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| Junia drew this picture of Jesus calming the storm, using a model picture. |
Dear brothers and sisters,
in John 10:27 Jesus says:
"My sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me."
And in Romans 8:14 it says:
"All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."
One of our deepest prayers for our life in Croatia is that we are guided by the Holy Spirit. We asked Jesus to show us a place with a lively house church so that we could look for a place to live. He showed us Karlovac and the brothers and sisters here. So we were sure that he would direct us to the right apartment as well.
Today we want to share how we found that apartment. :-)
From Monday, September 24th on we were looking for an apartment. However, Luna was sick for two days, so we only visited the first apartment on Wednesday. We quickly realized that there weren't many apartments available for rent here, because most Croatians buy their apartment or house. In addition, most of the rental apartments are furnished, which posed the question of what we should do we our dissembled furniture in the attic in Doberlug-Kirchhain!
The rents are comparatively cheap, corresponding to the low wage level here; a 3-room apartment usually costs between € 200 and € 350 a month. The heating costs can be quite enormous, however, because the city's central heating is very expensive. That is why many heat with wood, even in the city center.
We were searching for suitable apartments on the Internet, in the local newspaper, through our local friends and on Facebook. And we tried to hear which apartment God had planned for us. One of the characteristics of his leading is the peace he gives when making the right decision. In the first week, we didn't have peace about any apartment. The first apartment, for example, was well furnished, in good order and beautifully located in a village on the Mrežnica River. But the children's room was so small that the children would have to play in the living room. Also, 3 balconies seemed a bit too much for us and the location outside the city didn't fit to task for which we came here.
In other apartments, we immediately felt uncomfortable.
Then one evening we visited the smallest apartment we had seen so far on the ground floor of a small, old house in the middle of the city, near the river Kupa. It only had 2 rooms, a medium-sized kitchen and a small bathroom. Of course it was very cheap and also close to the elementary school where we wanted to send Junia. Was our Shepherd leading us to this very simple dwelling? After some time in prayer, we both had peace about it independently. We don't need exactly the right apartment to be "happy" in Jesus. And in this apartment it seemed possible to take out a few pieces of furniture so that we could put our bed in it - otherwise we parents would have had to sleep on the coach, that was there.
We called the landlady - and it turned out that she wasn't actually willing to rent the apartment because she wanted to sell it! She hadn't shown it to us either, but her daughter and son-in-law did.
What a disappointment to us. You have to remember that we were still staying at the campsite, which was nice, but not too cheap, and it would have soon been too cold at night for our summer camping equipment. Our hopes of moving directly into an apartment by September 1st did not seem to come true.
On Sunday, August 30th we were invited to lunch by Bruno and Tatjana, a middle-aged couple from our house church. Since we expected a lot of rain the next day and then colder temperatures, we packed everything up and left the camp without knowing where we would sleep in the evening. We spent some lovely hours together and then they explained that we could stay with them in their house for one night. However, they were concerned about how their two dogs would be react when they went to work early in the morning. They had only rescued the two of them from the animal shelter 3 months ago; they did not easily trust people due to terrible abuse in the past and were rather full of fear, barking loudly when someone came too close.
One dog still barks when Bruno and Tatjana are not at home and we come by their corner, but God arranged it in a way that we were able to stay with these dear friends until now. The little fury friends get used to us too, but only very slowly. As with humans, animals with traumatic experiences find it very difficult to regain trust in others. In any case, we thanked God for this provision and continued looking for our own apartment. :-)
The next day we visited a newly renovated apartment that wasn't too expensive either. However, we would have had to sleep on the coach in the living room again. We didn't have peace. On the other hand, we needed some door to open soon! Harry's certainty that the landlady of the small apartment would change her mind didn't get us anywhere either. In any case, she had not changed her mind when we called her again.
On the way back that day, Luna checked one of the Karlovac apartment Facebook groups and saw a brief message that had been posted just 3 minutes ago. Lo and behold, it was for an UNFURNISHED apartment! We were interested immediately!
We soon found out that it was a 3-room apartment with a very cheap rent, but with expensive municipal heating, on the fourth floor of an older apartment block without an elevator, not far from our favorite school. The apartment would be free as of Octobre 1st. Unfortunately, the current tenant was not home for a week, so we wouldn't see any pictures or be able to come look at it. Nevertheless, we were at peace and she assured us that she would reserve the apartment for us, and put all other requests on the waiting list. It appears that in this case, the tenant, not the owner, look for the next tenant. :-D
In the meanwhile, we looked at another apartment, but then concentrated on Junia's school registration, which worked out without any problems, praise the Lord! However, the situation was a bit uncertain and unnerving, especially since we couldn't say how long we would need the hospitality of our brother and sister here!
Then, on Wednesday afternoon, we were sent pictures and on Friday were able to go and look at the apartment - a few days earlier than expected. The Lord is so good and knows how weak our faith is. :-)
To make a long story short: the tour went really well, the apartment is in good shape, with 80 m² it is large enough for us - and only 200 kuna (~ 30 euros) more expensive than the first apartment (but double the size) about which we had peace. The rent without heating is 1200 kuna, a total of around 2200 kuna on average with electricity, heating and water, which is a little more than 300 euros! We were arranged when and how we could move in. There is even some furniture left there, and it is EXACTLY what we would otherwise have had to get: a couch and a closet. We have left our previous ones in our old apartment for dear Sabine (our friend and best neighbor in the world) to use.
We thank our good shepherd for his kindness and guidance and you for your prayers !!!
Yes, what about the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Did we hear the Shepherd's voice wrong when we thought we should rent the small apartment? Or did the Lord want to test us whether we would be willing to live in a small apartment with only a wood stove for his sake?
We cannot say exactly. Obviously, we still need practice in listening to God's guidance. But we are strengthened in faith, because even if we become insecure, HE is still able to lead us well. He also knows how resilient our faith is and will not test us beyond our capabilities. He's so, so good to us - and to you too! :-)
And here is how Junias start into Primary school went:
Monday was her first day. It went very well, despite Corona madness. Only one parent was allowed into the classroom. But thank God the children don't have to wear masks up to the fourth grade! We are very grateful. In consultation with the children, the teacher then pulled down her mask during the first session. She has her own class for the first time, is still young and we like her. In the first month, Junia has only three classes of 40 minutes each. One week school is in the morning for her and the next week in the afternoon school, so that there are not too many children in school. In her school building there only students from grades 1 to 4, so it is quite small. It is located on a hillside on a quiet street and is surrounded by many trees, small paths and meadows as the recess area. Very quaint and beautiful. Junia was a bit scared at first and didn't want Luna to leave the room, but then she mastered everything incredibly well and was really looking forward to the next day, when it really started. The exercise books we ordered arrived on time for the start of school, even though it was said last Wednesday that they would have a delivery time of around 10 days. We see it as a calm, blessed and beautiful start to school.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship and guidance of the Spirit be with you! :-)
