Dear YFC Croatia friends

Transcription

1 Advent Labyrinth Dear YFC Croatia friends Thank you for your encouraging comments on our Christmas video-newsletter. We really appreciate your opinion and like to find your s in our inbox. Especially, thank you for your donations and extra gifts which enable us to serve in full-time capacity. Thank you for your dedicated giving and that many of you have stood with us for so many years. It would never be the same without you! We are grateful for your and God s faithfulness. Here are our whereabouts since our last October 2011 Newsletter, not necessarily in chronological order. Since you got all the information about the Advent Labyrinth in our last video-newsletter, we d like to share some impressions and a story with you. If you remember, many people felt at home in the labyrinth, lingered there and kept returning, sometimes bringing with them their families or friends, but sometimes they returned on their own. Here is one of many stories One station of the labyrinth is the Christmas tree, with gift boxes under the tree. The station encourages and challenges people to think of a gift they could give somebody this Christmas, something from their heart and not necessarily of great or any material value (e.g. call somebody you haven t talked to for a while or write them a letter, volunteer, bake cookies with Grandma, have more patience, etc.). Once people decide or come up with an idea, they can write it down on a piece of paper and put it in the gift box under the Labyrinth Christmas tree. Now, there was a girl about 9 years old who visited the labyrinth and then came back the next day. The whole room was filled with candle lights and smooth Christmas jazz music. But when this girl marched in, you could see she was on a mission. She carried a bundle under her hand, went straight to the tree, wrote something down and put something in one of the gift boxes. Later we saw she had placed a present in the box, she gave away one of her books and a chocolate. What a lesson in giving and in DOING rather than just THINKING about it Advent Labyrinth team Visitors at the Creative table

2 Approaching the throne Many wrote down their impressions, here are only a few random ones: Beautiful, joyful, touching. It reminds me of my beautiful childhood and how we used to celebrate Christmas then. This is our true reality! There is no more place for Jesus, Christmas becomes just another big obligation. I wish we d have a bigger heart and smaller shopping bags. Your message and idea are fantastic! God bless you! Dear all! In a very original way you managed to show how we lost ourselves and the real meaning of Christmas! In spite of that, you ve put up this exhibition so wonderfully that at the end everybody can see how GREAT GOD is! Thank you and Merry Christmas! I was not looking forward to this Christmas. Now I am. Thank you for returning that joy to me. No more stress for me. Every year it s the same. Rushing, shopping, baking, and worrying about whether we can make it all in time. But only one thing is necessary: to tidy up from inside, not outside. I enjoyed all the stations, especially the one where I stood alone, in silence, with Jesus. Thank you! 2. Advent ZaŠto?! This Youth Worship Gathering for the youth of the city of Rijeka was all in the spirit of preparing for Christmas. This time the topic was: What if? Our intention was to pose a question about what Christmas would be for us if we were to take out all the Christmas symbols. Before the service we did a nice job decorating the space. Then we had a little sketch in which, whenever a girl would mention some things she likes about Christmas (gingerbread cookies, the tree, wrapped gifts, the ornaments, the music, etc.) we would remove the mentioned object out of the room. Answering the question What if...?

3 3. Crew and ship dedication At first people were a bit surprised not realizing that this was a part of our plan. So, in the end we were left with us and the plain white walls around us. We wanted to challenge the young people to think about this question: What does Christmas really mean to me if I take out all the material Christmas symbols? Am I left with just Jesus? The peak of the service was, imagine this - a room emptied of things, full of young people in the dark, holding lit candles and singing Light of the world a cappella style, and then praying in silence so profound! We had an opportunity for a somewhat unusual event in November. As you might remember, Melanie used to minister as a Lutheran pastor before she joined YFC Croatia full time. She was asked by the present Lutheran pastor in Rijeka if she would, on his behalf, pray for the ship and crew at the dedication of a new oil tanker in the biggest shipyard in the city of Rijeka. The contractor was Norwegian and asked for a Lutheran pastor, which is quite unusual for Croatia. This event was very important for the economy of the city of Rijeka and all the employees of the shipyard. Not only was Melanie able to pray for and rejoice with the crew and the workers who built the ship, but she was also able to deliver a clear Gospel message to all those present, which included many representatives from the state and local government as well. It is also noteworthy that in the midst of our dire need for funds, we were happy that this service provided some additional funds for YFC Croatia. 4. Media Ministry Ruben went with the Christian worship band Kristina as their V.J. (Video Jockey) to two worship & praise events:

4 4.1. in Gospić; December 17, 2011 This evangelization was organized by the Pentecostal Church of Rijeka which is planting a church congregation in the town of Gospid. This town of 5700 inhabitants is located at the center of the economically poorest Croatian region called Lika. People who live there are predominantly strong nationalists and Roman Catholics, which makes it altogether hard to evangelize there. We hope to be a fruitful seed for that area in Daruvar; November 26, the band Kristina held a humanitarian concert For the angel of Daruvar. This angel is actually a boy who lost both of his parents in a car accident. Local civil institutions, the government representatives, and Christians organized this event, under the leadership of a young Baptist man. Around 250 people were at the concert which turned out to be a worship gathering, since a local priest brought youth from his parish and they worshipped The Youth for Christ Croatia team is happy to be able to serve those who are in difficult circumstances of life. 5. Action: HELP, FOOD is LIFE! 6. INTeRo ministry On October 14-15, 2011 YFC Croatia participated in collecting food for people in need in our city. The food bank in Rijeka organized this special action, just before Christmas. Many volunteers stood in front of many grocery stores in the city, giving out leaflets and inviting people to join this action by donating food. After they finished their grocery shopping, people would leave food in the empty boxes. The action was rated successful, because 8 tons of food was collected. The bank food delivers the food to several churches and organizations in the city which then feed hungry families. Since we have not updated you on Intero ministry for some time, this update will include a longer period of time. About six months ago, Mihael had to find a job outside of YFC Croatia and INTeRo ministry (and he is grateful to God that he did) because Intero did not develop in such measure that Mihael could be a full-timer in this peace-building ministry. Nevertheless, during this time the ministry did continue, and Mihael was active, as much as he could be. Volunteers in a grocery store

5 He was a TA at a mediation education, a guest trainer at two nonviolent communication and action trainings, had a number of one to one coaching sessions, and did some book-reviews on topics related to peace building and mediation. He was invited to East Croatia to have a workshop on nonviolent communication. This area is still suffering from post-war national divisions and this segregation is very tangible in everyday life, between political and religious leaders. Although very interested, Mihael could not go, because he just could not combine his work and ministry. For a long time, Mihael was (and in many ways still is) somehow stranded between the eagerness to pursue developing INTeRo ministry in full-time capacity and an inability to do it. Now, Mihael will bravely give it another go. Starting in February Mihael will continue to work half-time as a tourist agent (for existential reasons) and simultaneously work on developing INTeRo ministry. It is almost needless to say that prayers, motivational letters or just any kind of support is more than welcome. Thank you for taking your time to read this looooong newsletter. Thank you all for supporting our ministry and please continue to pray for us. God bless you!!! YFCC team