Reflections on the Last Three Years

It's a difficult task to summarize the last three years, but as the year (and our time in Croatia) comes to a close, it seems fitting that I make an attempt.

Three years is a long time to live anywhere and longer still in another country and culture. Zagreb has been as much a home to us as a mission field. I may not seem the type, but Savannah can testify that I've cried many a tear out of love for the people we've worked with here. When we return to the States (as we are eager to do), be patient with us; we're not only returning to family and friends, but leaving them behind as well.

Many people ask us, "why Croatia?" The truth is that at the beginning, we were not the ones who chose Croatia, rather it chose us.

Without an idea of where to go, we were told we could be of use in Croatia. I remember our first visit in 2017. We came, at our own expense, to participate in Champs Camp (the summer kids camp). In the early afternoon, after the last kid had gone home, Savannah and I cried, not for the last time, because of the overwhelming sense of good that was being done here.

Later that year, many of you partnered with us with money and gifts beyond our expectation. Many people our age leave the Church because they feel that its members are not the family they claim to be, but to be on the receiving end of such radical generosity sent us with the clearest picture of your faith and unity.

And we found that faith and unity here as well. The church received us as their own. And as we learned the language and spent time in the community, we felt more and more aware that God was using us, and not just using, but accomplishing. In as many places as we succeeded, there were challenges and failures as well, but I'm thankful that such things are far from uncommon in the stories of those God uses to accomplish His will and that we serve a God who turns failures into blessings.

To the children we worked with, I hope we were an image of joy in Christ, a different kind of adult than they had grown used to, someone who listened to them and took them seriously. If, as they grow older, their memories of our time here are vague and fuzzy, I pray they could recognize the same joy they found in us also in the character of Christ.

To the teenagers we worked with, I hope we were proof that the Gospel is not just a tale to comfort old men or keep children in line, but is a real person who really changed me. And I hope we showed them that the Bible is not at all like a rulebook, but more like brilliant tapestry, with threads you're meant to follow and stories that will surprise, confuse, and inspire you, a book that's big enough to have space for both their doubts and ours. I pray they learned a little more about how to search for God, and that it's possible to find Him.

To the adults we worked with, I hope we brought new life into the paths they'd been walking for years, serving them in many ways and leading in as few as possible. I pray we sparked a new hope in them for just how much is possible simply by loving your neighbor as yourself in humility (a spark of hope that we often need ourselves).

You will see us again.

We wish you all a merry Christmas and happy New Year, and we're looking forward to writing our last report from the States and spending time with you in person.