Saturday morning brought the best news for the two older kids! We get to SLEEP IN !!! They were so excited about the opportunity to not have to be anywhere at a certain time and sleep a little bit. So, we let them sleep for ALMOST as long as they wanted. However, as long as they wanted would probably have been all day. :)
After a lazy morning, Kim H. and I (and Daniel) got ready, had breakfast and went on our way shopping. I wanted to get a few souvenirs from Nova Gradiska before we left, so she took me to her favorite gift gallery. INDEED , I found a few souvenirs. We walked along the korzo and went to the local market. Everyone seems to buy their vegetables at the market from different vendors. It reminds me of a flea market in a way, but everything is fresh, local and reasonable. It was also an open air market. I found a lady who Kim has befriended that speaks very good English and makes beautiful lace and fabric work. I purchased a couple of pieces from her and was VERY pleased with what I found. :) Kim and I met up with Randy, Kelsie and Dustin in the korzo, as well as teammate Tim for drinks at a nice little coffe shop. We enjoyed the chit-chat and time of getting to know Kim's family here. They are indeed a family and they support one another and encourage one another in their walk with Christ. That was an encouragement to me to see. It's nice to fellowship with believers of like faith!
I stopped by the bakery on the walk home and purchased some crescent dogs for lunch. Believe it or NOT, Dustin was ready for lunch!!! Kim and I made a salad, had a great time chatting together in the kitchen while we cut vegetables for our salad. Yummy, fresh veggies from her garden.
The concert time was approaching and nerves were a little on edge. Randy was speaking and making a gospel presentation during the concert, so he was especially concerned and dare I say a little nervous. WE left the house at a little before 5 with our van stuffed to the gills with concert equipment. The big stage was bare and we had to provide the sound equipment, microphones, piano, etc., so we needed a couple of hours to set-up before the big show. Showtime was at 8!
The set-up went well, only one major problem. The kids hadn't eaten since lunch and they were starving. So, I sent money with Aunt Kim and she took them to get some food. They returned with bread, meat and cheese to make sandwiches for us all. Yum! A quick bite and it was time to get the show ON THE STAGE!!!
A small crowd had began to gather as we were setting up. As we began to sing, play and share, more and more people started hanging around. This was an outdoor stage, platform in the middle of the korzo, so you could hear us before you could see us. It was a wonderful experience. People clapped, twirled, danced, sang, but Praise the Lord, no hecklers! I was relieved about that. Believe it or not there was plenty of opportunity for that, but the Lord kept them as well as the rain away from us. We got through all the concert, complete with translations and a few MINOR mistakes and felt wonderful about the time we shared. I think the crowd was a blessing, the team was a definite blessing to us, and the Lord truly blessed our voices despite the allergy issues we were all experiencing.
Praise the Lord for the clearness of the gospel presentation, the clarity of the translations and the beauty of the weather. Several crowd members stayed around to chat with us for a long time afterwards. One young man asked me if we were famous in America. He said, do you have statues of you in America ? You famous back home? I humbly answered that we were indeed NOT celebrities in America but were indeed servants of Christ and wanted to share the gospel with the world. We felt like stars here with all of the cameras and big stage, but alas, we are just humble servants of the ONE who gave the gifts to us!
We packed up, loaded the van and got home around 11. By the time we shared ice cream around the table and thoughts from the evening, it was REALLY, REALLY late. But, despite the weariness of our bodies, the lateness of the hour, it was all COMPLETELY worth the sacrifice. What a privilege and pleasure of being short-term missionaries to the town of Nova Gradiska.
Kim
Thoughts from Randy:
My original intention was to do some photography around the korzo in the morning light. Instead I elected to rest and prepare for the evening. I was able to get some quiet time by myself on Kim's small porch for prayer and more thinking about what I would say when presenting the gospel during the concert. It was a really good time and I felt great afterwards. The Lord moved my heart to feel good about all of our preparations. I was still a little nervous as the concert time approached later in the day but it wasn't much.
I still took a little time while the girls were shopping to do some photography around the korzo and park. The light just wasn't as good. No big deal.
I enjoyed talking with Tim at the cafe. He's a super guy (ignoring his preference for the ACC) and is staying real positive even though his wife must stay in the U.S. until their baby arrives this Fall.
The concert went well I think. We had a few sound issues but overall it was good. I was very concerned about not having monitors for an outdoor concert, especially with most of our songs being played on a keyboard. If you can't hear the piano you've got real problems. Thankfully a local music store guy came through with some powered speakers. We had to daisy-chain them from the mains but it worked ok since they had a separate volume control.
The gospel presentation was very similar to something done by Mike Richards during VBS (thanks Mike). At the time of VBS I was really searching for the right way to organize our songs and to present the gospel. When Mike presented the gospel the last night of VBS using the black, red, and white shirts I knew that was it. I organized our songs roughly based on that progression with a few extra songs here and there. Here is our song set along with the gospel presentations:
1. Born to Praise the Lord
2. Doxology
Introductions
3. Grave Clothes
The story behind It Is Well
4. It Is Well
BLACK - sin, added my testimony at the end
5. Sinner Saved By Grace
6. Out of His Great Love
RED - blood/cross, atonement
7. The Precious Blood
8. Power of The Cross (O To See the Dawn)
9. Trust & Obey
WHITE - forgiveness
10. In Christ Alone
Closing comments
11. O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
I think it went a little over an hour, maybe 70 minutes, with no breaks other than my speaking and the translation.
Speaking of which, my translator was Miro, the pastor of the new church in Nova Gradiska. He did a fantastic job and appreciate all of his help this past weekend.
It was a really long, exhausting day as Kim said but well worth it.
Randy
p.s. Our first Croatian fan has posted a couple of videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MaranathaWorld
 |
| Buying lace at the market |
I stopped by the bakery on the walk home and purchased some crescent dogs for lunch. Believe it or NOT, Dustin was ready for lunch!!! Kim and I made a salad, had a great time chatting together in the kitchen while we cut vegetables for our salad. Yummy, fresh veggies from her garden.
The concert time was approaching and nerves were a little on edge. Randy was speaking and making a gospel presentation during the concert, so he was especially concerned and dare I say a little nervous. WE left the house at a little before 5 with our van stuffed to the gills with concert equipment. The big stage was bare and we had to provide the sound equipment, microphones, piano, etc., so we needed a couple of hours to set-up before the big show. Showtime was at 8!
The set-up went well, only one major problem. The kids hadn't eaten since lunch and they were starving. So, I sent money with Aunt Kim and she took them to get some food. They returned with bread, meat and cheese to make sandwiches for us all. Yum! A quick bite and it was time to get the show ON THE STAGE!!!
Praise the Lord for the clearness of the gospel presentation, the clarity of the translations and the beauty of the weather. Several crowd members stayed around to chat with us for a long time afterwards. One young man asked me if we were famous in America. He said, do you have statues of you in America ? You famous back home? I humbly answered that we were indeed NOT celebrities in America but were indeed servants of Christ and wanted to share the gospel with the world. We felt like stars here with all of the cameras and big stage, but alas, we are just humble servants of the ONE who gave the gifts to us!
We packed up, loaded the van and got home around 11. By the time we shared ice cream around the table and thoughts from the evening, it was REALLY, REALLY late. But, despite the weariness of our bodies, the lateness of the hour, it was all COMPLETELY worth the sacrifice. What a privilege and pleasure of being short-term missionaries to the town of Nova Gradiska.
Kim
Thoughts from Randy:
My original intention was to do some photography around the korzo in the morning light. Instead I elected to rest and prepare for the evening. I was able to get some quiet time by myself on Kim's small porch for prayer and more thinking about what I would say when presenting the gospel during the concert. It was a really good time and I felt great afterwards. The Lord moved my heart to feel good about all of our preparations. I was still a little nervous as the concert time approached later in the day but it wasn't much.
I still took a little time while the girls were shopping to do some photography around the korzo and park. The light just wasn't as good. No big deal.
I enjoyed talking with Tim at the cafe. He's a super guy (ignoring his preference for the ACC) and is staying real positive even though his wife must stay in the U.S. until their baby arrives this Fall.
The concert went well I think. We had a few sound issues but overall it was good. I was very concerned about not having monitors for an outdoor concert, especially with most of our songs being played on a keyboard. If you can't hear the piano you've got real problems. Thankfully a local music store guy came through with some powered speakers. We had to daisy-chain them from the mains but it worked ok since they had a separate volume control.
The gospel presentation was very similar to something done by Mike Richards during VBS (thanks Mike). At the time of VBS I was really searching for the right way to organize our songs and to present the gospel. When Mike presented the gospel the last night of VBS using the black, red, and white shirts I knew that was it. I organized our songs roughly based on that progression with a few extra songs here and there. Here is our song set along with the gospel presentations:
1. Born to Praise the Lord
2. Doxology
Introductions
3. Grave Clothes
The story behind It Is Well
4. It Is Well
BLACK - sin, added my testimony at the end
5. Sinner Saved By Grace
6. Out of His Great Love
RED - blood/cross, atonement
7. The Precious Blood
8. Power of The Cross (O To See the Dawn)
9. Trust & Obey
WHITE - forgiveness
10. In Christ Alone
Closing comments
11. O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
 |
| Reviewing the program with Miro |
Speaking of which, my translator was Miro, the pastor of the new church in Nova Gradiska. He did a fantastic job and appreciate all of his help this past weekend.
It was a really long, exhausting day as Kim said but well worth it.
Randy
p.s. Our first Croatian fan has posted a couple of videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MaranathaWorld
One of the local guys that came to hear us has put a couple of videos up on youtube. You can find them at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/MaranathaWorld