Spring Break Bash!!!

Last night we had our long awaited Spring Bash Event!! At 6:30pm 55-60 people poured into a warehouse type room that was perfect for what we had planned. A night full of Games, Food, Friends, and a Concert! It was a great opportunity for students to invite their friends and introduce them to the English Club Group. We even got a chance to advertise for our quickly upcoming Summer Camps! Around 1am I walked back into the doors of my apartment, completely worn out from a night of fun! I will let the pictures speak for themselves--it was an Incredible night!! Thanks for all of your prayers. Today, a day later, I am sitting on my couch, where I have been since this morning, recovering from some kind of flu bug. But no rest for the weary as Monday I head off to Czech for our week long Josiah Venture conference. I will then come back to Slovenia for 5 days and then head to Greece for 10 days to hear Katka perform. In the meantime I am planning for a Girls Camp that I will be directing and speaking at....Well, thats whats happening on this side of the Ocean!

Figuring out silly riddles with Klara and Eva! I like these girls a lot!

Neja brought her sister Katja. And Katja even brought a friend (far left)! 

Hanging out with 18year old highschool senior Anja. 

Naja brought her friend Dasa.  

We played lots of Crazy Games! Me pretending to be an angry viking--dont ask--sitting next to Lucy and Neja.

More fun games...Glorija choosing the next player! 

And of course the night ended with a concert from the Croatian band OctoberLight. As always, they were wonderful! Im a total groupie!

Upcoming Event

This friday we are having a BIG Spring Bash Party!! We will have a Croatian Ska band come for a concert, and we will play games and have a BBQ. This will be an opportunity to meet new students and advertise for our Summer English Camps. Our big prayer right now is that lots of students will come!!

The Band 

The Church

I want to thank all of you for your prayers, and responses to my last email about the church meeting on Saturday. These men have been trying to take over our church for the last five years and although it is becoming increasingly more heated it appears that the meeting didn’t bring any huge resolution to the situation. From my understanding our pastor is continuing to make steps toward resolution, however for now no huge changes have taken place. We would love your continued prayers for the Lords hand of protection and guidance upon our church, as well as for our Friday night youth group meetings which are held in the church. Pray that our hearts would be right before the Lord. Pray that in our frustration we would not sin! Pray that these circumstances would cause the Bride of Christ to flourish and grow!! Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Prayer for the Bride...

There are some men who for the last five years have been trying to take over our church. These men live in the apartments attached to the church and have been causing increasingly more and more problems for anyone associated with the church. From yelling at the children to trying to break up our youth group meetings, it has been a continual strain on everyone. Tonight at youth group they continued to disrupt our meeting, claiming that tomorrow they would hold a meeting in order to "Take their church back". There will in fact be a meeting tomorrow, Saturday morning at 10am (Saturday at 1am West Coast Time) with all of the leaders involved. Please be in prayer for this important meeting. Our pastor Zvonko Turinski who has been faithfully shepherding our church for the last few years will be meeting with them and speaking for our church. He will be setting up an ultimatum, saying that if these men do not leave then he will take this situation to higher authorities. Pray for Heavenly wisdom and strength that comes from the Lord as this is very challenging for him!! Although many of us are hoping that these men will be forced to leave and move out of the church building, it might also be an incredible thing for our church to walk away and start afresh! Pray that whatever happens the Lord's name will be glorified and that his Bride, the Church will be strengthened. I will keep you posted! Thank you!

New Life!

In my last entry "Croatian Church Conference" I mentioned a man named Klemen that practically ran to the front of the stage when an altar call was given. I asked you to pray for his wife Ema who was not yet a Christian. On Easter Sunday, the 16^th, Ema gave her life to Christ!Ema is Bosnian, and came from a strict Muslim family. She said, “I think that God has been pursuing me since childhood.” “I used to make my mother so angry because I always prayed to God and not to ‘Allah’. I always had a sense that there was only one God, and His name wasn’t ‘Allah’. She also said, “It’s like a huge burden has been lifted. Islam only offered and un-ending list of rules... The feeling of being totally forgiven and clean is…AMAZING!” {On Tuesday before she became a Christian, Josh Patty asked her about her day and she replied, "I'm having a hard time keeping up with my school work." Then she held up the New Testament that we had given her and said, "I just can't stop reading this book!"} The battle is obvious but God is on the move out here! Thanks for praying!

Klemen and Ema sitting with their daughter Amanda (left) and Kendra Patty (right). 

Croatian Womens Conference

A few weeks back we had our Josiah Venture Womens Conference in Croatia. We had a BLAST!! It was so inredibly refreshing. I already shared some about it in a previous post, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves... (click on the picture to see it bigger).

Here is the whole group of us Josiah Venture Women!  

SLO Woman!!! Amy Woodard, me, Lori Jackson, and Kristi Patty! 

My good friend Bekah Woodall. She is a JV missionary in Slovakia. 

We aren't your stereo-typical missionaries... Anyone want to move to Eastern Europe?! 

Croatian Church Conference

What an incredible time of fellowship and growth for myself and so many others. Here are a few pictures... !!

This man Klemin practically ran to the front when Zvonko gave an alter call. Be in prayer for his Muslim wife to accept the Lord as well! 

Serving Communion. L-R Josh Patty, Pastor Zvonko, Terry Jackson. 

We had 64 people attend the conference and 7 people came forward and accept the Lord for the FIRST time! And many others rededicated their lives to the Lord.