July 10 Update from David

Blog-Monday July 9

If God is for us who can be against us. United we stand together with Him as our leader, protector, provider and strength and man has HE delivered on every occasion and with each step! What a wonderful Monday and the chance to share His truth at the football camp as well as walk through 2000 years of history was breath taking, not to mention the beauty of His creation here in Split. The day was absolutely incredible! Please read on but I must warn you ahead of time, if you move on you may be moved to come and join us next year on this ministry here in Croatia! Having the chance to share in Sisak over the past 7 years has been incredible and now to break through and having the chance to share here is mind blowing! God is showing us his plan on a daily basis and although many of our plans we make don’t come about we realize he is in control and as long as our focus remains on Him he will provide all the direction and strength needed.

We all got off late in the morning to take some sightseeing around to the history of the area. The Storks that are with us went as well and it was great to spend some quality time with them outside of the athletic arena! We first went to a fortress called Klis. Built on the top of the valley pass through the mountains for protection from invasion. The first fortification that was located on the sight was in 852 A.D. and has been added to and modified throughout the centuries. Walking along the walls and entering into the turrets and parapets of solid rock you felt like you were back in time. Our history of America of 250 years seems so small compared to this history of over 2000. It was incredible and when we got to the top of the fort I asked everyone to gather together and spend some time praying for the city we were overlooking and to pray for our ministry opportunities. Brandon had told me on our walk up there that he and several other missionairies had often come up there to pray over the city and I thought it would be great for us to do the same! It was a great time of speaking with God and to realize he was right there with us. The sight was magnificent and the joy of serving Him was overwhelming! Brandon has a been so happy to be back among those he has spent much of him life with while serving here for 7 years. He has been so helpful in getting us around and it has been awesome to serve along side of him. God knew what he was doing when he had our paths cross about a year ago and he has been a great leader!

After leaving the fortress we headed back down the mountain to the Roman ruins. The town was called Salona and it is located on the Dalmatia coast of Croatia. WE were walking were Titus walked and where even Paul may have walked on his missionary journeys. Incredible experience to be walking along the ruins of over 2500 years. The city dates back to before Christ and has a history of Christians being martyred. The town gate was an extensive architectural master piece dating back to Augustus and much of the bigger buildings and improvements happened during Emperor Diocletian in 300 A.D. An amphitheater was built and was used to kill at least 5 Christians on one occasion. The Storks and Jason put on a Gladiator tournament for us and it was fun to watch them horse around but I was also moved knowing that our brothers in Christ suffered and died for their public profession of Christ! WE are excited to be here to do that very same thing and although we will not be persecuted to death we know we will receive some opposition to what we have to say! We remain faithful to our task and that is to share and love them where they are and to love them till they ask why!

The Storks took Jason and Katie to the beach and Brandon brought Mike and I back to the house to let us get ready for the camp that evening. Even got to shut my eyes for a moment or two and that was refreshing. Headed to the field to get things lined out and the players started to arrive. Brandon headed back down the winding narrow roads to pick up the Storks and Jason and Katie and brought them back with several other people who wanted to observe. Met a gentleman who was leading a mission team that was helping with an English camp. He was from Arizona and they had about 8 people. When we finally got started we had over 35 players show up and many more watching from the sidelines. It was incredible to see their enthusiasm and to witness their desire to learn and participate! Dino introduced us and then I gave them the reason we were there and that was to share the love of Christ! Not to shove it down their throat or make them understand but just to share the joy we have because the love God has for us through his son Jesus Christ!  I asked Brandon to pray for us and then we headed to the drills and the first day of American Football Camp in Split! Incredible time and Mike was awesome in getting them excited and working hard in all the drills. Having him here is such a blessing and having his expertise on the field is immeasurable! I cannot even imagine having to do this camp without him. Most of you know that Mike was still questionable as to whether he would be coming or not all the way up till a week before he left. With his fathers illness and his taking care of his family he was unsure of whether he could swing it. His father passed away 5 days before his departure and Mike knew his father wanted him to come on this trip as well as his family so Mike packed his bags and is with us here. Please keep his family in your prayers! For peace and comfort in the passing of his father!

The camp went very well and we were on a beautiful small field where we could see montains on side of us and the Adriatic sea on the other. The camp went well and I even got my football throwing arm out and worked a station or two. It was really fun and we had a wonderful time. Eagerness to learn will often times over shadow lack of talent of skills and the eagarness was a huge blessing and the talent level was much better than we imagined. After the camp I asked Mike to share his testimony with the group and he did a wonderful job of sharing his love for Christ and God’s love for each of them. We asked if any of them would be coming back and they all raised their hands! So day two should be even more fun than today. This morning we are going outside of town to help at an English and sports camp with about 30 children ages 7 to 13. WE are going to introduce football to them as well! God is opening so many opportunities for us to share and I was even asked by the missionary couple at the home we are staying in to come next year and do a baseball camp! Who am I to say no, so start praying for me some more baseball coaches to come and help run more camps next summer! 

Keep our safety in your prayers and plenty of rest for each of us. Pray for the mission team back in Sisak! They are busy making field preparations at the Nest! God bless each of you and thanks for following along side us. We know that we have many people praying for us each day and for that we are indeed thankful. Couldn’t accomplish what we are with out You! 

Our steps leaving HIS PRINT!
David