Moving, Renovations, Transition, Repentance, Embrace

 "“Remember how the Lord your God has blessed you in everything that you have done. He has taken care of you as you wandered through this vast desert. He has been with you these forty years, and you have had everything you needed."

Deuteronomy 2:7

Dear friends,

In our last blog post almost a year ago, we showed you the house we thought we would buy.

As many of you know, we actually bought it in May and moved in on August 16th!

The above Bible verse spoke clearly to me more than a year ago that we can trust in God with every step, because He has truly proven His faithfulness to us time and again over the years!

MOVING

Here you can see the house shortly after we moved in!

Of course, a lot has happened since then, and we've settled in quite nicely. Since the kitchen is still missing the floor tiles and the kitchen furniture isn't available yet, we've converted Luna's future studio into a kitchen. That works quite nicely, only, for the washing up and fetching water we have to go upstairs to the bathroom on the first floor.

Living room with Luna's workspace.

Our temporary kitchen at the moment.

The children have been going back to school for almost four weeks. They both mostly take the school bus, although Amos has changed schools, while Junia continues to go to her former school in Karlovac. They also attend music school; Amos has started piano lessons, and Junia is in her third year of playing the clarinet. Now she can practice undisturbed at home. 😄

She also has horse riding lessons once a week, weather permitting, and is already doing looking good in the saddle. Amos, for his part, has become an promising fisherman, having attended a day of fishing school and diligently catching small carp from the pond when we still lived in Karlovac. Unfortunately, he can't go fishing alone here, so he rarely gets a chance to get to the water these days.

We've also had a new addition to our family! Right after we moved in, we made friends with a black village cat, who soon became our "Bleki." And she was pregnant! It only took a week for her to give birth to five black kittens under the old red car that was still parked in the yard! They've grown well, are already eagerly eating cat food and playing around. After being moved four times by their mother to the most secluded corners, they've found a home in our old basement for the time being.

We don't yet know what to do with six cats, but these sweet little creatures bring so much joy into our lives and awaken a deep sense of care in all of us. This is probably how God feels as He guides us through our growth process!

RENOVATION

I could spend hours telling you stories about God's supernatural provision throughout the entire process, from buying the house, through the initial renovations, finding and paying contractors, to what lies ahead.

Here are a few of them:

The house purchase was completed within a six-week window, during which the very bank we were able to get the loan from offered a special interest rate of 2.82%. That's the equivalent of €11,000 less cost for us compared to the terms last year when we first applied for a loan!

After we returned the money for the deposit our local church had lent us and paid the tax on the house purchase, we still had a few thousand euros left from the bank loan. Of course, that was far too little to even carry out the most necessary work.

But God has promised us very clearly that all renovations will be completed and that He will provide everything necessary! Throughout this entire time, and up until today, we can and must rely on His promise!

Three times already, contractors have been working in the house (renewing the parquet flooring and installing and replacing the plumbing), while we didn't yet have the money to pay them! In each case, we received donations, some of them very large, within a few days, and were thus always able to pay on time. Twice, we had to ask our house church to helped us out.

We also have had some great helpers. Two brothers from the house church helped with many jobs, such as tearing down a wall to enlarge the kitchen and removing the chimney we no longer needed. Then a good friend, brother, and painter from Zagreb came to the house for five days, staying overnight there amidst primitive conditions, and plastered, smoothed, and painted most of the rooms. He and I together will also be finishing the walls in the hallway, bathroom, and kitchen soon.

A major uncertainty was the preliminary work on the floors in the hallway, bathroom, and kitchen, as well as the tiling. The old concrete floor below and the tiles on it were brittle and uneven. Tilers here in Croatia are booked out for months in advance and are also very expensive. (€30-50/m2 for a the area that needs to be tiled, without materials. This price is really high for Croatian standard.)

"Coincidentally," Luna's mom told two handyman friends from Berlin about our difficulties, and "coincidentally," they were about to go on vacation together in their RV anyway. A week later, they came to us, set up the camper and stayed for two weeks, professionally solving all the problems, so that the hallway is tiled and the bathroom and kitchen are ready for tiling!

Throughout this time, we lived from day to day and week to week.

Many of you know that in June, we began publicizing our ministry at the prayer house in Zagreb and here in Karlovac and asking for donations. From the very beginning, many substantial donations came in, both monthly and one-time sums for the renovations.

The timing of this provision was often so supernatural!

Once, we needed a special synthetic pad for the hallway floor, which is almost never used in Croatia. I spent a whole morning driving around Karlovac with our handyman friend, asking everywhere for it, without even having the money in my bank account to buy it. Then we found the pad in a special shop near Zagreb. At that time, a donation of €200 arrived! I drove there in the afternoon and spent the money right away. 😊

The next day, another donation came in, which we used to buy food and other materials.

A few days earlier, when we needed to buy most of the building materials for the flooring work, we went to the store, ordered everything we needed, and I found out I was a full €300 short. But God had already planned for that! That morning, I was supposed to pay €300 to a contractor, but he had already left so that we had arranged to meet that afternoon.

I got those €300 out of the car and paid for the materials.
Around noon, I received my final payment of unemployment benefits of €380.

I was able to drive to Karlovac, withdraw the money, and pay the contractor.

At one point, I still had about €90 in cash and about €20 in my account. I had a few small errands to run, wanted to buy food for lunch to feed our helpers, and I also needed to buy some building materials. I paid for most errands with my card, but the groceries I paid in cash. When I picked up the building materials on the way home, I realized I had exactly the amount needed in my wallet, with just 20 cents left over! I had not spared money while shopping, but if I had bought one more item, I would have been missing it later.

As I left the hardware store, I was filled with indescribable gratitude and admiration for God's faithfulness and incredible timing!

These experiences mean so much to us now! In this way, our faith grew much, much stronger than it would have been if God had just sent €20,000 into our account in the first place.

During this time, we can also learn that Jesus' words:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things."

and

"Give us this day our daily bread."

can also apply to larger expenses and construction projects!

God's ultimate desire for us is that we rely completely on Him and live in dependence on Him - regardless of our bank balance and other circumstances. The money of this world can be rendered completely worthless in a short period of time by an economic crisis, our homes could be destroyed in a war, or we may be driven out of our country because of our faithfulness to Jesus, but our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need, when we need it, and how He can provide for us.

He knows that far better than we do.

UPCOMING RENOVATIONS

Next week, our contractor for the heating is returning from vacation and is supposed to adjust our central heating system so that we can heat the entire house as soon as possible. Currently, we are making do with two electric radiators.

After some back and forth, we finally decided on a pellet stove with a high heat output so that the prayer room and possibly an extra toilet and entrance area in the basement can also be heated. Pipes still need to be laid for this. In addition, a stainless steel pipe needs to be installed in the chimney, and new radiators need to be installed in the kitchen and guest room. How long this will take and how much it will cost is difficult to predict, but as Jesus said, we needn't worry about what we'll wear and what will keep us warm tomorrow. 🔥

At the same time, I'm in the process of clearing out two sheds and the old pigpen. In the garage, which will then be converted into a prayer room, there are currently a lot of tools, building materials, children's toys, bicycles... and these will be relocated into the other sheds.

We've already been able to dispose of, give away, or sell a lot of old furniture, appliances, and junk, including the old red car that was still in the garage at the beginning. Now, one can begin to imagine what it will all look like.

The future tool shed, when it was still full of junk.

The wooden parts of the old furniture made a nice fire.

Sometime in November (hopefully), the kitchen furniture and appliances, which friends have kindly promised to donate to us, will also be available. Before that, we still need to smooth, paint, and tile, just like in the bathroom.

There is also a trip to Ikea on the plan to get a bed, a desk, and other things. We also want to pick out a couch for the living room. There's a good secondhand shop in Zagreb belonging to a Christian addiction rehabilitation center for that.

With these jobs done, we'll be really well set up, except for the windows, which should be replaced as soon as possible. But even now, we already feel at home here and are happy about God's abundant blessings in so many areas! As a sign of his mercies, we were able to harvest many apples and figs, and even a few grapes and pears.

TRANSITION

Aside from the move, a lot has also changed professionally for us. Last year in November, I ended my job as a rafting guide and tourist agent because I felt it was time to follow God's call into "full-time ministry". I already mentioned that, since June this year, we've been collecting donations for our pastoral and prayer ministry both in UPPERROOM Zagreb and also in UPPERROOM Karlovac, which is still under construction. Since August, I've also been officially employed by the Croatian NGO of UPPERROOM and initially receive a salary based on the minimum wage for 30 hours per week.

For the amount of this salary, my lead pastor has recruited donors in the USA with whom I've never had personal contact. Another miracle of God!

Travel expenses are covered by supporters from Karlovac.

Please watch our introductory video from June to get an insight into our ministry:

In the Zagreb community, I was appointed co-leader in May and, in addition to the weekly prayer and worship set, I'm growing into my role as shepherd and teacher.

Two times a month, I preach or teach during the Sunday service in Zagreb and invest in the young people and families of this community. Thankfully, I'm not alone in this: Zuzanna is often there, who founded the UPPERROOM with her husband and brings a wealth of experience, wisdom, and above all, God's Spirit within her. She herself oversees the community, and helps me settle into my role.

Almost the entire Zagreb community has already been staying at our house for a mini-retreat overnight, which was a very blessed time with much encouragement in prayer.

Some of the Zagreb UPPERROOM community on our terrace.

Until the renovations to our house and prayer room are largely completed, for practical reasons, most donations will continue to go directly to us privately – unless someone would like to receive a donation receipt for their support, which is possible through the NGO in Zagreb.
At a certain point, we will then redirect all donations through that NGO, of which I am also a board member. These donations will serve exclusively to finance all expenses of Gornjesoba Karlovac and a part of my salary, which I hope we can then raise somewhat.

In the USA and Canada, there is the possibility to donate through our partner missions organization Modern Day.

If you would like to join our regular circle of supporters or make a one-time donation for the renovations, we would be very grateful! Please contact us, and we will be happy to send you the bank details.

When it comes to Luna, she changed jobs for the summer and was able to help car owners affected by various recalls organize repairs at the workshops and get replacement vehicles. She was given three days off for the move, and besides that, she wasn't as busy as before, so this job was another Godsend for the adjustment to our new place.

Since this position was limited to three months, she is now starting a new job, also in German language, but this time in the private dental insurance sector. She will be in Zagreb for a week and two days for training and orientation, but will then work from home as before. She has been searching for a job in the German-speaking customer service sector for a long time, where she won't be exploited, pressured, and treated with the same ungratefulness as she has been so far. We have a good feeling about this company and this project and pray that she feels comfortable in the new team and succeds in her tasks.

At the same time, she is continuing her online studies in graphic design and has already completed 25%. She enjoys it a lot, because this online school is top-notch and practically oriented. God willing, after graduating from school, she will gradually become self-employed in the artistic field, in which God has endowed her with so much passion and talent!

REPENTANCE

There's a lot going on for us in October!

On October 17th, we're hosting a big celebration for the 10th anniversary of UPPERROOM Zagreb. Two elders from the "mother" UPPERROOM in Dallas will be visiting, and we're expecting guests from many congregations and communities in Zagreb and Croatia. This is so significant because some of these leaders and servants of God haven't been in contact with each other for years due to various disagreements from the past. But since this summer, when there were two large joint inter-congregational events, in Zagreb and Dalmatia, we can see how the walls are being dismantled piece by piece.

This requires humility and the willingness to repent!

The Lord has been putting these themes on our hearts for some time. When we began our discipleship theme of "repentance" at the beginning of September, a collective time of fasting and repentance began that same Sunday in Dallas, and we didn't know it!

In the week following the anniversary, we will travel to the Balkan Call Conference in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Perhaps you remember how we talked about the past conferences in Serbia and Croatia. I recently became part of the core team for leading and implementing these four-day gatherings.

The Balkan Call also has a lot to do with repentance. Representing the countries and peoples from which we come, Turks, Serbs, and Croats, as well as brothers and sisters from the former Austria-Hungarian empire, will repent for the violence committed against the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The various ethnic groups from the country itself will also be represented and will seek reconciliation and a new beginning. In addition, over 500 visitors from all 12 Balkan countries and from around the world will offer blessings and prophetic prayers over the country. A 24-hour worship and prayer room will also be running throughout the conference, in which we from UPPERROOM will also be able to serve.

This whole combination was put on the hearts of some leaders 10 years ago by God himself, who asked him how spiritual breakthrough and renewal could break forth in the churches and countries of the Balkans. Through these conferences, as well as through prayer meetings throughout the year, the spiritual strongholds of arrogance, hostility, violence, bloodshed, and unforgiveness are being torn down. Churches begin to network and learn from one another. These events often result in political breakthroughs of peace, but also in ever-increasing openness to the gospel.

Turkey is a good example of this, because despite strong political pressure on missionaries and pastors, the churches are growing, and the people are becoming increasingly open to the gospel of Jesus!
The Balkan Call Conference in 2022 in Turkey, as well as regular mission trips, especially by brothers and sisters from North Macedonia and Bulgaria, have contributed significantly to this.

To respond to God's call for repentance, or turning to Him, and to prepare ourselves for the events to come, we as UPPERROOM Zagreb fasted together for three days this week and deliberately took more time for prayer. It was a wonderful time, which we "coincidentally" concluded in the evening on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, with a shared praise service and communion.

It is so liberating to completely empty ourselves before God and to rely on His strength and love alone.

In fasting, we become newly and deeply aware of this dependence on the Lord, without which we can do nothing.

EMBRACE

Even though we are enormously grateful, I don't want to pretend that living by God's providence in the way described above and waiting for His solutions is always easy. The past year of waiting and worrying about the loan was also wearing us out at times. Every test of faith is a new challenge.

Thank God we have His Word with so many promises and His loving embrace that awaits us every day. In this embrace, we realize again and again: In Jesus, we already have everything we truly need. Because, in fact, we need nothing but Jesus.

"Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

Matthew 4:4

"One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

 

And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord."

Psalm 27:4-6

In this psalm we see that he first hides us in his embrace when we're in trouble, then sets us high upon a rock and then we end up claiming victory over our (spiritual) enemies and offer thanksgiving in return!

Thank you to all of you who have accompanied us during these great upheavals and challenges, prayed for us, and invested in our house and ministry!

We hope this long blog post has encouraged you and that Jesus has touched you in His own way.

Above all, He longs for us to be united with Him—like a bridegroom with his bride.

For this, he emptied himself of his divinity, and humbled himself to the point of death on the cross.

His blood makes you righteous and holy before God, so that you are welcome in his embrace.

His grace is greater than all our weaknesses, sins, and problems. In dependence on him, there is freedom and abundant life!

We pray that you may live every day in humble dependence on Jesus.

Lots of love and hugs,

God bless you!

Harry & Luna

with Junia and Amos

My House shall be a House of Prayer

God is always faithful!

I'm sitting in the living room. It's 8:30pm, I've just put the children to bed. Now I pick up the guitar and start to sing my thanks to the Lord. The praise just bursts out of me; I feel as if the gratitude inside me will make my heart burst any moment! This evening, I see into the wonderful, endless, 100% certain faithfulness of the Lord.

He is always faithful and keeps His promises. Whatever He promises, He brings about! Throughout the entire history of the Bible, through the entire history of the church, right down to my own little life, God has proven time and time again that He keeps His word. He promised Abraham a new land and many descendants. He promised the world a Savior who would bring us back together with Him. He revealed Himself as the faithful God to countless of His servants throughout the centuries, and I humbly join this crowd.

Often times, I don't feel like giving thanks, but have to consciously force myself to believe in God's perfect faithfulness, fighting through my doubts and worries in order to thank Him in advance for the fulfillment of His promises.

Already, He has guided us step by step and given us His favor - for the purchase of the house, which He had announced to us almost a year ago, as well as for His plans for us in Croatia.

In July, we had a look at this house for the first time and immediately had a good feeling, even though it was still full of stuff and quite dirty at the time. The price was within the limits of what we may expect a bank to give us a mortgage for, the sellers are normal people, the house has rooms and possibilities for everything that is important to us and is easily accessible - just 15 minutes from the center of Karlovac. Our house church even meets very close by on Saturdays, just a five-minute drive from here.

Since then, things have progressed slowly but surely, step by step. In August, all three owners were together in Karlovac, we signed the necessary papers and gave them the down payment. With the help of a financial advisor, whom we don't even have to pay because he will get a commission from the bank, we prepared all the paperwork for the mortgage. This required, among other things, paying off the remaining balance of our car loan and amending the purchase contract once again. He gave us success and favor in everything: my employer was able to advance the money, and the house owners have been uncomplicated and helpful.

But there is one unresolved issue:  I (Luna) need to have a permanent job contract to get the loan; Harrys seasonal work does not count. But I quit my previous job of 3,5 years at the end of August because the management of this company was not willing to improve the working conditions in line with my advanced and increasing tasks and great commitment. Instead, they promoted another colleague, who had not put in much effort up to then, to the position of new team leader - obviously because they found me uncomfortable with my demands for a reasonable team structure and fair wages for the whole team. After long months of back and forth with no progress, it was time to change jobs - or I would completely sink into the pits of frustration and burnout. The moment, I gave in my resignation, a complete peace filled my spirit, and I knew it was the right path to take at the right time, after struggling to make this final decision for months. The reason for this struggle was simple: my wonderful co-workers made it quite hard to leave and there was a hope for a better change present for a long time, as well. But this heavenly peace is always a confirmation, something was done in God's will. I have been experiencing it in the past already and he outcome was always Him leading me to where I needed to be. 

God has shown me a new job with shorter working hours and partly performance-based salary. In September, I successfully completed the three-week training and induction period, which required a lot of effort and concentration, and am now getting into the new workflow more and more. Yet the change of employers is of course a problem for the loan approval - it now means an additional three months of waiting time. Despite that, we still believe it to have been the right decision according to his will and plans. 

In August and September I (Harry) was still hoping that the loan would be approved without the bank having to find out about the job change. In fact, Luna's old employer had filled out a form in a way, where she was still employed indefinitely. We had only submitted the form as it was and had not asked them to keep the contract termination secret. Nevertheless, the paper came back with an "employed for an indefinite time". But later, I have also realized what Luna had already felt before in the spirit: It is not honest to get the loan in this way. That is why God allowed the whole process to drag on, so that we now have to tell the bank about the job change.

After talking to the owners, it looks like we can get the loan to buy the house some time in January. Lunas boss said he will find a way for her to get an employment contract for an indefinite duration after the probation period of four months will be over on January 7th - which is a requirement of the bank. Normally, the employer is giving out such a contract after one year of working there. He personally doesn't see a problem with it, as he is quite satisfied with Lunas progress so far, but needs to internally speak to some other people about this.

In any case, we know one thing: When God says YES, no one can say NO, we know that. He does great miracles, and even in this "modern" age He wants us to rely on Him alone and not on banks, mortgages and human securities!

If any of you can and would like to give us a loan of €80,000, please feel free to get in touch. :-)

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things!" (Psalm 98,1)

A home of our own

Everything has its time and it is best to go with God's timetable, which usually runs slower than we would like, and to trust in His faithfulness, even if and precisely because He often keeps His promises differently than we imagine - namely in a better, more perfect and long-term blessed way!

May we now show you our, God-willing, soon-to-be house?

Please excuse the photo quality; we don't have any better pictures at the moment. 

Side view, with garage below

Front view with patio

Part of the property with lots of fruit trees

Old stable, workshop and smokehouse

The current kitchen with wood stove for central heating

One of the two children's rooms upstairs

The other children's room

The living room downstairs

The staircase

The bedroom downstairs

This could become a guestroom, upstairs

The "prayer chamber" upstairs

The current downstairs bathroom

Bathroom upstairs

As you can see, there is a lot to do. We would like to enlarge the kitchen by tearing down the wall to the pantry and a small toilet room. Lots of old furniture needs to carried out and be disposed of. Of course, all rooms need new paint and the parquet floors need repairs in some places, as well as sanding and a new sealing. We also want to install a toilet in the bathroom downstairs, which was in the extra room until now.

Those renovations would come first and after that we'll probably move in. We will need additional pieces of furniture here and there. Later, we will need to remodel the kitchen with new tiles and furniture. Then, all the windows, blinds and doors need to be replaced within the foreseeable future. The guest room needs to be remodeled and furnished. In all of this, we trust in God's faithfulness, because it is 100% certain. He will provide for every renovation at exactly the right time - and use the mistakes we will make in the whole process to His glory and our good.

The "Karlovac Prayer Room" - "DvineDzaine - God-dedicated creating" - "Hospitality"

One reason why we liked this house from the beginning is the large number of rooms. For both of us, this means a better opportunity to be even more hospitable, something we have always enjoyed doing. We are happy to have visitors and to be with people, to offer them a place where they feel accepted and comfortable, where they can encounter the peace and love of God.

For me (Luna), there is a room on the ground floor that has beautiful large windows and faces north - and thus provides balanced lighting conditions for painting and drawing. This enables me to further follow my calling as an artist. Little by little, I want to become self-employed and participate with God in the process of creating for his kingdom. When I entered this room for the first time, an unusual warmth filled me and I immediately thought - this is going to be my studio. At the time, I didn't even know that the orientation of the window was ideal for such an endeavour.

At the end of high school, I knew that I would either go into social work or into art. Ever since I could hold a pen in my hand, I have scribbled and drawn on all sorts of scraps of paper, sometimes on furniture and walls. Or banana peels. :-) God has put this passion for creating something in as a permanent part of my identity from the very beginning. However, I initially decided to go down the social route and am very grateful for all the experiences I have had here and the content I have been able to learn. They have trained me well for many situations in life.

Four years ago, I completely fell in love with watercolor painting as a medium and I started painting more again. God has repeatedly confirmed that it is now time to give my creative side more space. Almost a year ago, I started making YouTube videos with the "Truth46od" channel, something I had never actually intended to do. I have learned how much fun the process of creating is for me. Regardless of whether it is a video or a picture, everything I create are my "babies", who I love very much. It is interesting how we as people resemble our creator in this way. :-) In order to grow and hone my skills, I will soon be attending an online school for graphic design (OfG). Graphic design combines things that are close to my heart: typography and visual communication. In addition, I also have the vision of offering a space in the studio where people can encounter God in a creative way.

For me (Harry), the many rooms mean that I can give up my job and start the calling that God has long put on my heart - I want to remodel a small room on the upper floor as a prayer room and start to seek the Lord there for several hours every day, to play and sing praises to Him, to worship Him, to read His Word and to intercede. That is my new "job", the "Molitvena Soba Karlovac"; in English: The "Karlovac Prayer Room".

It won't be more than a small room at the beginning. Later, when and if others join the prayer team, perhaps the garage can be converted into a prayer room and thus also create an entrance from the outside. But that is not the point. What is important to me is what all houses of prayer in the world have in common and what David, who founded the first "prayer tent" in the world with day-and-night praise and prayer, expresses as follows:

"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4)

Our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is worthy of being sought and worshipped "full-time"! In his heavenly throne room, the angelic beings, 24 elders and whoever else may be present there offer him "glory, honor and thanks" day and night, singing:

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Revelation 4:9-11)

In every church service or prayer group where God is worshipped in "spirit and truth", people join in this heavenly song. In addition, prayer houses have sprung up all over the world in recent decades that see the praise of God as their main mission in a new and radical way - it is about first and foremost SERVING GOD and not people. It is about putting priorities in the right order. We do not want to gather people around us, build a church, or strive for human success, but give God the attention and honor that He deserves as the Creator, Sustainer and Savior of us and the whole world.

Of course, this is not everyone's calling. On one level, everyone is called to live in close fellowship with God, as a branch on the vine, and to let Jesus' power and love flow through them - in the family, at work, among friends, etc. But beyond that, there have always been men and women of God in His people whom He has called to give up their regular working life and devote themselves completely to Him.

Some of you understand what I am writing about, while others wonder what the point of spending so many hours "just praying and singing" is. There are two answers to that. First, I am not concerned with "what the point is", but whether it is right - and we have already seen that it is right and proper for us creatures to offer worship to our Creator. In fact, all people owe it to praise God - even animals and plants:

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!" (Psalm 150:6)

We see, of course, in our world and unfortunately even in our churches that far too few people live their lives in genuine, deep gratitude to God. Each of us certainly still has "potential for improvement". And that is precisely where the second answer is at: What happens in the spiritual world of a city, a region or a country when God is not given the honor He deserves? It is not complicated: Where God is not honored, the demonic powers of darkness have room to work and seduce people to, consciously or unconsciously, honor Satan. Sin becomes the norm. People suffer the consequences. Families break up. Mental and other illnesses are rampant. Society falls apart.

A room or house of prayer is a place where praise and worship are offered to God on behalf of a city, a region or even a country - and this undoubtedly has an impact on the invisible and visible world. It opens spiritual doors for the salvation of individuals as well as the revival of churches and the transformation of entire regions. The director of the largest house of prayer in Europe recently commented on the question of what all the prayer had achieved in recent years: He does not know all the effects, but a good indication would be that there is not a single doctor in that town anymore (almost 300,000 inhabitants) where the prayer house operates, who is willing to perform abortions. Curse is transformed into blessing! Where unborn life is protected, God can let blessings flow and demons lose the right to enslave people, drive them to despair and keep them in eternal separation from God.

For years, the area south of Karlovac has been particularly close to my heart, which is where we are now buying a house. The area is called "Kordun" and is connected to the "Lika" area further south. Around 500 years ago, the entire (Christian) area was regularly plagued by Muslim-Ottoman raids; previously, the Ottomans had already taken over what is now Bosnia. The fortress city of Karlovac was built to defend the Croatian lands and the Austrian hereditary lands to the north. In the recent past, Kordun and Lika were part of the Serbian autonomous areas in the Homeland War of 1991-1995 and, as was the case then, the violent expansion of these areas was stopped at the gates of Karlovac.

There is a spiritual reality to this. In Kordun, the church is more or less dead, but there are strikingly numerous expressions of Eastern religions and occult practices. I believe that God's plan is to change the spiritual atmosphere through praise, worship and intercession and to bring restoration and revival to a dark and neglected region.

I am incredibly grateful to the Lord that I can be part of His plans with the "Karlovac Prayer Room" - and I am excited to see what that looks like. In the first year I want to focus entirely on Him, without any public programs or use social media work. There will be two regular worship times per week, to which guests can come. We will also make the prayer room available to brothers and sisters who are looking for a quiet space for prayer and praise. In addition, I will continue to drive to the "Upper Room" in Zagreb once a week and lead a prayer set there, as well as occasionally visiting existing prayer meetings in the surrounding churches and online, as God leads me. But above all, I will spend a lot of time in silence and in praise before Him, because I know that I really, really need Him for myself and that He wants to reveal Himself to me much more deeply, changing me in the process!

With the decision to quit my job, we will of course lose one of two regular incomes. Just a few days ago, my boss offered me the opportunity to continue working for him part-time in administration from home, but God convinced me this summer that He did not want to share me with another boss - I noticed that organizing the various groups ate up so much of my time throughout the day that it often took a lot of time before I could concentrate on God again. I have decided to follow my calling and do so with all my heart!

Harry's decision and calling was a big struggle for me (Luna) at first. I was wrestling with this thought of the full time prayer room for a long time. As a woman, I have a strong need of security and was wondering, how this will play out in terms of finances for us as a family. Walking on water by faith is a challenge for all of us, I believe. I was often pleading with, praying, wrestling, and complaining to God.

Then, two significant things happened:

First, when we realized that we needed to be completely honest with the bank, and repented, we experienced this heavenly peace over our whole situation again. But not only that, I also suddenly had complete peace over Harry being called to give up his job for God. It felt like all the pieces fell into place.

Second, I listened to a sermon about the Levite service in Israel and how God is still calling people in a similar way. These people are appointed by God to a full-time service in the house of the Lord, without earning money to provide for themselves, but relying on God and their community to provide completely for anything needed. Through this sermon, I realized, how incredibly important such a service for God's kingdom is.

To be honest, before this, I thought those people to be lazy bums not willing to work, fend for themselves and their families, and that full time service relying on donations was not an honorable way of living. I thought, we all ought to work for our income in the worldly way of having a "normal" job. But I now realize I was wrong thinking this. This calling is a job in God's kingdom, and carries its value just like other jobs. Few people are called into such a ministry, but the sermon made me realize how important the Levite work was for Israel and still is today for us as the Lord's church body and for His kingdom. It is a work of intercession for people, cities, nations and should to be part of every ministry in the world in every country.

These people are called to lead us constantly towards the centre of God's heart. Like Mary, they are to remind us of seeking the higher, the better, the more important things of God's kingdom at His feet, and not to get stuck in worldly desires and daily worries. They are called into spiritual warfare for their country, to fight strategically in the spiritual realm for God's plans to be unleashed and revealed in people's lives, in regions, cities, and countries. Of course, we could all do this somehow. But there is a big difference between doing this as a job full-time or just on the side, whenever you find time for it. Actually, Harry has tried to do this on the side for last years already.

If He is pleased with it, the Lord will put it on the hearts of others to support this ministry. In fact, two brothers and sisters have already promised support without me (Harry) asking. Later, when the prayer room has become somewhat established and perhaps a few brothers and sisters have joined as regular volunteers, it will be time to set up a legal body, a Christian NGO through which donations can be made and through which I can then be officially employed. Until then and also afterwards, I trust in God that He will meet all our needs as well as those of the prayer room. Of course, this goes against human reason and our natural security thinking. My wish and prayer is that through God's provision and this humble example of faith, He will be honoured and others will also be encouraged to believe in the living God and to rely completely on Him, for their salvation as well as any life challenge - because He is GOOD, POWERFUL and READY to HELP those who trust in Him!

If God puts it on your heart to support us, you can find our bank account details at the bottom of the "web version" of this blog. If you are reading the blog on your mobile, click on "View web version" at the bottom and then scroll down to the bottom, where you will find the bank details. Or else, please feel free to contact us.

Everyday life

It is now the end of October. Amos has been in first grade for 1 1/2 months and Junia is doing well in 5th grade with a new teacher, new subjects and the at the "new" main school campus of her primary school. Over the summer, we enjoyed having Luna's mom with us a number of times. Now, she is back in Berlin. In addition, in mid-October my sister visited with 3 of my nieces and 1 nephew for 5 days - that was also a particularly nice time for us as well as the kids!

We have now a few quiet, "normal" weeks before we want to travel to Serbia on the 2nd November weekend for this year's "Balkan Call" conference. Last year, this big meeting with brothers and sisters from all 12 Balkan countries took place very close to us - we wrote about it on this blog. This year we are particularly happy to travel to our "brother country" Serbia as Croatians, because there is still a lot of friction and hostile rhetoric between the two people groups. This is also evident in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the Serbian part would like to become independent from the Croatian-Bosnian federation. The reality is, minorities of the other people groups continue to live in all of these countries and regions. That is to say, there are no ethnically "clean" Croatian, Serbian or Bosnian regions, although there is far less mixture than before due to the horrors and atrocities of the war in the 1990s.

Between other Balkan peoples the situation is similar (e.g. the situation in Kosovo has gotten more and more tense again) and there remains a lot to work: to repent, to forgive and to heal. In the "Balkan Call" we encounter the other nations, repent on behalt of our people, ask for forgiveness, offer it to others, and believe that this will take away the enemy's power in the spiritual world and open the doors for the gospel about Jesus, the Prince of Peace. As a visible sign of this reality, we have been witnesses to the amazing work of healing God has been doing at last year´s conference in the lives of the ca. 500 individuals present!

Back in Karlovac, Junia's 11th birthday will soon be celebrated. As far as my work is concerned, I only have a few work days left with my employer and am already stepping into the ministry of worship and prayer here in our apartment. I'm very thankful for a school of prayer that I can attend online through the Croatian house of prayer we are connected with. Luna works from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., and otherwise we divide our time between family, household, church and discipleship. In Croatia, the children in primary school alternate between morning and afternoon classes, so that Luna and I get to go for a date walk together at least once every two weeks.

That's all from us for now - We would be very happy to hear from you and what Got is doing your lives and families!
We bless you all! Our prayer is that you trust Him in your own challenges and experience that He is always faithful, that He heals you and transforms you into the image of His Son Jesus!

Greetings from Croatia,

Harry, Luna, Junia & Amos

Into new adventures with God

Hello dear friends, 

This is Luna writing for you today. 

While God has led us to to our new car in perfect ways, as mentioned in our previous post, it looks like we will also be looking for a new place to stay and new jobs in near future! But let us rewind the time a bit. 

So, a few months back, the Lord constantly put the word "house" on my mind. I was confused and asked him "House?! What does that mean, God?" And then he told me to literally start looking for a house. 

Well, you all know about the problems we had with our neighbor. But we never felt like it was time to move, because there was somehow still unfinished business left for God here. Also, I never ever wanted to become a house owner, so I definitely knew, that these thoughts did not come from my own desires. However, when I asked him about the things we had to do here in this apartment complex, the Lord gave me peace and said how we've learned the lessons we had to learn here, and everything else regarding our neighbors was His business and responsibility, and not ours (we've been also serving two Christian families here in the complex, not just praying for the crazy one). 

And then, a few weeks ago, the confirmation came once again when our landlady told us about her plans to sell the apartment! Of course, she offered, to sell it to us. However, with current inflation, prices for apartments and houses are almost the same and again, we feel like we are done here in some ways. So if there's an option to have more nature around us, which we would all really enjoy, why not? I am actually surprised to be writing this now with such a peace, because my own will in terms of owning anything here on earth used to be the complete opposite. Right now, we are looking around and praying for wisdom with different possibilities, but we are not in a haste or worried at all. God is leading us all the way through, like always, because he is faithful. 

On top of that we both think, there will be a change in our employment coming our way at some point. We both feel quite frustrated by our current job conditions. Harry has mentioned his situation in the previous post about waiting for God's timing regarding this. 

Since a foreign company has bought the Croatian company I started working for three years ago, it all pretty much goes down the corporate rabbit hole of hell, which is very sad and hard to watch, being originally a small, family-like company in the past. And since our team still is the best team I've ever experienced at a work place and I truly love working with my colleagues, leaving wouldn't be easy. However, as a team we are all becoming increasingly unsatisfied by the work conditions, feeling unappreciated and like a replaceable number in a nightmare of bureaucracy. I am not yet certain if I should be actively and seriously looking for something else right now. So for all the topics above, we are in a state of alerted wait and see and listen. 

Lastly, God has been stirring up something inside of me since the past year, I never thought I would ever step into: building a business in the creative/art field. 

In the past year, the Lord has revealed to me that my core identity is that of an artist. The reason, why this is so significant for me is that I've always felt a bit lost in terms of why I was here and who I really was. Growing up in two cultures has a lot of great advantages, but does not help a lot here, and may even further delay finding out our true identity, since you always kind of feel "mixed" and not fully part of something. A father is the one who speaks identity into their children, the hole he leaves when he is not (very) actively and positively present in the lives of his children is big. I think, this is one of the main reasons why so many people struggle with their identity these days. There are just not many families with an intact father-child relationship out there. Johannes Hartl, a prayer house leader in Germany said, how this topic of fatherhood is The hot and most important topic of our century. And I would certainly agree. 

Anyway, my plan is to slowly build residual income streams through different legs of income. Lord knows, we sure need it, if he's giving us the task of buying or building a house! I've been looking into various ways to do that, and there are really many possibilities out there. But today, I want to share one of these legs with you. And once again, it is an area I never ever wanted to step one foot into ever! I guess, this year's motto for me is: Never say never when it comes to God's plans. 

A bit more of a backstory on this: In the beginning of this year, brother Tomy Arayomi received a word from God, in which God encourages us Christians to step into the areas of business and media in order to reclaim them for God's Kingdom in the year of 2024. I heard this exactly when I needed to hear this and when God was stirring these topics up in my heart. He gave me a lot of encouragement to go forward into this direction, and by a lot, I really mean A LOT, okay, he knows well, how much I need this in order to be stepping onto these completely new paths of entrepreneurship. God's perfect timing always baffles me. 

And this is now one of the new things God brought into my life: https://youtube.com/@Truth.46od?feature=shared 

This is my youtube channel, in which I am posting thoughtful videos on different topics for encouragement, meditation and for God to speak his truths into our lives. In a world of shorts and short attention spans, I hope to provide a platform as an oasis from everything fast paced, on which God can confront us with his promises, blessings, encouragement and love. Oh, what a roller coaster of learning some completely new skills this has been in the past months! And it is not over yet, of course. But I am surprised to write, how creating these videos is more fun than I thought. But this has again something to do with my core identity. Artists just love to create new things, to experiment and explore. ;-) So, watch, click, like, subscribe, and share! I got that sentence down, all right. 

May our Abbas Shalom bless you and keep you. You are precious to Him. 

Love,

Luna & family 

What is God doing in Croatia?

While many people go to Croatia primarily for vacation, God is not like that - He is working on completely different things in the spiritual background. Here and there He gave us little glimpses of His plans so that we could pray, proclaim, and participate in them. This is what we want to tell you about this time.

“Upper Room” Zagreb

We wrote the last GERMAN blog entry shortly after our visit to the Slavonski Brod prayer house at the beginning of the year (Sorry, that one wasn't put out in English. Here it is, in case you like to have it translated automitcally: https://harryundluna.blogspot.com/2023/03/besuch-im-gebetshaus-slavonski-brod.html). We also briefly summarized for you the background and meaning of houses of prayer, how powerfully God works through these initiatives in our time and what opportunities everyone has to take part in them.

In Slavonski Brod the Holy Spirit gave me the impulse that I (Harry) should connect with the “Upper Room” in Zagreb. This small house of prayer initiative was started by Jerry and Zuzanna Low. As a young man, Jerry was an American hippie, then met Jesus in prison and through the “Jesus Movement”, which completely changed him forever. He soon received a burden for the Balkan countries and was later sent to Yugoslavia as a missionary. He served in a community in northern Serbia, where he met his future wife, Zuzanna. When war broke out, they were called back to the United States with their young children and remained there for 25 years, all the while drawn back to their calling in the Balkans. Finally, after raising their children and maturing spiritually themselves, the Lord opened the doors for them to move back to Zagreb in 2014. Here they started the “Upper Room” about two years later, in conjunction with the mother house in Dallas, USA, where they had previously served for many years.

Our friends in Slavonski Brod told us about Jerry and Zuzanna in 2019, so Luna attended one of the prayer times in 2020. At the time, however, the two had just returned to America, because Jerry was now having serious health problems, which were later diagnosed with the “Lou Gehrig's syndrome” (also “ALS”). In November 2021 he went home to be with the Lord, but before that, with Zuzanna's help, he was able to write a book about God's story with him: "Trapped in America." The book was published in Croatian just a month ago. It carries with it a part of God's heart for the Balkans and a powerful anointing of prayer.

Until 2022, mostly just a few people met in the Upper Room Zagreb for prayer and praise, but since then God has continued to send new people, including many young searching souls. Some of them were converted during this time and now need guidance in their life with Jesus, others receive good shepherding in other churches. Some more experienced brothers and sisters in the faith have also joined recently. God seems to be gathering and assembling the people he wants to use in this project.

While we were in Slavonski Brod for a week in February of this year to spend time in silence, prayer and praise before God and to visit our friends, we were given Jerry's book. I immediately started reading it and it didn't take long before I realized God was speaking to me: “Get in touch with the Upper Room in Zagreb. I want to plug you into that team.”

I was excited and completely calm at the same time! Excited - because this was the first time since we had moved to Croatia that God was giving me a job in such a clear way. The previous 3 years (I now realize) were a time of arrival for us and for me a time to learn the language, to humble myself and to wait on God. Not that I no longer need to learn the language, humble myself and wait on God - on the contrary, that will never stop - but now is also thetime to go and serve where he sends me.

At the same time, I had peace, and I still have it, because I realize that this is God's plan. I don't have to overwork myself, there's no contract to fulfill, I don't have to prove myself to anyone. I can step into His plan and marvel at what He does – in me and in others - through others and through me. Exciting and full of peace at the same time!

So it came that a few times in spring I went to the Upper Room Zagreb for one of the prayer and worship times to get to know the brothers and sisters there and to seek God's presence with them. In May, Luna and I met the leader, Zuzanna, and connect with her straight away. Since I was busy again as a rafting and kayaking guide from May to October, I went to Zagreb only about once a month and started to lead worship during the sets. Three times a week there is a two-hour prayer time in the evening, sometimes with live worship, sometimes with streaming in the background, also a Bible reading time on Wednesdays and on Saturday evenings fellowship, praise and sermon. Once a month the whole team goes into the city together to share God's love with people on the street and to pray for them.

Since November I have been able to go there regularly once a week and lead worship twice a month. These are always very special times when we immerse ourselves in God's presence together, allowing ourselves to be penetrated by his grace and peace and then praying into the spiritual world the things that he places on our hearts. In addition to the prayer sets, I now also meet regularly with a young, newly converted man to help him get to know Jesus better. He was baptized this summer, but things from the past and especially attacks and temptations in his thoughts still bother him almost constantly. He recently came to Karlovac on a Saturday and through encouragement and prayer he experienced a good deal of freedom. Yet he continues to struggle in everyday life. If it is on your heart, you are welcome to pray for him and that Jesus will set him completely free.

“Whoever the Son sets free, he is free indeed.” (John 8:36)

“Balkan Call” Conference

All summer long we were looking forward to the “Balkan Call” conference, which has been held in a different Balkan country every year for some time now. 12 countries from Romania to Turkey are involved, all of which have a geographical part of our Balkan peninsula,  and all of which were and still are involved in a wide variety of wars and conflicts. I must say that I wasn't aware of much of this, for example that there was war in (North) Macedonia until 2001, and that there is ongoing trouble not just between Turkey and Greece, Serbia and Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia of course, Albania and Montenegro, Greece and Macedonia, and between the Roma peoples and everyone else, but also between Macedonia and Bulgaria, due to crimes and retaliation from recent and older history. For some of you in North America all of these names may be unfamiliar – take a look at Google Maps and you'll see lots of small and very small countries that have a very long and mixed history with each other. (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GwuGCwL4ygUGzdqv9)

At the Balkan Call, Christians from all of these countries meet, worship and pray together to God, the Lord of all nations, and take steps towards each other on behalf of their peoples: Each “country” comes on stage once a weekend to bless the host country. These representatives repent for past events, ask for forgiveness and speak blessings on the host nation. Representatives of that country then respond to these requests and blessings in the same spirit of brotherly love and unity. This is not about empty, external actions, but about real encounters, real dialogue and reconciliation between otherwise hostile people groups - and these acts of peace are used by God's Spirit to transform the spiritual world in the Balkans.

We were able to see this for ourselves, because this year the Balkan Call was held in a place exactly between Zagreb and Karlovac in the small town of Jastrebarsko, only 20 minutes away from us. So we didn't even have to book a hotel room, nor did most of the over 450 participants. Friday afternoon to Sunday lunchtime we experienced God's strong presence in worship, renewal of our thinking through His Word, exciting new acquaintances - but what was most impressive were the words of repentance and blessing from the various countries for Croatia and back again. A Serbian pastor who knelt in front of everyone, asked for forgiveness for the war crimes of the early 90s and later hugged his Croatian brother - this moment alone brought tears and inner healing to many Croatians present who, for example, lost relatives in the war, or had been exposed to hate speech against “the other side” for years. Prophetic words of encouragement were given, also from Croats to other countries. A young Argentine pastor, who is part of a network of several hundred South Americans who pray for the Balkans every week, prayed a strong, fresh anointing on us!

And then suddenly a German came onto the stage and spoke about how God had told him to come to this conference and to ask for forgiveness on behalf of the Germans for the crimes and misery caused by the Nazi invasion into what was then Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. Johannes Blum is a history teacher at a high school near Stuttgart, as well as a pastor and prayer leader, and it was very exciting to get to know him. On Sunday afternoon, after the conference, we set off with him, with a pastor couple from Macedonia and another Croatian sister to a nearby Catholic monastery to pray. Here, under the Nazi NDH (or "Ustashe"), there was one of a few children's concentration camps in which the orphans of killed partisan parents were "cared for" and "re-educated", and in which many of them died.

Many of these side places are not at all known in Croatia; Unfortunately, there is also a strong internal resistance to publicly acknowledging and clearing up one's own guilt. The Croatian churches still have some catching up to do. But we believe that through these prayer initiatives a change of repentance, forgiveness and healing will be started. Perhaps some people are wondering what this process has to do with the spiritual world and God's working. Actually it's quite simple: Through sin, violence and bloodshed, the land is polluted and the spiritual powers of darkness are empowered. This is why there are “spiritually dark places,” which most of us have probably experienced at some point. These powers can be broken through out-spoken repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. This is important so that people in the visible world can be set free from the power of Satan, heal and become open for the gospel of Jesus.

To put it another way: When Billy Graham was once asked what it takes to run a successful evangelistic campaign, he replied, “First, prayer. Second: prayer. Third: Prayer.” My take of the struggles in the spiritual world is of course very fragmented, perhaps one-sided, but that doesn't change the reality of these struggles.

“If my people, upon whom my name has been proclaimed, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (2 Cor Chronicles 7:14)

Zajednica Karlovac

In our last blog we wrote briefly about three “new people” - two were newly converted about a year ago and the third came to us looking for Christian fellowship. All three have been meeting with some of us regularly throughout the year for discipleship; Luna and another sister lead one of the small groups together. They also come to our meetings every Saturday. At the end of June we baptized the three of them. It is wonderful to see how much Jesus has already changed their lives, although of course everyone still has their challenges. In addition, God continually places on our hearts certain people or communities to serve or to pray for. Our favorite times are when we praise and worship together. We may think we are serving God, but it is as if God is serving us, refreshing us and refilling us with his Spirit.

Family and work

Our children are a great joy to us! Unfortunately, we are not always aware of this. Junia has completed half of grade 4, has been taking clarinet lessons at the music school this school year and would also like to go back to horseback riding school, but there are only good places for this outside of Karlovac. She paints and does crafts and would like to become a designer when she's grown up.

Amos goes to preschool, or “small school” as it is also called here, in a small private group with 9 children, twice a week in the morning. As a result, he now speaks Croatian even better, writes in beautiful letters and numbers and is slowly starting to read. Recently he had his first ever “stage" performance with various rhymes, songs and dances. Otherwise he builds and plays with Lego, Playmobil, Duplo, construction sets, toy cars and the like or the children ride their bikes, skateboards or scooters outside with neighbor children from our house church who live next door.

At the end of October we went to the island of Rab for a few days to take a vacation after Harry's rafting-kayaking season ended. There are even sandy beaches there, which is very rare in Croatia. We experienced everything from sun to rain and storms.

Every day, Luna bravely deals with the various concerns of German companies that have problems with their paycard terminals or online shops. Certain circumstances in her Croatian company, which has been bought up by an American corporation several months ago, are even more troubling to her than difficult customers. But she is part of a team of many great colleagues, everyone sticks together and that makes work fun. Last week they jointly sent an email to the management for a pay increase for everyone. So feel free to pray for favor and a positive outcome. :-)

I (Harry) worked full time from May to October this season after starting last year at 30h/week. Of course, it wasn't always easy during peak times, but God made sure that there wasn't too much work at once. We as a family also went on a kayak trip together a few times, and at the end of June we paddled down the Kupa River for 4 days as a “family vacation,” pitching our tent on the river bank in the evenings.

At the moment I'm working on some administrative tasks again and in December I also had to look after two "team building" groups, so I will remain employed again this winter part time. However, there were also some things that happened at the company that I didn't like and I am asking God about taking a different career path. You are welcome to pray for that too.

„But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.“ (Matthew 6,33)

A new car

Finally, a story about how God led us to our new car. Already on the way back from the island of Rab we noticed that the engine of our good old Renault Scenic 2001 was developing some problem. Over the next month and a half this problem got worse and louder until we were told at the shop that part of the spark plug had broken off and fallen into the engine compartment. Now it became really uncomfortable to drive anywhere outside of just Karlovac. We went car hunting and I discovered that there is more choice of used cars in Croatia than I thought. Unfortunately, they are not at all less expensive than in Germany, rather they cost a bit more, so that even imported cars from Central Europe are offered at good prices.

We were already about to decide on a VW Golf Variant that was around 10 years old, or an even younger Renault Megane, but after a conversation with a friend who worked around cars all his life, we thought again. Newer cars with more electronics are known to have more problems. On the other hand, there are also tried and tested brands and models that operate reliably well into old age. And if I could choose, I knew I would like a Toyota. But there are hardly more than a handful of used Toyotas on offer in Croatia that we would consider.

On the 3rd of Advent I was on the way back from the playground with the children when we passed a Toyota Corolla Verso, a car that I was already enthusiastic about when we still lived in Berlin. I stopped briefly and said to Junia: “Look Junia, that car I would buy!” - She just said: “Agreed!” (even though it was dark gray and not colored as she would like it). At home, I continued looking through the online ads and up came a Toyota that I hadn't considered before because of its 16 years of age. I looked at it and noticed that it was a very well maintained and cared for car and that it is located in Karlovac! I sent it to our friend and he immediately wrote back enthusiastically that it was just the right car, God's choice for us! When I took a closer look at the documents shown, I also found the owner's address and after a moment realized that I had seen the same model at exactly this address a few hours before and said: "THAT car I would buy." Indeed, it was exactly this car! To top it off, Luna later noticed on the photographed papers that this model is called “Toyota Corolla Verso LUNA”. :-D

I arranged for a short test drive on the following day, and Luna went to the bank to apply for a loan. We had already saved some money from the season, but it wasn't enough for a decent car. The Toyota meets and exceeds all of our expectations and has plenty of space, even for growing children and long journeys to other countries. We are very grateful to the Lord for his accurate guidance and advice! ;-)

Because without this confirmation I would have doubted even more whether this car was really the best choice for us. After all, there are also other robust used cars, some with fewer kilometers and sometimes a little cheaper. But we are sure that God has chosen this car for us and so, after a lot of searching and thinking, peace has returned to my head.

Now that we paid for and picked up the car, I want to add one thing: Even when God is leading everything, that doesn't mean that everything goes smoothly. In this case, the bank took over 2 weeks to approve the credit, which they didn't alert us to at the beginning. This set me up in an awkward position with the car owners, because I had already arranged for the sale. On the one hand, this was good for me, because it made for another opportunity to humble myself. On the other hand, it serves as a reminder that we will never fully understand God and his dealings, even when we are sure we are walking in his ways. It comes down to faith again: He is good, all the time  - all the time, He is good!

So much of us,

We wish you a blessed new year 2024 with new insights into His love and grace, especially in the problems and difficulties in which you find yourself.

God bless you,

Harry, Luna, Junia & Amos