Wait, this was the Fourth Leg! Croatia to Finland

Hello All,

We had a wonderful time in Croatia, I'm happy to report!

The first wonderful thing is that I was able to see and spend some good time with my sister, Johanna. She came down from Vienna and she experienced the group herd mentality that one must accept while on tour, and handled it well for the few days she was with us. But it really was a blessing to spend time with her like that right in the middle of the tour.

We were also blessed by the amazing people who organized the tour and helped make it happen, as well as the blessing of having a great covering of prayer from people of many denominations praying together for about 8 months before NLM came.

The second wonderful thing is that we were able to complete one and a half shows! Yes, I'm being a little sarcastic because, of course, we would have liked to complete 2 full shows. But this time it was merely the weather that stopped us short during our first show. Even so, David was able to speak clearly about the meaning of our show to those who attended, as we hurriedly packed up in pouring rain, and many people were moved to kneel in the mud and pray for Jesus to come into their lives in a more powerful way or for the first time. It was quite dramatic!

During the day before our second show in one of Zagreb's center squares, I was feeling pretty lousy in the stomach. Most of our group got hit with some sort of stomach flu while in Turkey, and some of us are still struggling to fully get rid of it. Please be praying for our health. But that day, I wondered if I would have problems during the show. The stage was great and it had a tent top covering the stage, so even if it rained again, our electronic things wouldn't be in such danger. Fortunately, it was a sunny day. The setup went pretty well, and the band who played before us were really good and nice guys. While they were playing, we realized that nobody had remembered to buy kerosene for the fire. Greg had to run to a store with someone and was able to create a mixture of Alkohol and something that was useable for fire. But it was a stressful thing for him, and a general stress for our group has been communication and a sense of teamwork. Even though the job gets done in the end, I think that we are all mostly tired, and the road can be a difficult one. So be praying for that also. But the show actually was completed, went well and many people responded. Just the fact that we were allowed to complete a show was a blessing and a relief after Turkey, but it was also great to see that God used it to reach individual hearts.

Personally, one of the greatest things I saw happening in Croatia is the unity of the church beyond denominational boundaries. Each person involved sees the need to reach outside of their doors and they are actively seeking God on how to best do that in their own country. It's great! Also, I felt that God was able to use me to connect different people that I was meeting through their involvement with NLM. Their is a web of support for radical Christians that is getting stronger in Croatia. Some of those people are interested in partnering with Steiger to work effectively together in Croatia, and that's exciting to me. So please be praying for all of the Christians in Croatia.


FINLAND

I am very excited about Finland! We had a meeting today with our organizer, Michal, and got the scoop on the schedule. We also were given a look into the social realm of the finns by Laura, one of three super kind gals we have met so far who are helping us in different ways. Pray that we will know how to be sensitive and bold at the same time, that God will be speaking to their hearts and that people will feel comfortable stepping out in response to that call.

Here's the schedule:

13th - We drive to Tampre and in the evening we will have a meeting with youth leaders.
14th - We have a concert in Tampre after a skate competition and two bands. Should be great.
15th - 7 hr drive north to Rovaniemi
16th - We will have a concert in the evening, but in the morning, David and Jodi will be lecturing at a big Christian conference.
17th - A 1000km drive back to Helsinki
18th - We have a concert in Helsinki at Liberte Cafe, and then a conference with Christians.
20th - We leave for Iceland

Also in the itinerary is gender seperated sauna time! We're expecting to get 4 sauna times, actually. It's just what they do up here.

Thanks for reading, and I'm hoping that each of your summers are going well and you aren't feeling the joys of experienceing a perpetual sauna.

Love,
Christa