A week without Katie

Hey guys! I meant to update earlier but you know how I am, very forgetful. Last week went well. It was a little bit lonely with out Katie, but I think I managed. Luckily the World Cup is on right now to keep me busy in my free time at night…lol Anyways I have been reading with 4 to 5 readers a day! One of them is new, he is the father of one of Katie’s readers. He is not very interested in the Spiritual side of it, but is sooo grateful for me talking with him. He also lets his son believe in all the Spiritual stuff and all, so that is great! I kinda wish I could have started talking with him sooner, but none the less the seed is being planted and someone else will water and God will provide the increase!

Other mission work I have been doing besides LST is helping out some around the building. I helped organize some pamphlets and go through some things that have not been touched in a while. I am also communicating with a group of OC students that will come here for a few days after I leave. I have been answering their questions and helping them prepare. Ruth and I have tried to come up with some ideas for things they can do while they are here, but neither of us will be here. So Ivan will ultimately have the information for them.

I also feel like I am reaching out to the youth of the other congregations here. One of my readers is a teen who is a member at a church in Zagreb. On Friday, I met her at the train station and went to hang out with her and some of the other girls from a church in Varsdin. Although I could not say a lot to them, it was still really fun. I could tell they enjoyed it. Many of them came on Sunday to worship here in Zapresic too. I feel blessed that I was able to from some relationships with them as well. I hope that I encouraged them for I know there are not many youth in the Church in Croatia.

I will try to update later this week, maybe on Saturday night and then again on Tuesday when I get back. Until then God bless and keep praying for all the work going on in Croatia and around the World!

Stacey

1^st Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Same verses in Croatian:

Radujte se uvijek! Bez prestanka molite! U svakoj prilici zahvaljute, jer je to za vas volija Božja u Kristu Isusu!

Reflections Over Croatia

Hi everyone! I am officially back in Texas! I arrived at DFW last night after almost 24 hours of traveling, including 2 4 hour layovers in Germany and Denver. Stacey is still in Croatia for two additional weeks doing LST. I really enjoyed my experience in Croatia doing LST and hope that I can return someday. I grew very close to many of my readers. We had more readers and family members of readers show up to our last party on Sunday night than we have ever had! After the party, I went to one of my readers house I had grown the very close two. I met her husband and played with two of her children. It was very hard to say good by, but we are going to stay in contact.



Last Thursday, my last day of day of reading was one of my busiest. I had 7 readers and met with one of them for almost 2 hours. After my reading sessions with a 9 year old boy I have been reading with, Stacey and I were invited over to his house to meet his dad and uncle. They were very friendly and seemed interested in what we were doing. Stacey told me yesterday via Skype that the father came with his son for the first time on Tuesday night. This is very encouraging!

Although it was hard to say good by to my readers, I plan to stay in contact with most of them through Facebook, e-mails, and letters. I also plan on keeping each of my readers in my prayers. God did many great things while I was in Croatia and I know that he will continue to use Stacey for the additional 2 weeks she will stay and the church members after she leaves. We have planted the seeds and others will water them, but it is up to God to make them grow. This is my last blog entry, but stay tuned for more posts by Stacey.

In Christ,
Katie
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

I Cor 6:7

wow its already week 6

Hello everyone,

So I planed on updating sooner, but this time it was not my fault. Our internet has been out for the past few days. It's crazy how much we depend on internet now days! So it is now week six. I can not believe that Katie and I have been here for this long. I feel like I just got here and started to really make connections with everyone. Katie leaves next monday, but I will stay another 2 weeks. I will pick up her readers and start to read with them as well, if they so choose. Today I was blessed by a quote one of my readers said to me. She told me that I helped her renew her faith. That meant so much to me! I am going to miss her soo much. I know I am staying an extra two weeks but she is moving about the time Katie leaves. Reading with her and her eagerness and responses always makes me feel like the whole trip was worth it, just to talk with her. We are friends on facebook and plan on keeping in contact. I love how technology can help you keep in contact with new friends!

Last week eneded well. I felt like several of my readers have stopped coming so regularly, but that is because of the time of year. I know that many people are finishing the last days of school and some who are done are going on vacations and what not. More importantly than the quantity of readers iwth the quality time Katie and I are spending with each one. Katie and I talk constatnly about our realtionships we have built with our readers. We have truely become friends with so many of them. I really do hope that I can stay in contact with them after I leave. I hope to continue to show them Christ through me, even as I am miles away. Actions really do speak louder than words. If I can show them that I care enough to stay in contact after I leave, I think that will make a huge impact on them and show them that there is truly something different about me.

Please continue to pray for Katie and me as our time here draws to an end. Even more so pray for our readers that they may be touched by God's word!

God bless,
Stacey
Luke 10:27
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"

Week 5

I'm sorry its been so long since I last posted. Things are going very well in Croatia! Stacey and I are each reading with about 11 readers each. We are continuing to have good conversations and building good relationships. We daily try to act in a way so that our readers and all others we come into contact with can see Christ through us. Occasionally Stacey and I will help our readers do things such as filling out job resumes, studying for English exams or completing homework in addition to studying from God's word. Stacey even bought one of her close readers flowers for her birthday. She said the reader was really touched by this act and said it was the only birthday gift she got. Stacey and I also continue to spend time outside of reading sessions with our readers by doing things such as going on walks and getting ice cream. While some of our readers are still mostly interested in the English aspect of LST, some are beginning to act more interested and asking questions.

Last Sunday night we had a Tex-Mex party to connect our readers to the church and help them practice their English. We had about 17 people in attendance which is the most we have ever had! We had a fairly good balance between church members, LST participants, and guests. The party was very fun. Stacey and I made tacos, dip, and chocolate chip cookies. The food turned out very well, despite the fact that neither one of us can read Croatian directions and we were not 100% sure we were buying the correct ingredients when we went to the store. For a few people at the party it was their first time to ever have Mexican food! I think we made a good impression! After we ate we played a Texas bingo game I made online. It was alot of fun!

Continue to pray for us as we read and build relationships with our readers.

God Bless,
Katie

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalms 100:5

week 4

Okay so blame me ( Stacey) for the delay in updates. I know it has been since the weekend, but I have been slightly pre-occupied. I have decided to read through the bible in a month and so alot of my spare time I have been reading the bible. So you can't realy be upset with me... hehe :) This week has had some ups and downs. It has been rainy most of the week so that has been a downer, but we are contiunaly having good sessions with our readers, a major upper. :) On Tuesday, Katie and I went with a reader to a concert in Zagreb. It seemed to be put on by mostly young people playing various instruments. One girl played like a ten minute paino piece by Chopin by memory. It was beautiful! I have been trying to help one of my readers prepare for an interview for a grad school interview coming up. He applied to an American university in Qatar. He is very nervous, but I know he will do well. Pray for him, if you will. Another one of my readers is worried about her job secuirty. I showed her the verse about not worrying what to eat, drink or wear because God will take care of us. I think it helped her alot, but if you will pray for her to. Pray that she has peace and that God will provide for her no matter what happens. I have grown very close to her and she has even brought her teenage daughter a few times. In our free time Katie and I continue to work some in the library. We have almost organized all the English books. If we finish that I think we are going to try and input them into the computer so they have a log of all their books. We shall see if we have time for that. Katie got another reader this week! God is continually blessing us through our readers. Today is Corpus Christi, a Catholic holiday. Our readers had today off of work and school. So I was able to read with some today that I only get to read with once a week or so. It was nice to see them again. Hopefully, I remember to update more frequently next week. Again, I am sorry for the delay. God has been good to us and things have been going well. Continue to pray for us and our readers as we continue to show Christ through us and to teach them about Christ!

God bless,

Stacey

Gal 2:20a I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Encouraging Weekend

The past few days have been very interesting and full of adventures. On Thursday Stacey and I both had several readers not show up. Although we were slightly discouraged we were able to spend some of our time helping organize the church library. On the bright side, all of our readers that had to miss called and rescheduled for next week. In addition, we had good reading sessions with the few readers that did show up. I once again got the opportunity to go on a walk with one of my readers and her children who come on an almost daily basis. I really enjoyed the walk. It was a great bonding experience.

We spent most of the day on Friday exploring the capitol city of Zagreb. Despite the fact that we accidentally got on the wrong train and almost went to Slovenia, we had a great day. We spent some time just walking around and soaking up the culture of the city. It gave Stacey and I an opportunity to build our relationship even more. I feel like we get along very well and work great as a team!

Today (Saturday) was great! The church put on a youth gathering for teens and children from all around Croatia. Stacey and I were able to meet and build relationships with other people from around Croatia. In addition to this, we were able to meet another LST team working in another part of Croatia. The team consisted of two men who were very experienced with LST (one had been on 16 trips). It was encouraging to hear their experience. It seems like they are having a very similar experience as we are in regards to number of readers and reader response. It was nice and refreshing to talk to another American LST team. Stacey and I sat in on the teen class. One lady was nice enough to translate what was being said to us. The teens discussed how having an identity with Christ affects their everyday life. It was a very good and thought provoking discussion. Afterwards, Stacey and I played Mafia with some on the teens. It was a lot of fun. In all I think there were more than 30 people in attendance, which is very good. This evening at seven the church hosted another great event. Mike Armour, the president of Eastern European Missions, came to speak at the church. He had written a book entitled New Comers Guide to the Bible. He talked about why he decided to write the book. After communist Russia fell the education minister wanted to increase ethics and morals among the young people of Russia. So he wanted to promote the Bible in public schools. The problem was that many people in Russia had no exposure to the Bible. Therefore he asked Mike to write a book that was 230 pages long and gave an introduction to the Bible that someone who had never seen a Bible before would understand. Since the book was published over a million copies and has been distributed around the world, but primarily in Eastern Europe and Russia. Mike gave every person in attendance a free autographed book that had been translated in Croatian by Peter (the missionaries son). After Mike spoke a saxophonist from Slovenia put on a mini concert. He was very good. In all I think there was close to 50 people who attended this event. It was a great outreach to church members and non-church members alike. Afterwards, Stacey and I talked to Mike for quite awhile and learned a lot about Eastern Europe and missions in general. In addition to all this, 3 new readers signed up today. Today was a great day!

God Bless,
Katie

I will tell my people about your name, I will praise you within the congregation.

Psalms 22:22

week3

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated. We have been busy. Everyday Katie and I get more and more comfortable with the town. We have been going out exploring and intermingling more. I love the town! I don't think I have ate somewhere I did not like. Anyways, on to more important things. Our reading sessions are going very well. I know I really feel like I am making strong bonds with my readers. I found out this week that one has the same favorite animal as me! That made us both excited because not many people love sheep! I have also added several as friends on facebook. I talked to one online a few nights ago. Another reader of mine is helping with some Croatian after we finish our English lessons. I am really going to miss them all when I leave in a month and a half...ish. Along with my realtionships getting stronger I feel that my conversations with my readers are getting more in depth. I find it easier to fill a whole session just talking about the lesson. I am not sure how Katie is doing exactly, but I know that her relationships are going well. Today the son of one of her readers brought her flowers that he picked. It was really sweet. I guess nothing to extravagant is going on here. We have gotten into the swing of things and so days are starting to run together. Again sorry for not writing for a few days, I did not realize how many days it had been since our last post.

Yesterday we started to help out some in the library here too. It feels good to be doing mutliple things to help out. I know Katie and I are always wanting to do what we can to help out.

Well I am tired. I know this update is not long, but know things are going well. Please continue to pray. Also I am not sure how many of you actually read this but I would like to request ideas from you all. We want to have like a music party on sunday. We were thinkng about calling it a Musical Extravoganza! We need more ideas on what types of games and activities to have for the party. If you know of any please comment or message one of us. Thank you!

God bless,

Stacey

I will leave you with the verse from Veggie Tales today:

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you

Weekend in God's Creation

This past weekend has been great! On Friday we went with the three visitors from Dewey, Oklahoma to Plitvice Lake National Park. Ivan acted as our tour guide and showed us around the park. Despite the fact that it was rainy and overcast, we all had a great time! There were so many waterfalls of all different sizes that I could not even count them all! It was amazing and truly beautiful. Being out in such beautiful nature likes this makes me feel so close to God. It makes me marvel at his great work and wonder how much more beautiful Heaven will be if God can make such wonderful place on earth. Stacey and I really enjoyed getting to know the people from Dewey better. Their church supports the Zapresic Church of Christ. They wanted to come by Croatia on their way to Poland to witness firsthand the good works the church here is doing. They had so much wisdom to share with us. They left us early Saturday morning to continue their good work in Poland.

Saturday was a great day of much needed rest for Stacey and I. We decided to go out some more in the afternoon and explore the town of Zapresic. Today (Sunday) we enjoyed the church service this morning. Because today is the day the day of Pentecost is recognized Ivan lead the church in an exercise where he read Scriptures from Acts and the church responded with scriptural things. This afternoon Peter (the oldest missionaries son) went on a walk with us around a beautiful forest/golf course area. It was a really neat area that had walking trails with ruins of a castle and several other very old buildings. Stacey and I really enjoyed getting to once again be out in God's creation. Tonight we had our second party. It was not as well attended as we would of liked, but we enjoyed playing games with those that did show up. Continue to pray for Stacey and I as we begin our third week of reading tomorrow. Also pray that we both continue to get new readers.



God Blessed,
Katie

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
(James 5:16)

End of week 2

Katie and I have had a good last two days. Yesterday I had a very busy day. I had my first reader at nine and my last at seven. In total I had eight readers! It was great. But while I had many, Katie did not. Many of her readers cancelled, so she only read with two. We had many good conversations with our readers. They are beginning to ask some good questions. I really enjoy getting to know them and building realitonships with them. Last night we took a walk with the family that Katie reads with. It was so much fun. We finally got to see more of Zapresic! The younger boys were so adorable and very energetic. They kept showing Katie and I tricks that they know and told us "You gotta try this!" In total we probably walked about 8 km.

Today was good as well, but not so busy. We each had only 4 readers. We also had a couple of no shows. We are learning how to deal with that and make better use of our time. We still really want to find time to go advertise more and have more consistant busy schedules. I enjoyed today. I helped one of my readers with his resume and showed him how to say things better in English. I really hope he gets the internship he is hoping for! I know I have not gone into alot of detail but it is late and we are getting up early tomorrow. Katie and I are going with the group from Dewy to a Croatian National Park in the morning. I am excited to talk with them more and learn from them. Tony is a preacher and is very wise. They do something similar to LST in Poland. I know there is alot that Katie and I can learn from them! Tomorrow will be a great time for learning and a great time to Praise God for his beautiful creation!

~ Stacey

Proverbs 25:25 Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.

Breakthroughs

Stacey and I have had a good and fairly busy day today. Today we me and Stacey each had about 4 or 5 readers. We are thankful that we are continuing to get phone calls from people who wish to sign up for conversational English lessons. Today 3 of my four readers were first time readers who had never done LST before. While Stacey and I struggle to make spiritual and meaningful conversations with some of our readers, we are having breakthroughs with others. One of Stacey's readers asked her for their own, personal Bible tonight! This was very exciting and showed that he was interested in learning more about God and Christianity. One of my readers has gotten nearly her whole family to sign up for LST. So far I have had sessions with 2 of her sons and her 9 year old nephew who lives nearby. It is so exciting and encouraging when our readers go out and tell their family members and friends about what we are doing and encourage them to sign up for their own session. Stacey and I plan to do some recruiting for more readers at a local college and high school in the near future. This afternoon 3 people from Dewey congregation in Bartlesville, Oklahoma arrived at the church. They are stopping off for a short visit in Croatia before they continue on to Poland where they are going to do mission work. They will be here until Saturday. Overall today has been a great day. It is obvious that God is working on the heart's of the people of Croatia.

God Bless,
Katie

Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, "God is great!"
Psalms 70:4

Happy Birthday to Me!

So it is my birthday today! I am so thankful that I could spend it here in Croatia. As Katie said in the last blog, we had a party for me yesterday. I had lots of fun and I was glad for everyone that came. Today started off a little rough. Katie and I each had some readers not show, but after we contacted them, many rescheduled for a different time. We both had very good sessions this afternoon/evening. Katie and I talked about our readers and we both felt excited and hopefull for the ones we had today. While last week it was hard to start good conversations, today we both had some very good meaningful conversations. Praise be to God! He is Great! Although we still only have about ten readers each, we are still being contacted by new readers via our cell phone. We also plan to go to the University and high school later this week to advertise some more. Another cool thing is that some of my readers are adding me as a friend on facebook. I think that is great. It encourages me that I am building a good realtionship with them. I continue to pray for all the readers as well as the people of Croatia. I hope you are doing the same. Croatia is not alwasy the easiest place to evangelize. Ivan was telling me and Katie today about some of the difficulties. He reminded us that you can not measure the impcact of a church or mission trip by the amount of converts, church memebers or bible studies. The church here is small, but the members are all so very nice and friendly. Even the ones that only speak Croatian try to talk to Katie and I. It is very encouraging and I think that maybe we will be able to encourage them as well. I hope that through these LST sessions this year that someone will be touched and the church can grow some more. I would really like to see this church grow, it has so much potential, but I know that getting people away from their Catholic background is difficult. Tomorrow a few people from Dewy, Oklahoma are coming to visit for about a week. Katie and I will share the top floor with them, so we will have to remember to go to bed earlier again. It will be good for us to get some more rest. We have been staying up late talking. I feel like we are really bonding and I am very glad that we are here together. While today has not been a typical birthday for me, it is still one of my most memorable. Who else can say they celebrated their 22nd birthday in Zapresic, Croatia?

~ Stacey

One of my seed thoughts today was GOD CAN DO ANYTHING which comes from LUKE 1:37

Days 5&6

Stacey and I have had a very interesting last few days. Yesterday was Saturday. It was cold, windy and rained all day. We had planned to possibly have some of our readers show us around town. The rain prevented us from doing that, however. We spent the day relaxing and catching up on much needed rest. This morning we had church service at ten. There were roughly 15 members including the missionaries and us present. We hope that as time goes on some of our readers were start attending church. Tonight at 6 we had our first LST party. Our goal with the parties is to help our readers build relationships with the church members. We made our first party a "surprise" birthday party for Stacey (she turns 22 tomorrow). Although she helped plan it, she acted totally surprised when I brought her downstairs and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. Everyone at the party had a blast playing Pin the Nose on the Clown, Musical chairs, Birthday girl says, Drama bag and eating cake. We had about 11 people attend the party. Most of them were church members, but one of them was a reader. We had a fairly good turnout considering it rained all day and we have not even met with all our readers yet. Please continue to pray for us as Stacey and I both have busy reading schedules tomorrow.

God Bless,
Katie

Day3/4

Yesterday was the first day for us to have readers. I had five and Katie had three. Many of them have done LST before and we are using other books besides the book Luke. We have a few new people as well. It seems like many of the new readers are not very interested in the Luke book and they just want to practice English for other reasons like their job or an interview. Most of my readers have so far have very good English. Katie worked yesterday with someone who will begin classes with David because her English skills are very minimal. I hope that she continues to be with the church involved here. Katie and I have both noticed that we may usually have a gap in the middle of the day. Currently we have about ten or eleven readers each. We would like to have about fifteen each. Many of our readers work or go to school so they can only meet in the morning or in the evening. I hope that Katie and Will I be able to use our afternoons very productively even if we do not have many readers. And know that it is still very early on in the trip, and so am very optimistic about getting more readers. Our First Party is on Sunday. I think that will help us gain a few more readers, because who does not love a good party? ) I have been praying for all of our readers and I hope that you will continue to pray for Katie and me, as well as our readers. I hope that we will be able to build strong relaitonships with them and show thrm Christ through our lives. Many times that can be more impactful on a person. Today Katie and I both had a reader at nine. We were then able to go to the store and buy some food for lunch and dinner. We have some readers in many technical evening, That we are unsure of when we can eat dinner, but that is not necessarily a bad problem to have.

~ Stacey

1 Thesalonians 5:17 - 18 Pray continually. Be Joyful always. :)

Day 2

Stacey and I have had a great day today! This afternoon Ivan (the missionary) took us to the bank and showed us around the town of Zapresic where we are staying. It is a beautiful town and is very green compared to Texas and Oklahoma. At 7 tonight we had our information meeting with our readers. Stacey and I introduced ourselves and gave some brief information about how Let's Start Talking (LST) works. We explained that we would be using a LST workbook, based on the book of Luke, to help them improve their conversational English and build personal relationships. We each had about 9-10 readers sign up for an initial reading session, which is a good start. Many of the readers seemed excited to get the oppurtunity to practice their English with Americans. We will probably have some more sign up in the future. Please continue to pray for Stacey and I as we begin our first reading sessions tomorrow.

God bless,
Katie

Day 1

Hello everyone!
Today is the first full day in Croatia. Me and Katie arrived last night about 7:30 in Zagreb. Peter, Ivan and Ruth's oldest son, picked us up and took us to the church building. When we arrived Ivan and Ruth showed us around the building, including where we will stay, have our information meeting and our regular meetings. I'm so excited to be back in Croatia. I remember the first time I was here and I wrote in my journal that I was going to come back. Well, here I am! Today we will get to know the town of Zapresic some and have our information meeting. We shall begin reading tomorrow. The Lord is great, he has blessed us much!
~ Stacey
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.