Retreat!!

This past weekend we were blessed to host a retreat at the camp for families who had moved to South Serbia to serve in full-time ministry.  Thirtyfive people (11 families) representing four sending organizations came for some or all of the time!  What a blessing it was to spend a weekend with people of like mind, like heart, and like purpose.  The theme of the retreat was "No One is an Island" referring to our need for one another and for unity among all believers.  We spent time studying 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, where Paul pleaded for unity. 

We all enjoyed fellowshiping together, worshiping together, playing together, sharing our testimonies, and encouraging one another.  There was a lot of down time, during which people talked, napped, watched a movie, played on the trampoline or played soccer.  Friday and Saturday night we enjoyed a campfire.

We also enjoyed wonderful food, cooked by our dear friend Ziza!  She did an amazing job of keeping our bellies full and happy!  What a servant!  Hvala, Zize!

It rained some Saturday, but Sunday was absolutely beautiful!  We enjoyed an outdoor service, singing, studying God's Word and sharing the Lord's supper.  What a joy!  We are so thankful for these who serve alongside us, serving "shoulder to shoulder" (Zeph 3:9).

Conference

This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to be with many friends at a missions conference at a Bible school in Northern Serbia.  Most of the people at the conference were former students at the school.  It was such a blessing to hear great teaching from Acts 1-6, to worship with brothers and sisters in Christ, and to hear reports from those serving all over Serbia.  What a blessing!  We also made new friends, were challenged, and blessed by sharing communion with our precious spiritual family.  So thankful for a weekend of joy!!

A few pictures (we were so busy talking that we forgot to take pictures!):

With our friend, Igor, who helped tremendously last year in getting the camp ready.

Our dear friends, Sretan and Karolina, with their oldest son, David (younger son Filip stayed with Grandma!).  Love this family so much!

Beautiful afternoon of visiting and sharing with one another. 

Great friends, great times.

Vasar (pronounced "Vah-shar")

Last weekend the Vasar was held in our town.  A vasar is like a county fair, flea market and town celebration all rolled up into one!  It's a lot of fun, and I enjoy going to it each year (missed last year, obviously!).  I liked these hats that were for sale - thought of Kelli.

Again, thought of Kelli when we saw "horsey stuff"!  It really is amazing.  During vasar, every imaginable item is for sale!  Booths are set up all over the place with vendors selling crafts, clothes, toys, plants, food, auto parts, home goods, candy, music, and on and on!  I bought some potted plants and got a great deal! 

Also, there were carnival rides.  Can you see the Uncle Sam on the sign on the right? It was some sort of mini roller coaster - called Crazy Train!  Big hit with the kids!

And with every event in Serbia, there must be food!  Of course, there are roasted pigs, slowly turning over the fire. 

And there are the hamburger (called pljeskavica) stands with lots of grilled meats.  Yummy, yummy!

All in all, it was a great day at the fair!  I got my mums for my front porch, we saw lots of fun things, and we enjoyed another great part of Serbian culture! 

Interesting Sight

The other morning, I looked out the laundry room window and saw this:

There was a BIRD floating in our pool!  I yelled to Karl to go see what was going on. 






Here's another pic of the poor thing:

In talking with our neighbor, we figured out what happened.  See, we have several cats that live near us.  Apparently, the bird was attacked by the cats.  It was able to fly to "safety" in our pool.  It was still alive when Karl went to get it out of the pool, but just barely.  The cats had done quite a number on it. 


We'll just leave the story there.  Not something you see everyday!

Friends and Mountains

We recently had some friends, Ethan and Jan, stay with us for a few days.  It was so great to have them here!  We really enjoyed the time together, encouraging one another.  Ethan and Jan worked at the camp for several weeks and were such a blessing to so many. 

One day we drove them around outside our town - through the beautiful gorge (sorry, forgot to take pics) and up one of our favorite mountains nearby.  Ok, some of our Colorado friends might just call it a big hill, but it's a mountain to us!  Kablar is 886 meters tall (2906 ft).  We didn't climb from the bottom; we drive up almost to the top then walk up the last 20 meters or so (so we're wimps!).  It has such a great view of the other mountains and the river below.  We once took my parents up there, and they thought that we were trying to kill them climbing up it (we walked up about 200 meters)!  Here are some pictures:

View of Ovcar (pronounced Ohv-char), the mountain on the other side of the river.

Jan standing next to the little white building on a ledge of Kablar.  Can you see her?

 View of the river below and our town past that.

Ethan and Jan at the top!