Evica is a single mom with two young teenage children. She
works in a candy shop in town and just makes ends meet. We came
into contact with this family when Domogoj and his friends started
coming to our spray-art workshops last year. He and his friends
were later involved in the Christmas and Easter dramas at church,
and their families came to watch them.
The team arrived safely after two long, hot days of travel
from the Netherlands. After a standard first day of registration
with the local police and orientation, things got exciting.
The team from the Netherlands and five youth from Osijek and
Borovo would be starting off with a backpacking trip in the
mountains and saving the work for later. These times of backpacking
have proven to be a great opportunity for team- and relationship-building,
as people are pushed to physical limits and forced to overcome
fears of height, snakes, and spiders. Team members learn to
encourage one another and everybody shares in the victory and
joy of each person who overcomes a fear or physical difficulty
and succeeds in doing that which he or she thought impossible.
Damir (aka Damba) is the second youth from my area of Osijek
to step out from among his friends and join a team on a backpacking
trip. This is no small step in this culture of suspicion and
distrust. It’s one thing to talk with a “crazy American”
on one’s own turf, but something totally different to
join him and eleven other foreigners on a backpacking trip on
the other side of the country, especially when Serbian youth
will be going as well. But Damba stepped out of the mold that
society has pushed him into and went backpacking. It was his
first time and he’s eager to go again. He is also eager
to break away from the norm and has registered to go to the
ROM Jr conference on identity this fall.
So again, with the help of a group of young people from abroad,
we have succeeded in sharing the love of Christ in a practical
way with Evica’s family and hope that this will be a witness
of God’s unselfish love to them and their neighbors as
we seek to share the gospel in the community. We have also helped
Damba to step out of the identity that has been placed upon
him by his peers and society and hope to have opportunities
at the ROM Jr conference to share with him how he can find his
true identity through the gospel of Jesus Christ and in a living
relationship with Him.
In His Grip,
Paul Drogowski
Kurtz family news
Michelle spent the summer in the States with her folks. Thanks
for your prayers for her mom whose health is much improved. Michelle's
sister Aimee got married in August, and Michelle was thrilled
to be able to be there for the wedding. She also attended a Presbyterian
peacemakers conference in Montreat and got to hear lectures from
Walter Wink, a special treat.
Steven and the boys spent the summer in Croatia giving the grill
a workout. I bet I can make hot dogs more ways than you can. We
had a great family reunion when Michelle returned and we went
to the beautiful Croatian coast for a vacation. We stayed in the
town of Supetar on the island of Brac off the cost near Split.
Did you know that the stones for the White House came from Brac?
We were told that story more than once.
School starts in less than two weeks. Just like most of you we
are gearing up for that again—new books, book bags, shoes
and all that. In any case, we are all healthy and very thankful
to be back together again. Thanks for enabling us to be here in
Croatia in ministry for the kingdom.
Grace and peace,
Steven, Michelle, Benjamin and Nathaniel Kurtz
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.81
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