Tuesday July 17 Update

Blog – Tuesday, July 17

2012 opening day for the European National Qualifier Tournament! Opening evening for the Field of Faith evangelistic outreach events! Wow, it is finally here! Hard to believe and to see the transformation of the field and the stage is absolutely incredible!

In three weeks it is hard to believe all that has changed with everything with all the hard work that has gone into each area, even seeing it everyday and being a part of it all, it is amazing! The Storks have stepped up and taken ownership of all the activities and the responsibility of getting things done! Janko said it best, when came to the game for the opening ceremonies, “This is not the same place that it was 3 weeks ago when I was here to work on cutting the weeds! It is amazing and it is now a Stadium!” Janko had helped me the first day I got here on June 22, by bringing his weed bush hog out to cut down the head high weeds that surrounded the field. He was amazed as were all the city people who came out to see the games. We had around 300 people to attend the second  at 4:00 for the opening ceremony and to watch the first pitch be thrown. We had many people stop up on the path to watch as well as those who actually came in to sit down and watch! It was an electric atmosphere and neat to experience here!

When I got to the field at 10:00 the Storks were already busy with getting the field all done so I went to the game mound and made sure it was ready and finished. The activity around the field was neat and to see many of the people who had never been there before was neat to see their reaction! The first game started at noon and it was Lithuania playing against Slovenia. The game went back and forth and Lithuania ended up winning 7-3. We watched the game from the stage and scoreboard area and it was great! 

After the game we went and had pizza downtown and met up with Shannon and Stefan who had gone to the airport to pick up Saleim. Saleim is the evangelist from HBU who agreed to come and share with the people every night. After dinner we went to Jankos and I worked on the program for the night. Left for the field around 4:00 to go and watch the opening ceremonies before the second game between Croatia and Poland. Several people got up and spoke and the first pitch was thrown by the Chamber President of Sisak! The atmosphere was great and to see all the people there was incredible!

During the game I was asked by the Croatian Baseball Federation President to come and speak together about all that was going on. He was very thankful to us for helping Sisak with the building of this field and to get the game of baseball in Croatia! His language was a bit harsh but words were sincere! I visited with him for about an hour and he told me of his experience in Texas with the Rangers and the World Series. How he had met many of the administration of the Rangers and how he liked the organization. I knew then why God had Josh Hamilton and my paths cross!! We were going to use the DVD he provided to wish the teams for the tournament and the Storks for all their hard work on getting a field and then share his love for Christ! Perfect timing like God always has and the President said as he watched the DVD, this is the biggest story in Croatia and more people need to know about it! Perfect evening and wonderful ending to a perfect day!

After showing the DVD and me sharing why we were there, which was to share the love of Christ with each of them, I closed the evening with a large round of applause for Josh! A couple of the coaches came up to me afterwards and thanked me for showing that and how much it meant to them. The coach from Poland came up to me and asked me for the DVD and also a copy of the DVD I showed at the beginning of the building of the NEST over the past two years. He said his players needed to see that dedication the Storks have on a regular basis! He also said he may want to share his testimony with the group, but needed some courage to do so. He shared with me that he had brain cancer two years ago and that God spared him! I told him I would love for him to do it and would pray for courage for it to happen. The event was incredible and the chance to share the love of Christ is what it is all about and to see many from the different churches was neat to witness. Please pray they to will use this stage and field to share the gospel through concerts and other outreach events.

May God bless and keep each of you safe and thanks so much for your support through prayer and finances. Keep the shipment in your prayers as well, we still don’t have it and not sure when we will get it! Customs in Zagreb, Croatia has it and keep telling us tomorrow we will get it! Tomorrow comes and goes and no shipment! God’s timing is perfect and when it comes it will be perfect! Remember Jesus loves you and so do I!

Our steps leaving HIS PRINT!

David