In just under a month I shall be off to Croatia for three weeks with the organisation Bless. I'll be going out there with a team of about twenty people, four of which are fellow students from down here in Falmouth! Whilst out there we will be working in partnership with a local church in an area called Slavonski Brod (see below!) and will be invloved mainly in youth work with both younger children and teens. During the day we shall be running a basketball camp for the kids and spending time building relationships with the general community whilst our evenings shall be spent helping run a 'youth space' which has been set up by the church for local teenagers. We're all excited to see God work within the community and cant wait to be a part of it...and this is where your valuable support, both financially and in prayer, is so important!
Triathalon
On Saturday the 5th June I shall be taking part in a mini triathlon with my fellow falmouthians who are coming on the trip.
We're RUNNING from Tremough Campus to Gylly Beach (4miles).
SWIMMING out to the second buoy and back (about 1mile).
CYCLING 12 miles! Eeeeek!
Anyone who knows me knows that this shall be a feat in itself and so must be for a good cause! Any money donated will massively help in getting me to Croatia this summer aswel as help to support the work that the Bless teams do each year within this region.
Theres a little bit below about Slavonski Brod and Bless Network. Visit the website to know more or email me at gemblob@hotmail.com .
Thanks guys,
Gems xxx
A bit about Slavonski Brod and Bless Network
Slavonski Brod is a small Croatian city situated on the border with Bosnia. Separated only by the river Sava, the two countries are still healing from the war that ended less than two decades ago. The evidence of scars left by the war are still visible in the streets of Slavonksi Brod with buildings still marked by the rounds shot at them and people’s lives marked by the loss of loved ones. While restoration is taking place, buildings are being replastered and painted, the restoration of people’s lives takes so much longer. Resentment and distrust lives on as many expect a new war to break out at any time.
It is in this setting that the bless network has had the honour of working alongside the small Baptist church in Slavonski Brod for almost a decade. The church has had two false starts over the years as they have been persecuted out of existence twice. Established by an American couple in 1998, it now has a small but steady congregation. with numbers slowly climbing as people commit their lives to Christ.
Each summer Bless returns with teams of students to support and serve the church by running a Kid’s Club,
helping with a basketball camp, opening up an evening Youth Space and generally spending time with the community. Each trip is steeped in prayer and we’ve seen,
time and again, that this is what makes a difference to the connections
that we make and the conversations that we have.
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