2020 Blog 11

 

I started writing this blog multiple times and ended up writing something totally different than what I intended, which was to give you a ministry update. Actually, a lot has happened with me physically since I first started writing this blog in September. I went on a short trip up to Kansas City to meet with FCA on shipping needs they have and when I returned, I ended up in the ER with severe abdominal pain. I was admitted into the hospital and placed on IV antibiotics for the next 3 and a half days. Praise God the medicine worked, and surgery was avoided. So let’s get started with an update!

Houston Update A lot is going on with the ministry and we are so blessed to watch it all unfold. I am so excited about the next path God is illuminating before us, that I must contain myself and travel at His Pace and not my own.  Last month at our HiS PRINT Board meeting, it was so encouraging to be talking about local ministry for the first time, along with our global ministry. We are taking a huge step and undertaking to build HiS PLACE Texas to do just that; local ministry that can happen right here 6 feet or 6 miles away and not just globally 6,000 miles away. That entails a lot of praying, planning, and building, but we are taking the steps to make that happen. God has illuminated the path and has given us confirmation on our first steps of walking out our vision for HiS PLACE, where we will house the headquarters and warehouse for HiS PRINT to store and ship donated equipment around the world and many other ministry things on and around the property.

International Shipments We have been blessed to take teams to Croatia and across The Balkans, Eastern Europe and Nigeria to share the love of Christ over the past 14 years. We have also collected, packed and shipped thousands of pounds of donated equipment across the globe to over 30 countries and the requests continue to come in from around the world. This allows us to pray over that equipment, share Bibles and devotional materials with each shipment and ask God if He desires us to follow it in person in the future. The ministry continues to grow and now the opportunity to do that locally from our own headquarters and ministry place is so exciting and a true blessing.

Update from Croatia Now that you have an update state-side, take a look at the latest update from Stefan and Arie in Croatia and what God is doing through them with the people in Sisak.  A note from Stefan and Arie:  Our friendship with the Children’s Library in Sisak has been developing for years, and we have always been blessed by the receptiveness we received from the staff, that now we know by their names and call friends.   Children’s Library is known among locals as the “Little Library” and it’s set up for the pre-school kids and elementary school kids. The facility has a playground for the little ones and an area equipped for the multi- media center.  Library is located in downtown Sisak.   In the past we had presentations about NASA, sweet 16, American household, Texas, Fun Chemistry Projects, etc.  Kids were the ones choosing themes. Many local elementary schools partner with the Children’s library, so library staff is promoting HiS Print programs to teachers and principals.   This year considering the Covid -19 situation, library enabled us to do online presentations. This was done by Heidi Dawson, HiS Print member. Presentations were done in March.  After that, Arie and I had meeting with the library staff and worked on some ideas.   One of the ideas that library staff loved was the book fair donation event. Since in October they were having a book fair, this was a great way to get the donated books out of HiS Print Croatia warehouse and give them as gifts.  Prior to this event, we reached out to schools and the main concern was the storage space, because schools don’t have an adequate space to store additional books. Thanks to our friend Sonja, who has reached to HiS Print in the past to help with food pantry ministry, she was able to distribute some books among schools and kindergartens. The book fair donation went great. Library staff set the tables outside of the library and as people were passing by, they stopped and were amazed to find out that these books are donated. One of the ladies just couldn’t believe that we are giving the books away, and after she picked couple of books, she wanted to give some money, and I had an opportunity to share with her where these books came from. It touched her so much, that she asked me again “Can I at least buy coffee for you?” I thanked her and said that I don’t drink coffee, and she said “well, then I will go home, find some books that I can donate and will do the same...”  I thought this was great to share as we all can see when people are blessed, that they have a choice to make. We all have a choice to make, right? We all have been blessed, to be a blessing. Never do we see that God blessed someone so that that blessing ends with just them. We have all received, to give. We have all been blessed to be a blessing. It was given to us, so we can give. No matter how we say it, its how we look at it, and more often then not, we don’t count our blessings, but focus on what we don’t have.   This lady encouraged me, because she just wanted to do something genuinely, as she received a gift. There were others that stopped by and took the books, asked how come we are doing this, and it was great to talk to people, but this lady was the only one that wanted to do something.   Thank you all for taking time to read. Library staff has been so receptive and they are thankful for partnership with HiS Print. One of the librarians is sharing the donation initiative with other libraries ( in different cities as well), so we are excited to see these books and acts of love finding a place and hearts to bless.   We thank you all for your donations and support. As we have been given, we are able to give to others and they are giving to others and others .... legacy of love keeps carrying on.  Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice and paying the price to show us all how much You love us.  Love, Stefan and Arie  We tell everyone who is part of HiS PRINT that we go on MLO’s and not on mission trips. MLO stands for Mission Learning Opportunities that God calls a person to go and share the love of Jesus with others God places in their path. We wanted people to realize that when they go on a mission to a foreign land, that although the mission stay is usually a short amount of time, ministry is a lifestyle. We go on Missions, Learning and Looking for Opportunities to live ministry back home year around. Ministry is not a “to do”, it is a “to live” and it is not a program that is accomplished in two weeks, but a lifestyle that is lived daily, 365 days a year in developing relationships.   Blessings and remember Jesus loves you and so do I! HE DID IT!  David