Living Stones August 14 2008

(Church Planting in Croatia)

When the communists came into our country at the end of the second world war there was awful killing and destruction. It was worse even than the evil that we had to go through just recently in the 1990's. In the main square of our main city, Zagreb, was a large statue of a warrior on a horse. The day the communists came into the city the statue simply disappeared. There were of course all kinds of rumors but no one really knew what happened to the statue.

In 1991, our country declared independence from the communist Yugoslavia. The day after the declaration, back in the main square in the city, our warrior on his horse appeared again. The story unfolded. Someone had taken the statue and broken it down into pieces and hidden it underground for 50 years. When independence was declared he got the statute again and it was beautifully restored and put back in its place. The statue was not absent just hidden.

This is my experience over the last months. God has been hidden but not absent.

I have been so tempted because of the lack of support to give up and return to the business world. My old company have offered me a position to be the lead executive of new initiative based in China. The financial rewards would be significant.

But God. But God. But God..
I have been up in the mountains wrestling with God and when I came down the mountain I could only say once again I must press on in this work. The need is so great the opportunity is even greater.

I have a women's group in Zagreb that I am teaching and the fruit of seeing the scriptures bring hope and strength to their lives is quite wonderful.

Here in our town in the north we are coming to the end of the summer and will be planning out what the future of the small fellowship will be in this area.

To supplement my financial situation I am selling vitamins, but this is just a side project to try to stay afloat. In the meantime I applied for other additional part time job but the interview will be in middle of September.

Please keep praying for me as I wrestle and think and pray about the coming year in terms of teaching, counseling and evangelism. I sense that fresh wind is blowing  and that God begins doing something new and beautiful here.  

Thank you so much for your constant care, support, prayers and partnering me through the excellent, good and bad times. Your emails bring such a blessings!