Witness Stand

This year at youth group we started doing the Witness Stand. It is an opportunity for a student to share about something that God is doing or has done in their life. Ellie Beth shared this in November and we wanted to share it with you.

A couple years ago, I felt distant from God, and realized that my relationship with Him was missing something. As I looked at my life and my relationship with God and then at other people’s lives and their relationship with God, I realized that they had something that I didn’t; a strong love and a steady passion for Him. I knew about God, I went to church, I prayed a little, went to AWANAS, and had even accepted him into my life and been baptized, but I wasn’t excited about Him, I didn’t love Him passionately! “How can I get that passion and excitement, and that love for God?” I asked myself. I had read a couple books that talked about time with God, people I knew spent time with Him, and I felt like I should be too. So I decided to spend time alone with God every day.

At first, it was really hard, especially on the busy days, and I often felt that the Bible was boring. So I started asking Him to give me a love for the Bible, his word. And I still pray that prayer. Ever since then, God has been changing my heart and helping me to love his word. Now I enjoy my time with God, and look forward to it.

He has been showing and teaching me so much, but as I think back over the past couple years, a lesson from 1 verse sticks out more than the rest: Zephaniah 3:17. It says, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." God used this verse to show me his great love. I had heard John 3:16 more times than I can count, and had recited it every Wednesday night at AWANA club, I had been told that God loved me and had sang Jesus Loves Me, but I never realized and understood in my heart that God loved me until I heard Zephaniah 3:17. When I first read it, I stopped and reread it, not quite believing that it was true. He showed it to me at a time when I was really sad and discouraged. I remember thinking, “The God of the universe who is mighty to save is with me! He actually takes great delight in me! He quiets me with his love and rejoices over me with singing!!!” That verse just gives me so much joy, I am amazed when I think about how much God loves me, and how great it is to be loved by Him! When I realize just how much God loves me and how much He cares about me, it gives me a passion and excitement for Him.

He has shown me a lot of other things too. He has shown me that He is faithful, and that He never gives up on me. He has shown me that I am His child, and that He forgives me. God has also been changing my heart and life, making me more like Him.

Since I’ve started spending time alone with God, I am more passionate and excited about Him, and I love Him more. Now, God is more than just words on a page, or something that people talk about. I now know in my mind and believe in my heart that God is real, and that He is worth living for. Daily spending time alone with God is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Where Does That Thermometer Go?

The other day, I was at the doctor’s office. I had a tick bite and because of symptoms, wanted confirmation that I didn’t have a worse problem. Just to let you know, I do not have Lyme’s disease. However, the doctor did not have the ability in the office to do a blood draw and sent me to the clinic for infectious diseases in Zagreb. When the nurse called me for the initial consultation, she wanted to take my temperature, so she gave me a thermometer and asked me to return in 5 or 10 minutes. I obediently took the thermometer, shoved it in my mouth and sat down in the lobby. Then I noticed how large the thermometer was and how awkward it felt in my mouth – more like a cigar. Then I began to wonder where the thermometer was supposed to go and if I really wanted it in my mouth. As I debated this with myself, I looked around and nobody was begging me to remove the thermometer, so I left it in. After I gave it back to the nurse and returned to the lobby, I noticed another guy with a funny protrusion from his armpit. A couple minutes later he got up, pulled the thermometer from his armpit, and returned it to the nurse. Turns out, that in Croatia you take your temperature in your armpit. I love living in a foreign country, especially when I’m at the infectious diseases clinic, with an armpit thermometer in my mouth when the outside temperature is in the 90’s.

Super Stijena

Bojan, Matej, Petar, Mario, Elizabeta, Mateja and Dajmian are just a few of the new campers I met at Severin last week during “Super Stijena,” the camp for seven to ten year olds. Although the weather was cold and rainy and the stomach bug hit toward the end of the camp, we had a great week learning about Jesus.  Each day, we sang lots of songs in Croatian and English.  Each evening, Mijo, one of the Croatian leaders, played the part of Simon Peter.  The kids were enthralled by his story and then listened well as Kate explained what it means and how we can follow Jesus too.

 

In addition to the morning and evening program, the campers participated in Bible studies, crafts, archery, baseball, rock climbing, tetherball, ping pong and dance praise.  Along with leading the dance praise, I was in charge of the daily English and craft times and often got to sing along with different kids at meal and free times with songs like Great Big God and It’s Bubbling in My Soul. I was in the orange room this year, along with two other leaders and four wonderful girls – all from Split. I got lots of hugs and smiles and they even made my bed each morning!

Dan and Lydia are at the teen camp right now. It sounds like Dan is having some great conversations with kids and Lydia is enjoying hanging out and helping lead worship.  Ellie Beth and I are gearing up to join them for the English Bible camp for 11 to 13 year olds in a few days. We are praying for fabulous weather, good health for everyone and hearts ready to follow God!

Thoughts of MK Camp

I'm back from camp, and after spending some time unpacking, missing all of the amazing friends I met at Severin, and thinking about what I learned this past week, I can safely say that the 2011 MK camp has made my list of favorites. It's hard for me to pick any specific thing that made it so amazing, but a few experiences definitely took a big part in making this camp one of the best I have ever attended: the people, the worship, and the challenges.

Seeing and interacting with other MKs always encourages me. I love going to camp because there I feel safe to talk about things that I would feel awkward sharing in other places or with other people. At camp, I know that I am accepted and understood in a group of people who know about the experiences I've had and share many of them with me. This year the conversations I had with other campers and counselors encouraged and refreshed me in my walk with Christ.

Worship is always another highlight of camp for me, and this year I especially enjoyed it. As I go to a Croatian church and rarely have the chance to praise God with others in my own language, worshiping in English was a huge blessing for me. I also had the opportunity to join the worship team for several nights; an experience I love but rarely have the chance to participate in. I love how in worship it doesn't matter if I mess up the notes or pause my playing for a moment. It's not about me and how I play; it's all about God and giving back to him the blessings he has showered on me. Standing together with other Christians and giving God praise and glory this past week reminded me of our Creator’s greatness.

On the last full day of camp we talked about extreme commitment as our theme for the day. In my small group we talked about how we can merge the lessons we learned at camp into life back in the countries we live in. So often I go to camp and live on the spiritual high there, but when I go home I fall back into my normal daily routine and let the love and joy experienced at camp fade into the background. This year I was challenged, all throughout the week as well as on the last day, to take the lessons I learned at camp and apply them to my life. I don't want to forget about the lessons I learned this week; I want to take them with me wherever I go and learn to follow Christ in the extreme way talked about at camp.

Let the School Year End

Two vans and a car sat on the shoulder of the freeway, and fifteen or so teenagers looked on as Dan and Daniel lay on the ground beneath one of the vans. Cars sped by, making a few of the leaders nervous. Climbing gear and boxes sat haphazardly in the grass on the side of the road. Unfortunately, spare tire extraction in Europe presents an entirely different scenario than it would in America. The Chinese-puzzle-like mechanism for releasing the tire from beneath the van confounded both Dan and Daniel for the better part of an hour, but in the end perseverance and brute strength saved the day. After switching the tire and loading the van once more the members of Struja headed on to Severin for a day of weeding, washing, and rock-carrying concluded by singing and s’mores around the campfire.

Ministry Focus Change

A lot has happened since our last newsletter. Perhaps the biggest “News” is that we have switched our ministry focus. When we arrived in Croatia four years ago, we came specifically to work in a camping ministry. However, in those four years more and more of our time has been spent working with the youth group at our church in Malešnica. At times, the needs of the youth group and the needs of camp would overlap and we were required to choose which ministry to do. After prayer and consultation, we made the decision to focus first on youth ministry, and second on camp ministry. So, now we work with the youth group during the school year and volunteer at camp in the summer.

Youth Group

Youth group this last year has been a joy to be a part of. I often tell others that the first year was a surprise to us as leaders and to the students. We felt something like, “Wow, this is so cool that we have a youth group.” This second year has been different in that we as a leadership team have been communicating to the students a theme of why we have the youth group: to draw nearer to God and his church and to live in such a way as to draw others into that relationship as well. The students have started asking questions like, “Okay, how do we grow in this relationship and how do we draw others in?” That is an awesome place to be and we hope that this fall we can begin teaching and encouraging the students how to live out the answers to those questions.

Home School

We held our annual home school end-of-the-year barbecue on May 30. Twenty five of us - four missionary families with eight fifth to ninth grade students and five “parent-teachers,” along with the rest of the family members enjoyed a fun evening of activities. There was plenty of good food followed by presentations in science, U.S. history, and world view. Two of the students, including Lydia, shared their musical talent with us. It was a great way to celebrate another good year of home schooling and friendship.

Visiting

Bonnie’s mom, Laura, came for a three week visit around Easter. We had a fabulous time reconnecting and hanging out. Laura experienced life with the Nelsons as we went through our normal routines and she watched the girls at their fencing and archery clubs. We managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Salzburg before Easter and caught a Sound of Music tour. Bonnie especially enjoyed spending four days in Dubrovnik with Laura having a great mother-daughter time. Laura even got a taste of camp and Struja when our youth group had a work day at Severin and she and Bonnie cooked lunch.