Update January 2011

Welcome back!! We know that we've been away from our blog for quite some time, however we've decided to start using our blog again for updates in between newsletters. Our hope is that we can more frequently update you on what's happening in our ministry in this part of the world. Be sure and read this entry as well as the one above which will include pictures with short explanations.

Happy New Year (Sve najbolje u novoj godini) to all of you! Laura and I were able start out 2011 with a focused time of prayer dedicating the year and ourselves & our family to the Lord, making goals for the year with our children, and asking God for His heart for Transforma (the Zagreb church plant). That time really proved fruitful and we experienced some wonderful times with the Lord, both as individuals and as a family, by setting aside time for prayer at the beginning of the year.

Christmas party at Transforma this year was once again a successful evening for hanging out together, celebrating the birth of Jesus, and inviting friends! Roughly 40-50 people packed out the Massey's house outside of Zagreb. Some close friends of ours and their children were able to make it to the party along with roughly 15 other guests. The evening started with a FEAST of epic proportions (potluck style), singing of both traditional Christmas and contemporary worship songs, a short message, and a Christmas ornament exchange. Praise God that He continues to use these Christmas celebrations for drawing others into a relationship with Himself and His community.

In January, the men of Transforma went to see Zagreb's hockey team, the Bears (Medvescak), play in the new arena. We bought 16 tickets and invited as many friends as we could! We had a great time together despite the Bears loosing in overtime penalty shots. Next month the men are going bowling at a local bowling alley that hosts free bowling on Mondays! Wanna come?

The women of Transforma are holding monthly creative workshops and having a great time inviting and meeting new friends, as well as, making something beautiful. This has become a great tradition and our hope is that out of this a cell group will emerge.

February will prove to be a month of travel and learning for us. February 5-8th, James will be helping put on a ski/snowboard camp outside of Maribor, Slovenia for the youth of Maribor. Right now there are 55 youth signed up for the camp. In this part of that world, that's a large number! They were only expecting 30 to sign up. The vast majority of these youth do not yet know Jesus but will be presented the Gospel in both words and actions.

The next week, Laura will be taking a quick humanitarian-aid related trip to Dallas. She will be escorting a 20-year-old young lady from Kosovo who has hearing disabilities back to the States as she has just received a visa to study. Love In Action, Int'l has worked with this girl for years and we're thankful she has a visa to study at the college level in America, as well as, take advantage of speech therapy and follow-up for her cochlear implants available to her in the States. We're also thankful that Laura will be able to take Ella with her on this trip to give Laura's parents (especially her dad who doesn't travel so much these days) the chance to see the new improved 1-year-old version of Ella...as she is changing all the time!

Finally, at the end of February, James will be heading to northeast Czech Republic with our Slovenian church planting friends (Andrej & Nina) as well as 150 other church planters in Europe. There, in a small village on the Polish border, church planting expert Steve Timmis (author of "Total Church" & other wonderful books) will be speaking to this group of church planters, educating us, and sharing his experiences from years of work in Europe. We look forward to a wonderful time of learning and community.

Please be sure and look at the entry above as well for pictures related to this update!

The Forgotten Ways

http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Ways-Reactivating-Missional-Church/dp/1587431645/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269312298&sr=8-1

Above is a link to Amazon for a book that I would like to recommend. It's called The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch. I've really just begun to read it and am only now nearing the 100 page mark, however I still believe that with confidence I can begin to recommend to any of you out there with an open mind to understanding the church in our culture in a more full way. Since I have not completed the book I could not tell you that I wholeheartedly agree with everything in the book, instead what I feel is worth the read is the way it challenges our views on the church in this changing culture of the west.

There have been only a few times in my life when I have had my world view shaken and changed...and I came out on the other side of those times better, wiser, and more fit to continue on in this life. The first time I understood the concept of cell groups when I went to a cell church conference hosted by Antioch Community Church in Waco, TX was one of those times. Another time was when I began to understand that God blessed me so that I could be a blessing to the nations. This truth has obviously changed the direction of my life. And now, as I read this book, I sense the Lord changing my entire view of the church.

Hirsch very simply explains in the book a basic church history specifically in terms of how the church functioned in the early church, the Christendom era, the modern age, and now we have entered the post-modern age. His challenge to us is that since we have entered another "age"...a huge shift in the underline cultural current in the west. Due to this change, would it not be appropriate and wise to change how the church looks and expresses itself to fit that change?

My answer is a hearty "yes"!

I would like to recommend this book to you so as to give you the opportunity as well to be challenged and think through why we do the things we do. Enjoy!

Bekah's Extreme Creek Jumping - Summer 2009

I just wanted to show this hilarious video of Bekah we shot this summer. First the Massey boys started jumping off a little drop off into this creek (seen in the 1st video). Well, Bekah decided she should do this too (seen in the 2nd video). Enjoy our funny daughter!

Lucia's Baptism

Yesterday our dear friend and sister was baptized. She's a college student in Zagreb who is from Zadar (on the coast). She has been attending our congregation while in Zagreb, but was actually converted in Zadar and attends a congregation there when she's back home. It was a beautiful day complete with perfect weather, pine trees swaying in the wind, the sea gently lapping the shore, and 3 girls displaying their love for Jesus (2 others were baptized). The event was watched by both our congregation (Transforma), the congregation in Zadar, along with other random beach combers and tourists who happen to be at that beach at that time. (Afterwards I was able to share the Gospoel with an on-looker and explain what just happened there!) Enjoy the pictures! God is on the move in Croatia!

English Camp August 2009

Last week we had an "English Camp" in our teammate's village, Mala Gorica. The camp consisted of 3 mornings (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) where we played games, had a short talk, did a work sheet, spoke in discussion groups, sang songs, watched a movie, and did a craft. The kids LOVED it! We too had a great time as leaders. Our main objective in having this camp was to start to build a bridge into more people's lives. On Friday night we had a big reception at the Massey's house with the parents where we presented to them a few songs from the camp, a slide show of pictures, and a brief explanation of who we are. They were all thrilled and wanted to know when the next event would be.

Please pray with us that these small "buds" of relationships would grow into a full-grown friendship giving us more of an opportunity to share Jesus.

For all of you who prayed, thank you! We had a completely successful week and we plan to do more camps in the future.

Enjoy the video...and as you see their faces, pray that they'll have the opportunity to know Jesus personally! You're looking at the future of Croatia!

Thoughts on Justice & Minsitry

Just had a few thoughts I'd write down after distributing humanitarian aid today in some villages near Karlovac (40 min. west of Zagreb). My co-worker and I distributed basic groceries to 14 households. With the exception of a few new additions, these are the same households we've been working with the past 20 months.

One of the great aspects of the job is that we get to distribute justice in 2 different ways. One, is the obvious way of giving food to people who otherwise would not be able to afford to feed themselves (or they'd barely be able to feed themselves) in a given month. This is a phenomenal privilege to be a part of meeting their physical needs. As trust has grown in our relationship with people, we've seen them open up to us as they see that we seek nothing of them...just to help. It's also beautiful to see how they love to give back. Most of the time we return to Zagreb with full hands (squash, zucchini, corn, dried mushrooms, household and outdoor plants, horse radish root, etc.) They too want to give to us and have this relationship be a "2-way street".

The 2nd way that we are able to distribute justice is spiritually. We take the opportunity as the Holy Spirit leads us to pray for these people. Every time we run into multiple people who are depressed, struggling with their health, have relationship problems with family or friends, act crudely, or who struggle with alcohol abuse. We love to pray for them and remind them of how God loves them. On a wider scale, as we drive down their roads, walk the paths to their homes, sit and drink coffee with them in their homes, in our hearts we bless them, their homes, and their village in the name of Jesus. We believe these types of prayers, combined with sharing the love of Jesus for them will change the spiritual atmosphere of the place. Our hope is that as we continue to work with them, we'll see less and less depression, alcohol abuse, crude behavior, relationship problems, and even health problems. We pray that the land will produce magnificent crops. We pray that it would be a place free of binding religion and full of freedom found only in Jesus. God wants this for Krnjak and Catrnja! Here are 2 villages we went to today that you can not even find a map (at least you can't find Catrnja...maybe Krnjak), and God loves these people and knows them intimately! Wow!

May we become more and more aware of God's longing to distribute justice among His creation.

A Call to the Church for Change

I pray that my life does and will continue to on an ongoing basis embody this call Bono gives the church. Notice the last line of the interview:

"the world is more malleable than we think...and we can wrestle it from fools..."

Wow, what a quote we need to remember on a daily basis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grBByc7t3Fs