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 3rd 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.
