July 12 Update from David in Split

July 12

I guess I'll start recording my blogs again since I re-broke a knuckle on my right ring finger.  This is a knuckle I broke 10-12 years ago trying to catch a football!

I'm sitting out on the patio in Split before we head back to Sisak this morning.  We're leaving around 10:00 - please pray for our travel there.  We're going to be taking a Zagreb Patriot with us.  Laurence is his name - he's actually from America (from Kansas) so it will give us a chance to share with him on the road trip.  We've got about a 4 1/2 hour trip back to Sisak.  I'm looking forward to that - just praying for safety.

Things are going great here in Split.  Yesterday was another incredible day.  We finished up the Sea Wolves Football Camp, and it went very well. We had to go an hour early (6:00 instead of our normal 7:00) because another team had already scheduled the field.  It was a little warmer but still a great time.

This morning Jason & Katy went with the Storks down to the beach, and Mike & I did some sight seeing in the old castle and went looking for gifts for our families, followers and friends.  I had a great visit with Mike.  We had lunch and then Brandon joined us (Brandon had lunch with an acquaintance from his days as a missionary here in Split.)  Together we picked up the Storks and headed back to the house to prepare for the 6:00 practice.  Because we had to start early, many of the guys were still at work and could not make it.  We ended up with about 25 instead of the 35 from prior days. We broke it down into offense/defense after doing some fun competition drills.  Jason took the defense and Mike took the offense.  We worked on plays and coverages so they could compete against each other.  Then we brought them back together and worked on some offense vs. defense competition.

When we brought the team together, we ran plays & coverages.  It was a wonderful time watching them try to develop the team concept.  The Patriots from Zagreb (the team that has been playing tackle football for the last three years) was very helpful.  There is a young man on that team (24 years old named Kami (sp?)) who came yesterday for the first time.  He hung out after practice and I really started to connect with him.  I spent some time with him talking about being a man of peace.  He is definitely the most influential player that was here from the Patriots.  This gave me an opportunity to pour into his heart the need for Christ and the joy of knowing Christ as a Savior.  He told me that his father was killed during the war (during the early 90s) and he was adopted through a program by a family in Jefferson City, Missouri.  He has been able to go to Missouri to visit them twice - once when he was 13 and another when he was 15.  The opportunity to talk to him about faith and the love of Christ was neat & incredible.

After practice was over I had Brandon share his testimony and his desire & love for this country. From his time here as a missionary during the early 2000s to coming back now - he shared his love for Christ, how he came to know Christ and his desire for many of these to come to know Christ as well.  It was an emotional time for him and an emotional time for Deno (sp?) - the Captain of the Sea Wolves who reached out to ask us to bring a team to Split.  It was neat to see him share his love - our love.  I brought it together, prayed that many more would come to know the joy that we have, that hopefully they will see something different in our eyes and in our walk that indeed is our step, but we are there to leave Christ's print!

After we broke I got a chance to speak with Tommy some more and Marino (a young man who turned his life over to Christ.)  We talked about the dedication it meant to serve Him.  He has a lot of anger issues to overcome, a lot of anxiety towards people when things don't go his way.  I gave him a book called "God & Football", and told him that it is always God First, football second.  He was so appreciative of the book.  I told him to read it and apply it.  I also told him to look for a Bible Study (get with Deno and Chris - the guy here who does the Bible Studies.)  I'm praying that it wasn't a superficial reaction from an emotional time, but was a sincere dedication to turning his life and heart over to Christ.  I gave him his first football, we hugged & cried, and said our good-byes.  We are so excited for Marino who is turning his life over to Christ!

We went to dinner, and had a great time of fellowship with Deno, Milosh & Boris (two brothers who were part of the Sea Wolves and who had never played football before.)  We had a good, authentic Croatian meal and sat around and talked.  The Storks were there along with Katie, Jason, Mike & Brandon.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship, then walked down the boardwalk and the sea front.  We met up with many of the Sea Wolves and Zagreb Patriots who were down there.  We got a chance to say our good-byes again, and I got a chance to tell Tommy about my love & God's love for him.  I told him that I would be looking for him on Facebook and that God would be keeping His eyes on him, knowing that he was a man of peace, a man of leadership and a man of influence.  If he turns his life over to Christ, many more will follow.

I also gave a brand new game ball to the Sea Wolves & Deno.  I also gave them two books ("Finish Strong" and Vince Lombardi's "How to Be Number One.")  I'm praying for Moreno - and Deno and I talked during dinner about his leadership and the team, and the team's leadership in helping Moreno come to know the Lord on a deeper level.  He said that Moreno has a lot of deep emotional problems.  I told him that yes, Moreno had confessed that and that it's his (Deno's) responsibility & duty to reach out to  him.  God will change his heart, but he needs help to be reminded and held accountable.  Just like in Sisak, there is not a lot of leadership outside of the missionaries.  So I'm praying that leadership comes out of a person like Deno and that more will come to know the Lord through him and his desire to serve Him.

Doing the football camp was an extreme blessing.  Having Jason, Mike & Katy (Jason's wife) has been incredible.  Katy took pictures and videos, and it's been just an absolutely wonderful experience having her along.  She's been one of the guys!  She hung out with the Storks, sat in the van while we were all sweaty, and has been an absolute trooper!  I'm thankful for her as well.

So, we leave Split thankful for what God has done, and looking forward to what He has in store for the future.  The Sea Wolves and Patriots all said how much they had learned (even though some already knew the game and even though we didn't get to play with pads.)  They were so thankful that they came and they learned.  We look forward to getting a camp organized for next year.  Mike Norman, our football coach, is already working to get more football coaches to come.  We also have the opportunity and invitation to do a baseball camp here in Split next year.  We're excited about that!

It's looks like His Print Ministries is definately branching out to include Split as well as Sisak in our opportunities to make Our Steps leave HIS PRINT!

Please keep us in your prayers.  Thanks again for your support.  Pray for the shipment (it's still not released - we're praying it will get to us before we leave so that we can divide it up and deliver to the appropriate places.  Janko has been so gracious to offer his garage for storage, but we don't want to take it all up!)  Please keep Shannon, Erin, Heidi and Grant in your prayers as they travel with Manuela to the coast for a well deserved little rest. They've done so much work there in Sisak with painting of the dugouts and locker rooms - it's absoultely incredible to see all that they have done, and all of their hard work & dedication to serving HIM in that capacity.

Keep praying for the finances.  We have some money at the church bank account at Fellowship, but we're having to wait for approval to have it released and we're down to our last little bit because of different expenses that we didn't anticipate.  We've been able to provide meals for fellowship with some Sea Wolves.  We want to pour our love & Christ's love into them, and sometimes the best way to do that is with a meal.  But, this was an unexpected expense.  The shipment cost, the travel cost.... please keep all of these financial issues in your prayers.   Thank you for your support.

As we closed last night, I told the 30 or so guys who were standing around that there are 8 of us here in Split, but there is a whole team over 350 people back in America praying for Croatia, praying for the ministry, and praying for them to know the love of Christ.  So, don't think that even when we leave that we are gone.  You're never far from our hearts and always in our prayers.  They were very appreciative and gave a nice round of applause. 

We are so thankful for all that God is doing and all that God has planned.  Please keep us in your prayers as we head back to Sisak.  We are preparing to finish the stage and a few other projects as we get ready for Fields of Faith on July 17!

Thanks & God Bless,
David