Making Friends!

This has been a wonderful trip so far. The past two weeks have been full of traveling between the sites and teaching English. The most important part of the journey is building relationships. I have met some awesome people these past two weeks and hope to meet many, many more.  Croatia is a wonderful place and the people are very friendly.

In Petrinja, there were 9 students in my  They all were eager to learn and willing to participate and have fun! The young students in the class who already spoke English very well were willing to help the older students; this was a blessing to watch.  Every one of the students worked hard to learn all I had to teach them and I hope they will continue to practice as the time passes this year so they can be ready for the class next year.  

class. They all came to class with varying levels of speaking English. They all were wonderful students and I hope left knowing more English than they came in with.

There were 9 students in the Sisak class also. This class was very animated and had many “characters” in it. They loved to laugh and have fun as they learned English. They als came to the class with different levels of speaking abilities and as with the Petrinja Class different levels

of confidence. By the end of the class those who were shy began to open up as the others encouraged them to participate. It was thrilling to see everyone so happy and full of life.

Yesterday was graduation day! On the last day of the course the students are given a test. Since this course is about conversational English it is important to make sure the students can hold a conversation using the information presented in their class. They are given a test to assess they level of conversational skills they have acquired in English through the course. They receive a participation certificate, a certificate of achievement, or a diploma. In both classes all of the students received diplomas but 3. That does not mean they did not do well, it means their confidence needs to be built.

John and Lois Stefan plan to teach English on Saturdays during the year. I hope that the students who attended will go, it will be a great opportunity to practice their skills and gain confidence.

I will miss all of the students and it is my hope, if God is willing, to return here. I had a marvelous time!

This has been an awesome experience so far and I am looking forward to the next 2 weeks in Karlovac. I will be teaching the reading lessons there, unless we have a large turn out, which would also be awesome!

Teaching English Twice a Day!

Sorry it has been so long since the last entry. We have been rather busy.

On Monday, June 17 we started our English classes at two sites. In the mornings at 9:00 am we teach in Patrinja, we average about 25 in levels 1 and 2. In the evenings we travel about 8 miles to Sisak to teach at 6:00 pm, we average about 30 in levels 1-3. Between the classes we respond to the students journals for the morning classes and when we return from the evening class we respond to those journals. In between all the classes and journalling we find time to eat, shower, and sleep. It is hard work, I am having fun, even if I am tired!

I have met and am teaching some really awesome people. They try hard everyday to speak a language that is not easy to learn. I teach level 2 in both sites, these are people who know some English already. I still need to have some things I say translated at times, yet for the most part we only speak English to them without the aid of a translator.

We have a focus every evening for instance Friday was about professions. There was a conversation that was the focus and they practice it many times. The key to learning this way is repeating words and phrases 40 times or more. They may get bored a little yet they know that it is important.

We have Assembly (Chapel) everyday, the message follows the reading lessons presented in class. We are focusing on the book of
John. We sing songs in both English and Croatian. Chapel time is an important part of the class.

In the journals I try to focus on the lesson or the reading. These journals help us build
relationships with our students. I can not share what we talk about because I promised that they would be kept between and the individual. I an say that I have some very bright students and I enjoy corresponding with them.

I will try to write more soon. God knows the needs and how we need to serve these people. Pray for God's leading. Bog Ljubi!

Also please pray for India and the people there suffering in the floods. I have missionary friends there that I pray are safe!

Groceries and Church!

Two important things in our lives, physical food and spiritual food!

By the way, I am going to most of the photos at the bottom of the page. There are so many of them it will just be better. Remember you can click on them to see them bigger.

On Saturday we went shopping. In the morning we went to a store called Plodine.
There many interesting things about shopping here. One is that you have to put a deposit on your shopping cart. Since most everyone walks or rides a bike I am sure that is to discourage people from taking the carts. You use a key to push the coin out when you place the cart back in the rack. They have some familiar items in the stores and some not so familiar. They also eat a lot of processed meats.

After a trip through the store we decided to have a cup of coffee at the cafe outside. That was not all they served but it was all we felt we should partake in. There was a cat who thought he should join us for some coffee also.

We went back to the house where we prepared dinner. Lois has a garden outside and she grows her own lettuce so I helped her pick a little for my salad and the tacos we were going to prepare. Unfortunately there was no seasoning to finish the tacos so I walked to a grocery store not far from the house. They had a packet of seasoning that worked for the tacos. All the seasonings in that store were in bags. They did not have bottled seasonings so I could make tacos the way I do at home.

After lunch some took naps, while some of us went to look at some local art. The clocks on the table were made by a man who John knows. He makes some in the shape of Croatia, they are very nice. His wife is blind, she uses a loom to make purses and things out of wool. She is the only woman in Croatia who uses this kind of loom still. Later, Diana and I picked some cherries and I took some photos.

Later that afternoon we went to another store called InterSpar. It was a larger grocery store with some other items like toys, art supplies, etc. There was a strip mall behind this store. One thing that we found there were the spices. Now Lois will not have to rely on packaged seasoning for Tacos. After this trip, we returned home and had leftovers.

On Sunday, we first travelled to Sisak to church. There is so much to see here and history to hear about this area. I have noticed that there are a lot of fruit trees, vines, and bushes. Many people have vegetable gardens. There also a lot of Roses all over the country.
The church service was very nice. I loved the fact that the children were allowed to help with the music and then have their own service in a different part of the church. Because there were a number of people from different places the paster did his welcome in American and Croatian. The speaker was another missionary from Korea, his name was Yangkee Kim. After the service we travelled back to the house and had a wonderful lunch.
On Sunday evening, we travelled to Glina to have a service there, John our host was the speaker. There was a little girl named Silvana, there who was drawing flowers during the service, she was doing a great job. After the service we enjoyed some pastries and juice with the congregation. I told the little girl I thought her drawing were wonderful, and I drew her a picture. She drew one for me.
Before we left the town of Glina we filled some bottle from the spring there.
All in all our weekend was full and fulfilling as we had fellowship with each other, God and with other Christians. As God's children we should always seek to share time with others, and allow God to be there in all we do.
Please continue that God will bless this trip and use all of us for His honor and glory.

Made it to Croatia!

I hope this blog entry finds all of you happy and well in the US. I for one am a very tired traveller. I have not been to sleep since I woke up on Thursday morning in Louisiana. My friend Jan, my daughter, and I travelled to The George Bush International Airport where I boarded a Luthansa plane for Frankfort Germany. Thee were a lot of people on this flight, all the seats were full. (PS. I started this entry on the day I arrived in Croatia, I did have to take a break to sleep, and finished it today, the day after)

The flight was about 10 hours long. They served a very nice meal for dinner, I was surprised for an airline. As we approached morning in Europe the The sun started coming up.



They had a way for the passengers to see out side without look through the windows. The picture isn't really very good, you can see the outline of the nose of the plane and the bright light is obviously the sun.

When I arrived in Frankfort, Germany the walk to the next gate was very long, then I had to get on a bus to get to the Croatia Airline plane. This plane was much smaller.



I arrived in Croatia a little later than I was supposed to, Then we drove to Petrinja, It was a lovely drive. They drive on the same side of the street as we do in America.


John and Lois Stefan are the missionaries from the United States that we are staying with. They have been part of this ministry for many years. After eating lunch and resting a little we went to church at the Petrinja Baptist Church.

The music was wonderful. it sounded a lot like cajun or zydeco music. You may see the accordion in the picture. That may be why it reminded me of home.

There was a special speaker, he is a missionary to Europe from Korea, Sangyee Nam. The translator is Bozidar Knezic he is a member of the church from the Czech Republic.

Missionary and Translator

All in all, my first day in Croatia was very busy and a lot of fun.  I was very sleepy and could barely hold my eyes open yet God gave me the strength to stay awake and see the day through to the end.  Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to begin our English classes on Monday. I pray God will bless all of you for keeping us in your prayers.

Church Pastor
Miroslav Nadazdi