Praising the Lord for the Salvation of Nisreen!
For two Sundays in a row we had a family visit from Germany. Daniel, Nisreen, and their baby daughter Sofia live in Germany but were visiting Daniel’s family who live here in Croatia. They found the church website and came for a visit. Nisreen is from Morocco and comes from a Muslim family. We were praying that God would work in her heart while she was with us (Daniel had a testimony of salvation). Praise the Lord, on Resurrection Sunday Nisreen made the decision to accept Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour. Please pray with us for Nisreen, for her spiritual growth, and for the difficult circumstance she will face from her Muslim family due to her decision to accept Christ.
Thank you to each of you who are continuing to pray for my language learning. I joke with the Croatians that I have the vocabulary of a 3-year-old. Some days I feel like I will never be able to speak this complicated language fluently. However, I am continuing to progress slowly but surely. I switched from a formal class setting to a one- onone tutor the last two months and I believe it has helped me greatly. I am praising the Lord for allowing me to meet two kids from my neighborhood, Matej and Elena. Although they don’t speak much English, and my Croatian is limited, we were able to have a little conversation. I am praising the Lord for this interaction. Although it may seem like something small, it was a big victory for me. I am praying that I will be able to continue to interact with them and one day soon be fluent enough to share the Saviour. Please pray with me for Matej and Elena as well as my language tutor, Magdalena who is a practicing Catholic. Please also pray with me regarding my visa. I will be starting the process to renew it in the next few weeks.
My heart aches over the stronghold of the Catholicism which imprisons these people. As I celebrated my first Resurrection Sunday in Croatia, it gave me a new perspective to the desperate darkness engulfing these people who I have come to love. Easter is a BIG deal here; they begin celebrating a week prior, through many traditions and rituals, but they completely miss the point of our Saviour’s Resurrection. The Saturday before Resurrection Sunday, we had the opportunity to pass out Bibles in the city square. A young boy about 12 years old wanted to take a Bible, but his father would not allow him to take it. “We are traditionally Catholic” the Father told me, “And we always will be.” Somedays the mission seems impossible, “You will never be able to affectively reach these people for Christ.” The Enemy whispers in my ear. But then Christ whispers, “It is not your job to save them, it is your job to faithfully share Me with them. The rest is up to me.” Please pray with me, that I will get out of the way and let God’s Holy Spirit filled power, work through me to make a difference it the dark city of Zagreb.
Prayer Needs & Praises
- Prayer: Salvation for Mia, Jasna, Tamara, Mirka, Jarica, and Magdalena
- Prayer: More children for my Sunday School class
- Prayer: Learning the language.
- Prayer: Opportunities to share the Gospel with people I meet.
Musings of a Single Lady In Missions
Since Charissa has returned to the states, I have felt the acute loneliness that comes with living in a foreign country. I was so thankful for the visits I have had from some of my sisters in Christ over the last few months. My friend Elizabeth Rich and her cousin Abigail visited for a weekend in March. We had had a wonderful time of fellowship and sightseeing. They
also helped me with some outreach, and this was a tremendous blessing to me. Mary and Annie Earwood were here with their family filling in for the Lowries while they were on furlough. I am so thankful for their friendship, companionship, and help with outreach. I am usually alone when I go out to place our gospel flyers in mail boxes, so the company of these young ladies was a welcome change!
I also enjoyed the chance to meet Michele and Jil. These two sisters in Christ are from my Cousin’s Church in the Chicago area. They were passing through Zagreb on their tour of some of the Slavic countries and meet me for some coffee and Kremšnite. (Krem-shnit-a which is a traditional Croation dessert)
Cultural Corner
The longest Croatian word (besides the written form of long numbers) is prijestolonasljednikovičičinima with 31 characters (30 letters since “lj” is one letter). Prijestolonasljednikovičičinima – translates in English to “she who is the descendent of the heir to the throne” I am so glad I will not be using this word in day to day conversation! However, it is exciting to know that because I am the daughter of the King of kings through His Son Jesus Christ I am a Prijestolonasljednikovičičinima.