Dan Zahvalnosti (A Day of Thanksgiving)

 I am writing this to you guys on a train, as our team makes its way back to Zagreb tonight. We took a train earlier this week across Eastern Europe to Sofia, Bulgaria. We were able to spend the holiday week there with the Sunbergs, their family, and the rest of their team there in Sofia. It was a great time of rest and recuperation, new cultural experiences (mostly from the train ride, of course), of friendship and good company. We enjoyed lots of food, played games, rested, shared a meal with the church there, got to see and learn about some of the city and history of Sofia, were able to see and hear about what the church is doing there, and really just got to enjoy being together.

Before arriving in Sofia, there had been moments where the four of us and the Sunbergs had said how good it would be to be able to be in the same place at the same time and really get to spend time together and get to know one another better.  And this week was a great time to be able to do that. During our time there I found myself being incredibly thankful for community, and for getting to be a part of the faith community that I am surrounded by. It is awesome to feel the love and support of those who are serving the church in other parts of the world, and to be able to love and support them in return. There is a mutual bond that brings us together because we are serving together. And even though there are countries and many miles between us it is affirming to know that although we serve in different places, we serve together as the body of Christ.

Last time we blogged, Emily wrote to you about being thankful to be a part of the many things that God is doing.  I think our visit to Sofia was an awesome way for us to see what God is doing in other parts of Europe and how, even just in our love and support of those serving in these other areas, we also get to be a part of how God is moving and working in these different places.

And this of course leads me to once again thank each of you for your love, prayers, and support. For being a part of this with us, as we serve the church together in different parts of the world. So thanks. Your prayers, love, and support are vital to what we doing here and to how God is moving and working here.

And now we headed back to Zagreb. And we are all looking forward to going back and to seeing how God is going to continue to work and move among us, and to see how he uses us, as just a small part of the many things he is doing among His church and His people.

That is all for now. I hope each of you, likewise, enjoyed your holiday, finding yourself cared for in community.

Hope