Busy week, part 2!

The FBC folks headed home yesterday, and the conference ended as well, so this morning when Karmen and I met, it felt a little strange to be just back to the two of us! With Bob's group here at the beginning of last week and then having the Pastoral Center packed with people for the conference it really feels like an eternity since we've had a normal schedule--although it's only been a week!--so although it's a bit of a day-after-Christmas feeling today, it's also nice for things to get back to normal. We only have six more weeks of Good News club before the school year ends and we start training and preparing for summer Five-Day clubs. Hard to believe the school year is about over.

Preparation for the youth trip in June really got underway this week. On Saturday Karmen, Michael, Zeb Evans, and I headed out to Sveti George where we will build the outhouses this summer. We met with the village men to talk about the toilets, and then we sang with the kids for a while and passed out candy and diapers. Michael took this little panoramic video of the village, which really gives a good idea of what the locations looks like:

After we met with the villagers, we loaded up and headed to the nearby Croatian village to meet with the mayor. Most of the Roma villages I have been in share the names of the nearby "normal" Croatian village and have the same school system. The best I can tell, the Roma villages are essentially the ethnic "ghettos" of the Croatian villages.

We had coke and cookies with the mayor and his family, and he was really happy to hear what we plan to do in the Roma village. In fact, he is actually planning to build a playroom there for the village children!! I really feel like this is a big step: the BEST thing we can do for the Roma, in my opinion, is build connections between people who want to help them. This outhouse enterprise is absolutely fantastic, to my mind, because it connects FBC, Bob Hitching, Karmen's ministry, and the local village government. Yay for networking!!

After our visit to Sveti George, we all headed back to the center so Karmen could practice with Mega Zbor, this HUGE choir of Baptists from all across the country getting together to sing for the conference. I went up to the balcony to hear them practice, and they were just amazing. This video doesn't do them justice, but it's the best my little Olympus can do :D




That night I got to go to dinner at the Rustica with the FBC group and Johannas's German contingency. Then I headed to the Magda's apartment in the center to steal a few minutes to hang out with Kristian before I went home and collapsed into bed.

The next morning I got a bright-and-early phone call from Karmen: she needed help with the children during the Sunday morning service so she could leave for 20 minutes to sing in the choir!
I have to admit I was really disappointed to miss hearing the choir myself, but Ivana and I had a really good time with this group of kids. A few of the them were American: missionary's kids! So we had a bilingual Sunday School, which was a rare treat for me. I still have to teach in English and have a translator, so it was really cool to know that a few members of my audience knew what I said exactly the way I said it. Also, of course, I do love getting to talk to Americans.

Okay. Now, I think I actually have some time for a much-needed afternoon nap!