Pray for Croatia

Week of June 30 - July 6, 2014

Living in Croatia and being in touch with many of the churches and ministries here, it is an honor to report to you what God is doing here.

Earlier this month, a local church, Croatian Evangelistic Outreach organized an annual outreach at the Jarun lake here in Zagreb, Croatia called JarunFest. There was Christian music, bounce houses for the children, and free burgers. In the midst of the friendly atmosphere Christians were engage to witnessed to many. Everyone was given a New Testament along with their free meal. I do not know the full spiritual impact, but personally I witnessed to about 12 people and prayed with most of them.

Another ministry, Lighthouse of Life church also here in Zagreb, hosted two separate US teams of young people this month who came for outreaches. These teams focused their efforts on the Roma (Gypsy) villages. These young Christians came with giving hearts and were instrumental in spreading the love and joy of Jesus.

European Initiative – Balkans, hosted a team who just left this morning. Our main EI base, located in Berlin, has two Surge teams this summer, Surge Alpha and Surge Omega. The Alpha team was here for five days along with staff and interns. The first two days we teamed up with the Lighthouse of Life team and ministered in the Roma villages. Everyone on the team gave their all to the needs of the community. We saw many salvations and were truly humbled by their hunger for God and a desire to know His word. The film “Passion of the Christ” was shown in one of the villages and our team helped facilitate conversations about the movie afterwards. Many were so open to receive Christ! The team returned to Zagreb for two days of street evangelism in a busy square. Through several creative arts presentations, the team drew many people as they presented the message of salvation. Through one-to-one evangelism we saw five people receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior. This might seem small but for Zagreb, this is significant!

Please, never believe the devil when he tells you that your prayers are futile. We see the results of your prayers and can testify to the fact that the enemy is losing his ground in the Balkans!

Prayer Points:
1)    Let us get excited about the above reports and ask the Holy Spirit to hover over each individual that accepted Jesus! There was a party in haven these past few days, rejoicing over the new believers in the Roma community as well as in Zagreb!
2)    The Bible says, “God’s word does not return void”. Lord, we thank You for the power of Your word.  Each one is special to You and we now pray they will grow in faith.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
3)     Lord Jesus, we pray they will thrust and hunger for more of You. Let us stand in prayer against the devil’s schemes as he tries to steal what has been planted in their hearts. May the Lord seal the work He has begun.
4)    Let us pray for the follow up with these that accepted the Lord. May there be an extra effort by the pastors and Christians to reach out to these that now need discipleship to grow in their new faith.
5)    Let us pray for the teams that were willing to give up their comfortable summer so they could come to Croatia and be a witness. As they return to America, may the blessings of the Lord cause them to prosper and have a deeper joy in their Christian walk.
6)    This is the day a visitation for the Roma people throughout the Balkans. Thank the Lord for Lighthouse of Life church and their involvement among the Roma. Pray for the church, its workers and their financial needs.
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:12 (KJV)

In the News: Croatia fails to reap fruits one year after joining EU
One year ago, Croatia joined the European Union with great fanfare, sparking hopes that membership of the rich 28-nation bloc would transform the fortunes of the tourism-dependent economy.

But as the anniversary looms, the hope-for boom has largely failed to materialize.

Croatia remains one of the bloc's weakest economies, mired in a seemingly never-ending recession that has pushed unemployment to 20 percent -- half of the country's youth are without a job.

Further Prayer Points:
7)    Obviously Croatia’s economy needs prayer. Pray that more investment would come to Croatia, not only in the tourist industry but in manufacturing and transporting of goods.
8)    Let us pray for business friendly policies to be developed to inspire new investment.
9)    Often we think of investment coming from foreign sources; let us pray for investment from within Croatia. Pray that business and individuals would realign their methods of operation to help eliminate waste.
10)    I do not know the full extent of why this is happening in Croatia, but the elderly are being hit hard financially. I see many elderly here in Zagreb digging through the trash for aluminum cans, plastic bottles and other redeemable items to sale for cash. Please pray for the elderly in Croatia. May the Lord grant them relief and dignity.

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Pray for Romania

Week of Jan. 20-26, 2014

We just returned from Romania after a successful outreach to the Roma (Gypsy) people in the Transylvanian area, where we shared the gospel with teenagers in the public school, we taught hygiene and health to women and we brought coats, boots and groceries to some of the poorest Roma we have ever seen. Many opened their hearts and received Jesus as their personal savior. We had fifteen on the team and we partnered with the Romanian Buckner Foundation. They have an after school program for Roma children and a monthly program with the mothers.

Buckner also has a group home (mini orphanage) where they have full custody of five children and are about to adopt three more. What an honor it was to server along the Buckner staff. They are true heroes.

Let us Pray:
1)    Lord, we ask that You bless European Initiative and the donors that helped financially underwrite the outreach. May the Lord poor out a double portion of His blessings upon them.
2)    Let us pray for each individual that gave of their time, money and skills to go on this trip. Some didn’t even know what they could give but the Holy Spirit flowed through them because of their availability.
3)    We pray for each life we were able to touch on this outreach. God has a plan for their lives and desires to secure in their hearts the hope that was ministered to them. Pray that the seed will be protected, watered and nurtured by sincere follow-up.
4)    It is so important to pray for those doing the follow-up. Lets pray for the staff and employees of  Buckner, as well as the two churches who were involved with the work. Pray that the follow-up team would really take into their hearts those that we made contact with. May they be empowered by the gifts of the Spirit to nurture these young Christians.
5)    Let us ask the Lord to cover Transylvania and especially the Targu Mures area. The enemy lost many souls this past week and the Kingdom was displayed to many.
6)    Pray for Romania as a country for the Lord has blessed that land. According to Operation World, Romania has over 5% evangelicals; which is a much greater count than any other country in the Balkans.  While there, I was praying for the country and I felt the Lord say that He had performed a special work of humility in the people during communist days and now they are capable of richly displaying His goodness.

As some of you know, Zuzanna and I arrived to Romania a few days early so we could complete final preparations and scout out the land.  Prior to leaving for Romania, I was sick and it was just not getting better. By the first day of the outreach, my situation deteriorated so much so, that I ended up in the emergency room.  I had Bronchial Pneumonia and by the grace of God, after five days of steroid and antibiotics through IV, I am slowly feeling better. Let me just tell you though, that God met with me in a special way. Although I was uncomfortable, week and coughed a lot, I was able to wage war on behalf of the team. The team’s testimonies and the incredible unity throughout the trip made us realize that this was my assignment for this specific outreach.

As we are now setting up a base in the Balkans, there will be many opportunities for you to join one of our outreaches. Please pray about becoming a financial partner or perhaps being a part of one of the teams.




Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.