Nov. Update 2009!!

The Lord watches over the foriegner…

What a compassionate God we have! He does indeed sympathize with our weaknesses. It seems that He has a special place in His heart for those who are foriegners, or aliens in a land. We see all throughout the Old Testament, how the Lord had given His people commands that were in consideration of the strangers. We’re so thankful that we have a Father who is watching over us, Who is going before and is also our rear guard. While living in a foriegn country definitely has it’s exciting points, it is still “foriegn”, I like this definition from Webster’s  “ Remote; distant; strange; not belonging; not connected; not pertaining or pertinent; not appropriate; not harmonious; not agreeable; not congenial; — with to or from; as, foreign to the purpose; foreign to one’s nature.” We are still strange, we’re still in a way not connected. Our hearts are connected, but the logistics are stubborn. While Tim’s visa is processing the kids and I kind of have to wait… we’ve waited before; waited while our one year visas processed for nine months only to start the process all over again in 3 months, waited for indeterminable amounts of times while papers are shuffled back and forth, here and there. Now, it seems like the waiting is just part of living; they’ll tell us something we have to do, then because we’re the “strangers” we’ll do it. Hopefully someday, they’ll tell us that they’re ok with us living here and we’ll be able to have “permanent residency”, but I know in my heart that we will always be “strangers”. Because in another place it says that we are pilgrims and sojourners in the land, not because we are not from here, but because we are seeking a better, that is a heavenly country. And because we are seeking that Heavenly country, God is not ashamed to be called our God, and He is preparing that place for us. What a hope we have, what a calling. And how comforting it is to know that until that time when we are recieved into that heavenly country, the Lord is still watching over the foriegner.

Our summer…

But He answered and said, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

During these summer months it is interesting to observe the change that goes on in the mindsets and lives of the people of Split; because Split is a tourist city many of its residents rely heavily upon the tourist season, thus making the summer season a transformative one. But it goes beyond that, it seems that as soon as summer hits any kind of responsibility or accountability is lost and everything becomes dependent upon the question of whether or not something is pleasurable. It’s a remarkable picture of  the battle between the flesh and the Spirit, and how without the saving power of God’s grace, death as the wages of sin abounds. With that said, the spiritual battle always seems to intensify around this time of year and it can be easy to become weary and discouraged. But, it is important to remember that we don’t live by our flesh, we’re dependent upon the words that proceed from the mouth of God and as we feed on Him, He renews our minds and empowers us to be His witnesses to a dying world.

This summer began with the blessing of having a team of 7 from The World Race, a missions organization that takes a group of young adults to eleven different countries in eleven months. We were month number nine for the team and it was definitely a blessing to have them serve here for a month with us. They were involved with helping at the café, doing street evangelism, renovations and our English camp. After serving here with us the moved on to central America and will finish up their last couple of months there.

As mentioned, we had our 3^rd annual English Camp this year in June. We had a smaller group than previous years but it was still lots of fun and we were able to have a little bit more one on one time with the kids (with the World Race team, there were more of us than there were of them!). They all seemed to have a good time and were disappointed when the week was over. Kristin will be continuing the English Club during the week so hopefully some of them will come back and we’ll be able to continue to build relationships with them.

Also while the World Race team was here Aaron, one of the guys from the team had an opportunity to share with one of the guys who has been coming to the café for years. Matko’s heart was finally softened to the point of receiving the Lord into his life.

Matko had been coming to the café for years, but was never interested in any thing that we wanted to share with him about the Lord. It has been a blessing to see the beginning of the transformation that the Lord is doing in his life. Matko has been coming to church and has been much more open to talk about the Lord and the things that He is doing in his life.

Well there’s a time for everything and as new seasons come, others go. This season has brought us another goodbye; Rachel Van Oosbree, who had been serving with us since last fall has finished her time here and moved back home to Tucson, Arizona. Rachel was a blessing in many ways and she will be greatly missed.

Now, as summer comes closer to it’s end we are looking forward to this fall and are excited to see the return of all the students. We are praying for the Lord’s guidance as we start our second year of running the Global Café. It has been an amazing avenue to meet the students and build relationships with them. Our hearts are that it would continue and grow in that capacity.

Finally, it’s time for us to work on our visas again… a law has changed in Croatia so that no longer can begin the application process from within the country. We are going to have to go to a consulate in one of the neighboring countries to submit Grace and the kids’ visas. Please pray that the process would go smoothly and that we would have grace in the eyes of the government here.

As for the family, we are all well. Thomas is SO big, talking non stop and doing lots of “big boy stuff”. We have had many beach trip and he is swimming in the “big water” with his mickey mouse water wings. Meanwhile, Mila tags alongside her big brother in most everything, save the water adventures. She is not very fond of getting wet and prefers to sit safely on shore and play with the pebbles. Daddy and Mommy are good too, very thankful for the beautiful family that the Lord has blessed us with.

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support, as things are now looking tough for our friends and family all around the world we are even more grateful for your care on our behalf. Our prayer is that the Lord would bless and keep all of you.

All Better…

Wow, it’s already the middle of February 2009! I just can’t believe it! So much has gone on in the last six months and it’s almost surreal how quickly times flies. Mila is now close to ten months and Thomas is very quickly approaching three! So many times I look at them and just can’t comprehend that somehow they’ve gotten so big. As I’m cooking or cleaning or while Tim works on the computer or studies, Thomas is ALWAYS talking now. It’s just crazy!

Today though was super special. Tim’s been feeling under the weather so Thomas is obsessed with bringing him vitamins and then pronouncing him “all better!”, and that the medicine is, “really good Daddy,”. So I was busy doing different things and I came back in the room where Thomas had been doing his very best to nurse Daddy back to health and Tim asked Thomas what had happened while I was gone and Thomas told me, “Jesus come live in my heart, me all better!”

I guess what had happened was that Tim had asked Thomas to pray that Jesus would help him feel better. Then Thomas started yelling at Jesus for Daddy, so Tim explained that we can talk quietly to Jesus because He lives in our heart and asked Thomas if he wanted Jesus to live in his heart? Thomas was very excited about that so Tim said all he had to do was tell Jesus he was sorry for being a bad boy sometimes and that he wanted Jesus to forgive him and live in his heart. So in the words of our little precious Thomas, “Jesus me sorry… ummm… bad boy… you come live in my heart?” As he stares down his shirt and looked hopefully at his chest.

It blesses my heart to know that my little boy wants Jesus to live in his heart, that Jesus said that the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven was so simple that a child could understand it. I pray that as Thomas grows up he’ll always desire to have a relationship with Jesus, that he’ll always know that Jesus is as close as a whisper away, and that he’ll always have the wisdom to know that Jesus makes him “all better”.

Listopad… Falling Leaves

So I just realized what the literal meaning of the word Listopad, the Croatian word for the month of October, means: Falling leaves. Isn’t that kind of poetic? I really love it. Though I think it probably suits the more northern or inland areas of Croatia than Split. I remember our first autumn here, having grown up in northern California with it’s very vivid four seasons, here it kind of seemed like fall never really came. It does get a bit cooler as September closes and by October instead of the blazing heat it is a pleasant warm, sometimes chilly when it is breezy, then winter is usually some blustering winds and rain, the worst it can ever bring is the bura, the north wind that is so icy it just cuts right through you. But then spring comes around again and I feel that I lose that sense of change, or at least it is muted.

But some aspects of fall are the same; we live on the outskirts of town and I do think that there are at least a few people who still burn wood to heat their homes. Sometimes when I go outside there is that faint woody smokey smell that is so reminiscent of when I was growing up. There is just something to be said about a wood burning stove, it is comforting how it warms you up all the way through.

And then of course all of the students that are bustling to and fro from school is another aspect of fall that stays pretty true no matter where you are. It’s not really strange to us anymore though that throughout the day there are always children outside. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the morning or the afternoon, there are always children running around. The reason is because the schools here work in shifts, for one week you have morning class, then the next you have evening class. This is because many of the schools are understaffed so they have to divide the students into two classes; one for the morning, one for the afternoon. Thomas can’t understand why I tell him one day that Mario, his older friend is at school and it’s morning and then another day I tell him that same thing and it’s at another time of the day, I think that he thinks I’m making up stories!

Another things that always strikes me about autumn is that there is a season for everything; and there is a time that those things that were once green and vibrant with life reach a point where they dry up and become wilted, and then eventually die. I can be rather introspective sometimes and I wonder how older people feel while watching young people, I feel pretty sure that they feel like it was only yesterday they were just the same and wonder how in the world life got away from them.  How it’s come to pass that the leaves are falling in their lives? I think we so often take for granted this day that the Lord has made, that we don’t redeem the time because the days are evil. And then sometimes, for some people they don’t even get to reach the autumn days of their lives, the very breath that they breathe in so effortlessly is snatched away from them in a moment and suddenly there is no time left at all. Last Friday as we drove past an intersection that is almost always busy with traffic and pedestrians we saw that it was completely blocked off, then we saw a shoe, then a grocery bag, then the car and then the covered body. I’m sure that the woman didn’t imagine that morning was going to be her last, but it was and more likely than not she died without knowing her Creator. It was so very sobering to me to see death in such a stark lucid way, it made my heart ache with the knowledge that there are so very many who could breathe their last at any given second and be lost for eternity. It makes me want to make the most of every chance I have to share with someone the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to shake myself from any kind of apathy and remember that Love compels us to reach out and pluck the lost from the flames that are waiting to engulf them.

As time goes by…

Aren’t we blessed to see the Lord’s enduring faithfulness through every new season? Tim and I have lived here in Split for just about four years now, give or take a couple of months, we now have two children, a dog and just recently we had another addition to our little family, a little black and white kitty (who Thomas is obsessed with by the way, I now spend most of my time playing referee between Thomas, the two year old, Zeke our boxer, and Toulouse (Tooloo) the kitten, while at the same time trying to keep Mila, the five month old out of all of their ways!).  Now as we look back on those years, it’s a little hard to keep track of all of the different seasons that have come and gone. There have been most definitely times full of youthful zeal, and times of discouraged doubt, but nonetheless, our gracious Lord has always been unchanging in His faithfulness, forever the Anchor to our souls.

All of this reflecting to say, it’s the beginning of yet another season for the Warholic family and Calvary Chapel of Split, Croatia.  This last month has brought the end of of a very warm summer and as fall ushers back students and the winter wind (the Bura), it has also brought a very blessed addition to our little fellowship here. We have been joined by Kristin Palosaari and Rachel Van Oosbree, from Arizona and Mike and Kathy Finney from Idaho. All of the help arrived just in time for the busy fall season, the opening of a cafe, commencement of our language classes, student Bible studies and English clubs… But most of all I think that we personally appreciate the girls and the Finneys for the fellowship more than anything. It is such a blessing to be surrounded by like minded friends.

So, in all of these things; cafe, language school, English club, bible studies, our heart and prayer is that these precious people would come to a realization of the love that their Creator has for them. That instead of the bondage of empty religion or the darkness of atheism they would find themselves in the grace of God. Please pray with us that through each of these avenues, or any other that may avail itself, the Lord would reach through us to the hearts of the Croatian people. Thank you so much for those prayers!

Summer 08′

So I thought writing a blog would be fun and a good way to get stuff out, but I have come to find that I was just very ambitious… Ok well not too ambitious since I only made one post in the year that it’s been up. Good thing I didn’t tell everyone we had a new blog, lol. Well it’s a hobby for some but maybe it just needs a little getting into the groove. So lets have another go and shoot for 2 posts this year! But if the posts just end up being rambling balogney, like so many i see, just let me know and we’ll put er’ down.