How many lives passed through this house?

Returning from a witnessing trip to Križevci on Tuesday, I had to stop and look at this old homestead in a village called Martijanec. It is impressive in size but very sad in appearance. Obviously abandoned for many years, it is in  complete disrepair. As I looked at it, I began to wonder how much laughter this house had seen, and how much sorrow. How many lives were touched by this place? How many grew up here and how many died?

It is not known when this home was built, but there is evidence that it existed in the 18th century.

Imagine all the wealth and all the fine things that accompanied life in this place. Then realize that it is all nothing but a forgotten ruin. How sad it is that some labor to be rich in this world and miss out on the eternal mansion in heaven that is available to all who will put their trust in Jesus for salvation. How very sad indeed.

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

(Evanđelje po Mateju 6:19-21 Ne nakupljajte sebi blaga na zemlji, gdje ga moljac i hrđa kvare i gdje lopovi provaljuju i kradu; nego nakupljajte sebi blago na nebu, gdje ga moljac i hrđa ne kvare i gdje lopovi ne provaljuju niti kradu. Jer gdje vam je blago, ondje će vam i srce biti.)


Mark 10:24-27 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

(Evanđelje po Marku 1:24-27 A učenici su se zapanjili zbog njegovih riječi, ali im je Isus ponovo odgovorio i rekao: "Djeco, kako je teško onima koji se uzdaju u bogatstvo ući u kraljevstvo Božje! Lakše je devi proći kroz ušicu igle negoli bogatašu ući u kraljevstvo Božje." A oni su se neizmjerno zaprepastili govoreći među sobom: "Tko onda može biti spašen?" A Isus ih je pogledao i rekao: "Kod ljudi je to nemoguće, ali nije kod  Boga! Jer kod Boga je sve moguće!")

Great day in Dugo Selo

I spent Tuesday this past week in a place called Dugo Selo, about 1-1/2 hours from home. Dugo Selo is a small suburb of the capitol city of Zagreb.  I was able to put gospel tracts in the hands of 400 people that day, including a number of teens from the local high school.

In addition, I stood with gospel signs along the main road through town for rush hour from 3:00 to 5:00 and found out they have a LOT of traffic (Praise God for traffic!). When the police came to see what I was up to they were very gracious, and after concluding their check of my documentation they told me, "Go with God" ("Bogom" as they say over here), and went on their way.

I met a lot of interesting people on this day, including an 80 year old man who was very joyful and testified that he had been saved "by faith" ("vjerom"as they say over here). He saw my gospel sign and could not resist coming over to talk about his salvation. I was overjoyed to hear his testimony and see the joy written on his face.I also met a sweet Bosnian lady who was surprised to learn that you can't be saved by good works and was very interested to receive the tracts so she could learn the truth.

Hopefully it won't be too long and I will be able to carry on a full conversation with these precious people, instead of just a few words here and there.  Thank God I can already understand a lot of what they say if I know the context.


One interesting landmark near this town is this old building on the highest hill around. It dates from the 16th century and the site was once owned by the Templar Knights. According to the posted sign, archaeologists have excavated graves nearby dating from the 13th century.

Great time in Virovitica

On Thursday this week I had the joy of visiting Virovitica, a town about two hours from home.
After spending about 6 hours on the streets, 500 people had received gospel tracts, giving them a chance to learn the truth about salvation through Jesus Christ.
The four young people pictured were very kind and spent a few minutes talking with me on their way home from school. We have followed up on the internet to stay in touch.
Virovitica is a beautiful town, with two large schools, and lots of young people to reach for Christ.
I'm hoping return there frequently to water the seeds that have been planted.
Praise the Lord!

Great Day in Nagykanizsa Hungary

Bro Scott Holcomb and I had a great day on Thursday in Nagykanizsa Hungary - a city of 60,000 located about one hour from our home base of Čakovec Croatia.
Armed with hundreds of Hungarian gospel tracts, we set out early to catch the morning downtown foot traffic. After a lunch break, we returned to downtown to catch the afternoon school rush.
In all, we hand delivered about 1,400 tracts.  The people there seem very curious and almost everyone will take a gospel tract from us. We don't speak a word of Hungarian, but thank God for the printed word that we can deliver to give them a chance to know the Truth about the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
One gracious man was so glad to see us there that he went and bought an ice cream cone and gave it to me.  That was a great blessing.  He didn't speak English but his gesture said a great deal.

We are thankful to God for the opportunity to be used in this way.
God save the Hungarian people!

Big blessing in a small package

Halfway through the second hour of standing for Christ during peak traffic time today, I received a big, unexpected blessing in a small package.
As I was holding signs that read, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and "Where will you spend eternity?", a car did a u-turn in front of me and pulled over to the curb. As the window rolled down a young lady began speaking to me in Croatian. As I was explaining that I am still learning the language and could not understand everything she said, a big voice from the other side of the car exclaimed in English, but with the thick Croatian accent that I dearly love, "We are brothers!" Then, the young lady handed me an ice-cold Coca-Cola they had apparently just purchased for me.
Obviously, they were a young family of believers who wanted to be a blessing today. For them to see me there, go somewhere to purchase a drink, and return took quite an effort on their part since the place I stand is not easily approached from both directions during peak traffic. They had to be determined to make this happen.  Apparently they had been encouraged by the sight of someone standing for Truth.

I was so blessed. My God is determined to encourage those who will stand for Him. Praise His name.

Another lady had stopped earlier as she was walking by.  She had a lot on her mind that she wanted to communicate and I was able to get Pastor Telebar on the phone to speak with her.  Now they have an appointment for a further discussion.  Who knows what that might lead to?!

I am going to stand a while longer, go a little further, try a little harder, and just see what God will do.

Unexpected Blessing

Today, as we were soulwinning in beautiful Varaždin I had the unexpected blessing of running into some fellow Texans.  They were with a group on a vacation tour and would be heading out of town in just a short while.  We had the opportunity to chat for a minute or two as I explained my mission to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ that others might be saved.

It was odd that it seemed I could almost tell by looking at them (before they spoke a word) that they were from Texas.

I gave each of them a tract from Pobjednici Baptistička Crkva to remember us by.

Thank you Lord for unexpected blessings.

Božji Plan Spasenja

Bozji Plan Spasenja from Sam Ward on Vimeo.