Our Last Days in Croatia!
Our Last Days in Croatia! - Jesse
Yesterday we finished up our time with our friends at the conference. Our final worship time was really sweet and it was nice to say goodbye to everyone and speak encouragement and blessing over each other.
They even gave a gift bag to each of us as a thank-you gift for coming and serving them. Wayne, Tabby, and Tamarah got to pray over the kids and it was a blessing to see how excited the kids were about the journals they made. I even saw one mom exclaim with genuine excitement and maybe even some surprise, “…you made that?!?!” It was clear that the kids felt loved and cared for and our team bonded with them in a special way. We might even have some stories of funny things that were said if you ask us!
On Monday night we had a time of worship and healing prayer. Wayne and I led some musical worship and one of our Alliance partners led times of prayer and communion. We then opened up a time for healing prayer. Some encouraging testimonies were shared of healings some had witnessed and many shared their needs as others would gather around them, anointing them with oil and we all prayed as some spontaneously led out in prayer. Sometimes after praying someone would share an encouraging image they saw or a picture that came to their mind. It was a very uplifting time and just so so good.
Tuesday afternoon we went to Dubrovnik with many of our friends. One of our partners took us around the old city which is hemmed in by castle walls. We got to walk into a couple of beautiful Catholic churches. There is so much history here and my mind was overwhelmed with wondering about many many things. I would need to spend more time learning and exploring to be satisfied. When we returned to our hotel everyone was sunbaked and tired but we had an hour of extended worship together. There was singing and then a time of prayer in small groups as we shared some characteristics of God that we are thankful for and then things that we want to see God do in us, the teams we work with, and in our community. I got to work with one of our new friends on that night. Most of it was her idea, but I was glad to be able to participate in some small way. I heard a couple of people say that at first they were not excited about this activity but by the end they were really glad to have participated.
Today our team is enjoying a day off. We went souvenir shopping in the community where our hotel is located and we plan to go out for dinner tonight. We also swam in the Adriatic sea together (Wayne and Tabitha jumped in on Monday as well, but today was the first time for Tamarah and me). It was cold but refreshing. We get up early tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Istanbul and then home to Seattle! Pray for safe travels and on-time flights! We’ll see you all soon!
