Round and around and around...

September was a great month of adjusting to my new home in Kočevje and a great month of travelling around different places.

Visiting Calvary Chapel Bible College in Hungary (CCBCE)
Shawn and I were able to visit our Slovene crew at CCBCE. We wanted it to be a surprise but somehow they found out we're coming. Shoot...

It was awesome to be back "home" for 2 days, seeing old friends and family. We were able to sit in a class of Acts with one of my favorite teachers and be encouraged, we were a part of a Home Fellowship and got to meet a lot of new people, and we also went to Missions Training class where I was given an opportunity to share my testimony and how life looks like after leaving Bible College, and Shawn got to share about moving to a foreign country as a missionary (with a family) and what adventures that brings.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. CCBCE is my home, still, and thinking of "sharing" it with other Slovenes was a bit of a struggle for me. However, once Shawn and I got there and saw how CCBCE became their home now, the struggle went away immediately and I'm so happy they love it. It was great seeing them there, especially Sergej who is a part of our High School group. Well, he's more of a leader now :) I'm very proud of him for following the Lord with all his heart.


Josiah Venture Fall Conference
For the first time I was able to attend a JV conference in Czech. It's a conference for youth workers who serve God in Eastern Europe and only people who are invited get to go. I felt very privileged to be invited.

Our Slovene team was big; 32 of us went. It was mostly Slovenes who are in either full time ministry or part time ministry with youth.
Conferences like this are usually ministry focused, with guidance and encouragement. We experienced that... but this conference was very different. We focused on our relationship with God for the first 3 days, having joined sessions and some workshops in small groups. We talked about Stubborn Sin, Loneliness, Prayer, Community... just different topics. The theme of the conference was Radiate and the question throughout the whole was "Do we radiate Jesus on the outside?" or something like that.

One of the best things we did was spent 4 hours with the Lord - just us and God. We "had to" read the gospel of John, write down what God spoke to us, intentionally listen to God speak to us, and just enjoy being with Him.

During that time God spoke some amazing things to me.
1. I LOVE YOU - (God speaking) I don't love you because you read your Bible, pray and do things for me in ministry. I love you because you're Mine, because I chose you and.. just because. I love you. (so simple yet... amazing!)
2. "You have not because you ask not". There are a couple of verses in John that come alongisde this. I've been longing for some things in my life; some necessary and some not so much, they're more my desires... but the Lord was speaking to me about them, saying I may not have them because I don't even ask Him for them. I often feel like I don't deserve certain things in my life, partially because of my past.. but the Lord was telling me "Ask in my Name and it will be given to you." God is amazing and SO gracious!
3. Repent + BELIEVE - we all have sin in our lives and some of them are very stubborn. We talked about this at the conference and the Lord knew exactly what to say. I've read these words in the Bible so many times but never realized it says repent AND BELIEVE. I've always repented but never truly believed God cleansed me and made me pure! I believed He forgave... but not cleanse. Interesting, right? But the Lord was so faithful to meet me exactly where I needed to be met, and spoke so powerfully to me.

There is much more that God spoke and did in my heart last week. Don't we have an amazing God? He speaks, He directs, He rebukes, He forgives, He cares and He loves. Oh, and how much He loves!!

I feel so privileged to be His beloved daughter. So privileged He chose me to be His, and not only that, but that He chose me to serve Him. He put a calling on my life and even though I sin and don't always do what He says, He still pursues me and leads me, guides me, cares for me and loves me. Such a beautiful feeling!

It's a wonderful feeling to love and be loved by God!!

A Leap of Faith

My heart has always been centered on Africa. When I became a believer, I knew I wanted to be a missionary in Africa. When I went to Ghana in February, the Lord gave specific verses. I came back home to Slovenia and I thought to myself "Ok, so I'm leaving in a couple of months..." Little did I know God had different plans for me.

I moved to Kočevje on Saturday, August 31. God completely changed my heart about ministry in Slovenia and Kočevje. I was praying and thinking about different things during the summer.
 

Kočevje is a small  town of around 10.000 people. Church here is growing tremendously (more than 500% growth in the past 5 years). God is doing amazing things here. Hearts of people are open, they want to know more but there are also very strong spiritual strongholds, which is connected to the past.

The Lord provided a place to stay for a month or two, and I'm in a search of an apartment.
I am slowly starting to fit in the town and the community here. I've been partially a part of it for a good year now so it's not all new, but living here is different than just visiting once a week.

We started our youth group this past weekend. We did a big "welcome back to school" party for everyone. 9 kids showed up and we had a lot of fun. We're praying more will come since we had 30 come to English Camp from Kočevje.

As you can see, our youth group contains mostly girls. We are praying for more boys, like everywhere else in the country :)

This year we will have Junior High youth group on Fridays and High School group on Saturdays. I am so looking forward to study the Bible with the youth, to talk about things that are hard to understand, to get to know each of them better...
This is going to be a good year!

Prayer requests:
- Quick adjustment to the new environment
- Lord's wisdom + guidance in ministry
- Financial provision
- Finding an apartment

Back home from Ghana!

We’re back from Ghana!

It has been an amazing journey of experiencing different cultures, different food, different climate… and also experiencing the Lord in a completely different light.

We arrived to Accra on Monday night (Feb 4), slept for 4 hours and went back to the airport to catch a plane to Tamale, in the north. We got there at 7.30am. One of the pastors picked us up and drove for almost 5 hours until we finally reached Zebilla, our home for a week. We met some other pastors that day and then rested and prepared for the outreach.

We went to a different church every day and shared with people. Because we were foreigners, a lot of people came to the service. Not just the church members but everyone from that village that had time. That’s why we used the opportunity and shared the gospel with every message.

I was stretched out with teaching at church. I’ve only taught kids at our youth group and that was different – here I had to share a message from the Bible and try to apply it to their culture. Not the easiest thing to do! The Lord was so faithful though, and He spoke to me + through me very clearly. Things I shared with churches were things He’s been teaching me over the past couple of years. Verses I used in the teachings are verses He’s been sharing with me. I was terrified before I had to teach every time, but once I started, I loved it!!

There were so many kids – at least 200 in every village we visited! We brought them some group toys to play with and they loved it. We also brought them Bible stories coloring pages and coloring pencils. They didn’t know what coloring pencils are so I asked if they know any kids of paint. One of the pastors said they know paint (probably acrilyc) so I told the kids coloring pencils are like dry paint. They got it :) while they were coloring we were able to share the stories they were coloring, and with the stories the gospel.

The kids received everything with so much joy and thankfulness. Also, Ghanians are such a humble and serving nation! I felt so respected and loved by them!

So, one of the reasons I went to Ghana was to live out my dream of going to Africa, but also to spy out the land and see if Ghana is the place where He’d want me to go.

The Lord first spoke to me on Friday (Feb 8). I shared with one of the churches in Burkina Faso. Afterwards everyone comes to you, shakes your hand and says “God bless you”.  One of the pastor’s wives came to me and said “I’m looking forward to hear more of your teachings.” I was pretty much shocked! I’ve never taught people at church before, have no real experience with it… and here I am in Ghana where this woman came and said she’s looking forward to hear me teach again. Who am I? I’m nothing, I’m no one! Yet God used me and spoke through me. I was so humbled…

I had a battle inside for the first 4 days. I had to get used to the heat, less food, culture, language… and it took me 3 days. If someone would ask me if I’d like to move to Ghana in those first 3 days, I’d say no. But then the Lord spoke to me in Burkina Faso… and I started thinking and praying about it.

Saturday was a great day. We visited 3 different churches but in order for us to do that, we needed to split the team. I went to a village called Kamega with pastor Michael. I played with the kids for an hour and then shared with the church. That’s when I met Sarah. She is such a strong young lady, with a great gift of leadership! She leads worship at church and also leads youth. She is only 16 years old but the Lord put her strongly on my heart and I’d like to ask you to join me in prayer for her. I believe the Lord would like to do many great things through + in Sarah!

After Saturday I started liking Ghana. Don’t get me wrong… it’s not like I hated it for the first 3 days, it’s just that I wasn’t used to the new things. I did love their worship from the second I heard it! No instruments, no distractions… just their voices and clapping hands. And some dancing too, sometimes. I also loved the simplicity of life they live. And they are happy!

Every morning one of us had a devotional, and we were going through the book of Philippians. I shared from Philippians 3 on Sunday morning. I asked a question and it seemed like God was asking me that question. "Do we consider everything as a loss? Are we ready to lose everything and move to Ghana so we can gain Christ?"

We had a church service on Sunday, united with a farewell service (we were leaving the next morning). It lasted for almost 5 hours. There was a lot of worship, Ana, Shaunice and I shared 5min each, Gus shared for 30min, and then pastor Moses and pastor Michael both shared.

We left Zebilla on Monday morning and drove to Pepease for 15 hours. It was a long drive but we saw so much of Ghana! It really is a beautiful country!

Pepease is a small town where they have a Calvary Chapel Bible Training Center. Pastor Donne, the man who runs the center, met us in the morning and showed us around campus. Later on one of the students took us around and showed us the town. We also visited Calvary Chapel Community Academy (Primary school) and the headmaster said they're looking for assistants! I thought to myself »something to pray about!«.

We rested for that day and left for Accra the next day. We visited art market where we bought some bracelets and small things for our families and ourselves. They have beautiful art!

That night Ana and I flew back to Frankfurt and from there to Venice. It was a shock to come from 45°C to 0°C!
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I've been home for a good week now and I've been feeling discouraged and tired. I talked to one of the American missionary couples just a few days after I came back home and they really encouraged me. They also lent me a book by David Platt called »Radical«. I gotta say I just love it!

This is one of the things he says.

»The modern-day gospel says, »God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Therefore, follow these steps, and you can be saved.« Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, »You are an enemy of God, dead in your sin, and in your present state of rebellion, you are not even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to life. Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your life that you could never do.«

The former sells books and draws crowds. The latter saves souls.

Which one is more important?

I’ve been discouraged for many different reasons but one of them is the difference of receiving the gospel in Ghana and in Slovenia. People in Slovenia are hungry for the Lord and are seeking Him, but it takes a lot longer for them to realize who He is and that they need Him, while people in Ghana got it pretty much right away!

We decided to change one of our youth groups a bit. We went through different subjects of the Bible, we talked about who God is and why we believe He exists… we talked about missionaries and Jesus a lot… and we shared the gospel. But there wasn’t a constant theme going on and that was hard on us as leaders and probably on the youth as well. That’s why we decided we’re going to have a Bible study as a part of the youth group. Instead of me talking about something, we’ll be going through the gospel of Mark, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Discussing, asking questions, maybe even arguing. But we’re going to bring it on, black on white.

This kind of scares me because this means some of the kids may not want to come back to our youth group. But… do I want to present the gospel as some steps they need to follow and tell them to just trust God and everything will be ok? There are no steps to follow to be saved! You need to realize you need Jesus, believe what He did for us is really true + depend on Him!

The Lord’s been teaching me about simplicity of the gospel lately. We are just the messengers. We share the gospel, as simple as it is, and people may receive it or not – but that’s not up to us; it’s up to the Holy Spirit.

I’m really excited to see what the Lord will be teaching me in the next season of my life as I seek Him and His leadership. “Everything is a preparation for something.” One of my Bible College teachers said that and it’s true! Youth groups in Slovenia are a preparation for something in the future – only God knows what! And I’m thankful I get to learn and serve Him, wherever, however. But I’m also thankful He called me to Africa and answered my prayers! I serve an amazing God who is always faithful! Glory to Him!

It's time! :)

The time has come when I need to leave with whatever I have packed and go to the airport to fly to Frankfurt and tomorrow to Ghana. How exciting is that! :)

I only have 16kg packed with me but we hope and pray we have everything we need. We mostly have things for the kids and people in northern Ghana + the basics of clothes for us.

I am nervous and excited at the same time.
Will you pray with us we have all the papers we need and everything else + that the enemy wont be able to stop us from entering Ghana? Please pray we will trust the Lord and surrender this whole trip to Him and let Him lead and open all the doors.


Thank you for being with us on this trip + for all the prayers! If I get a chance, I will update my blog and let you know what's going on while being in Ghana.

Blessings,
Mana

8 days!!! :)

The time has come - we leave for Ghana in 8 days!! Can you believe it? 8 DAYS!! I can hardly believe my dreams are coming true - I am going to Africa after dreaming about it for 9 years. God is good for sure!

Other than that, life has pretty much been a routine of a study group with 12-year olds, of hours spent with kids at the kids center and of sharing the word of God with teenagers. This month we spiced things up - we're having a missionary month since I'm going to Ghana as a missionary. I'm sharing one of my favorite stories with the kids - a story through which God spoke to me about Africa and especially about tribes. It's a story of Mary Slessor; a Scottish lady with blue eyes and curly red hair. She went to Calabar, Nigeria, when she was 28 years old. She lived there until her death (66 years old). She worked with tribes, with people who had never heard the word of God before. God used her in mighty mighty ways and I higly recommend her biography! Teenagers love her story and can't wait until the next week so they can hear more :)

Mary with some children she saved.

(Tribes believed when twins were born they brought a curse over the whole village so they killed them. She was the one who tried to save them.)

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I get Greg Laurie's devotionals on my email every morning and sometimes I get encouraging messages from his wife too. This one was especially encouraging because I've been waiting to go to Africa for so long but also because I am waiting for that special someone to come into my life and marry me. God's timing is always better than mine.

Maybe this will be encouraging for you too, in any way.


What good comes of waiting?

In Mark’s Gospel, we read the story of a man who certainly thought Jesus was too late. As a matter of fact, his friends even told him, “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

Like a first-century 9-1-1 call, Jairus reached Jesus by falling on his knees and begging attention for his only daughter, who was 12 years old and dying of a fever. His only hope was hanging by a single thread in the form of this young Rabbi from Galilee.

But as Jairus is hurrying Jesus back to his house, hoping it isn’t going to be too late, a huge crowd is pushing and slowing the way, to the point of almost crushing them.

Suddenly, Jairus’ plan is derailed when Jesus stops and asks, “Who touched me?” Everyone denied it. And Peter said, “Master, the crowd surrounding you is pressing in on you.” But Jesus knew someone touched the tassels of his garment and power had flowed out of him.

In those agonizing moments of time, a nameless destitute woman had come from behind and cut in line, securing her healing. Jairus may have been thinking, “This woman, sick as she may be, would have lived another day. Why is Jesus stopping to speak to her now?”

It’s curious—how easy it is to dismiss the need of others as insignificant when we compare them to our own. So often we can’t see beyond our own needs. And that is why Jesus’ dealings were so often surprising—even disturbing—to everyone. It was the tax collectors, notorious sinners, lepers, and immoral women who reached His heart. He had as much concern for the nameless, insignificant, poor, and chronically sick woman as he had for this obviously “deserving” ruler of the synagogue.

For Jairus, how could he have known that both healing and resurrection were easily within Jesus’ power? So rare are resurrections in Scripture, there are only six ever recorded. So it isn’t likely that option would have entered his mind. Jesus was about to do exceedingly abundantly above all he could ask or think! All in His good time. . .

And Jesus also knew He was not going to allow this woman to leave with just a quick fix for her physical problem. What she needed was an encounter that would pale in comparison to a healing. It would transform her inside out. She would hear the words, “Take heart, My daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Why does God’s allow delays? I don’t know all the answers to this question, especially when I am in the thick of a desperate situation, but there are a few principles that I can learn from the case of Jairus.

1. People matter to Jesus. All kinds of people, not just the rich, influential, “good” folks. This woman was “unclean,” destitute, and isolated, but despite how others looked at her, Jesus wouldn’t risk losing her in the crowd. His compassion extended beyond a mere healing; He wanted to make sure she was set free from bondage and at peace with God. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
2. Delays are often His way of taking the self-centeredness in our hearts and knocking it out. How often I have prayed in recent years, Lord Jesus, just come now! Take us all home; isn’t it about time? Yet in the years that I have waited, how many more souls have been born into eternal life? In my selfish desire to be delivered, have I forgotten that God is exceedingly patient to those I may not give a passing glance at?
3. In our waiting places, we need to see the needs of others we can tend to in Christ’s name. We can and should rejoice that in delays we have more time to spread the Good News to as many people as we can!
4. What lies in our future, beyond the waiting and pain, is often an even greater and more glorious answer than we could imagine. Jairus would see Jesus’ power displayed in such a tender and loving way. His little girl would have her touch from the Master in good time. We read Jesus’ words, spoken gently, Talitha koum: “Little lady, wake up.” Even in the worst case scenario, death, our greatest enemy, isn’t to be feared. In the end, it will have no power over the believer. It will be nothing more than a sweet night’s sleep from which we will hear our Savior say, “Dear one, it is time to get up.”

Can we trust Him when our time schedules are stretched to the limits and snapped? Jairus didn’t know how this would end, or that a resurrection would tap no more of Jesus’ power than healing a fever. Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

However, in our in-between time, between our pleas for help and the answer that is certainly coming, may we read these words and hear Him say to us: Don’t be afraid; just believe!

All who believe will hear their own “Talitha koum.”

by Cathe Laurie

A long time coming update

I'm aware of the fact I haven't updated my blog in a couple of months. It's time, I know.

1. JUNIOR HIGH in Ljubljana
This year I took over the Junior High group in Ljubljana and I must say it's been going very well. Meta and Mladen are leading with me. We don't have as many kids coming this year (4 in average) but I think it's a good thing for now - we can really invest in these 4, 5 kids and get some really strong foundations. We're talking about God's character in the first half of the year and about Jesus' character in the second half.

2. JUNIOR HIGH in Kočevje
We kind of started this group in March this year but it was only 2x a month. From November on we've been meeting every Saturday and it's amazing to see what God's been doing. There are mostly kids from church in Kočevje but there are also some that are atheists and some catholics. It's a very different group of kids than Ljubljana but that's a good thing. Also, they're from 10 to 17 years old so it's tricky to have a discussion with all of them sometimes. We're still working on that.
We're meeting in a pizza place that hasn't been working in 15 years. An American family, that moved to Kočevje 4 months ago, lives above it and they help out with the junior high group. We're talking about the basics - does God exist, how do we know that, what they think about it.. we watched a movie To Save A Life and we're going to do a follow up for the next 2 weeks.

When I started working with Junior Highers in January this year, I had no idea what I'm going into. I never worked with them before and honestly, I didn't really want to. God did open these doors and my heart so I tried. He is amazing - I love both of the groups and I love kids that come. They are all very different but so great and I'm thankful God "pushed me" into working with Junior Highers. It's rewarding (even though sometimes I still have no idea what I'm doing).

3. I MOVED INTO MY OWN PLACE!
I've been praying about moving since Jan this year and I kind of had an agreement with God that I'll stay home and be a light for my family in times of trouble but I asked to move out in Sept or Oct.
It was a very long process of praying and thinking and even stepping out in faith... but in the end God was again so faithful. He provided a perfect place, He provided money and He provided everything else, including furniture. I bought a bed (with a drawer that you can pull out and you have an extra bed) for 10€ and I got table and chairs from my grandma. My mom bought a lot of food for me and just took care of me like only she can.
I'm so thankful for this place.. I finally feel free and it feels amazing! :)

4. ONLY 2 MONTHS UNTIL I GO TO GHANA!
Yes, it's coming.. it's right around the corner :) I'm super stoked about it and I don't even realize it yet..
I got my yellow fever shot, I'm gonna get hepatitis A+B + one kind of meningitis shot.. and we're almost in a process of getting our visas. Everything is going like it's suppose to.. for now. Let's pray nothing goes wrong!

So, life is pretty good right now. There are also spiritual attacks and stuff - they never really end - but it's just a sign I'm going into the right direction.


God is good and faithful - what else can I ask for? ;)

Back in Slovenia

Yes, I've been in Slovenia for almost a week now, since Monday. I can't say I'm back home because I don't feel like Slovenia is my home. I know I'll be home in heaven but travelling a lot and having been around different cultures so much makes me feel like I don't have a home. In a good way!!

My last 10 days in the States were awesome. We went to Virginia beach for 4 days. I saw the ocean for the first time and got to see dolphins!! Shaunice and I were swimming and throwing ourselves into the waves when we saw 2 fins swimming 5m away from us! Shaunice screamed "shaaaarks!" and we RAN out of the water. Later on we googled if Virginia beach actually has sharks, and it does, but we found out big fish we saw were dolphins.

After the 4-day vacation I stayed with the Aikoo's for another 6 days and then left for Slovenia. It was a really hard week, knowing I'm saying goodbye soon. We all felt the pressure of the last week. 

My flight back was very smooth, at least the long one. I couldn't sleep at all, even though we flew overnight. I had an 8-hour layover in Amsterdam and was very tired by the time when I was on a plane again. It was a very rocky flight, that one, we landed right before a huge storm. 

I felt a lot different spiritually in the States. I felt no big attacks, I felt good, there wasn't much fear. I was resting big time, that's true, but the spiritual flow is just different than in Slovenia. As soon as I came back to Europe, and especially Italy and Slovenia, I felt fear. Much fear. After 35 hours of no sleep it still took me an hour to fall asleep and stop being afraid! What am I afraid of here? I don't really know. But I could sense a huge difference! 

I am excited about the new season in front of me. I kept hearing "be faithful in what God called you to do" in the past month and I find that really hard to do. I so long to go to Africa that it's hard for me to be in Slovenia with my heart and my mind but God is warning me before hand to be faithful in what He's called me to do. Thank you, Lord, right? Still, it's hard. Please, pray I would be faithful and obedient in things He gave me to do here in Slovenia. 

There are a lot of changes happenning - one of them is that I am moving out! In January I knew why God wanted me to stay at home - to be His light for my family. It's been over 6 months and I know it's time to move on and start living my own life, with no pressure, no fear and no depression that I so easily become a part of at home. 

I only have a plan for a month so I am pretty much stepping out in faith, beliving God will provide all that I need. Please, be praying for this as well. 

As soon as I came home, fear came upon me about my mom and about my health. My back has been hurting very much and my left part of the body is acting weird (my nerv system is not working like it's suppose to). I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I know God is in control but I am still a bit scared of what's going on. Please, keep me in prayer that God will give me courage, strength and peace to overcome these struggles, which are hopefully only temporary. 

I find out my schedule tonight, I'm very excited! Since I am a full-time student with 2 jobs now, I am sensing it'll be a lot different than what it used to be :) but I am excited. I will try to be a student (for Preschool teacher) if I will be able to go to school and study at the same time as work and do ministry. If I won't be able to, that's okay. I am trying new things and God opened the door for me to try them out. 

Concerning ministry, I am working with Junior Highers in Ljubljana (last year we had 2 groups which we united into one) and with Junior Highers in Kočevje (we started in March and we will be trying different things this year, with different people on the team). I will also be helping out with Sunday school and other kids projects we do. 

In order for me to be a part of Junior High group in Kočevje, I need to start driving a car again, after 5 years of not driving at all. I have a week until I actually need to drive on my own so that's a huge prayer request as well. I've been praying and asking God for wisdom, courage and special abilities for the whole summer and I practised a bit already but now I need to press on. 

Thank you for being a part of my life and for praying for me! Let me know how you're doing and how I can be praying for you! 

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13