Pray for Croatia

We need to pray for Croatia.

Croatian News: MPs Reportedly Collect Enough Signatures for Dissolution of Parliament
On Friday morning, Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner accepted the request of SDP and HNS and suspended the session of Parliament. Since reportedly there are more than 80 signatures for the dissolution of Parliament, representatives of the opposition parties requested that the Speaker include the dissolution of Parliament in the agenda later today, reports Večernji List on June 17, 2016.

“We cannot pretend that nothing is happening. The majority of MPs have submitted a request for the dissolution of Parliament, and it is clear that this means that the work of this Parliament has come to the end. Citizens demand new elections, and therefore we demand that you stop this session and include the dissolution to the agenda”, said Peđa Grbin (SDP).

-    Because of the above action in parliament the deputy prime minister has resigned and it is expected that the present prime minister will resign or be voted out. … we will vote on the dismissal of Prime Minister Orešković. We have already said why we are going to do it, due to the non-functionality of the government and its leadership. <Read More>
-    We started praying for the Croatian government 7 to 8 months ago. We prayed that the government of Croatia would be blessed, not to fall apart. We prayed often that corruption would be exposed. There has been some “under-handed” things exposed. The reality is that the constitution is in force but there just has to be new elections.
-    The gay sub-culture marched in the streets across Croatia recently demanding more rights. They were also joined by the pro-abortion advocates. <Read More>
-    Croatia’s President and Serbia’s Prime Minister to Meet on Monday - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić will meet on Monday in Croatia and Serbia to sign a political declaration “of exceptional importance”, that will cover issues of minorities, missing persons, borders and succession,… <Read More>

Prayer Points:
1)    The redemption of a country always starts with intercessors. Lord, we pray for the coming together of intercessors to pray for Croatia. Croatians need to get desperate about saving their country.
2)    New elections are projected to be the first of September. This is a chance for a new direction for the country so let us pray for God’s favor.
3)    Let us pray now for men and women of good character to run for office.  May they secure positions at the head of parties, receive financial help that is not attached to favors and truthful media coverage.
4)     Twenty-three years ago Croatia and Serbia had just ceased a bloody war that left Eastern Croatia devastated. Pray that this meeting between the president of Croatia and the prime minister of Serbia will advance peace in the region. 
5)    In light of the attack on gays in Orlando, Florida, let us pray for the gay community in Croatia. Of course we want them to come to the salvation knowledge of Jesus. We as Christians in Croatia should approach them with love and let the Holy Spirit deal with any sin in their lives like He dealt with ours.
6)    Monday night, June 20th, Upper Room Zagreb hosted “Burn”. This was a team of seven people traveling through the Balkans lifting up extended times of worship. We believe this dedicated time of worship broke spiritual strong-holds over Croatia. Pray that more Croatians begin to join in on the prayer sets.

Pray for Zagreb

Pray for Zagreb, Croatia

We love this part of town. Just to the left of the Cathedral is a grove of trees where Jerry likes to sit on one of the benches and wait for someone to sit next to him. Almost everyone under 40 years old speaks English in Zagreb. He gets into some of the most interesting conversations that has led to salvations.

We are going to the streets of Zagreb this summer with the interns and some Croatian Christians. Also we will visit a Roma village several times during the summer. We ask for your prayers concerning our summer outreaches.

Our main desire on the streets is to develop relationships that lead to salvation and transformation of individuals.

Prayer Points:
1)    Pray for the two young ladies who are interning with us. May the Lord use them in new ways and may they see His manifest presence as they give Jesus away.
2)    Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare us by filling us with “compassion for the lost”.
3)    Let us come against the fear of man. (True love and compassion cancels the fear of man)
4)    Pray that the Holy Spirit will go before us and set up divine appointments. That we will encounter people that have had the Holy Spirit stirring their hearts already.
5)    Let us come against the spirit of religion. Pray that this spirit will not be able to operate during the conversations and in their after thoughts.
6)    Pray that healthy relationships will follow. Pray that the Lord would put a hook in their hearts to draw them unto Him. (Seeds sown in good ground)
7)    Pray that all will come to true repentance unto salvation.


Thank you so much for praying with us.

Pray for IST Group

Pray for ISTgroup

Life in Southeastern Europe is a lot of fun. People are learning to make humor out of their struggles.

This past Friday we went to sign the NGO application to be submitted for the IST Group, then our attorney said FTJP… When she saw the puzzled look on our faces, she said, oh do you not know? Every Croatian knows what this stands for… “Fali Ti Jošjedan Papir” which translates to “You are missing one more document”. As the Croatian law has been in evolution around new NGO legislation, we have had to make changes to the statute, etc. Thankfully that document is short and easy and we will officially submit our application on Monday! Thank you God! Now we pray that registering ISTgroup as a non-government organization (NGO) here in Croatia will go smoothly and quickly.

Once this process is finished, Intentional Strategies for Transformation will have a legal right to operate. It is almost like being on an airplane, waiting on the runway to take off. You know where you are going and you are basically on your way but you just haven’t got the go-a-head from the control tower yet. Yes, God is our control tower and we have been busy in His Kingdom but being legal on earth is important.

Thank you SO Much for praying with us for the conference with Yonathan Lara. The meetings were designed to uplift the body of Christ here and God used Yonathan in a powerful way. Just to see the pastors that joined in with us moving in the Spirit was amazing. We see the chains of disunity slowly braking off! God is amazing and He is doing something in Zagreb.
On Tuesday of this week, our first intern will be joining us for the summer. We so look forward to Cynthia Beene coming to share ISTgroup life with us. Jerry will facilitate much of the internship activities.

Also we are being joined by Laura Howton from Alabama, who will help build the infrastructure of the IST Group. She is giving of her time and finances to insure that we have a strong foundation. She will be with us for the next three weeks. Laura, Cynthia and Zuzanna will make a trip to Romania to meet with the founder of NetWorks, a ministry that has had phenomenal success working with the poor. Our son Asa is actually there now working with that ministry, www.networks.org.ro. Then Zuzanna and the team will leave for southern Serbia to visit with a Roma church where we will discuss plans to help facilitate the integration of a discipleship training program.

Prayer Points:
1)    Pray with us for angels to guide, protect and rest upon our NGO application. Pray for favor and a smooth process in these secular offices.
2)    FTJP is due to government bureaucrats in this socialist Europe who will change policy or regulations in mid-course of the procedures. Pray that our document would be acceptable to all government offices.
3)    Our Croatian Christian lawyer went the extra mile to be precise and follow all present law yet still have the best interest of IST in mind. Pray that she will be blessed in all the ways God may show you to pray.
4)    Pray that Cynthia (intern) will have a safe flight from Texas. Also pray our second intern, Laurel, who is arriving on the 21stto arrive safely. Pray that they will experience all that God has for them and be equally a blessing to Croatia.
5)    Pray for the ladies as they travel to Romania and through Serbia. We ask for traveling mercies. May the car function properly and the roads be safe.
6)    We are so thankful for Yonathan Lara coming to bless Croatia. It is amazing to see God use this 21 years old young man with the gift of preaching and wisdom. Pray for him and his ministry. May he have even more open doors to minister. We are planning a conference for 2017 involving several nations. We covet your prayers regarding the planning of that.
7)    It is the beginning of summer here, so pray with us as we encounter people on the streets. May their hearts be open to the Gospel. Pray that we will be good examples of Jesus’ love in the midst of a lost and dying world.
8)    Pray for the Upper Room Zagreb. We gather to pray five times a week. Prayer is the foundation of IST Group, and we appreciate your prayers that we will continue to hear God speak direction to our lives and ministry.



Thank you so much for you prayer and intercession.