When a Storm Comes...

This week has been particularly hard for me.  Sunday evening I found out that my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  As you can imagine it hit me pretty hard.  Admittedly I asked the question of “How could God let this happen?” knowing the answer but sometimes I suppose it helps just asking.  Of course news like this would upset any normal person, but let me preface this by saying my dad and I have a very close relationship so when I got the news it shook me to my core. 

The past couple of days have been quite an emotional “tug –a-war”; I was having a lot of guilt for not being home.  Not being with my family, not being there with my dad.  But on the flip side I know that God wants me in Croatia, I know there is a purpose for my being here and I believe in what is happening here.

Before I left, my mom gave me one of those one year devotional books.  Sunday September25^th (also my dad's birthday) was about learning how to say goodbye.  I know, it sounds a little morbid, that’s what I thought when I opened it up but stay with me.  After I started reading I realized that it wasn’t really about learning to say goodbye but rather it was helping you realize that you need to trust in God’s grace and peace.  It says to put your work, your child, spouse and your parents into God’s safekeeping   That was it, whatever tears I hadn’t shed were now flowing freely.  That was God’s gentle way of telling me that He’s in control and that I can trust Him with everything… even my dad.   Even though it’s been hard and will only get harder from here, I can rest in knowing that God is in control.

We’re not really sure what steps are going to be taken, he has an appointment with an Oncologist and an Urologist next week.  We think that surgery is on the horizon but waiting to hear from the doctors. 

Thanks for all your support and please add my dad, and my family to your prayer list

-S    

Ben in Croatia
day 20

Wow I can't believe that we have been here 20 days, thats crazy. This week we had the privelege of teaching at a language camp for a High school from Maribor, Slovenia. They were all 3rd year students and we taught them some English it was awesome! There were 6 kids that I got to know in my class and they are some cool kids. We all had a lot of fun helping with games as well and we even had a cowboy night, haha. I got to teach them how to play some American Flag Football and I had a lot of fun.

This week at the camp was so great. We were right on the coast and got to see the Adriatic Sea. I came into the camp already having a rough time with some culture shock and God definetley showed up for me. I had some of the most spirit-filled days of my life at this camp. It is crazy that I went from really not wanting to be here in Croatia to God really being there for me and showing me that he has so much for me here. We tried to be very positive and encouraging to the students at camp this week and I hope that they sensed something different about us. I hope that some seeds (or something like that) were planted in their lives because I am confident that they were exposed to the grace of God at this camp in some way even though they dont realize it. So pray for the students from that school who were there! The names of the 6 kids who were in my class are: Rebeca, Nusa, Klemen, Jernej, Jure and Marko.

This coming week is our last free week before we start language school! So it is my last week to be an ignorant American not trying to speak Croatian at all :) haha. Thanks for checking on the blog and for your support.

Until next Sunday since that seems to be the trend,

Ben Ponder

Ben in Croatia, Day 13

This second week in Zagreb has been interesting! I have gotten to ride my bike all over the place, ref an american football game, play some basketball and meet and talk with Croatians and fellow Christians. I had some coffee a couple days ago at a cafe outside of some kind of an art museum with myself, Dave, a lady from England, a lady from Sweden, a guy from Korea, and a guy from Croatia haha. It was very interesting and were all united to share what God has been doing in our lives and to share the visions and passions that we have for being a part of the Kingdom of God in Zagreb. It is crazy how God seems to be bringing things together and seems to be bringing people together here. It is almost like something is about to happen here and it will be great to see what happens in the next several months that I am here.

I also learned this week that if I go to a store or a restaurant and say good day, act like I know what I am doing, pay for what i buy, and say thank you than i can get by without really knowing what in the world the person is saying haha. Thats not good tho I really need to work on learning the language and we start language school in a few weeks.

This morning I attempted to ride my bike towards a mountain/hill that is near my place. I went up part of it and I wanted to hear from God, I have been frustrated with situations that I have going on back in the states and I wanted God to show me something. As I was turning back around to go down the hill I saw a flowing spring on the side of the road. It reminded me of the flowing water that John talks about in the river of life in Rev. 22 and of the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21. God reminded me that his river of life is flowing and that his kingdom is here because he is making new and great things wherever there is human existence and that he is working in me today. I hope to be able to see how God can continue to work and bring his kingdom here first in me and then through me in Croatia.

We are about to leave for the coast to teach some english at a language camp for a school in Slovenia. I dont really know much about english grammar so hopefully I will do ok haha. Thank you for your prayers and support, I hope that somehow you can be encouraged by what we are doing here in Zagreb and that you will continue to be a part of it in prayer!!

-Ben Ponder

Kebabs, Parks, and Hillsong!

So here we are a little more than a week into our journey in Croatia.  So far it’s had its challenges, but the rewards have been way better.  We're beginning to learn our way around the city... which is no easy feat for my directionally challenged self :)  On Monday Ben and I went to the market across the street from my apartment and decided to get a kebab.  The lady who worked there didn't speak any English, but we still left with 2 kebabs!  Ha that’s kind of a big deal since we know very little Croatian. 

After our kebabs we decided to go the Centar (downtown) and explore.  We found so many beautiful little parks.  Downtown Zagreb is beautiful! 

Probably the highlight of our week thus far was Hillsong.  Yes Hillsong was in Croatia!  They were great!  It was almost a renewal time for me, a recharge if you will.  At one point in the concert, Hillsong had finished a song but the crowd continued to sing, but this time they were singing in their language.  It was so beautiful to hear worship in another language.

Picture are here!  These are just of some of our time walking around the city and the concert... enjoy!

 

Ben in Croatia, day 6

Being in Croatia has been very interesting. There are so many things to get used to and so many things to learn.  It is overwhelming to think about. I am praying that God would open my eyes to what he has for me here and that he would help me to seize every opportunity that comes my way and use those opportunities to be a tool for him.

I got to try some goulash yesterday haha it wasnt bad. I think I am going to be sick of Coke and Coke Zero pretty fast because that is about all they have here when it comes to soda. My apartment is really cool, i just walked around a lot in my neighborhood and it seems like there are Caffe bar's, butcher shops and bakeries everywhere.

I live right on top of a missionary couple from Send International and I was talking to them about their 2 or so years that they have spent here. The people here are very open to talking about their beliefs about God. They claim to be "catholic" but also many will say that they are agnostic or they beleive that God probably exists but they aren't willing to be open to a relationship with him. So, I am very excited to see how God uses me to reach the people here even though it seems like it will be a challenge for sure.

I was talking to Justin, the missionary who lives under me, about the football ministry and the football team that he is a part of, thats right AMERICAN football! It looks like I might be able to meet and spend a lot of time with some Croatians through playing some tackle football so I am very excited about that.

It looks like in a few minutes we (Me, Stephanie, Dave, Betsy, JJ) will be going to an Anglican church service tonight, im not sure if it will be in Croatian or english haha, we will see. If you dont know....Stephanie and I are Mission Corps volunteers/missionaries and Dave and Betsy Scott are more permanent missionaries through the Nazarene church as well and JJ is their son who is 5 or 6 years old I beleive, they have been here for 7 months.

Pray for us!! That we would be able to be encouraged by the Holy Spirit to push through the challenges that we face and to be a light to these people here, so that they can also experience the mystery and the mind-blowing love of Christ!!

-Ben Ponder

We made it!

We made it to Croatia!  Our flight left on September 5th from Charlotte, and continued on to Munich Germany, then on to Zagreb.  So far it’s been a whirlwind of activities, from getting registered with the government to moving in to our new apartments.  Today we were in enrolled at Croaticum which is where we will learn Croatian, so we are now officially students!  We start classes October 3rd and we are so excited! 

We are beginning to have several opportunities to meet Croatians and also other foreigners. 
Today I had to the opportunity to go to a women's bible study with Betsy.  There were 5 different countries represented there.  It was really great to hear the hearts of these ladies.  To be honest I felt a little inept, all I could really do is just sit there and soak up all they had to say.  One of the ladies from Croatia talked about the "Tree of Diamonds" the metaphor goes like this; There is a tree that has thousands of rain drops hanging from the limbs.  But when the light shines on down on it, the rain drops look like diamonds.  Without the light, the tree is just a tree.
We were talking about walking in the light, it was so beautiful the way she described it, I know my description doesn't do it justice, but it gives you the idea.  Today was something that I really needed, to know that even thousands of miles away from home, I can still enjoy the fellowship of other believers.

We’re very excited about what God’s going to be doing here in Croatia and can’t wait to share more with you.  Pictures coming soon!

-S