July 7 Update from David

This update came from David this morning...

Sorry for my delay in getting this out to you but the last two days have been crazy. Crazy busy but in a great way. From the library presentations to the building of  the stage to taking people to the airport and picking them up I lost track of time.  We have been blessed beyond measure with the outpouring of love from everyone. The library staff gave us gifts and Barbara the librarian brought us all to tears including herself with her heartfelt thanks for us coming and doing what we did. On Thursday Bethany presented cheer leading and I did football. We had a great time with it and Bethany got their spirit up!! Here in Croatia they don't have athletics in school so there is no school pride. You can witness first hand by being here how important having athletics in school because of the effect having school pride can make. When I went to Stefan's school earlier in the week, the entire building was tagged with graffiti. It was really sad to see along the entire outside of the building and some on in halls on the inside. The girls loved the cheer leading the boys thought football was really cool. We went out to the park and I taught them how to throw and kick field goals while the girls cheered us on. Friday was our last day of presentations and Stefan and I talked about baseball. We explained the game and then took a walk to the Storks baseball field, THE NEST, to play a little game. Most of them didn't even know they had a baseball field. We may have some future Storks ready to play or at least we gained some fans. Although I didn't get to go to Rusty's business presentation on Wednesday with the Chamber of Commerce I heard that he was terrific. Stefan told me that he was awesome and the Chamber President couldn't believe his energy level for his age and his love for helping Croatia and the people here!! He planted seeds that day by loving them where they were!! They really want him back next year and are going to use him throughout the year as a resource to discuss things through Skype and email. Friday was a huge day on the construction of the stage. We are almost done with the decking and then will have several small things to do to complete the project. Hand rails, connection pieces, steps for the two levels, flashing to put around the edge and then treating and painting it. Rock who was our construction engineer left Friday afternoon so Colin is taking over the lead but I lose him and all the construction crew on Sunday morning and I leave for Split. We will work hard today to complete most of the big stuff and then it will have to be completed when I return from Split on Thursday. We will get it done but may be a little more time consuming and at the wire than originally planned. It is really taking shape and it will be used to glorify our Lord during the Fields of Faith and we are praying for future events for anyone to use! As we were finishing up late last night we had a storm blow through so we covered everything up as best we could and headed for the house. Prayerfully all things are semi dry and ready for us to tackle it today.   Shannon, Colin, Wyatt and Erin are heading into Zagreb this morning to do some voice overs for an English teacher who is doing it for the Croatian people. This is another way we can be used to help these people and share Christ's love in the process. Mike Norman (our football coach), Heidi Dawson (Marde's daughter) and Grant my son all flew in Friday. Marde and I drove to the airport to pick them up. It is great to have them here and having my son come to serve along side me is an awesome feeling. Grant has been here to Croatia two times before but was always at the camp in the hills and never with me so I am excited to have him here and look forward to our time together serving Him! He and Heidi will be doing several painting projects. They will paint the dugouts, stage and also the locker room if there is time. The locker room turned out incredible! Colin was heading up that project and the Storks are flying high with there new digs. Robert and Wyatt have been huge in helping everywhere needed and without them none of the projects would be close to finishing. Mike, Brandon, Stefan and myself will be doing a football camp this morning and we are looking forward to that. Not sure how many will show up but looking forward to having the chance to introduce a new game and share the love of Christ in a new way! This is Mike's first trip to Croatia and as we walked the streets last night with an ice cream in hand he was blessed to here and excited to be a part of the mission team. We lost Rock and Sharon today. They are heading to Italy by train to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. They wanted to combine that trip with the mission trip and we were blessed to have them a part of it. Lift them up in your prayers as they celebrate 30 years of marriage! What a blessing! Most of the mission team went to the nursing home to perform some songs and do some crafts. I did not get to go as I was helping with the building project and helping Janko getting our new team members registered with the police. I have not been debriefed about it all went but when I do I will tell you all about it. (Note from Debbie Page - I'm not 100% positive that this is the right cookout picture, but it is a great shot!) Friday night we had a huge fish fry and Cepe' cookout and we ate outside because the weather finally cooled. It was a great time and Stefan's family and Barbara the librarian came and joined us. Janko and Branko, Stefan's father, did the cooking and it was terrific!! Good time of fellowship and food and I pulled out some old movies from mission trips in the past.  It was great and being able to show the movies on the side of the house with the projector was great.  All could see! As I close I must mention how important my wife is to this trip! She has helped me with so many things back on that side of the pond that I could not get done with out her. She has run around to the church, to the bank, transferring funds, getting t-shirts and supporting me all the way. It is tough being apart for a month and I miss her and Clay very much. Without Grant here with me now I am not sure I would have been able to do it! Having him here has helped fill the void in my heart for my family! Please keep my family and other mission teams family's in your prayers as they are separated during their time here! Also Joe Page has been a huge supporting block and help in the shipment issue. I have not mentioned the shipment because we are still without it! We have found out it is definitely in Slovenia and will prayerfully be transported to Croatia on Monday and we could get our hands on it Tuesday or Wednesday. Please keep that in your prayers and the finances necessary to get it out of customs in Slovenia and for us to raise the necessary amount of money to get it out of customs in Croatia! Please keep all of what this ministry is doing in your prayers, because with out that support none of this would be possible. Our steps leaving HIS PRINT! David