Mario and Bonnie Ducic write:
Greetings from Zagreb!
One of the highlights of this month was participating in ZagrebFest- a festival put on as a joint effort by the Luis Palau Association and churches of Zagreb. Throughout this 3- day event, churches worked together to reach our city through various evangelistic activities, including separate dinner events for both men and women, street evangelism and the final city-wide all-day festival. It was so encouraging to see believers step out in faith, pray for their unbelieving friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members, and invite them to these events.
While volunteering at the Children’s Superbook event during the citywide festival, Bonnie met up with one of our kids’ former music instructors who we'd witnessed to several times over the years. Bonnie asked her how she’d heard of the festival and the music teacher told her that her children watch Superbook cartoons every day and they’ve even started reading the Bible together! This just goes to show that you never know who will water the seeds that you’ve planted and who will reap the results.
We are so thankful for the Luis Palau Association, how they’ve encouraged unity among the churches in Zagreb during this outreach, and we look forward to what God has for us in the future.
We recently celebrated a historic moment in the history of our church! After praying and carrying a church planting vision in our heart for the past 26 years we had the honor of ordaining Maro and Petra Pinčević for pastoral ministry this past Sunday. They will be moving to Dubrovnik by the end of this month to begin preparations for a church launch that is planned for this fall. Maro was born in Dubrovnik and has felt a call on his heart for a while to move back to his home town and plant a church.
Dubrovnik was founded in the 7th century and was once a Republic in and of itself. Currently it has around 40,000 residents and welcomes well over a million tourists each year. Although it is rich in history and a popular toursit destination, it is very lacking spiritually.
We have launched a fundraising initiative to cover the church launch and the first year of rent.
Our church as the sending church has pledged to financially support the new work on a monthly basis because we believe in sowing first. We would appreciate your prayers as this new work continues to grow.
Preparations for the Kid’s and Teen Camps are well underway and our volunteers are so excited.
One thing that gives us great pleasure each year is making the camp accessible to every child that wants to go, regardless of their financial situation. This includes children from refugee families, single-parent households, from unchurched families, and those living on the margins of society who otherwise might not have the opportunity to attend.
A new need arose recently and we are praying for $10,000 in scholarships and financial assistance for both camps this year. These funds will help ensure that no child misses the opportunity to experience camp.If you would like to partner with us in this effort, we would be deeply grateful for your support and prayers.
As a family, we want to thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and partnership. The support you give (financially and prayer-wise) makes it possible for us to strengthen churches, plant new congregations, invest in young people, and share the Gospel throughout our country.
Thank you for being part of what God is doing here.