Why did you come to Croatia?”
While we focus on language learning, God continues to use us where He can. Each time we meet someone new, and they ask why we came to this country, it is an opportunity to share our testimony. From that point, it is amazing what God can do. After I shared our testimony with my former instructor, our relationship blossomed. We meet and text often, and she has such a deep desire to know God that it is refreshing.
I recently shared with her our story of Sljeme, the peak of Mount Medvednica, directly north of Zagreb. We had ridden the gondola to the peak, and I was really looking forward to our return trip down the mountain to see the beautiful views as the sun set. When we returned to the gate with what we thought was an hour to spare, to our horror, we learned it had closed an hour before! What were we going to do? My beautiful views . . . gone.
The waitress at one of the restaurants told us a bus would come in two hours. Oh great, I thought, a bus ride down for all of us to get car sick on the windy road! As I sat there starting to feel sorry for myself, I remembered that my life was submitted to God, and if He said I was going to take the bus down, then maybe He had a reason.
We finally boarded the bus, and it did not take long for the girls and me to develop motion sickness. In Croatian, I asked an elderly woman in the front seat if we could sit next to her as we were feeling nauseous. She happily gave up her seat so we could all sit there. She then asked us where we were from. It was our first opportunity to share our testimony completely in Croatian. Our part of the conversation was not perfect, but it was encouraging, and we planted some seeds.
When I shared that story with my former instructor, she was inspired, saying, “When hard things happen to me, I need to surrender my life to God to see what His plan is for me.” After hearing those words, I know that God is using our time here in Zagreb for more than just language learning.
Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for my former instructor as she draws closer to God.
