Update from David - July 14/15

Blog – Saturday July 14, 2012

You know you are doing accomplishing God’s plan when you have 5 Storks praying without hesitation, in fact one of them suggesting we do it, with several mission team members in huddle on the sidewalk on 2nd Street in downtown Sisak! With arms around Jason and Katie, along with Brandon and myself, Joseph, Mario, Allen, Elvis, Stefan prayed for the mission and Jason and Katie’s safe return home! He and the other Storks expressed their thanks for coming and being a part of this ministry and how much they appreciated their love they showed! This was a wonderful end to a great day and a beautiful evening of walking around the city!

The entire day was a blessing of working on the field to get it ready for the European Championship and the Field of Faith outreach events! Jason, Katie and I headed to the field to start working on the building of the mounds for each of the bullpens.  When we got to the field there were several Storks working on many things and with their help we accomplished completing one entire mound for the home team and got the other one partially complete. It was incredible to see everyone take part in the many activities and the help they provided for me to build the mounds was invaluable!

I took Jason and Katie and Stefan to town to shop in the evening and I headed to the airport to pick Brandon up from flying back from Split. His plane was late so I sat and just enjoyed the down time of relaxing and mediating with God. We have accomplished much and are excited to be a part of all that has happened and all that is yet to come about! The chance to put on this Field of Faith outreach event is exciting and after so many years of plowing soil and planting seeds, I am excited to see what God has in store!

Blog – Sunday, July 15 2012

HE DID IT—Let’s Do IT! That has been a saying we use during the mission trip for the past 3 years and it is fun to be a part of Christ’s team! Using the strength he has given us through His spirit that lives within us to show His love where ever we are and with whom ever we meet! Loving them until they ask why! Reading the messages from the football participants in Split is a joy as they acknowledge there was something different about us and that they could feel the love we had for them and the reason we had it. HE DID IT- He loved us so much He died in our place. What a joy it is to know Jesus Christ and to call him Savior and feel the empty space in my heart filled with His power, love and self-discipline! Let’s Do IT-is having he chance and sharing that love and feeling of confidence in Christ with others! May we be His vessels every day to share that good news where ever we are!

We woke up around 5 and got Katie and Jason off to the airport to head back to Texas. There was no traffic on the road and we got there with no problem. We stopped off to get some gas and Mahac, one of the Storks was there and he got a chance to say goodbye to them and that was great to see! Just found out that they will have to spend the night in Frankfurt, Germany because their return flight was canceled. I hope they can catch up on some sleep and maybe even venture out to see some of Germany! They were such a great help with the football, taking pictures and doing work on the field and stage! I got home and went and laid my head down to catch a little shut eye before church! Much needed and great nap! I went to church with just Brandon, Stefan, Janko.  It seemed weird not having everyone else with us. Church was awesome and they asked me to get up and share about the Field of Faith and share with them what are plans were. They were excited to hear and promised to pray for each event every day! I asked them to come out and help us to share Christ’s love and to help with any who may turn their hearts over to Christ! I pray they will make a commitment to do so!

After church Coach Daniel’s mother and father invited us over to their home behind the church to have some coffee and cake! It was a great time of Fellowship and to hear Daniel’s father acknowledge his pleasure of having us come to his country was uplifting and a joy! He asked if he could play a song for us and hearing his heart while he played the guitar was wonderful! We finished and then headed to Coach’s house for lunch (Brandon and I along with Daniels family.)  It was an incredible time of fellowship and the food was incredible, all 5 courses! Every year they have invited me and every year I leave the house many kilos heavier!! After church we went to the field to see what supplies I would need to get Heidi and Grant started on the stage. We walked around so Brandon could see the progress and while we were there Shannon drove up with the crew that had been to Zadar! It was great to see them again and it seems like a month since we last saw them. They were tired and had just finished a big meal at Stefan’s house! Getting a hug from Shannon made me feel like I was back home and seeing my son again was great! Shannon said they had a great time and saw a lot of neat towns and the swimming was awesome! Grant has been in Croatia for a week and few days and I have seen him for only about 24 hours.  I’m looking forward to spending time with him and serving alongside him this next week.

I headed back to Janko’s to change and then out to some stores for some supplies! When we got to the field Heidi and Grant began painting on the stage cinder block and I went to complete the other pitcher’s mound in the bull pen of the visitors! Got it done and then helped Grant paint some while Heidi did some painting on the scoreboard. After that Grant and I worked on pulling the drawers out and getting them even so the middle section that joins them would fit! That was not an easy task and took too long to accomplish so I am going to have to do some work on that in the morning. The stage is almost complete and once I get the stops out up to make the drawers even and lined up properly each time we should be able to get in place in no time every night after the games! Got a great night’s sleep and ready to hit the day hard of one last working day before the European Championships begin! Keep the outreach event and tournament in your prayers! Keep the shipment in your prayers as well! It is in Zagreb and we are anticipating delivery today! That will give us enough time to have a carnival and separate the gear and supplies to get them to the proper places! God’s timing is always better than ours so we are praying for patience as we await His time for us to receive it! God bless each and every one of you and thanks so much for the support! God has really blessed us with wonderful backers and without you none of this would be possible! Have a wonderful God filled day! Our steps leaving HIS PRINT!

David