Saturday Morning Soulwinning in Varaždinske Toplice

I spent the morning witnessing in a nearby town named Varaždinske Toplice (Hot Springs of Varaždin).  This little town is not highly populated but every soul there needs Jesus.
Offering gospel tracts to everyone,  I had quite a few takers today, so more Croatians have a fighting chance to learn the truth about salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  I was really blessed when one man came back and asked for another tract to give to his friend, and another man stopped his car to find out what everyone was getting from me.

As I walked around the town, I was intrigued by the signs pointing to the Roman ruin excavation site. It is unbelievable to me that I have the privilege to be in places like this standing up for Christ. I followed the signs from "downtown" and within 10 minutes I walked up on 2,000 year old Roman ruins. Wow.

The photos below show some of the ruins (which are covered with a protective canopy) and a couple of artist's depictions of what it might have looked like.

The Romans made bath houses here, taking advantage of the Hot Springs just as the Croatians do today. The area is known for it's healing waters. Hopefully they will heed the gospel message and learn of the living water.

Oddly enough, the old water well is located downtown. I thought it was interesting.

A Hitchhiker Ministry? - Who would've thought?

I met a new hitchhiker today and his name is Petar. I had the privilege of getting to know him a little bit and giving him a brief gospel presentation in our few minutes together.

Croatia tends to be safe and people here commonly use hitchhiking as a means of transportation.

I have now been blessed with the chance to witness to about six people in this way.

Petar was actually traveling in the opposite direction from me, but given the place he was standing I guessed where he was headed and knew it wouldn’t take too long to get him there.  We had about ten minutes together and it was a blessing to get to know him.   I am sure that he and I will meet again.

Now I am tuned in to watch for hitchhikers and I am disappointed when I don’t find one.  (It’s funny how that works.)

If someone would have told me years ago that I would have a ministry to hitchhikers on the opposite side of the world I would not have believed it.

They that sow in tears SHALL reap in joy.

Mailbox Blessing

I checked the mailbox after language class this morning and was blessed to find a small yellow slip of paper showing there was a package at the post office for me.
I suspected what the package might contain, and sure enough, I was right. Something of immense value had arrived.
I received 9,000 gospel tracts in the Hungarian language.
These tracts represent 9,000 opportunities for Hungarians to learn the truth about free salvation in Jesus Christ; 9,000 opportunities for Hungarians to read how Jesus died to pay for all their sins; 9,000 opportunities for there to be rejoicing in the presence of the angels over each sinner who gets gloriously saved; 9,000 opportunities for new names to be written down in glory; 9,000 opportunities for Hungarians to be in heaven one day to glorify the Lord for all eternity.

What a great blessing from my mailbox today!

Now, we are once again well equipped for our trips into Hungary and for the Hungarian tour buses that frequently come to our city. Thank you Lord!
And, the really great thing about gospel tracts is that they not only tell the gospel message to the first one who reads them, but they keep on telling it to everyone else into whose hand they happen to come.

I don't speak Hungarian, but these tracts certainly do.

Great Day in Church Sunday - Baptism

The church was full

The Telebar quartet sang beautifully

Kevin Brown and Scott Holcomb played beautifully

Preparing for the baptism

Matej testified of his faith in Jesus as his personal Saviour

Matej about to be immersed - the Bible way.

Just coming back up out of the water (Camera would not focus fast enough to catch the immersion, but he definitely went all the way under - the Bible way.

Getting a few concluding remarks from the Pastor

We had a great day in church this past Sunday. Pastor Rajko Telebar baptized his youngest son, Matej, and many of the Telebar family and friends were in attendance to honor the special occasion.
We had a full church and everyone heard a gospel message.

It was so good to hear young Matej boldly and clearly answer his father (his Pastor), testifying to his personal faith in Christ for salvation.

Some Scriptures regarding baptism:  (First in Croatian and then English)

Djela Apostolska 8:36-39 I kad su tako putovali došli su do neke vode i eunuh je rekao: “Gledaj voda! Što me sprečava da budem kršten?”
37 A Filip je rekao: “Ako vjeruješ od svega svoga srca, možeš.” A on je odgovorivši rekao: “Vjerujem da je Isus Krist Sin Božji.”
38 I zapovjedio je da se zaustave kola. Tada su obojica sišla u vodu, i Filip i eunuh; i krstio ga je.
39 A kad su oni izašli iz vode, Duh Gospodinov je odnio Filipa, tako da ga eunuh više nije vidio, i on je otišao svojim putem radujući se.

Acts 8:36-39 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.


Poslanica Rimljanima 6:3-4  Ili ne znate da svi mi koji smo kršteni u Isusa Krista, u smrt smo njegovu kršteni?
4 Dakle, s njime smo ukopani po krštenju u smrt da bi, kao što je Krist bio uskrsnut od mrtvih po
slavi Očevoj, isto tako i mi hodili u novini života.

Romans 6:3-4  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Printable Gospel Tracts in Croatian

If you are searching for "Printable Gospel Tracts in Croatian",
they are available at:
http://godsavecroatia.com/gospel.php

Click the link and Scroll to the bottom of the page.

Hitchhikers are a blessing

I had the blessing of picking up a young family of three as they were hitchhiking home the other day.  As it turned out, they live in a village not far from my home so I was able to take them all the way to their destination in a matter of a just a few minutes.

As I made the short trip to Mala Subotica, I introduced myself and gave them gospel tracts and a brief introduction to the gospel along with all my contact information.

I am certainly hoping to see them again, and praying the Lord will direct them to the church this Wednesday at 7:00 or Sunday at 6:00!

On my way back from a witnessing trip over an hour and a half from home, I had the privilege to pick up another hitchhiker who was on her way to work.  As it turns out, she lives one hour from here, but attends a college during the week that is less that a ten minute walk from our church.  I am certainly hoping to see her again as well.

Praise the Lord for opportunities to meet new people and be a witness to them.

Interesting encounter at rush hour today

As I stood with my gospel signs on the busiest corner in Cakovec during rush hour, a lady came up behind me and asked very boldly, “Why are you standing here like this?”

She went on to ask who I was and what church I am from.  It was a golden opportunity to witness!

I told her I was standing there with those signs because the message they contain is truth from the Bible and God wants the message delivered.  When I told her I am Independent Baptist, she turned her nose up and wagged her hand toward me and started to walk away. (There are lots of ugly rumors going around over here about Baptists.)

That’s when I said, “Wait a minute.  Do you have a Bible?”

She said, “Of course I have a Bible.” 

I told her she should look up the verses that were in the gospel tract I was holding out to her and explained that Baptists are Bible believers.

I said, “Jesus is God, and he is the only one who can save” and “God wants to save all these people because he loves them.  That’s why I am here.”

I told her I speak to many people in Croatia who are without hope and I want them to know that God loves them and there is hope in Christ.

I asked her if she agreed with my sign that says, Christ died for our sins” and she said yes.

I asked her if she agreed with my sign that says, Only Jesus Saves, ye must be born again” and she said yes.

I asked her if she thought my sign that says, Where will you spend eternity?” was an important question and she said yes.

Then she said, “I could never stand here with a sign like that. I would be afraid.”  I told her that I don’t fear the people, and I just want what God wants – to see people believe in Christ and be saved.

She became friendly again and told me she would read the tract and very pleasantly bid me farewell, going on her way to make a hospital visit.

Praise the Lord for a planted seed.

(The other things I am thankful for in this encounter is that it all took place in the Croatian language.  As broken as my Croatian is, she was patient with me and we understood one another.)

Another Great day in Budapest

Monday we returned to Budapest so our guest preacher Bro Bill Smith could catch his flight home. 
Then, we met up with Bro Jim Pranger (photo) and hit the streets of Budapest to give out the gospel message.
It was a glorious time!  Bro Pranger is always armed with thousands of gospel tracts so we were well-equipped as he took us to a busy corner.  People were everywhere. (LOST PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY NEED JESUS.)
In the space of a couple of hours, we had talked with a few who could speak some English and given out hundreds and hundreds of gospel tracts, giving precious Hungarians a fighting chance to learn about the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ who loved them so much he laid down his life on the cross to pay for their sins and proved his ability to save when he triumphantly rose from the dead.
O Praise the Lord with me for his glorious power and the opportunity to serve him!
I thank God for Jim Pranger and his dedication to the work of the Lord.

Hungarian Gospel Tracts

To the one who has been searching the web for

“Hungarian Gospel Tracts” and “Evangelistic Tracts in Hungarian” here is a link for you:

http://godsavecroatia.com/gospel.php

Whoever you are, I consider it my personal responsibility to assist you in receiving the gospel message, and in passing it on so that others might be saved.

God bless you for searching!  If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know.