Ladies' Ministry

Hello to everyone from still wet and soggy Slovenia!

I pray everyone there is enjoying their summer!  We are still waiting on it to arrive!  I think last week the highs may have reached 65 degrees!  I guess our mistake was purchasing a small, one-room air-conditioner.  One week, we had 80-85 degree weather.  The house always got pretty warm in the afternoon, so our thinking was just to have one room in the house where we could all cool off for a bit and I guess that upset the balance of things in Slovenia because it is now proving to us how “silly” that idea was because last week we were debating on whether or not to turn on the heater!

Anyway, this month has proven to be a tough one as far as the work goes.  We all knew it would probably happen at some point, but we were going to just roll along with the momentum until it stopped.  And so it has.  We thought we were right on track when for our first service we had people come.  It was exciting.  We knew it was going to be a challenge to keep up the momentum, because Simona had told us she was going out of the country for almost the whole month of June.  The last 3 weeks we have had just our family.  Disappointing to say the least, but, we just know that we need to press forward and see what the Lord has in store for us to do next!  We will continue to have a service for our family, here at the house, and the invitation will still be for whoever wants to come and join us.  Our next endeavor will be to try and rent a space in the city of Kranj, which is the biggest city close to us with a population of about 36,000.  Hopefully, this will open up more opportunities to invite more people.  Monte has gotten a tract translated, with the help of our language tutor, and is working on the graphics to go along with it.  Prayerfully, something that will be attractive and eye-catching with a very important message for the people here.  Pray that when we start handing these out that they will fall into the right hands of folks who are seeking God.  We know there are folks here just waiting to hear the truth and we are just praying to find them.

So………as much as our church services have been a disappointment, the Lord has kept our spirits up by letting us get closer to our neighbors.  Janez and Ana are our neighbors that live directly across the street from us and they are wonderful!  I was in the store the other day, and Janez greets me with a very friendly hello and continues on down the aisle.  I turn the corner and see him coming back toward me and he’s concerned because it has just started raining and he thought I had to walk home.  In the best English he could muster, he begins telling me where his car is parked and he would help me load my groceries and would bring me home.  I cannot tell you how it warmed my heart to know how this man who we have just begun to know could be so concerned with my well-being!  God is good!  He chose the exact place He wanted us to live and gave us the best neighbors anybody could ever ask for!  As hard as the Slovene language is, I am driven to learn it so that I can talk more with Janez and Ana!  These are also the neighbors that have been coming over every evening with baskets full of cherries from their cherry tree.  I have now made my first cherry cobbler, and it was actually pretty good for my first attempt if I do say so myself.  Micah had two helpings and told me this morning he wants cherry cobbler for his birthday instead of a cake! J  Janez and Ana will be getting one, too!

I would like to close by thanking you all for continuing to lift our family up in your prayers.  Pray for our language study.  It gets overwhelming, at times, and there are definitely moments where we feel we will NEVER get it!  Continue to pray for Joe and Polona—that God would show Himself real to them.  Pray that we can be what they need us to be and that we could show them that God is real by the way we want to live for Him!  Joe’s brother, Andrej, also has many questions and we are just praying that God would give us the answers that he needs.  Mojca, also, is struggling with conviction and I’m afraid she is now too terrified to learn more.  I pray we could just be what she needs.

Thank you all for steadfastness in caring about us and the people here in Slovenia!  If any of you are familiar with the song “If You Knew Him” by the Perry’s, that is my favorite song of late because it so accurately describes what I think about and pray for the people here.  When, and if you ever hear this song, please remember to say a prayer for the people of Slovenia that they would come to know the Lord as we do!

God bless you all,

Krista

April Update:

Another month has come and gone!  We started out the month down on the coast of Croatia for a short get away and change of scenery.  After all the winter snow, it did our spirits good to be able to get some warmth and sun!  People in Croatia are also A LOT friendlier, so that was a nice change, too!  People would actually stop and chat with you, which is something in Slovenia that is very rare.  We were, however, happy to return home, which was a great milestone because we are actually starting to feel “at home”.  It is amazing what you can get used to after awhile.  Like, for instance, my tiny by American standards refrigerator no longer annoys me.  I’ve just learned how to stack things really well so as they don’t fall out on me when I open the door!   Also, I am less annoyed with the fact that my washing machine is also a dryer and can only dry about 6 items at a time.  I’ve just learned how to incorporate a new schedule which includes hanging clothes out to dry.  Another thing that has become a matter of routine is carrying your own grocery bags to the supermarket.  At first, this was really a drag and I can remember saying every time, under my breath of course, that “This is stupid!  Why in the world do they not provide sacks?”  Now, we just know to carry them in with us and don’t really give it much thought until we get there and realize we forgot our sacks!   Anyway, all I can say is things that were so strange in the beginning are now less strange and I guess that’s why we are feeling more “at home”!

We’ve had two Bible studies since I last wrote.  Each time we had 4, but each time one of them was new.  I think they went as well as we could have hoped, but, I always come away from them a little depressed, because I realize how far we have to go.  They all have some hang-ups with what they consider “religion” and we are just trying to convince them that we are not about “religion” but about a “relationship” with God.  A God that they are choosing right now to not acknowledge exists.  Just pray that the Lord’s will would be done concerning these and that He would open their hearts to the truth!

The kids all continue to do really well and I think this is becoming “home” for them, too!  Micah is especially getting comfortable because the other day when we had got back from a shopping trip we saw him crossing the road back over to our house.  I asked him “Where in the world are you coming from?”  He says, “I’ve been over at Gregor’s playing basketball.”  Gregor’s mom has told Micah that since he’s the oldest he has the authority to tell Gregor when he’s not allowed to do something or get on to him when he’s not following the rules.  This brings Micah much joy as you can imagine! J  Gregor is also getting much more comfortable with us because the other day Monte and I were gone and Chelsea was here babysitting.  She was upstairs on her computer when all of a sudden Gregor was coming up the stairs asking where Micah was.  He had just come in and started wandering around the house looking for Micah!  He didn’t knock or anything.  He just came in!   I kind of like it, though, because it means he’s not afraid or shy about coming over!

Anyway……..that’s just some of the happenings going on over here.  As always we covet your prayers and this month especially.  We have started language study and are asking God for the gift of the language.  It is a very intimidating language that Slovenes, themselves, admit at times doesn’t make sense to them!  But we know that with God all things are possible!

We love and miss you all,

Krista

_____________________________________________

May Update:

Hello to All!,

Well,……… we have made it here 7 months and this month Monte and I got to celebrate our anniversary at the finest restaurant that we know of, (thank you to the lifebuilders for supplying the monetary gift!), an Argentinian steakhouse and maybe some of you have heard but Monte had a very unusual steak. He took the waiter’s suggestion because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to order and thought he was getting something similar to what we would get in Brazil. However, one bite and he knew something was different! He said “I’m afraid I’ve mistakenly ordered “HORSE” instead of beef! Sure enough, Monte has now had a horse steak, and strange as it may sound, he actually thought it was pretty good! Here, it is no strange thing at all and A LOT of the restaurants here do serve it. I was happy with my “BEEF” steak, though! It was very good!

Language study continues to move along. I’m learning at a slower more concentrated pace than Monte is because it was just moving WAY too fast for me! So, prayerfully, I can absorb more this way. I was just getting lost in all the rules and before I had one thing down we were moving on to the next concept and I just felt lost. Pray that I can at least pick up what I need to in order to converse a little. At least, with Polona. Her English is becoming better, and if I could learn some Slovene I might could have better conversations with her.

We have our first real church service this Sunday night. We hope to have “people”. We’ve invited the contacts we have and hope that they will show, but you just never know……we are praying God’s will be done and that He would direct those to come who He is dealing with. We pray we say and do the things God wants us to concerning this very important meeting!

Well, that’s what’s going on “over here”. As always, we covet your prayers very much. We need them constantly. There is always times when we miss home soooo very much and the month of May was a tough one. I really have no idea why, or can’t really name anything in particular, but it was just more homesickness than usual. But, God has been good and faithful to encourage us when we needed it! He is so faithful to us that I want nothing more than to be faithful to Him and His will for my life!

We love you all,
Krista

This is a special invitation to all ladies to attend our monthly meeting this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Activities Building.  This will be our last chance to hear Mrs. Jamie Rench speak to the ladies of Bible Baptist.  Please come to show your support to her and bid her farewell as she and Bro. Ryan continue their ministry in Temecula, CA.  Also, remember my challenge to you in bringing someone new to the meeting.  Let’s purpose to beat our high of eight first time guests of last month.  As an incentive to this challenge, there will be a handsome reward for the lady who brings the most guests.  It will not matter whether these guests are members or friends outside the church but they can not have attended the ladies’ meeting this year.  I will be keeping a tally for the next three months; therefore the reward will be given at the June meeting! ~ Lisa Hardy

The Ladies’ Meeting for March was another record-setting event for the ladies. We had 49 in attendance with 8 first time guests and one prodigal daughter! (Sorry, if you weren’t there you missed out on that little tidbit!)

Kim Strecker brought a very thought-provoking devotion asking us to consider whether we are Wholly, Holy, or Holey. The scripture she used was Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Tammy Hollan led us in a couple of  lively hymns (accompanied by Amber Leeming) and Jennifer Zetterberg did the Mexican-themed decorations. Gina Simon, Tela Simon, Missy Nickels, and Lisa Feasley prepared the very delicious meal. Since there were several requests for the recipe I have included it below.

Mexican Chicken Casserole (supplied by Gina Simon)
Ingredients:
4-6 Chicken Breasts
8-16 oz Mozzarella Cheese
8-16 oz Colby Jack Cheese
2 small cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Rotel (drained)
1 small onion (chopped fine)
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 Tbs. Garlic Powder
1 pepper (optional for heat)
1 Bag Doritos chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix cream of chicken soup, drained rotel, chili powder, garlic powder and chopped onions and set aside. Layer chicken in baking pan, top with half of cheese mixture, then top with soup mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Add remaining cheese and crushed Doritos to top of casserole and bake for 20 minutes more or until chicken is done. Enjoy!

Please remember the challenge of bringing someone new to our April Ladies’ Meeting, Thursday, April 29th in the Activities Building. This will be the last time to hear from Jamie Rench, our missions intern, who will be leaving with her husband, Ryan, in May. ~ Lisa Hardy

Below is the letter I received from Krista Barlow. Please remember her specific prayer requests. ~ Lisa Hardy

I cannot believe another month has already come and gone! And I find it harder to believe that we have now been here almost 6 months! Sometimes it feels longer!

The weather here has been gorgeous lately! I am becoming very partial to this country the Lord has called us to and find it more breathtakingly beautiful the closer and closer we get to full out spring! The snow on the mountains against a perfectly blue, cloudless sky is a sight to me that has to compare with what we will see in Heaven someday!

I think all of us are in better spirits these days, because, with the change in weather means we can get outside. Monte took Micah and Philip to the basketball courts the other day and was very relieved to see all kinds of young people up there. Where was Nick?…….. being a 16 year old boy thinking it was too uncool to go play basketball with his dad and little brothers! One of the boys, age 12 or 13 asked Monte where the “big one” was? Nick had met the kid back in November and had only had a chance to play basketball with him once and this kid remembered him. We are watched and noticed a lot more than I realized. Kind of scary but also funny that Nick is now known as the “big one”. This did manage to bring a smile to Nick’s face as you can imagine!

Micah and Philip also hang out regularly with our neighbor’s son, Gregor. Gregor is probably 7-8 yrs old and is now known “between us” as the little cusser! Slovenes watch too many American movies over here and we all know what kind of language is prevalent there! Anyway, Gregor, knows some English and has definitely picked up on some of the worst! I don’t even know if he knows he’s cussing, but Philip sure does! I just hope Philip doesn’t come back to the States in a couple of years with this habit! If he does, I’m just laying the groundwork for you all now to understand why! (JK)

I am certainly thanking God these days for the grace He is continuing to show us. There are constantly opportunities for all of us to get so homesick and lonely, but, God is getting us through it. I can’t even explain it. I guess it’s just that peace that passes all understanding. I don’t understand it but I am thankful for it. He knows what we need and what we can handle and is always there to let us lean on Him! I always knew this to be true of God but getting to experience it first hand is such a blessing! I will never regret one day that He has allowed us to be here and experience life here together with Him!

We have a Bible study scheduled for Friday evening and we are anxious to see what the Lord may want to do with this. Everything He has allowed us to do so far is so clearly His doing and it is just exciting to be able to watch Him in action with people He longs to save! Please pray with us about this!

I’ll close with this verse….. “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” – Proverbs 25:4 This is what the Lord is trying to do in my life. He is showing me the dross and He is trying to purge it out. I hope to by the end of my life be the vessel He longs for me to be! So….if you would, when you pray for our family, say one for me that I will be able to stand the purging!

We love and miss you all!

Krista

Dear Ladies,

Recently, I ran across a few quotes on sin during my devotion time. They were very convicting and a great reminder that when I’m feeling spiritually weak I probably have sin I’m not entirely willing to eliminate or deal with. Do you, like me, sometimes feel spiritually powerless? If so, think and meditate on the following scripture and quotes. I know it can be a help! ~ Lisa Hardy

“A single sin, however apparently trifling, however hidden in some obscure corner of our consciousness, a sin which we do not intend to renounce, is enough to render real prayer impracticable. A course of action not wholly upright and honourable, feelings not entirely kind and loving, habits not spotlessly chaste and temperate, any of these impassible obstacles. If we know of a kind act which we might, but do not intend to perform, if we be aware that our moral health requires the abandonment of some pleasure which yet we do not intend to abandon, here is cause enough for the loss of all spiritual power.” ~ Frances Power Cobbe

“It is astonishing how soon the whole conscience begins to unravel, if a single stitch drops; one little sin indulged makes a hole you can put your head through.” ~ Charles Buxton