2019 Summer MLO Blog 19

Faith (Heidi Dawson)

Faith. I need more faith. On Sunday a small team of five (Stefan, Ari, Robert, Mario, and Heidi) drove into the mountains of Croatia headed toward a town called Gračac. The roads were windy and the terrain seemed to change every ten minutes as we continued to climb up the mountains through switchbacks and hairpin turns. A few days before this, David had received information regarding a baseball camp in Gračac. For some reason they were in need of baseball coaches and had reached out to him for help. A handful of us were available so we set out to find a town we’d never heard of, in an area of Croatia in which we’d never been in, and with less information than we are typically given. We could only help for a few days. We weren’t even sure what help they needed. How much help could we really provide? Faith. I need more faith.

As we continued climbing up the mountains, I couldn’t help but wonder who could possibly live up here. The terrain was incredibly rocky and we hadn’t seen any neighboring towns in quite a while. Who would live here? So many small towns in Croatia are dwindling down to only the elderly because the young people have moved away to larger cities or to other countries in search of jobs—in search of hope. How could a town in the mountains have enough children for a baseball camp? Where would they even play? Who would even come?  Faith. I need more faith.   Gračac. Tired buildings greeted us as we drove through a ghost of a town. Skeletons of houses stood vacant in the center of town. A few people stared as we drove by. We clearly did not belong in their village. We made a few turns in search of our promised apartment and then turned around. We went in another direction and then we turned around. We took another route, obviously driving away from town, following directions from someone on the phone with Stefan. This was clearly not the right way. We continued driving.  The houses look rougher and rougher. In the distance I saw a woman on the phone flagging us down in front of a very small, rugged house. This can’t be right. Is this the “cozy” apartment that I read about in the reviews? We’re ushered into the gate and park our two cars in front of the tired house. As we shake hands with the woman, others begin to pour out of the small house. As we shake each hand, I can’t help but wonder if more are in the house about to come out and who all is sleeping inside tonight. I didn’t think we were sleeping there, but I felt like I needed to mentally prepare myself regardless. We were greeted warmly and welcomed inside. There was barely enough room for us to all sit in the living room, which would  later be converted into another sleeping room for six people. Extra chairs were brought in and we squeezed onto the couches. English was mainly being spoken, but I heard so many accents that I couldn’t quite get a grip on where everyone is from and how we had all ended up in one room. Who are these people? Why are we even here?  Faith. I need more faith.

(Spoiler alert—we did not sleep in the house that night and were later taken to our apartment. There were already ten people sleeping in the house that night so there was no more room in the inn.) The people introduced themselves to us. Each one of them is a believer with a passionate heart for Croatia and for the salvation of its people. One couple, Roni and Sandra, are the owners of the home and the only residents of Gračac. We also met Vanko (and his wife Blanka who we met later on in the week) who had purchased nearby land and a gutted shell of a house, in hopes of one day moving to Gračac as a response to God’s calling. Jay and Natascha were there as well, church planters who have recently moved to Zagreb. We also met Nick, another missionary in Zagreb who recently moved to Croatia with his family. The group began to share their story of why we had come together to meet. A team from Dallas had a dream two years ago for a baseball camp in Gračac. They planned to come this summer for the baseball camp, but their plans fell through. The group sought out another coach in the nearby city of Zadar, however he was also unable to come. The team was discouraged and knew they needed to cancel the camp, but another team member and missionary, Zuzana, who we later met, spoke up and refused to cancel the camp. Instead, they prayed and sought out God’s guidance in finding new coaches. They prepared a field in the front yard of Vanko’s property, spending two weeks clearing the area, leveling the ground, and even chopping down a tree. They did all of this knowing that they still didn’t have a coach for a baseball camp. They did all of this knowing that only one member of their team knew the rules for baseball. They did all of this knowing that they didn’t have a single baseball. But they had one thing—they had faith.  Faith. I need more faith.

The next morning at camp as the children showed up, Stefan got them started with stretches and warm-ups. These kids had never seen a baseball before, so we knew we had to start at ground zero. As Stef stepped into coach mode, I couldn’t help but notice the looks on the kids’ faces. They were in AWE of him. It was like he was performing one magic trick after another. As their smiles stretched across their faces, they were overwhelmed by his heart and passion for baseball . . . and also for them. The 1,000 people of the town of Gračac have few opportunities. They have no hope for a future. They live in a dying town in the middle of nowhere. This camp wasn’t just uncharted territory because the children had never seen a baseball, but also because these kids have never experienced love given so freely from someone they don’t even know. They had never experienced God’s love spoken through baseball, through high fives, through words of affirmation whether the child caught the ball or dropped the ball. But today was different. Today they experienced God’s love. They experienced the power of faith.  Faith. I need more faith.

Words cannot express what happened at that camp or how God surrounded that field with a covering of abundant blessings. I hope that my pictures will share a small piece of what we experienced—of what I still am struggling to grasp. There’s no compartment in my mind for me to file away what is happening in Gračac, purely through God’s provision. I hope that the Holy Spirit can fill the gaps that I cannot put here in one blog post.  I’ve never felt the presence of God so strong as I did in what I foolishly assumed to be a God-forsaken village in the middle of the mountains. I cannot begin to describe the spiritual hunger sought and the overwhelming blessings received from the two Croatian couples as they shared meals with us and enjoyed sweet, sweet fellowship. These two couples had made their lives so open and available to God’s calling for their families. None of them were from that area, yet both couples had listened to God’s calling and had obeyed. Inconvenience didn’t stop them. A lack of “experiences” for their children didn’t stop them from turning their lives upside down. Discomfort didn’t stop them from acting on God’s call on their lives. For the last two years Roni has willingly opened his two-bedroom home to Vanko’s family of 6 each weekend so that Vanko can work on their empty home and prepare it for his family’s move. In obedience, their visionary leader Zuzana went to Gračac years ago and prayed over the town, not knowing anyone there, but simply responding to God’s leading. The other missionaries from Zagreb heard that help was needed and came to serve, regardless of their level of experience. While each individual action may have felt small, the power of faith in action is already causing relationships in Gračac to be formed and conversations about faith in Christ to be more freely shared in a town in which doors were closed to the name of Jesus.  Faith. I need more faith.

I can’t help but think of how Noah’s faith parallels the faith of this team in Gračac. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” I wonder who will be saved through the building of a meager but beautiful baseball field Vanko’s front yard in Gračac, Croatia. I wonder what other unseen events will occur in the upcoming years. I wonder what else God has planned to revolutionize the fertile soil in Gračac, Croatia. I wonder what God could do through me if I had faith like Noah and like the believers in Gračac . I want to have faith that propels me to build a baseball field without even knowing who my coach might be. I want to have faith that propels me to plan for a camp without knowing what baseball is. I want to have faith that propels me to reach out to children, inviting them to experience revolutionary love without even one item of baseball equipment. I want to have faith that stirs in me a desire to build a massive boat for a storm that I know nothing about. I want to have that faith. I need to have that faith. I need more faith.  Heidi