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Here is a recent correspondence from G., an RBC-supported missionary serving with Pioneers in Croatia. Here is a recap of G.’s work with youth and church building/planing efforts over the summer:

Another summer is almost over in Slavonski Brod. Six short-term teams with over 80 guests have helped us share the good news of Christ with many young people. The church building is taking shape before our eyes. We look forward to the day when the building is completed and pray that God continues to grow His church that will be meeting in it.

Below I have written more about both the building and our summer activities. I also want to ask you to pray specifically for a man who I have known for over 12 years. He and his wife have shown a degree of openness over the years, but it has never moved beyond an intellectual understanding of what Christians believe. But some things have happened in their lives recently that seem to have caused the husband particularly to consider spiritual things more seriously. He recently expressed a desire to study the Bible with me, and we hope to start in the next week or so. Pray for God to reveal himself to this friend and that he and his wife would one day soon place their trust in Christ! Thanks so much for your prayers and your partnership with me in Croatia!

CHURCH BUILDING: The last time I wrote, I told you of a matching fund that had been set up to help complete construction of the exterior of the Slavonski Brod church building this year. We were hoping to raise $70,000 by the end of June for that to happen. The Lord has seen fit to provide, through many churches and individuals both in the U.S. and in Croatia, $108,000! The building is under construction and we expect it to be under roof in a just a few more weeks. This does not mean an end to the construction process, nor to the need for finances. Now that the building is under roof, it is safe from the elements and we can complete the inside as funds become available. We would love the help of short-term teams to, for example, take a room and fix it up. Please pray for the ultimate completion of the building in God’s timing, and for Him to continue to build His church spiritually, and not just physically, in Slavonski Brod.

SUMMER OUTREACHES: This summer we have had 81 individuals come to work with us for at least one week, including a team of 11 which arrived today! With their help, we have held baseball camps, children’s Bible clubs, and open air concerts, and we have had lots of less formal opportunities to meet and get to know Croatian youth. The gospel has been shared countless times and in many ways. Two Croatian teens have even met with a small group of us to study the Bible. Summer is definitely a time of broad sowing for us as we take advantage of the many short-term workers who come to help us to share as frequently and as broadly as we can. Pray that we will see the fruit of this broad sowing one day soon. I was particularly encouraged this year by one of the teens living in Nova Gradiška who trusted in Christ last summer. One Sunday at church when several unbelieving youth came (because they wanted to say goodbye to the short-term team that was leaving that day), he prayed publicly and boldly, “Lord, I pray that these other teens here today would trust in You and that You would change their lives like You did for me. Amen.” That was a first for him. Pray for him to continue to grow, and that his prayer for the other teens in his city would be answered also!

Would you take a minute now to pray for G., the many Croatian youth who heard the gospel this summer, and for the church in Slavonski Brod?