2019 Summer MLO Blog 21

2019 Summer MLO Blog 21 Reflections (David Moss) Give and Receive, not Give and Take. I will share more on this in my next update, but those are the words that God has laid on my heart of how we as Christ followers need to be, teach and have others learn! Life with Christ needs to be more than an emotion; it’s a devotion. A devotion that carries you through the valleys of difficulties and struggles, carries you over the mountain-top experiences of jubilation, and extends that joy in life well past the mountain-top and into the everyday of life! I started writing this while I was sitting in the Zagreb airport waiting for my flight to come home and I am completing it 27 hours later. After two cancelled flights, standing in lines to reschedule, another delayed flight and a security line of over an hour, I missed my flight from Germany to Chicago; after another 2 hour line wait to get another flight home, and security line in Chicago that almost caused yet another missed flight to Houston, I am finally home after a little over 10 weeks overseas! I am trying to understand all that went on; to comprehend and grasp God’s intention for this or that to happen or a door that opened here or over there and my mind races! To say the least, it’s jumbled up and unable to fully take in and understand, to take in and even remember the Godcidences from yesterday let alone 76 days worth. I can start by saying I am thankful for my vertical relationship with Jesus and the strength that it grants me every moment of the day. This morning I was the first in line at the airport anxious to get home and back in my Baby Doll’s arms. Come to find out that Lufthansa had cancelled both my flights and had not booked me on any other flights. What? Remembering that there are no surprises to God, I calmly moved from that line to go stand in line at the service counter (a line that was not yet open), to see if an agent could find me a flight back to Houston! Blessing:  because I was there early, I was the first in line at the service counter that would eventually become very long before their window even opened. Praise God! They found me a flight, although it’s a middle seat and an additional stop that adds more travel time, I will be back home!

Getting to Frankfurt late and then a security line that was as organized as cattle being driven to a shoot to be branded and that lasted over an hour and a half; I got redressed, collected my things and ran to the gate in time to watch it close right in front of me. The airline personal looked at my ticket and boarding pass, got on their computer for about 5 minutes and then sent me to the service desk and they would help me. I asked if they could tell me if there were other flights and they wouldn’t answer me, just pointed me back the way I came. Looking ahead down the terminal I saw the line waiting for agents to assist the many others who were affected by all the security delays! However, the rainbow that glaringly appeared on my walk is one that I would never had seen had I not just gone through all of that. There standing in front of me was Fran, a Lufthansa employee that I had met back in August of 2017! A gentleman that I had a conversation with concerning his daughter and he had asked for prayer! What a tremendous blessing it was to tap him on the shoulder and let him know I had been praying. He immediately knew who I was and although our hug and conversation were brief, we were able to encourage one another. Thank you, Jesus, for creating that window through a closed door!

Home! Home is back in my Baby Doll's arms and sleeping in my own bed here in Pearland Texas, but home is also where the heart is, which I must admit makes me homesick. Much of my heart remains in Croatia! That is what brings me back there year after year, several times in these past 14 years, to catch back up with the part I always leave behind.

Sitting around the table on the last night with Janko, Stefan and Arie was a beautiful time of prayer and revealing each one’s thoughts and concerns. Transition and adaptation are happening at HiS HOUSE with Stefan and Arie moving in and Janko moving over. Although HiS HOUSE is large enough to house 35 people from time to time, it becomes much smaller when you need to house two households permanently! The rooms can seem much smaller and coordination of activities is not just a temporary juggling act that lasts during an MLO but becomes an everyday lifestyle. That’s hard for all and we are praying God’s protection and wisdom over all of it! Please join us in those prayers as God expands the ministry. With growth there are always growing pains and some of those are uncomfortable and difficult to go through, but necessary for the expansion and growth to occur! What a Wonderful team God put together this year for our HiS PRINT summer MLO. I originally thought we had 9 churches represented on the HiS PRINT team, but it was actually 11 American churches plus another 3 from our international team, for a grand total of 14 churches gathered together to do God’s work of sharing His love.  We are not concerned with who got the credit, except where the credit should go and that’s to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I wish I had pictures to show you of the team as a collective unit, but with all our activity and craziness, we didn’t make it happen.  After I have a few days of recovery and SLEEP, I will try and put down in words more about what went on and the open doors God has created! You can watch this video to see just a glimpse of what God is doing with the ministry and the amazing opportunities to share His love with others. He has a plan to do something huge across the Balkans! God bless and have a wonderful God filled day!   David