Bok everyone! I am writing this blog entry at the I-club in Slavonski brod, Croatia! It is very exciting to see bros and siss either talking to Andy and Lim or playing around with few Roma kids.
To update you, the team was sent off with a big feast at WMC Hammersmith last night. And we all slept-over in sleeping bags, and woke up like early birds to catch the first tube to airport! We were exhausted but waken up by our big breakfast at the airport :D
We arrived on schedule this afternoon at Zagreb. However there was actually a slight accident in the morning when Tim's car's tire got burned when he was around 10 minute drive away from Heathrow... In short, he missed the flight and is joining us tomorrow. And the van we booked in Croatia was booked under Tim's name... Nevertheless, our negotiators Wien, Charis and Elisabeth got the van for us! So we managed to have a two-hour sleep (except for the drivers) to cheer up our body.
The home we stay in is indeed very cosy. We spent some time enjoying our lunch which was a Gypsy Potstew, and had some fellowship time and rest... As there is not much of a schedule for today, some of us went to shop for groceries, and we came out altogether tonight to join the fun and joy of Croatian and Roma people on this new year eve! Anyway, that's all for my report of the day. Haha! And some photos for now!
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And here you are, some information on who Andy and Lim are!
Andy grew up in a US military family with his parents, one brother, and one sister. He became a Christian as a PhD student in Pennsylvania, attending the Alliance Christian Fellowship. Soon after he developed a passion for missions and participated in two short-term mission trips to Mexico. He then attended Columbia International University, pursuing a Bible Certificate. He worked in the computer field in Virginia for several years, attending Faith Bible Church of Sterling, Virginia and serving in the international ministries program. In 2001 he visited Croatia on a survey mission trip and in 2004 was sent by Faith Bible Church to Slavonski Brod, Croatia as a long-term missionary with the Pioneers mission agency. Since 2004 he has been serving on the Pioneers church planting team at Slavonski Brod, Croatia. Lim grew up in Hong Kong with her parents and one older brother. She became a Christian as a teenager at Evangelical Free Church of China – Grace Church. There she grew in her spiritual walk with the Lord and served on the Youth Fellowship Committee. She went to the UK to study nursing and midwifery and worked there for nearly 20 years. While in the UK she attended and served on the Missions Concern Team at the Chinese Church in London. Later, she served with missionaries from the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission in planting the Essex Chinese Christian Church. Her passion for missions started during her early years in the UK. She has participated in short-term mission trips to UK, Spain, Sudan, and Indonesia. In April, 2007 Andy and Lim were married in Epping, England. As a couple they were accepted by Pioneers in 2007 and sent to Croatia by Faith Bible Church (US) and Essex Chinese Christian Church (UK). They then moved to Split, Croatia where they studied the Croatian language and attended Emmanuel Baptist Church. In October 2008 they rejoined their missionary team in Slavonski Brod, a city of 60,000 in eastern Croatia, where they serve with their team at the Baptist Church of Slavonski Brod. Andy and Lim have a burden for the spiritual needs of the Roma (Gypsy) people in the Balkans. They partner with the Roma Bible Union in ministering to Roma children in Slavonski Brod by operating UNA Children’s Bible Clubs. These clubs present the Bible over four years as well as literacy training. Currently, there are 4 clubs with a total of 70 children. Each summer a 3-day UNA Festival attracts virtually all of the 200 children (age 4 -12) in the village and ends with an open-air evangelistic outreach. The next step is to plant a new church in this very open village! Additionally, Andy and Lim operate a non-profit Christian organization named “iClub Connect.” Currently with over 600 members, iClub Connect is a vital point of contact with the youth of Slavonski Brod. The iClub is financially supported through its internet Café business. It also hosts computer classes and training and Christian outreaches and events. Apart from Andy and Lim, we will also be working with Zeljka in Croatia. Here's an "autobiography" written by Zeljka -
"My name is Željka and I was born and raised in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. I came from a traditional Catholic Croatian family with my parents and two younger brothers. My mother came to faith in Christ when I was 17 years old. Soon, I started becoming interested in faith and God. Eventually, in 2006, I accepted Christ and started to worship together with my mother in our local Baptist church. In 2007 I felt God’s calling to children’s ministry. With my church’s support, I studied Theology and Christian pedagogy at Osijek Evangelical Theology Seminary. In 2011 I began working in a new Roma children’s ministry with a missionary couple in Slavonski Brod. Though this Roma children’s ministry I am now employed part-time by the Roma Bible Union (RBU). I am happy that I can serve the Lord by ministering to the Roma children." Please pray for Zeljka's continuous passion and wisdom in serving Roma kids in the UNA Club. :) We welcome you, our bro and sis, to pray-read with us the verse for the day! A brief description of what we will be doing on the day in Croatia is in black, so if you can, please pray for us accordingly too!
The team is now practising for the CHRISTMAS DRAMA for the Roma kids!! We hope to stick to the Bible, and act out the story with one of our Croatian helper being the narrator. Now have a read of our storyline and remind yourself of the Christmas Story? THE CHRISTMAS STORY!Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), God sent the angel Gabriel to a young women who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl's name was Mary and she was engaged to marry Joseph. The angel Gabriel said to Mary: 'Peace be with you! God has blessed you and is pleased with you.' Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant. The angel said to her 'Don't be afraid, God has been very kind to you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will call him Jesus. He will be God's own Son and his kingdom will never end.' Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. 'Let it happen as God chooses.' She replied to the angel. Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth who everyone thought was too old to have children, would have a baby boy whom God had chosen to prepare the way for Jesus. Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. Elizabeth was very happy to see Mary. She knew that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son. An angel had already told Zechariah that Elizabeth's baby would prepare people to welcome Jesus. He was to be called John. Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home to Nazareth. Joseph was worried when he found out that Mary was expecting a baby before their marriage had taken place. He wondered if he should put off the wedding altogether. Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: 'Don't be afraid to have Mary as your wife.' The angel explained that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son and told Joseph that the baby would be named Jesus which means 'Saviour' because he would save people. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel had told him to do and took Mary as his wife. At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register (or census) there. Mary and Joseph travelled a long way (about 70 miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came from. Most people walked but some lucky people had a donkey to help carry the goods needed for the journey. Joseph and Mary travelled very slowly because Mary's baby was due to be born soon. When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay. So many people had come to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the Inns. The only shelter that they could was a stable or cave with the animals. In this poor place Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God. In those days it was the custom to wrap newborn babies tightly in a long cloth called 'swaddling clothes'. Jesus' bed was the manger that the animals ate their hay from. In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep through the long night. As the new day began, suddenly an angel appeared before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were very, very scared, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will find the baby lying in a manger.'. Then many more angels appeared, lighting up the sky. The shepherds heard them praising God singing: 'Glory to God in highest, and peace to everyone on earth.' When the angels had gone the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem to see what has happened.' So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph. The baby Jesus was lying in a manger as they had been told. When they saw him, they told everyone what the angel had said and everyone who heard the story were astonished. Then the shepherds returned to their sheep, praising God for sending his Son to be their Saviour. When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a great king was born. They set out to find the new king and bring him gifts. The Wise Men followed the star towards the country of Judea and when they got to the capital called Jerusalem they began to ask people: 'Where is the child who is born to be king of the Jews?' Herod, the king of Judea, heard this and it made him very angry to think that someone might be going to take his place as king. Herod sent for the Wise Men to come to him. He told them to go on following the star until they had found the baby king. He said: 'When you have found him, let me know where he is, so that I can go and worship him.'. But Herod did not tell them that he really had an evil plan in mind to kill the new king. The Wise Men followed the star towards Bethlehem (where it said that the king would be born in the old writings). It seemed to stop and shine directly down upon the place where Jesus was. The Wise Men entered the house where they now lived and found Jesus with Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. The Wise Men spread the the gifts they had brought before Jesus. The gifts were gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men were warned in a dream, by God, not to go back to Herod. So they returned home to their countries in the East by a different way.
When the Wise Men had gone, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' the angel said, 'take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for Jesus to kill him.' So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary during the night they left for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died. When Herod realized that he had been tricked by the Wise Men, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys aged two or younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. This was to try and kill the new King, as his plan to find the location of the new king from the Wise Men had failed. After Herod had died, Joseph had another dream in which an angel appeared to him. The angel said, 'Get up, take Jesus and Mary and go back to Israel, for those who were trying kill Jesus are dead.' So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary and they went back to Israel. But when he heard that Herod's son was now king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. So instead they went to Galilee, and lived in their old town of Nazareth. The Christmas Story -- www.whychristmas.com In our fourth meeting, Keri came to talk to us about how to evangelise! This is harder than I thought - but so true if there is a language barrier, can you just explain the gospel in 8 words? So that if we learn them in Croatian we may be able to talk about God even when the translator is out of reach. Possible words about God: JESUS --- Isus (pronounced as "I-sus")
LOVE --- Ljubav (pronounced as "yoo-bav") GOSPEL --- Gospel THE CROSS --- križa JESUS LOVES YOU --- Isus voli VAS DIE FOR YOU --- Umrijeti za tebe (pronounced as "um-ri-ye-ti za teh-beh") JOY --- Radost PEACE --- Mir HOPE --- Nada HAPPY --- Sretna (pronounced as "scret-na") BECAUSE --- jer (Your) SINS --- Grijesi (pronounced as "gri-ye-si") |