Trust in the Lord...

Mudre Izreke 3:5-6 : Uzdaj se u Gospoda svim srcem! Na svoju razboritost ne oslanjaj se! Misli na njega na svim putovima svojim; i on će ti ravnati staze.

Prov. 3: 5-6 :
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Here is a taste of the Bosnian Language. It sounds similar to Russian. I love this Scripture...yes, all that we can and need to do is TRUST IN THE LORD! My life is in Your hands Father, in Your hands! :-)

I've also included a photo. This was taken in the summer of 2004...Novimost Camp at Boracko Jezero. Super!!!

L xx

A BIG thank you!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who has blessed me so far with sponsorships for Bosnia (and pledged sponsors!). It is such an encouragement and I can just give glory to God! :-) Even yesterday, I went to the bank to deposit a gift for the BiH fund. Afterwards I went to check my balance and saw that someone had anonymously payed in money that I wasn't even aware off. (If that person reads this blog, THANK YOU SO MUCH!). God is faithful - He will provide in all my needs!

Some other news is that I received info about possible accommodation in Mostar for October. I'll be sharing a house with another missionary lady from America. I've been in contact with her and await her response to my email. Will keep you updated! The house is very close to the Novimost youth centre (5min walk) and also near the Old part of town. I'm so excited...can't wait!

News on Bosnia event...I'll be having my "Bosnian Party" on the 26th of June. It's a Saturday and will be an afternoon event (especially with soccer fever in the air;-)The venue still needs to be confirmed...but things are moving forward. Have brain-stormed some ideas and had the stationery out this weekend making a big poster with info on BiH etc. Love being creative!:-)
Am really looking forward to having all my friends together and sharing with them what God has laid on my heart regarding BiH. As the body of Christ, we all need each other - the one cannot go without the other.

Once again, thanks for all the love and support. May this coming week be filled with great blessings, God's peace and favour over your lives.

With love,

L xx

BiH 2002

Here are a few pics from 2002. The group photo infront of the waterfall was taken in beautiful Jajce. Team members: Anton (team leader), Hattingh, Eugene, Heibrie, Erica, Elana and me.

We enjoyed playing games like "aroechicha" with the kids..."Hands up, wrists together...aaaaaroechicha,aroechicha,aroechicha cha cha aha!"

Dina (the lady between me and the car) is the pastor of the small Evangelical Church in Jajce. Her brother Budo (infront) and his wife plus another two Novimost workers will be joining Dina in autumn (our spring) to establish the third Novimost location in BiH. Hope to visit them in Jajce!

Preparation...

To be a good steward...that is the key. On Tuesday (Freedom day) I had plenty of time to think about Bosnia and getting things organised (I love public holidays!!) I was specifically thinking about preparation - not only financial but spiritual, emotional, language studies, to seek God's will for my time in BiH etc.etc. I made a list of things to do.

Regarding language, I've decided to work through two pages of my "Serbo-Croat" language study book (“Teach yourself Serbo Croat”) every day and also read a page in my Bosnian New Testament Bible (starting with the book of Acts). I've also been working on a little index book with different topics such as anxiety, faith, obedience...writing 2-3 Bosnian Bible verses per topic. I got the idea for this from an assignment we had to do for Counselling last year in Bible School. We had to make a booklet for counselling sessions. It's a very handy tool to have and doing it in Bosnian has helped a great deal in brushing up my Bosnian vocabulary. There is so much to learn, but at least by taking these small steps, I will improve and it will be a great help once I'm in BiH.

Regarding spiritual, one thing I know is that a strong walk with God is crucial for the work of the ministry...and for everyday life!!! When pressure is on and you’re out of your comfort zone, Jesus is the only One that can help, restore and give you strength to move forward. What I need to do is “abide in the Vine” and allow His life to flow in and through me. I cannot do anything out of my own strength – it is Christ in me, the hope of glory!

This week in home cell we were talking about the power of association. It is so good to have people around you that will encourage, stretch and strengthen you in your walk with God and life in general. Thinking about this, I realised how God has strategically brought two people over my path that are going through a similar faith journey as I am regarding mission work. My one friend will be going to Tanzania in May and another friend to Spain next year. As they say, two are better than one...and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Eccl.4:9; 12) When one of us is discouraged, it’s great to have the others there to encourage and say: Keep on trusting God! He will come through for you!

Well, as another week lies ahead – let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and do our part in being a good steward over that which He has entrusted to us.

Blessings,

L xx

Summer 2003

A glimpse of summer 2003. Had to scan these photos, so the quality might not be the best. I really enjoy looking at these pics - it brings back a lot of good memories!

The first one is a "maskenbal" where everyone had to dress up as a different character. Had great fun with that! (I'm the cat...just in case you wondered;-)

Secondly - Facepainting.... this was a big hit with the young people. I'm not sure how many "dolphine" I painted that summer...anybody for a dolphin???

Thirdly - Dance in the park...was good fun. The girls loved this :-)If I remember correctly, we did it on the Charlie's Angels song..."All you women..throw your hands up at me"

Enjoy!

L xx