On the Road Again

Unfortunately, October in Zagreb doesn’t come with apple orchards and corn mazes. It does, however, mark the beginning of the semester for college students and the end of frequent trips to the seaside. So instead of being on the road towards cliffsides and saltwater, we are on the road towards language proficiency. 

This semester Jeremiah and I have elected to repeat the last course we took and focus on retaining and using more vocabulary. Up to this point, we have been learning more grammar rules than we knew existed. Now we need to learn more words so we can communicate our thoughts- and the Gospel- more accurately. 

Since we aren’t pulling out our hair over homework, we’re focusing more of our efforts on learning biblical vocabulary. I (Anna) am meeting with a sister from church weekly to read and study the Bible in Croatian- and English. Jeremiah is also leading a discipleship group and teaching a few young men from our church how to study the Bible and lead Bible studies. Of course, going for coffees and having long conversations with believing and unbelieving friends alike will always be on our to-do list. 

Aside from Mom’s groups, breakfasts for women, walking alongside young leaders, and growing deeper in relationships, we are dedicating ourselves to listening to Croatian, reading Croatian, speaking Croatian, and translating unknown words from Croatian. We celebrated on Sunday understanding the sermon and knowing how to search for the infinitive forms of new verbs and recognizing why certain cases were used. 

Luckily, we are seeing the benefits of being able to navigate life without using English and the Lord has kept us motivated and excited to learn. Even today we were expressing our thankfulness to know our purpose and have concrete steps we can take towards proclaiming the Good News to our neighbors. 

As not to leave out some of the challenges we face- I would like to share a God moment that I (Anna) had this past month. We were at the sea and I was sitting alone by the water one morning. I was crying out to the Lord and lamenting about the stressors of living abroad and the impact it can have on our family. I was approached by an older German lady who wanted to share the hope of Christ with me. She first shared with me Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” and gave me a tract with the Gospel (although it was in German). Once I told her more about why we are in Croatia and what was on my heart, she shared scripture to encourage me to stay faithful, stories of how the Lord has worked in her life, and specific ways we can pray for our Catholic neighbors as she herself had converted from Catholicism. Her testimony of sharing the Word with her husband and praying for his salvation for 16 years has not left my mind. She asked that I have all of you pray for the Catholic nations that are under the strongholds of the Catholic church and false hope and belief in Mary. Please pray for this lady, Marie Louise, as she continues to pray that her youngest son would return to the faith, that her mother in law would come to faith, and please help me thank the Lord for His kindness and comfort that He sent to me. 

-Anna 


P.S. Opportunities to be involved! 

Many churches will begin talking about the Lottie Moon Christmas offering in the coming months. Please pray and consider how you may be able to give, and keep families like ours on the mission field. 

If you are looking for a way to be involved with our work here in Croatia, we are happy to introduce you to an opportunity to give directly to our team. In the email update that comes to your inbox monthly, there is a link to our team page which details all the projects we are involved in and the financial needs for each project. We encourage you to check it out just so you can see the big picture of what our team is doing, as well as further information about the people we serve. 

Blessings, friends! As always, thank you for your prayers and support.