I was in Osijek, in eastern Croatia, October 9-17. I was at the Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETS) there, teaching my class, “Introduction to Pedagogy” (basically the theory, practice, and strategies of teaching others). ETS is a partner school with Biblijski institut in Zagreb. The photo below is with my class. They were a good class and they look great here. I, however, look a little goofy. Oh well.
On the 11th of October I officially became the owner of a small piece of Croatia, on which I plan to eventually build a house. It is about 1,000 square meters, or about 1/4 of an acre. Thank God with me for this provision, and that God uses this place to draw people to himself. Much thanks also to all those who gave for this purchase. Here’s the address:
Ivanska ulica
Jagnjić dol
Sveta Nedelja
That is…I will eventually live on John street, in the Lamb valley, in the town of Holy Sunday.
Yesterday we had enrollment and orientation for the 2014-2015 academic year at Biblijski institut. The best way I can describe the day is by sharing some words from one of our professors, Ervin Budiselić, which he posted yesterday to his Facebook:
“Today at Biblijski institut we had an introductory orientation session for students, teachers, and school staff, and the atmosphere was excellent. But the most important thing is that I felt a tremendous presence of God (even though I was dead tired). Very encouraging… I think that God will work this semester strongly among us.”
Indeed. Pray along with us for a mighty move of God in these lives.
Last Saturday we hosted an event for our kids from the summer Champs Camp. We invited them and their parents for a day of fun, Bible lessons, and lunch together. The lesson for the day was about God’s creation, and the kids made little fox faces out of Autumn leaves. Enjoy some photos from the day:
Yesterday another one of the teens was baptized with whom I have worked over the last few years. I cannot take credit for this, as she was raised in a Christian home and in the church for most of her life. However, I would like to think that I have had some spiritual input into her life. Several of the other teens with whom I have worked in recent years are also currently contemplating this step in their lives and their walks with Jesus. This, together with the two who decided to follow Jesus and were baptized at camp last month, makes this an exciting and wonderful time. Please join me in praying for these young hearts and souls.
August 8-15 saw us on the island of Ugljan, for camp at Činta. This marked the 45th consecutive summer the Churches of Christ in Croatia have gathered on the coast together for Bible camp. We also had several visitors from other churches in Zagreb, and from Slovenia. I led the teen discussion group, along with Trevor and Kayla Keele, an American couple serving for two years with the church in Varaždin. A definite highlight is that four of our teens expressed a desire to commit their lives to Jesus, two of them being baptized in the Adriatic Sea at the campsite. Praise God with us for these young souls, and for their protection from the evil one and their growth in faith.
On June 16-19, for the fourth year in a row, we hosted Champs Camp at Lake Jarun in Zagreb. This was our biggest camp ever, with 93 children attending. We also had our largest group of Croatian teen helpers, many of whom were campers in previous years and who are now helping us put on the camp. In addition, we had a group of American volunteers working with us from Calvary Commission in Lindale, Texas. For four days the children enjoyed Bible lessons, games, skits, snacks, crafts, and lots of fun. Like last year, we also had three days of activities after camp to pour something extra into the lives of our teen helpers. We are encouraged by how many of the kids faces, names, and parents we now know, because they have attended each year. We also had probably our largest group of parents who came to the camp closing. Then they wanted to stay around for a good bit of time afterwards, visiting with us and each other. God even blessed us with a window in some recently quite stormy weather in Zagreb. Please pray for this continuing outreach to our community.
I finally started the process yesterday to purchase land in Croatia. I signed the preliminary contracts and made the down payment. Now I must wait 2-3 months while my application to the government for permission to buy land as a foreigner goes through. Please pray with me that all of this goes through smoothly, with no problems with the government or the contracts. This business also comes at probably my busiest time of year in my work. Pray for the grace and mercy to accomplish everything before me right now. Pray also that the future home on this site will be a place where people are drawn to Jesus. Here’s the property in the photos below. The actual lot is directly in front of me in the first photo, and under the sunbeams in the second photo. I am thankful to God for this opportunity. Much thanks also to everyone who helped make this possible.
