Week 7: UNA Festival, Children's Home & Our last Sunday

This week on Sunday and Monday we spent time preparing for the UNA Klub Kids Festival in the Roma village.  We cut out and prepared crafts, and also made nametags. Since they were preparing for 200 children, there was a lot of work to be done. It was a lot of fun and we got to fellowship with other missionaries from different countries that had come to help with the festival.

A missionary couple, Andy and Lim, leads the UNA Klub along with a Croatian woman named Želka.  Želka and her mother, Zlata, have done all of the translating for us during the Klubs we have done this summer.  It’s great to see them pour out God’s love on these children—the Roma community isn’t typically treated well all throughout Europe, especially here in Croatia.  We get to see the Parable of the Good Samaritan lived out before our eyes.  Most people here walk by the Romani people and completely ignore them.  Želka and Zlata go out of their way to show God’s love.  They are a great example of what Jesus said in John 13:35:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another

The festival was from Tuesday to Thursday. There were a lot of kids that came out and each day we would split them up into 6 groups of about 20-30 kids. In each group they got a coloring book of different Bible characters and stories. A storyteller, either Želka or Zlata, would come around to each group and tell the Bible story of the day.  Musicians would then come to each group and play guitars and the kids would sing songs.  After the songs the children would get to do a craft that was related to the story.

The neat thing about the UNA Festival, is that it is specifically designed for Roma children. A lot of Roma people believe they’re cursed by God and this view is passed down to the children.  One of the main points that the UNA Klub tries to concentrate on is that “God is for us, not against us.”  This is in the mission statement that all the kids say at the beginning and it is also in one of the songs that they sang at the festival. It was a blessing to hear them all singing at the top of their lungs that God is for them, not against them.

Katarina

Me & Durda

Please pray for the Roma people and children. They don’t have an easy life-they are looked down upon, a lot of the family situations are bad, and a lot of the kids are mistreated. It was a blessing to get to love on the children this past week, and see smiles on their faces, but there is such a need for the truth and hope of Jesus in this village. Pray that God will open their eyes.

Thursday morning we were able to visit a children’s home here in Brod. We were able to play some games with some of the children that live there. Most of them are children with a rough home life, and a couple of them are orphans. We weren’t able to stay long, but it was a lot of fun getting to fellowship and play games with them.

Children's Home

Matija having fun with the volleyball

Friday afternoon, we had another baseball practice in Nova Gradiska. There were not a lot of kids there this time, but the ones there seemed to really enjoy playing and learning new drills.  Guy enjoyed it too, as he got to not only teach the kids, but he was right there doing the drills with them.  He said he wanted to show them how to do the drills the right way, but I think he just wanted to get out there and play.  The missionaries that live there permanently are planning on continuing this ministry to reach out to the youth there.

Saturday, we went back to Nova Gradiska to have another Kids Klub. Some of the same kids came out from the last Kids Klub we did there. We were able to play more games and tell them the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. The kids really enjoy singing all the songs and making the crafts. The missionaries there also want to continue this Kids Klub once a month, so that they can continue to connect with these kids and parents.  A lot of the parents of the children asked the missionaries in Gradiska if they would continue these Kids Klub.  This is obviously encouraging, but also very surprising as most parents look down on the Church.  Pray that connections with youth and adults are met and the church in Gradiska continues to grow!

Guy preaching

Sunday was our last time to be at the church here in Slavonski Brod. Cindy, Melissa (2 girls from VA) and I were able to share our testimonies. Everyone who knows me, knows that this is a difficult task to stand up in front of people, much less make it through my testimony without tears. There were tears and it was difficult, but it was a blessing to share my heart with the church, and hopefully it was an encouragement to them. Guy was able to share the message at church with the help of our translator, Maja. It was a blessing for me to see God speaking through him to the church. He spoke about how we as Christians should be different from the world around us, so different that people notice. We should be different in the way we love, different in our generosity, different in what we worship, and our purpose in life should be different.

My challenge to you and to myself: Do people notice a difference in you? In what ways are you too much like the world and need to be more like Jesus?

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

Kids Camp, Basketball, & a Salvation

We just finished our 6^th week, and really can’t believe we only have two weeks left. It’s exciting to think about coming home, but we are also excited about our last 2 weeks here.

This week we helped out with a kids camp and a basketball camp that the Blessed team from the UK put together. The kids camp was pretty similar to the previous ones, but we had it in a different location, so a lot of new faces were there. They had memory verses every day and were able to see skits about Jesus being the good shepherd, the light of the world, and the true vine. The kids seemed to really enjoy their time playing games, getting their face painted, and getting hair wraps. But it was truly a blessing at the end of the week to see the kids reciting all the memory verses from the week that they had learned. Hopefully they will remember the truth of them all and one day put their trust in it.

Kids Camp with "Blessed"

We also were able to participate in the basketball camp, mostly Guy; of course. He really enjoyed helping with the different stations and getting to know a lot of the boys that came out. I was not as much a participant in the camp, but I was able to take pictures for one of the coaches running the camp. Some of the kids were really talented in basketball, because they play on a regular basis, but some it was somewhat of a new sport to them. At the end of each day, one of the coaches would share their testimony or a brief message about the gospel.

Guy coaching the defense station

More defense lessons

"For HIM" cheer after each day of camp

Guy, Garret, and 2 of the basketball coaches were able to have a Bible study with some of the Croatian guys from camp this week. They studied Genesis 2 and 3, about creation and the fall of man. Most of the youth here have never really read the Bible or even own one, so it’s cool to see God open doors for us to study it with them. They said that there was a lot of good conversation and hopefully God will continue to open their eyes to His word and truth. The Croatians teens have asked more than once about playing basketball with Guy and Garret and doing another Bible study.  They will jump to John and share with them the Gospel.  Pray that God softens their hearts and opens their ears to His word and truth!

The girls and I were supposed to have another Bible study this week also, but it fell through. One of the girls that couldn’t come met with Melissa (one of the girls from VA) later that night and made the decision to accept Christ! It was so cool to see God working in her the whole time we have been here. We were all so excited, and hope to continue studying the Bible with her for the next couple of weeks. God is good and even if this is the only fruit we see, we are so excited. My prayer is that God will use her to impact other youth girls and that God’s kingdom will grow here in Croatia through her testimony.

Melissa, Adriana (Our new sister in Christ), Cindy and Me

It’s been a lot of fun this week hanging out with the people from England and also the American basketball coaches that came in for the camp. Friday night they did a talent show, and a lot of people came out to watch. The last talent was one of the leaders from the Blessed team sharing the gospel using a tea bag. It was such a cool analogy of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and 3 days later rising from the dead so that we may one day join him in heaven.

Sunday, with all the guests, we were able to worship God with people from 8 different countries and 3 different continents at the church service. It was so cool to see a tid bit of how heaven will be.

 “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  Revelation 7:9

Visoko, Kids Club, UNA Klub

This week started off with a trip to Visoko, Bosnia. We went there to visit another team that lives their full time. The city happened to be having a big festival. We could barely walk any where on the main street because there were so many people. The family we visited have 2 kids, and it was fun getting to fellowship with both the kids and the parents while we were there. On the streets they have stands that sell what they call “palacinkas.” They are thin pancakes with a chocolate spread rolled up like a burrito (yum). It was cool to see another town in Bosnia, and also hear about how this family ministers there.  What was not cool was that Guy got sick from something he ate.  Walking around on a hot night and being in places that don’t have air conditioning aren’t always a good mix for hot, greasy food.  He got over it after a couple of days, but pray that God will keep us both healthy for the rest of our time here.

Palacinkas!

Visoko Festival

"Kids Bible Club"

On Tuesday we started another kids camp in Nova Gradiska.  Nova Gradiska is where half of the team of missionaries live.  There were about 20-25 kids there the first day, which was a lot more than they expected (only about 8 showed up the first day last year). Since the big youth group from VA left, Guy and I were able to interact more with the kids, act out the skits, and were able to make more connections. This camp was the same set-up as the last one we did here in Slavonski Brod, where we got to tell some of the stories from the Bible, sing songs, play games, and do crafts. It was a lot of fun getting to love on these kids and act out Bible stories. During craft time, Guy and I both had our small groups where we were able to learn their names and form relationships. This allows us both to pray for specific names to one day know Jesus personally.

Game time with the parachute

Guy with the kids listening to the story

My small group

Guy's small group

The girls in my group

The little boys loved wresting with Guy

                                           



Tuesday night we came back to Brod for a Bible study. Cindy, Melissa, and I (the girls that are staying until August from the youth group) did a Bible study with a couple of Croatian girls that they had met through the baseball camp. They both have never read the Bible before, so it is cool to see them so intrigued, even with the story of creation. Pray that as we go through some of the books of the Bible with them that God will open their eyes to the truth.

Guy and I actually got to stay in Nova Gradiska with a missionary couple the rest of the week as we did Kid’s Camp. They have only been in Croatia a couple of years, and it was amazing to see their passion and ideas for new ministries in order to share God’s love with the people of Nova Gradiska. Currently, through the organization that they are with, there is one church planted in Slavonski Brod and one in Nova Gradiska. Both churches have Croatian pastors and while we were in Nova Gradiska we were able to go to the pastor’s house and spend time with his family. It was cool to hear their story of how God brought them there and how they found so much joy in just allowing God to lead their lives.

Friday evening the girls and I met again for Bible study and had more good conversation. Guy went with our missionary leader, Garret, to a man’s house from the church to help move firewood. This time of year they collect and buy firewood so that it will dry out by the winter, so Guy was able to help to move the firewood and stack it to get it out of the way.  The man who they helped is an older man and is one of the few Croatians we have met that is deeply rooted in Christ.  He is always joyful and has a similar sense of humor that Guy has, so we (especially Guy) enjoy being around him.

It’s been really amazing to see God moving in the hearts of the girls that have come to the Bible study. Some are so curious and others even see their need for change. Please pray that God moves, because as much as I want them to see and know the truth, God is the one who opens eyes and soften hearts. Please also pray for Guy and Garret, they also are in the process of starting the same Bible study with some of the guys that we have met through baseball camp. Pray that God will bring them, and that he will also soften their hearts.

A group from the UK called Blessed arrived this weekend to minister here.  They have been coming to Slavonski Brod for a few years and have a good relationship with many kids here.  We love hearing them speak with their accents! Of course, they say that they love hearing our Southern accents.  We are quick to tell them that we don’t have accents and that we speak correctly J.

Roma UNA Club

More Roma children, so precious

On Saturday we were able to go with the Blessed team into the Roma village and do another “UNA Klub” with the kids there. The team acted out the parable of the lost sheep, sang songs, played games, and did some crafts. We were able to plug in wherever needed. It’s always a blessing to see the some of the same kids come to the camp each time we go to the village and for them to recognize us. Please continue to pray for the Roma people here in Croatia and that God will move their hearts toward him and away from worldly things.

We only have approximately 21 days left here and we are looking forward to what God has for us to do in this short amount of time. Next week we will do another kids camp and basketball camp with the Blessed team. Pray for kids to come out to play but also that through testimonies that their eyes will be opened to their need for a Savior.

My prayer is that one day all Croatians will be able to take hold of the promise that Jesus gives all of us in John 5:24.

            “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned: he has crossed over from death to life.”