Jan. 2019
We are one month into life in Croatia, and what a great month it has been!
Our first 'guests' to the Guest House were friends from Sarajevo, whom we've known for a few years now. The 'D' family were taking a winter break for a long weekend here, and RH wanted to bless us with good conversations and laughs! It was a meaningful time with these compadres for Christ! We are always 'better together'!
VILLAGE LIFE IS GOOD!
We have enjoyed getting to know some of our neighbors and surroundings. Though only a 10 minute drive away from the bustling city of Zagreb, Mala Gorica is a quaint village and almost exclusively made up of Croats. Funny thing, nearly all the folks on our street are somehow family-related and have the same last name! I wonder if we will need to change our name... Nonetheless, Jay has discovered where to buy baby chicks for when the time comes!
The slower 'village life' is a welcomed invitation to explore new rhythms and routines. This past year has been challenging, and though we are still transitioning we are thankful to have a place to call home. It feels so good! Our desire is for many people to be blessed and refreshed here.
Jesus has been very present here lately as we spend time with our new friends who come from different churches, ministries and nationalities. We have been invited to churches, small groups, meals, and received great help with navigating various Government offices, understanding the infrastructure, and where to shop, to name a few. We have been cared for wonderfully!
LANGUAGE LEARNING
We are highly motivated to master this beautiful language and are grateful for the kindness and patience our new friends. We found a FREE online language course through the University of Zagreb that is very good and should keep us quite busy these next few months. The course states functional language proficiency in most settings upon course completion. That is our goal but it won’t come easy, so we are asking our Heavenly Father to super charge our natural abilities through the power of his spirit.
We have enjoyed getting to know some of our neighbors and surroundings. Though only a 10 minute drive away from the bustling city of Zagreb, Mala Gorica is a quaint village and almost exclusively made up of Croats. Funny thing, nearly all the folks on our street are somehow family-related and have the same last name! I wonder if we will need to change our name... Nonetheless, Jay has discovered where to buy baby chicks for when the time comes!
The slower 'village life' is a welcomed invitation to explore new rhythms and routines. This past year has been challenging, and though we are still transitioning we are thankful to have a place to call home. It feels so good! Our desire is for many people to be blessed and refreshed here.
Jesus has been very present here lately as we spend time with our new friends who come from different churches, ministries and nationalities. We have been invited to churches, small groups, meals, and received great help with navigating various Government offices, understanding the infrastructure, and where to shop, to name a few. We have been cared for wonderfully!
LANGUAGE LEARNING
We are highly motivated to master this beautiful language and are grateful for the kindness and patience our new friends. We found a FREE online language course through the University of Zagreb that is very good and should keep us quite busy these next few months. The course states functional language proficiency in most settings upon course completion. That is our goal but it won’t come easy, so we are asking our Heavenly Father to super charge our natural abilities through the power of his spirit.
VISA APPLICATION PROCESS
Big relief: we have successfully applied for our residency permits for Croatia, and anticipate the arrival of our cards by the end of the month! Phew. That was a big deal though the process has been mostly smooth and for sure seasoned with God’s favor. We are thankful.
Big relief: we have successfully applied for our residency permits for Croatia, and anticipate the arrival of our cards by the end of the month! Phew. That was a big deal though the process has been mostly smooth and for sure seasoned with God’s favor. We are thankful.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Currently, we are 30% of our monthly support needs. Our 2 year goal continues to be that our 'income' would be partially funded by our support partners and part time employment we look to do. We are needing partners like you to help give us a 'kick start' for these first two years. The concept with the ministry house is that is would help finance the church-planting activities and take care of the property expenses. We desire to work part time in the community so as to build trust in our relationships and to provide for our personal needs. This 'concept' will be reevaluated at the end of Q3 of 2020. Pipe dream? Could be. For sure the vision is bigger than us! But, as one of our friends recently exclaimed, 'God gave you Mala Gorica because He knows you will be good stewards of this place!' If this sounds confusing, if not a bit long-winded, please know that the ultimate reason we are here is to gather a team from Croatia and abroad TO PLANT A CHURCH.
Our next and most urgent hurdle lies in obtaining Croatian health insurance. This week we learned that it is going to be quite costly and we are trusting Jesus to provide the needed funds. We need to pay $1.600 up front, followed by a monthly fee of $150.00. We have our monthly health insurance expense in our monthly budget, but the $1600 was a surprise. If you can help us meet this need we would love to hear from you Living in dependency on God continues to be one of the greatest challenges and blessings! We are so glad we get to walk this faith journey with you - thank you for your prayers, your friendship, and your support. Email me for more partnership information. We welcome the chance to share our vision with new partners! Email me at: jaygeorgeff1@gmail.com
Currently, we are 30% of our monthly support needs. Our 2 year goal continues to be that our 'income' would be partially funded by our support partners and part time employment we look to do. We are needing partners like you to help give us a 'kick start' for these first two years. The concept with the ministry house is that is would help finance the church-planting activities and take care of the property expenses. We desire to work part time in the community so as to build trust in our relationships and to provide for our personal needs. This 'concept' will be reevaluated at the end of Q3 of 2020. Pipe dream? Could be. For sure the vision is bigger than us! But, as one of our friends recently exclaimed, 'God gave you Mala Gorica because He knows you will be good stewards of this place!' If this sounds confusing, if not a bit long-winded, please know that the ultimate reason we are here is to gather a team from Croatia and abroad TO PLANT A CHURCH.
Our next and most urgent hurdle lies in obtaining Croatian health insurance. This week we learned that it is going to be quite costly and we are trusting Jesus to provide the needed funds. We need to pay $1.600 up front, followed by a monthly fee of $150.00. We have our monthly health insurance expense in our monthly budget, but the $1600 was a surprise. If you can help us meet this need we would love to hear from you Living in dependency on God continues to be one of the greatest challenges and blessings! We are so glad we get to walk this faith journey with you - thank you for your prayers, your friendship, and your support. Email me for more partnership information. We welcome the chance to share our vision with new partners! Email me at: jaygeorgeff1@gmail.com
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
No comments:
Post a Comment