No Ordinary Joy!

#December 2023

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. - Matthew 2:10

You know, it is interesting that the Bible tells us that the Wisemen didn't just simply rejoice, or even rejoice greatly. It says they rejoiced with Exceeding Great Joy! That was no ordinary joy. What they experienced was the joy of one who seeks for and finds Jesus.

New Believers, New Members>

Over the past few months, we've had several new people attend our church and almost all are first-time converts. This is exciting for us as we've watched them plug into our new believer's class. Several of these new attendees are young people 16-20 and Bonnie is finding it such a joy to work with them.



Several of our Filipino brothers and sisters are also new first-time converts. A large group of them just completed our membership class, and have become official members of our church. We have begun asking them to publicly share their testimonies of salvation as a way to get to know them as a church and what an amazing, inspiring group of people they are!

PRAISE REPORTS>

• We have several new converts to work with.
• Our church continues to grow with Croatian people.
• God continues to provide for each need that we have.

New Deacons Set Forth into Ministry>

One of the churches that Mario has been helping to equip in Krizevci (north of Zagreb) asked Mario to come and be a part of their ceremony to lay hands on and set forth their very first deacons into ministry. This was a truly momentous time for this church. They are a very small, new church that started out as a home group just a couple of years ago. What a wonderful thing it was to be able to celebrate this joyous occasion with them.

Team Building>

This past month we planned an encouraging day of team building for all of our ministry leaders. We hosted it at a hot springs about an hour outside of Zagreb. Along with times of teaching, important team-building activities, and brainstorming sessions on how to improve and minister more effectively; we left plenty of free time for our leadership to enjoy fellowshipping together and building relationships. Solid relationships among leaders is one of the main building blocks of a healthy church.

PRAYER REQUESTS>

• Financial provision for our teen winter camp in February.
• For our Shoe Box Children's Evangelistic Event.
• For the Teen Street Evangelism.

Samaritan's Purse/Street Evangelism>



This month we host our annual Samaritan's Purse Shoe Box event for kids. We will be sharing the Gospel and distributing Shoe Box gifts to children from unsaved homes. This is an event we look forward to each year, and please be praying with us that the hearts of children and parents alike will be softened and drawn by the Holy Spirit.

This weekend Bonnie will be taking our teens downtown to do some street evangelism. Two months ago the teens from our youth group started designing a Gospel tract that would aid them in witnessing to their friends. We had them printed and with Zagreb being one of the most popular Advent destinations in Europe, we will be using that opportunity to do some street evangelism. Please be praying for our youth to have boldness in witnessing and not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

Thank you for your faithful giving during this past year. Without your partnership, our ministry would not be as effective as it is in our city and country. As we celebrate this holiday season, remember to not lose sight of the reason we celebrate Christmas: Christ came down to redeem mankind. Remember that you can celebrate as the Wisemen did, with EXCEEDING GREAT JOY because you've found and met the Savior of the world!

Blessings,

Mario & Bonnie

Croatian Evangelistic Outreach