Thank you for your continued prayers. Yesterday morning, we returned to the smaller Roma village (where the Bayash language is spoken) and had even more kids in attendance. It is hard to count bodies in motion, but there seemed to be about 60 kids and over a dozen older teens and adults. The kids loved singing the lively Croatian songs and really got into the actions. The theme of the day was "Jesus has all power," based on Luke 4:31-44, which speaks of Jesus' early ministry in Nazareth and Capernaum. Jesus showed his power by preaching God's Word and declaring that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, walking through the hostile crowd who tried to kill him in response, casting out demons, teaching with authority and power, and healing Peter's mother-in-law as well as many others who were blind, deaf and lame.
We used games to teach the children to memorize Luke 4:36 in Croatian, played the audio of Luke 4:31-44 in the Bayash language for them to listen to, played the Bible story based on that passage in the Bayash, played "Simon Says" to illustrate the idea of doing what God says and gave a short object lesson on forgiveness.
Then, we handed out copies of the 50 chronological Bible stories with pictures printed in Croatian on one side of each page and in their Bayash language in the facing column. We also handed out these stories without pictures, formatted for adults, printed in a small book along with the Gospel of Luke in the Bayash language.
After lunch, we practiced the new skit and prepared to return to the bigger village, where the Ludari language is spoken, for day three of their club. Rain was threatening all day, so we were unsure exactly when to head out to the village to set up.
We arrived in the village under the threat of rain and quickly set up the equipment. There were over 60 kids and over a dozen older teens and adults. Our theme was "Follow Jesus," based on Luke 5:1-11. We acted out the Bible story based on this passage until it began to rain, and we had to stop and put all the props and books under tarps. The kids and their parents ran off, but only to the other side of the field, where they took shelter under a tree. The rain eventually stopped, and the kids were still there and eager for the rest of the club, so we did the rest of the club (without the craft since we couldn't sit down on the wet tarps or grass and do a paper craft). The kids did well, singing the songs, listening to the object lesson on following Jesus in Croatian, and the audio recording of Luke 5:1-11 in the Ludari language. At the end, we gave each family a copy of the book of 50 chronological Bible stories with pictures printed in Croatian on one side of each page and in their Ludari language on the facing column. We also gave each child a small bag of candy from America.
The Roma kids loved hanging around and playing with our summer teamers, either playing soccer with the guys or on the playground with the girls.
As I mentioned, it was difficult to get an accurate count since we had the program outside, where kids came and went, but according to our count, we had 140 kids in all counting both villages, ranging in age from babies to teenagers.
Today, we transported 17 of the older teenagers to the ministry house where we are staying and had day 1 of our day camp. We sang some lively songs in Croatian, listened to the audio of Luke 3:1-22 in their Ludari language, had a sermon by Louis on that passage (spoken in English and translated into Croatian), played games outside (like ultimate Frisbee), ate a hot dog lunch together, sang more Croatian songs, and heard a testimony by Vivian (spoken in English and translated into Croatian).
We showed them how to access the written and audio formats of the Gospel of Luke and the 50 chronological Bible stories in their Ludari language on our website and YouTube. Then we played the Ludari version of the story from Luke 3:1-22 as they followed along in the printed storybooks.
Afterward, they did crafts of decorating t-shirts and making key chains, had a watermelon snack, and played more games inside and outside.
Below are some pictures of the events of the last two days. Please pray that the Lord would have mercy on the Bayash and Ludari in these two villages, that His kindness would lead them to repentance, and that He would raise up many disciples who will follow Jesus and grow deep spiritual roots in Him through His Word.
