Scotland, the land of Lochs, William Wallace, and… Haggis??

Sorrrrrrryyy guys for the long time lapse.  If it’s any consolation.. I have a good excuse… we went to Scotland!  Dave and Betsy were invited to speak at the North British Isles District Assembly, so Ben and I got to tag along.  Wow where to even begin, the first part of our trip was a mini vacation.  We spoke at a couple of churches and were able to see quite a bit of Scotland.  We went to see the William Wallace monument and the Stirling Castle.  Another day we were able to visit a Loch on probably one of the most beautiful days we had the entire trip.  We were also able to have fish and chips on a couple of occasions, one of which they handed me this fried patty looking thing and told me to eat it… never again .  It was haggis, if you don’t know what it is, look it up.  I think I was the only one that didn’t like it, just couldn’t get past what it was.  But, I can now say that I have had haggis. 

The second part of our trip was the Assembly.  This was by far my favorite part.  One night I was sitting in the service thinking “how cool is this that I’m at a District Assembly in Scotland”.  It blows my mind the opportunities God is providing.  Anyway, back to the Assembly, we were able to meet so many people; a few of them are coming to Croatia for a mission’s trip.  It was great because often you don’t meet your teams until they land at the airport but this Assembly gave us the opportunity to begin to build those relationships.  I’ve got to say, this team is awesome and I’m excited to see what God has in store for them.   

At the Assembly, it really got me excited again about what is happening in Croatia.  It was so encouraging to see so many churches alive and thriving!  It gives me hope about Croatia.  That could be us in a few years; WE could have a District Assembly.  That blows my mind to even think about it!  (There's a lot on mind blowing happening J) There is no doubt in my mind that God has this incredible plan for Croatia and I feel so fortunate to be a part of it! 

Here are a few pictures of the trip:

This was Stirling Castle

The view from William Wallace Monument

The Assembly!

On the train in London
(We had an 8 hour layover in London so we went  into the city for a little while)

New Things Afoot

Hello blog followers. New things are afoot in Croatia for our team and we have been doing some cool things. Steph and I finished our semester of language learning at the end of January, and since then we have been spending time with Roma people and those who regularly work with Roma people. Roma people are gypsy people who live in Croatia who came here after being roamers around europe, I beleive they come from Romania. Anyways, I have been going to an area about an hour away from Zagreb for a few days everyweek to spend time in ministry to these people. They are very friendly, when we get there many kids surround us and we stumble through talking in Croatian and they are awesome people. I have been able to spend some time with a 17 year old guy named Miljenko (Mee-lyen-co), he invited me to drink some Cola with him when we met and he always asks me if i am going to give him my cell phone but I am hoping that I can be a part of Gods grace calling and reaching out to him.

We go to 4 or 5 gypsy villages every week. These people live in very poor conditions and one village that we go to is much worse than the rest. It has less people, only 20 or 30 versus hundreds in other villages. It is very sad to see a 4 year old girl who has to take care of younger siblings and to see little kids walking with no shoes in the snow. They do not have running water and in the worst of the winter we went to try and insulate and patch up some of the holes that they had in their houses as well as give them clothes. Two of the mothers are in wheelchairs and there are so many difficulties in this village. Most of the adults are drunk almost all of the time and this village needs your prayers. In the village that we go to the most, a 31 year old man died from drinking too much alcohol so pray also for his family and that these people would stop their addiction alcohol and turn to God

Good things are happening in these villages as well. There was a convention for the Roma people in January and many of them gave their lives to Christ. We are praying and trying to partner with the people to try and bring adults together for discipleship and possibly help them develop a church in the future. We were invited to come here to do this ministry by a lady named Karmen and when we are not in villages we stay with her at her house. She is a great cook and an amazing person. She has been doing ministry in these villages for many years, mostly with the children and I have been able to help her with her Good News Clubs by playing guitar in Croatian.

When I am in Zagreb on the weekends I am still leading worship for the International service and playing some cajon for the Croatian service at the church we attend and it is going great. We are going to Scotland in a few weeks for the North British Isles district NMI conference and I am excited to get to travel some as well.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

It has been entirely too long since I’ve last posted and I’m super sorry guys.  Hope you all had a great holiday season, I know that I did.  I had the opportunity to go home for Christmas and New Years.  The original thought was that my dad was going to have surgery, however about a week before I left for home his doctor decided to wait and monitor him for 6 months before any action is taken.  So with no surgery, we were really able to enjoy the season.  Probably the highlight of  my time home was being able to go deep sea fishing with my dad, and uncle.  We caught 16 different types of fish including my 4 foot shark J  It was a blast, everyone should go at least once!    

Being home with my family was great, but I was ready to home back to Croatia!  I’ve been back for almost a week; the adjustment wasn’t as hard as the first time, but still trying to get back to a normal schedule.

Good news on the visa front.. I have mine!  Thankfully, after  a few minor setbacks I was able to get my visa yesterday!  This is a huge relief for me and I am sooo thankful for a lawyer who knows what she’s doing J 

Croatian classes are going well; believe it or not next week is our last week.  Time has flown by!  I can’t say that it’s been easy, but I can say that I’ve learned a lot, and met a lot of new friends. 

The non-profit is making great strides, we recently have started working with another non-profit that is in charge of six different orphanages.  Before Christmas, Ben and I were able to help with a Christmas party for the orphans.  They invited a couple of different biker clubs who gave the kids rides, it was a lot of fun!  This Saturday I have the opportunity to go to an Orphanage and work with some of those kids.  I’m really excited to see them again and to really start getting to know them! 

That’s about all for now, sometimes its still hard to believe that God is allowing me spend time here in this beautiful country with these beautiful people, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel blessed!

Until next time… and I promise it will be soon! 

Steph

Ben in Croatia

Hey peeps! A lot has happened in the last month, we have been here over 3 months now, crazy stuff.

Croatian class is still coming along. At this point I am understanding so much more of what people say and I am still getting the hang of the language, sometimes in class I feel like im cramming too much into my brain but it is going good overrall.

In the last month I have been working out with the football team, played a football game (below is the link for the highlights of that game if you wish to view it, I am #73 on the blue team, playing right tackle)....also I got to visit a couple gypsy villages near Zagreb with my fellow man/missionary Dave Scott and 2 croatians from our bible study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXuu2ORQx94

Getting to spend time with these gypsy people was great. They rarely have people coming to where they are just to spend time with them and thats pretty much what we did. I got to meet and talk with some guys that are 12-15. We prayed with them and shared the passage of Jesus talking about prayer with them, one guy wanted to ask Jesus into his heart and we prayed for him as well. The gypsy's are a people who are not really accepted in cultures in europe and in croatia. They are known for stealing all the time and knowbody really cares about them. They were interested in hearing about God, it wasnt a message that was very foreign to them. It was awesome to get to spend time with them and I hope we visit them regularly in the future.

Also I have been leading worship for an English service here the past 2 sundays. It is for a church called Lighthouse of Life. The pastor and his wife have been here for 3 years doing ministry in Croatian and they are starting an international service in English. I got to play some drums too for the Croatian service, fun stuff. This church has interns that me and Stephanie hang out with a lot. They are a big part of orphanages that are here in Zagreb and they are actually about to be the owners of 5 orphanages very soon. Last saturday we went with them to throw a party for some orphans and mentally challenged people with the help of some bikers from Croatia and surrounding countries. So hopefully we will get to be a big part of what they are doing with orphanages as well.

Cross-cultural living and ministry is tough! There have been tough times but also great times and I am blessed to be a part of God's faithful work. He is able to do so much through me no matter how frustrated I get because he is faithful and able. Tomorrow I will start my long journey to go home for a few weeks for my cousin Marc's wedding and for the hollidays. Keep on praying for all the ministry opportunities that are ahead in Croatia and that God's light would shine through us here!!

Ben in Croatia

Hello followers and viewers of Letters from Croatia. It has been a while since I have blogged and in the last month a lot of adjustment and things of that sort has occured. I have been busy with football training, language learning and finding ways to get around the city of Zagreb. It takes a lot longer to get places when you don't have a car and your bike gets stolen :)

Recently I have been thinking on how this year in missions is so great. It is unbeleivable to be able to be in a foreign country and to explore and experience a different culture. I have recently also found that the region of Europe is especially difficult for a missionary. I have a Croatian roommate now named Igman. He has been a Christian for 2 years now and has just started Bible school. I have talked with him about how hard it is to get people here to understand and want a personal relationship with God. They know Christian concepts like the cross and Jesus and stories about God but they dont realize that there is freedom in Christ and that there is love that Christ has for us. It is hard to figure out how to reach these people, especially because I do not speak Croatian. The good news of Christ is something that I need to preach to people at all times and in many ways. I am trying to invite people into being a Christian with everything that I do. This is hard.

Stephanie and I have been able to spend a lot of time with people from our Croatian class who are from all over the world. Continue to pray for them, that God would do his will in the relationships that we have with them.

I have been going to a Bible study with some guys here on Wednesday afternoons. Today we read Colossians. Soon I will go with these guys to visit a roma/gypsy community. The roma people are the last remaining roamers on earth. They live in very poor conditions and they have been a people that has been made fun of and rejected for a very long time in Europe. Pray for these people as we go visit them next week.

Hit me up on skype (bdrew1988) or on gmail (bdrewponder@gmail.com)


In case I dont see ya....good afternoon, good evening and goodnight

Wow so it’s been awhile since I posted last, sorry about that guys.  Not a ton has been happening here in the Croatian world.  The weather is beginning to cool down a bit, which I love :)   School has been keeping us pretty busy but it’s going great!  We’ve learned so much already and it’s only the second week in, I look forward to seeing where we’ll be at the end of the class. 

So the other day I went to this lake that’s really close to my flat.  All of my life I’ve always had a “place”, I call it my God place.  I know that I can find God anywhere but this “place” is somewhere where I can go and get away from whatever is going on and really just focus on God.  Now that I’m in Croatia I think that this lake is my “place”.   Anyway so I decided to go to the lake, it was a gorgeous sunny day with a light breeze, but it was a bit chilly so the lake was practically empty… which was fine by me.  I just sat there soaking in the natural beauty and began praying.  During my prayer time I realized just how lucky I am to be here.  I get to live in this beautiful country with these beautiful people.  It was also a very humbling time for me.  You see, I came here with mindset that I was going to help Croatians that I was going to teach them but really, it’s been just the opposite.  Already they’ve taught me so much about love, and loving one another.  Croatians have huge hearts and if they can help you in any way they will.  I spent all morning there praying, it was the kind of praying where you just don’t want to stop.  You know the kind, it’s like when you’re having a really deep conversation with someone, you want it to just keep going.  I cried, I laughed, at one point I even had one guy stop and ask me if I was ok (that was during my crying bit).  It was just so great to be able to take a few hours out of my day and just focus entirely on God, what He’s doing here in Croatia and with me personally.  I am so blessed.

Please continue to pray with us about where God is leading us here.

P.S. Update on my dad, after his appointments he has decided to go with surgery.  He now has to meet with the doctor in Chapel Hill which is about 4 hours from our house.  The plan right now is for the surgery to take place at the end of November.  Thank you for all your prayers and continue to pray for my dad and our family. 

Bok!

Ben in Croatia
The start of Month 2

So I missed my Sunday blog this week. I had football practice on Sunday afternoon for the first time and just didnt think about it I guess. I played Center the entire practice without cleats. I did alright for not playing full contact football in 8 years haha. There wasnt a locker room and they gave me some pads and a helmet right before. I thought they would have practice pants too but the didnt so I had to practice in my cargo shorts haha. I bought NFL GamePass on Sunday as well, I was tired of trying to figure out how to watch Miami Dolphins games free online.

Anyways...I have successfully busted both of the pedals on my bike...and I still ride it. Today I started language school and it was NEAT!!!!!!! There are people from all over the world in my class and we all dont know anything about Croatian and I am excited to learn. I have class now everyday at night for 3 hours. Its a 5 mile bike ride away so I am riding my busted bike 10 miles a day, great stuff. Hopefully I can get a new bike or repair the one I have soon.

I have been working out with the football team during the week, slowly meeting more and more of the players and spending time with them. My workout partner's name is Pero that I met today and I am having a lot of fun working out and getting the chance to play some football.

I have my times when I question why I am here but it is good to see that things are starting to get on track here and I hope that God will use me in every small moment. Pray for me that I would be able to make the most of my opportunities and that God would shine through me somehow to someone here.

Dobro Vece (have a good evening)

Ben Ponder