 1, 2026 – When Sladjan and Jaroslava Milenkovic first purchased a small piece of land in Opovo, Serbia, over 15 years ago, they didn’t know what God would do with it. But they believed that one day it would become a place where would not only hear the Gospel but live it out.

This summer, their dream turned into reality.

That small piece of land in Opovo is now home to Joni’s House Serbia. Joni and Friends, an international ministry that meets the critical needs of people with disabilities in the name of Christ, recently celebrated a grand opening ceremony for its newest disability center on the land that Sladjan and Jaroslava purchased in faith all those years ago. Joni’s House Serbia will serve as a resource hub for families navigating disability, offering programs including physical, occupational and speech therapy in addition to Christian counseling and vocational training. The facility will also offer interim housing to families seeking medical care at the local hospital. Most importantly, it will be a place of community where every person is accepted, welcomed and loved according to their God-given dignity.

“When we walk through the doors of Joni’s House Serbia, we do not see the completion of a building project,” said Sladjan. “We see another beginning.”

A new beginning is crucial in Serbia where people with disabilities face significant social, economic and systemic challenges. According to a 2026 report from Human Rights Watch, nearly 18,000 adults living with disability remain confined to underfunded government institutions where they are abused and neglected. Little exists in the way of community-based services, and many of the country’s 350,000 children with disabilities remain segregated in institutions due to the lack of supportive services.

Serving families with disabilities is a personal mission for Sladjan and Jaroslava. In 2010, these ministry leaders hosted a retreat for families with children with disabilities through the Christian Trust Belgrade, or Hrišćansko Udruženje Beograd. They expected it to be a one-time event. But when their daughter, Sara, was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, the family moved to the United States for treatment and organizations like Joni and Friends came alongside them to offer encouragement and support.

Once Sara recovered, Sladjan and Jaroslava felt called to offer the same hope amid hardship that they had experienced with other families living with unexpected diagnoses. They launched Camp Hope, an annual five-day summer retreat similar to the one they hosted in 2010, and it has continued to grow. This year alone, with the support of Joni and Friends, Camp Hope served hundreds of families through eight camp sessions, including two specifically geared toward pediatric cancer patients.

But as Camp Hope grew, one question troubled Sladjan’s and Jaroslava’s hearts: What happens to these families the other 360 days a year? Through their partnership with Joni and Friends, they discovered that the answer to that question was to build Joni’s House Serbia to offer year-round practical help and spiritual support to families living with disability. In addition to the standard programming, worship services that are open to the surrounding community will be held at the facility each Sunday.

Sladjan said that building Joni’s House Serbia alongside Joni and Friends was a way to pay forward the grace his own family first received.

“When we were broken, others carried us. When we needed hope, God surrounded us with people who became His hands and feet,” Sladjan said. “The ministry is not our way of paying God back. That would be impossible. It is simply our response to His immeasurable mercy and to the extraordinary kindness that so many people, including the Joni and Friends family, have shown over the years.”

Joni and Friends operates 14 Joni’s House programs in 11 countries. Joni’s House is designed to be responsive to the needs of the local community, ranging from disability services to physical therapy and economic development. Through every program, Joni’s House is raising the standard of care for people with disabilities, offering physical, economic, spiritual, and social support, all in the name of Jesus.

Christopher Sue, the Chief Financial Officer of Joni and Friends, attended the grand opening ceremony in Opovo. As the father of a son on the autism spectrum, Christopher appreciated engaging in wholehearted worship while connecting with similar families who also live with disability.

His takeaway was that regardless of geographic location, the joys and fears that come with parenting a child with disabilities remain the same, as does the need for a Christ-centered community.

“Joni’s House has become a place of belonging,” Christopher said.

Joni’s House Serbia expects to serve 300 people a year, free of charge. Sladjan said he wants every family who walks through the door to know one thing: you are not alone.

“When the church opens its arms to those who are overlooked, the beauty of the Gospel becomes visible,” Sladjan said. “Because that is exactly what Christ first did for us.”

About Joni and Friends : For more than 45 years, Joni and Friends has provided the hope of the Gospel and practical care to people living with disability across the globe. Ministry programs include Joni’s House, Wheels for the World, Retreats & Getaways, and disability ministry training. Joni and Friends also delivers daily inspirational media through radio programs and podcasts. To find out more, please visit www.joniandfriends.org. 

Media Contact:
Amy Hurtado    
[email protected]   
818.575.1766