Field Missionary

This summer has been one adventure after another.  Our family hasn’t been alone for almost 3 months.  Although we are looking forward to some quite time and finding our routine, it has been SO great to have everyone around.  Our world came to life this summer with some many people coming and going.  I can’t list them all, but each group brought their own challenges and their own blessings.  We have been able to show support to our good Croatian friends who have given their lives to serve the Roma communities.  Some of the people who came were able to give time to these friends letting them know that people are here who believe in them and what they do.  Along with these groups coming, we had a great time with the Sunburg family on the coast.  Then just last week I finished my Big Bike Ride 2012.  We biked from Zagreb to Venice.  It took 4 days of hard biking, but we made it.  I will write about it on another post.  All this to say, it’s been a carzy and fun summer.

We just finished our first English Camp together as a team, and with our two new volunteers: Ben and Stephanie.  We partnered with a Slovenian team who reaches out to youth through English Camps.  They were invited by a high school to do the English part of their Language Camp.  This team in Slovenia, unfortunately had an earlier commitment, so their team was not able to put on this camp, AND they reached out to us!!!  We were extremely excited to help out.  Providing English as a tangible way of reaching and teaching kids (and adults) has been on our hearts as well.  We’re thinking of ways of developing that part of how we serve in Croatia, AND we were eager to walk along side this team and help out. 

We met twice with this team to discuss teaching styles, curriculum, schedule, and school culture in Slovenia, which is quite different from America.  So it was pertinent to discuss how students normally are treated, motivated, encouraged, etc… in high school, so that we approached our classes and the students with a frame of reference and so we weren’t providing a service that wasn’t connecting with them. 

All in all, it was a beautiful week of getting to know the students!!  I especially enjoyed watching my class blossom throughout the week as I sought to encourage and empower them.  I saw they were not used to feeling “built up” or “stepping out on a limb”.  They were soooo smart and amazing in English.  I remember the day I told them that – they just looked at me with wide eyes of disbelief!  Had anyone ever told them they were amazing at anything?!?!?!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the teaching piece, and it has helped confirm for me that I truly want to pursue a “Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language” Certification this year.  I’m hoping it will open doors for our team to be involved in various ways, because we’ve seen in the last 8 months how practicing English is a need for many and something we can tangibly provide!! 

Here are some photos from our time together at the English Camp (we put on a “Cowboy” Theme night!):

A couple of weeks ago I was  able to attend a men’s conference in Osijek, Croatia. This was the second annual gathering of Christian’s from all over former Yugoslavia.  These are men from countries which have recently been at war
with one another, and who all came together to worship God as the Body of Christ. Throughout the day there were different sessions on how to be a true man of God.  Then there were multiple daily times of worship together.  These
kinds of gatherings are always so interesting because even though the sessions were helpful for so many people, you could tell that just spending time with fellow Christ followers was life changing.  It was for me.

One of the most moving times of the whole weekend was during one of the worship gatherings.  The man leading the service announced we were going to celebrate the Eucharist together.  He then asked for a representative from each country of the former Yugoslavia to come and serve the elements.  I couldn’t help but think this was such a unique and wonderful time of brotherhood and healing.  For an area with such a tumultuous history, the Spirit has an amazing way of moving men beyond their differences, and into a place of unity.  These men represented to me the power of the Holy Spirit in the region.  God is moving here in BIG ways.  The Spirit is at work.  The love of Jesus is permeating the lives of every person, one-by-one.