God of All Creation
We arrived home safe from camp Wednesday night. After unloading all the gear we all got some sleep and were at the church bright and early to get an early start on our trip to see some of God's wonders. God has created such wonderful things. Pastor Misko was our guide through the beautiful lakes and waterfalls of Plitvice. We walked over lakes and amidst thundering waterfalls. The lakes are the sharpest and clearest blue due to the limestone beneath. The tallest waterfall in all Croatia is found here falling some 78 meters. 1 Peter chapter 2 tells us that we are a chosen race whose purpose is to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness. We were amazed and the wonder of God's creation and it's beauty. God is an awesome creator. To Him all glory and honor is due. Follow this link to explore the beauty of Plitvice .

Tonight we will host a camp review with a slideshow that Josh has been working with every spare moment. Most of the students from camp will be coming back and we hope that many of the students that didn't come this year will like what they see and will want to come next year.

Greetings from Krk!
Emily and I stopped into an internet cafe to try to get an update out. The ministry is going well. We have been teaching challenging Bible lessons in the mornings and evenings and spending time with the campers throughout the day.

We have had some very good and serious conversations. We are excited about what God is doing in one young girls life named Marta. She is expressing a desire to be baptized and identify her say publicly with the Baptist (evangelical church). This is huge because of the persecution she may face. Please pray for her. Pray for the team as well that we would be diligent in our ministry and an encouragement to the missionaries here.

Our trip is half ove--hard to believe. We will write again when we return to Krapina.

It's after to 2AM here (now Thursday). I can barely keep my eyes open but I wanted to let you know that things are going great. We had two days of Kids Club at one home and today we moved to a different home for another two.

Nikolai has been coming to Kids Club for the pasted two days and we were so excited that was willing to come to a different neighborhood for Kids Club today. He has been answering questions and participating. Please pray for Nikolai and for the other children who heard the gospel, that they would respond in obedience and trust Christ for their salvation.

Yesterday we played Basketball with some kids in the park and ran into them again tonight while we were out eating dinner. They seemed pretty happy to see us and interested in our invitation to camp.

In just a few hours we will get up and start gathering all the supplies and prepare for camp at the coast. We leave Friday and the weather has been looking pretty good since we came. (It had been so cold that the missionaries were having to use their heaters.) Please also pray that the students that are still not comitted to coming to camp would commit and would come.

Here in Croatia!

(From left to right and Top:Doug, Chris, Tom, Rich; Bottom:Bethany, Josh(and a guess top too), Emily)

Yes, we made it...Just wanted to start with that for all our concerned parents, spouses, and friends. God was good in keeping us safe and with finding all our luggage present upon arrival. I want to also start by thanking you as you read this note. We are very mindful that this is not a team of 7 but a team of hundreds, each of us having many Christian friends and family members who have joined with us through sacrificial financial giving and commitment to prayer. Please know that your prayers and care for us are a huge encouragment as we seek to serve dear missionaries here and to join with them in declaring the good news of Jesus Christ. It is our desire not only to speak of what God has done in our lives through salvation and ongoing sanctification but to put it on display so that unrepentant Croatians would be more shocked by our difference as Christians than our difference as Americans. We know that the Lord said that they will know us by our love for one another. Would you ask the Lord for us for continued grace to do this?

We are thrilled to be here! For over half our team, this is a return trip. God gave us a love for the missionaries and the ministry here as we served last summer. We arrived Sunday afternoon. After a short orientation time, and prayer time, we met with many of the believing Croatian nationals and missionary families for dinner. It was such a refreshing time...like a reunion...and even more special since what connects us all is our Saviour.

Thank you for keeping up with us on this blog. It's our plan to update it and post pictures often as we serve here the next couple weeks. Please interact with us too via the comment section. We'll try our best to answer any questions you might ask.

Today, we started the morning by preparing crafts for our afternoon kids club. The guys also worked on the landscape of a property owned by the church. The VBS type kids club was a blast with about 12 kids coming on the first day! We sang together and Tom gave the first part of a gospel presentation. Next, we had a craft time. This evening, we ate dinner with Todd and Lynn Dick (and family), Momir and Rebecca Horvatek, and Taylor and Kim Jones (who are visiting also from California).
Here are some of the kids from kids club!

Please keep these upcoming events in your prayers:
Tuesday:
Morning:Doug teaching a class at the church's Bible institute, Team doing landscape work at church property
Afternoon: Team doing a Bible kids club for young neighborhood kids
Evening: Being the American representatives for a community world foods event in town.
Wednesday: Morning: Doug teaching a class at the church's Bible institute, Afternoon: Team doing a Bible kids club for young neighborhood kids Evening: Josh preaching at Emanuel Baptista Church.