What does the Bible mean to you?

Tonight my lovely wife and I visited the new family we had on Friend day. Both of them were saved, I led them to the Lord about a month ago. As we were sitting around their table talking we were enjoying a great time of fellowship. We talked about the Lord, and how He loved them so much. Nikolina has had a really hard life. Her childhood was very unpleasant and her husband beat her and her children. How sweet it was to hear her talk about Jesus and her love for Him. She told me that through this dark time in her life she read the Bible and reached out to the Lord for help. It was a joy to tell her that the Lord sent me directly to her so that she could hear about the Savior.

We continued to talk and I explained to her that she needed to be baptized, and she said she already decided that she wanted to follow the Lord in baptism. We set a date and I'm so excited about it.

Nikolina then asked me sheepishly if I had an extra Bible that she could borrow. She wanted to read God's Word and she did not have a copy of it. Tori remembered that we had a an extra Bible in the car, so as we said our goodbyes they walked us out to the car so I could give her a New Testament. As I handed her the Bible I told her that she could have it. You should have seen the look on her face. She said, this better than a million dollars! She held the Bible with both hands close to her and was smiling from ear to ear.

I thought to myself, what does the Bible mean to me? Many times we take it for granted, but what if we did not have it? What does the Bible mean to you? Is it more precious than a million dollars? I pray to God that I'll have a great love for God and His Word!

Friend Day!

Sunday was our first ever friend Day in Varazdin! We had 25 in attendance with one first time visiting family!There was a good spirit and the preaching was excellent. Brother Pranger did a great job.




This new church plant has been trying on me personally. Over the last year not many visitors have showed up. Yesterday was such a blessing to have this new family. They were converts of mine, and it was so good to see them at church.



Thank you all for praying!

Tommorow, Friend Day!

Tomorrow is the big Day! We will have our first ever Friend Day in Varazdin. Today we spent 2 hours passing out tracts and fliers. We've visited and prayed much. Everything is in God's hands, and we are praying for a day of victory!

Sight seeing!

Yesterday we spent the day sight seeing with Jim and Laura Pranger. Brother Pranger is a missionary in Budapest, and he's come down to preach our Friend Day this Sunday. We had a great time of fellowship as we drove the four hours to get to Pula. In Pula there is a Roman coliseum that is 2,000 years old. We were able to pass out some tracts and witnessed to two people.

We are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do this Sunday. This will be our first ever Friend Day in the new Church plant. Much work has gone into this day, but we know that with out God we can do nothing! Please pray with us that God and His power will show up!

The saga of the pig is out of hand!

Just thought you'd enjoy this. My good friend James Rasbeary has discovered the real identity of Milan's pig. Please don't tell the children.

The saga of the pig continues!

I wanted to give everyone an update concerning Milan's pig. I know you all probably can't sleep at night thinking about this pig. (For you that have no ideal what I'm talking about you'll have to watch the video in a few post before this one.) Well I just want to say that the pig did not die in vain. Rather he died for a very worthy cause!

Those were some of the best ribs I've had in a looooooooong time.








A special thanks to my sweetheart who prepared them for me! So far I've been able to keep her away from the video.

Whats happended to America!

I was shocked when I saw the video below. How can this happen in America! Maybe you have already seen this. An Independent Baptist Pastor was beat for standing up for the fourth amendment. It seems like today our Constitution means nothing. Many times in Croatia, I've told the people that America enjoys so much freedom because we live by our Constitution, but now I'm not certain if that is true anymore. After watching this video I would have thought that is was done in Russia or China, but not the land of the free! God help our country!

I WOULD NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN WATCH THIS VIDEO BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday, Alen!

Brother Alen is a faithful soul winner in our church. He does not have a family so he is able to go out witnessing pretty much every time Brother Rich or myself goes out. He has been a blessing to me as I try to start the new church in Varazdin. Last week as we were driving to Varzadin, he said: "yesterday was my birthday." He then told me that he did not even know it was his birthday. Apparently he got some card in the mail from an insurrance company telling him happy birthday. He said that he was shocked because he did not even know it was his birtyhday.

I was a little saddened when I heard this. How can a man not know when it is his birthday? I guess if you don't have any family or anyone to celebrate it with you it would be easy to forget.

Brother Alen's mom died of cancer when he was a little boy. His dad, who is an alcoholic, raised him. He grew up pretty lonely, this must be why he loves Jesus so much! He heard about the Savior that will never leave nor forsake him.

Through this I was burdened to try and care more for people. I hope next year he'll learn of his birthday from me and not an insurance company!

Milan's pig!

Saturday I spent the morning with the Gypsy family that comes to our church. They invited me over, because they were going to slaughter a pig. Brother Milan works hard for his money, and he provides for his family. They are very faithful to our church, and we praise God for them. Because meat is so expensive in Croatia, he buys his meat from a local farmer and he and his family butcher it at home. This was a new experience for me. I've been here for over 9 years now, and this is the first time I got to see how they butcher a pig. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I did enjoy spending time with brother Milan and his family.

Below you will find the video of this event. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH. PARENTAL GUIDANCE IS SUGGESTED DUE TO THE BRUTALITY CAUSED TO THE PIG!

I'm not crazy, just wanted you to see what it's like to live in the field.






This family has always displayed a spirit of giving. They sent me home with a bag of meat. If I can keep my wife from watching the video then maybe she'll cook it for me!

Prayer works!

Just quickly wanted to give you all a report on the children's ministries. Last night we had 8 come! This is down from before, but praise God some of them came back. There was a good spirit last night, and many of them asked if we were going to play soccer this week. I'm glad we didn't loose this ministry. Please keep praying. We are in a spiritual battle and need your prayers.

God bless!

Prayer warriors needed!

This week proved a little difficult for our children's ministry! I arrived at the Gypsy village to pick the kids up, and there was not one ready for Church. Apparently one of the Fathers has forbidden his three kids from coming, and this may have spread to others in the village. Gypsy people are very clannish, and follow one another. This man is an alcoholic and has threatened me, although I have never met him. He is upset because we are Baptist. Now this is pretty normal in Croatia. Baptist are considered a sect. This has always been our biggest obstacle in Croatia.

I need some of you to join me in prayer this week, so that we don't loose this ministry. Please pray that the kids will return this Wednesday night. We need God to do a mighty work. Please pray that God will give me the courage to face this spiritual darkness. Everytime I drive into these villages I am going into the devil's play ground. Every sin you could imagine happens in these villages. They are a strong hold of Satan. I need God's power and God's help. These children are important to God. I pray that we can win some out of the devil's grasp!

Thank you for joing me in prayer.