June 30 Update

Well, we have always said that our vision is in ink but our plans are in pencil. The vision is ink because no matter what happens and no matter what situation we are in we will always come to share the love of Christ and to share the gospel to all we have the opportunity to. That will never change, but the plans we make are written in pencil because we know that no matter how much planning we do and preparation we give ourselves those plans will often times change. Which is what is happening today and seems to happen more often than not and in some years it seems as if it is non stop. This is one of those years. We have had problem after problem when it comes to the construction projects to lost luggage, to dropped emails, and now to delayed team members.   The five that were due to arrive here today arrived so late to Paris that they missed their connection and now have to spend the night in Paris. This will delay their arrival untill tomorrow. We will miss them and wish they were here to help the carnival this evening to get a lay of the projects before we start construction on Monday but we are thakful that the airlines put them up in a hotel and gave them money for getting meals. Not having luggage is never any fun but the airlines gave them some t-shirts and other things to freshen up, so their stay in Paris may even include a trip to the Eifel Tower, who knows. We will be excited to get them here and look forward to having them join us and serve along side.   This morning was camp and it was incredible to play Baseball Olympics and to see the fun and joy on the campers faces. It was a great end to the camp. After camp was over I asked Dalton to give his testimony and he did an incredible job. He brought in the love of God through his son Jesus Christ so well and how it related to him and baseball. The kids all listened and I know many more seeds were planted through his story! This evening the Storks play another game in their best of 5 series in the playoffs. They are down 2 to zero so if they lose today they will be playing for third place in a couple of weeks. After the game we will be having the Texas Carnival! We will be having games, music and watermelon and we invited all the campers to bring their famllies with them. We are excited to share God's love through this event. This will be the third year of doing the carnival and after experiencing the joy and happiness on the faces of the children from the SOS orphanage we know we will be blessed by putting this all together.  We have two more carnivals planned but all of our prizes are on the shipment and with the shipment still not here we don't know when we will be getting it and will run out of prizes after tonight. Please join us in prayer for the shipment to arrive and get out of customs quickly so that we can have the next carnival on Friday! Many of you know we are going to be doing an American football camp as well this year and in fact a small one here in Sisak and then a larger one in July 8-12 in Split. The football coach, Mike Norman, Assistant Head Coach at Pearland High School was not sure whether he was going to make it or not due to the health of his father. About a month or so ago his father had become very ill and was in the hospital on deaths door several times. I had spoken to Mike prior to us leaving, telling him that he was not obligated to come and that he needed to here for his family. Well, his father passed away this past Sunday night early Monday morning and is now in heaven walking the streets of gold, as Mike put it. Mike and I spoke yesterday and he informed me that he and his family wanted him to come and take part in this ministry. He told me that when he had told his father a while back that he was getting this opportunity, his father was so excited for him and Mike knows that his father would want him to be here. We are so thankful for Mike's dedication to serving Christ here and know God will use his testimony to touch many lives and hearts! Please pray for Mike and his family during this difficult time of loss. We do praise God Mike's dad is with His heavenly father and is indeed walking the streets of gold. All those who have joined us on this years trip have been used in different ways to take part in the ministry. Katie has been a huge help in the kitchen and has washed dishes almost every day and that has taken a burden off of everyone else. Rachel and Bethany have been great in developing a line dance to use in tonight's carnival and for the library next week as well as teaching the orphans. Bethany has been taking video daily of the camp and the construction and that has been a huge help. Robert has been running around town with the Storks looking for construction supplies and getting everything ready for the construction projects. Shannon has been administrator extrodanaire and keeping us all posted on what we have next and where we need to be. Marde has been a huge help around the house and in the carnivals and she is ready to give her NASA speech at the library. Rusty has several business talks organized next week and is always working around the field with a rake in his hand. Brandon, Chris and Dalton have been awesome in camp and are always there with a smile and energy to get the kids excited. Please continue to pray for the ministry and all that is going on, the shipment, for the others who are in Paris waiting to get here tomorrow and for the chance for us to allow our steps to leave HIS PRINT! God bless David