Last week...the good, the bad, and the ugly

THE GOOD...I had the privilege of helping to plan and coordinate a country-wide ministry team training event that took place last Saturday. We had about 40 people attend including staff, student leaders, and adult volunteers. This was a time of casting vision and providing training for summer English camp outreach. It was totally fun to help connect believers from different areas of Slovenia and to see them realize they are not alone in following and serving Christ!


THE BAD...I am also feeling the cultlure shock a bit more now. It's kind of like a delayed reaction I think. I've read that it's normal to experience this at the 2-3 month range and that's right where I am at now. I think that I should have everything all figured out by now but I don't. It's an unrealistic expectation. People who have been here for 5 years or more tell me that they still don't have it all figured out! So for the straw-breaker, I failed at making a recipe called "Idiot bread." It turned out flat as a pancake! I've never used yeast before so after describing my failure to my mom she gave me some insight into proofing yeast with warm water and not boiled water. Apparently I killed the yeast. So the next morning I got up and tried again and this time it turned out. So I can make Idiot bread...the sweet taste of victory! :-) Here's a picture comparing the two attempts.

THE UGLY...I got my hair cut last week for the first time in Slovenia and I really don't like it. It's too short and it's uneven. As I look around, the uneven part is a normal haircut here. So I fit in with it but it's still not what I wanted. No picture for this paragraph!

Personal Retreat

I have developed a tradition of taking a personal retreat with just me and the Lord for a few days each year. I devote this time to just being in the Lord's presence praying, reading God's Word, worshiping, taking stock of where I've been and asking God where He would like to lead me in the upcoming year. It's always a refreshing time. Joel gave me April 10-12th off and I decided to use those days for my annual personal retreat. I asked around for some ideas on where to go and ended up going to a facility owned by Calvary Chapel called "The Castle" in Millstatt, Austria. Here's the link to their website if you'd like to know more about the facility: www3.calvarychapel.com/castle/index.html. I had a little bit of a rough start to my trip as I missed my train connection in Villach, Austria but the next train was only an hour later. And then because I got in later than expected the staff from the Castle were not able to pick me up so I had to take a taxi to the Castle which cost me 25 euro for a 25 minute ride. Ouch! I was a little unsettled at this point. I had to do some preaching to myself to not let this ruin my whole retreat. The truth of the matter was that I only got to my destination 1.5 hours later than expected and it only cost me 15 euro more than planned (the Castle pick up costs 10 euro). I got there just in time for lunch and the staff were so friendly and hospitable that by the end of lunch I was feeling more at ease and able to let the travel issues go.

The weather was decent the day I arrived so after lunch I took a hike up the hill above the Castle and sat and read my Bible from the following vantage point overlooking Millstattersee (I think that means Lake Millstatt but I'm not sure)...
It was gray and cloudy/rainy the rest of the time so I was glad I took advantage of the weather the first day to get a hike in. I had a good retreat spending much time praying for the ministry in Slovenia and for God's guidance in how He wants to use me here. It was not a mountain top experience but it was definitely good to recalibrate my soul in God's presence. Here are a couple more pics...

The Castle

The quaint village of Millstatt along the lake as seen from the Castle.

Ljubljana Baptist Church Retreat

The weekend before last, I had the privilege of joining the Baptist church in Ljubljana (the capital city) on their annual retreat to the Croatian coast. Other than the Woodard's and I, the rest of the Slovenian JV team attends this church. So it was an opportunity for me to get to know my teammates better. I had attended a service at this church back in 2002 when I was here to do English camps. It was so fun to see how the Lord has grown this church since then. I think there were about 20 people in the service back in 2002 and now there were about 95 church members and guests at this retreat! The atmosphere was one of joy in the Lord and in fellowship with each other and it was so fun to see and be a part of that. Praise God for the way He is growing this church and pray for His protection over this growing body.

This is the New Life retreat center that we stayed at. It was located right across the street from the Adriatic Sea and beach access.

This was the view of the Adriatic and Krk island from the hotel balcony.

The portion of the Croatian coast that I saw was pretty but it was rocky with not much beach space. The nearby towns were quaint but I still prefer the large sandy beaches of Oregon! :-)

This center of the town we stayed in, Crikvenica, was just a 10 minute walk away.

People gathering for session time. So fun to see such a full room!

After Sunday morning church service a couple of people were baptized in the Adriatic Sea and we had a time of worship right there on the beach. That's Josh Patty playing guitar and Katka Bordner (Slovene national and fellow JV team member) leading the singing.

My kitchen turned into a bakery!

Last night some students came over and we made desserts for a fund-raiser dessert for Trdna Skala that takes place tonight. Our church is trying to raise funds to purchase the building that Trdna Skala rents and our church currently meets in. Joel will be sharing future plans for Trdna Skala and how people can be involved. The students and I had a great time making the desserts together! We made chocolate chip cookies, apple crisp, chocolate cake, and tiramisu.

Ness making chocolate cake.

Cookie monsters in the house!

Ness, Zan, and Anja

Zan doing a taste test!

Spring weather is here!

It looks like spring weather is here, although I'm told it could just be teasing us and we could still see snow in April! :-) On Sunday afternoon I went for a bike ride and here are some pictures of the beautiful Slovenian landscape in the area I am blessed to live in.

Mt. Storzic (6992'), part of the Kamnisko alpes surrounding Kranj

Me and my main mode of transportation for the year (well, besides my feet!). :-)