Outreach: Croatia

We lived in Croatia for just over 3 weeks of our outreach and we met some pretty amazing people while we were there. God did so many incredible things during our time there. Here are a few of my favorite stories!!

BFFs

One day, Mia (one of our leaders), Anna, and I were doing evangelism at one of the high schools in Split. We were walking around looking for people to talk to and there weren't many people around, but we saw two girls who were dancing on this stage-like structure in front of the school. Both of the girls had hair that had been dip-dyed bright red and they were doing cartwheels and other crazy dance moves. Honestly, we were a bit nervous to approach them because high schoolers can be a bit intimidating at times, but we walked over and struck up a conversation with them anyways. We decided to ask them the questions from the human-trafficking/prostitution survey we had created. (This is a survey with a series of questions designed to test knowledge and raise awareness to the issues of human trafficking and prostitution) After we asked them the questions, we continued to chat and learn more about their lives. We learned that their names are Lara and Naomi and they are 13 and 14 years old. They are best friends and they do everything together. We talked about everything from dance to their most recent crushes, and they told us about their families and friends. We ended up talking to them for well over an hour. When we finally had to leave it was so sad to say goodbye, and we asked if there was anything they wanted prayer for before we left. They said yes! Once we finished praying, we all exchanged phone numbers and gave lots of hugs.

A few days later, we caught up with them again and took them out for gelato. We didn't talk about anything all that deep or meaningful, we just spent time with them and showed them that we cared about their lives and what they had to say. Anna and I were able to squeeze in one more meeting with our lovely friends before we left Croatia. We prayed together before we went and both of us felt like we should offer them "big sister" advice. Naomi ended up sharing that she had gone to a birthday party for a friend that was older than her and she was put in an uncomfortable situation when everyone else chose to watch a movie that was very inappropriate. This was an open door to talk about boundaries and how to get out of bad situations. These girls are so soft and sweet. They are innocent in so many ways, and unlike most teenagers, they want to stay that way. I was able to share the power that Jesus has to remove images from our minds and how He has done that for me. Sometimes we see things accidentally or we make poor decisions about what we watch or listen to and the images or words stick in our heads, the only thing that can completely remove these things is the power of the blood of Jesus over our lives, hearts, and minds.

When our time was up we walked the girls to their ballet class (they really were the cutest!). We prayed for them and encouraged them to stand strong and not give into what people around them are doing. These girls are truly something special--their resistance to the things of the world is remarkable. Please join me in praying for their sweet hearts to be protected and guarded as they grow up. Pray that they continue to encounter Jesus and that they see how He loves them and protects them.

**Update!!

Less than a week after we said goodbye I was in Sarajevo, Bosnia doing evangelism when I heard my name. I looked up, and there, right in front of me, was Naomi!! We exchanged quick hugs before she had to catch up to her family. I left her thinking I would never see her again. Then, in the same week, there she was in a completely different country, but exactly where I was at that moment. (FYI I was one of only 3 people from our team in the city that day). God is so much bigger than my tiny expectations, He is constantly amazing me!!

The view from our apartment :)

Old friend

During another evangelism day, we went to the city of Trogir. It is much smaller that Split and most of the city is centered around tourism. Since the tourist season was pretty much over when we went, the city was pretty quiet, which made evangelism slightly more challenging. Karianne and I were paired up on this particular day. We started walking around looking for people we could talk to. We found this guy that seemed really cool. He was setting up a mic on the street and it looked like he was preparing a sort of show. He called himself Nori beast soul (a very interesting name). We sat down to listen to him and hopefully talk to him once he finished. He was actually pretty good and we really enjoyed listening to him, but after 20 minutes or so, we decided that we needed to try a bit harder to find someone who was available to talk.

A few minutes before, a woman had walked by us and caught my attention, she was sitting a bit behind us so we decided to give it a try and see if she could speak english. We went and (awkwardly) sat next to her. Thankfully, she did in fact speak english, and she proceeded to tell us her name was Erika and she was from the Netherlands spending her vacation in Croatia. We told her about our school and the work we were doing and she asked us all kinds of questions. She definitely challenged us to seek wisdom in our answers by asking questions like, "why do bad things happen to people who are good" and "why are many scientists, the people who seek truth in the universe the most, often atheists?" Our conversation was really encouraging though, because unlike so many people we had talked to, she wasn't trying to disprove what we believed, she was just honestly curious about what we thought and believed.

We asked if we could pray for her at the end of our conversation and she asked for prayer for her two daughters. We all prayed together and she was very touched. After we finished praying, she said she had to go to meet her friend but she wanted to tell us something first. She said we reminded her of a women she met on a plane a while ago. She said she met this women on a plane to Croatia and the women was also a christian missionary from the USA. I asked her if she remembered the woman's name (there are not many missionaries from the States in Trogir, Croatia). She said yes! and proceeded to pull a crinkled old business card out of her wallet. I looked at it and the card "just happened to have a picture on it". To my surprise, I recognized the face! It was Cheri, a woman I had worked with at an English club for teens in Trogir. I was so shocked!!! God was chasing this woman down!! He had sent her Cheri, and now us to tell her about His love for her.

God gave me a word for her before we started talking to her, that she had been running from Him, but that He was chasing after her and that He had never left her. I shared this with her and I don't know exactly how she took it, but I pray that God continues to show her how much He loves her, and that He continues to send people to show her that He is chasing after her!

This is the famous Nori soul beast :P

Trash Hurricane

Our weather while in Croatia was 99% beautiful, but for about 2-3 days we had really strong winds and rain. One of these days just happened to be the day we planned on picking up trash. So we donned our raincoats and headed out! I was in the group that went along the beach to pick up trash. Let's just say wind + sea + rain x 1 hour=completely drenched! Honestly, even though we were soaked to the bone, I had so much fun!!

FROGGYLAND

I have Karianne to thank for this little gem! She found this "museum" one day on evangelism and literally told everyone she knows about it! She was so excited that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it for myself. Basically this "museum" is filled with stuffed frogs (507 to be exact). And not only are they stuffed, they have been posed doing different human-like things( i.e. sitting in a classroom, preforming in a circus, playing tennis, and having teeth pulled). I know what you're thinking, you want to know more about the strange man who created this incredible place. His name is Ference Mere. He caught and stuffed over 1,000 frogs from a lake in Hungary. He dedicated a decade of his life to this oh so strange work. The frogs are almost 100 years old now!! Unfortunately photos are prohibited in Froggyland, but there are many photos online if you want to see more. My review? 5 stars!! It was something I never knew I wanted on my bucket list, but I can proudly say it is now checked off! I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever in Split, Croatia!

Thank you everyone who has been praying for me and my team!! Your prayers are felt and incredibly appreciated!! I have just one month left of outreach before we head back to Australia. Yesterday we left Bosnia, and tomorrow we arrive in Greece (our last outreach location). Please continue to pray against sickness on the team, several people have been struggling with colds. An update from my time in Sarajevo, Bosnia will be coming soon! I love you all and can't wait to share more!!!