This year my birthday was spent traveling back from Italy to Kosovo.  Thankfully this year we flew, in the past we drove to the Austria conference and spent a few days in Italy.  The drive would normally be about 15 or so hours.  It had always been too expensive for our family of three to fly.  This year we found a budget airline which made it affordable to fly.  Actually it was cheaper to fly this year then drive!

Our flight left Treviso, Italy at 9:30 and we landed in Skopje Macedonia a little after 11:00.  Once we got through passport control and collect our suitcase (yes, suitcase being that it was a budget airline they did charge for checked baggage therefore we only had one suitcase and Isabella's carry on).  We headed out to my favorite restaurant in the old part of Skopje for a special birthday lunch that serves pork ribs (something we cannot get in Kosovo).   After lunch we walked down to the center of town for a special dessert, baklava and a cappuccino. Mark and Isabella had ice cream.   We enjoyed it at one of our other favorite places in town.  This is a picture of Isabella and I  being goofy and loving on one  another as we were enjoying our dessert.

 

After lunch it was time to head out to Prishtina, finally.  As many of you know our summer was spent in the US on furlough.  It was a wonderful time, however we did a lot of traveling.  Once we  arrived back to Kosovo at the beginning of August we were only home for a week before we headed out again to Austria.  It was finally nice to be coming home and staying for awhile! 

Isabella and her friends opening up the last night of the conference in worship.  It was special, actually it brought tears to my eyes

Pastor Brian Brodersen sharing God's word with us. 

Greetings in Christ to you all from CC Prishtina. We have finally hit the ground running after our 3 month furlough in the US and attending the Calvary Chapel missions conference in Millstatt, Austria. The conference in Austria was a a tremendous blessing and perfect way to transition back into life and ministry in Kosova after our furlough. Before we went to the conference we had already been in Prishtina for a week and were able to accomplish a lot including teaching two Bible Studies; one at church and one at Camp Bondsteel for US soldiers. We also attended an American Family (AM-FAM) meeting at NATO HQ (which meets once a month) and were able to minister to the soldiers and meet the new Chief of Staff; Gen. Steven Duff who just started his one year service in Kosova. Pray that God's hand would be upon Gen. Duff as he provides leadership for our troops. And so beginning next Saturday I will be spending several hours each week at the NSE to provide pastoral care for the soldiers. And we will also be starting up the weekly Bible studies on Tuesday evenings as well. At the beginning of September we have a new rotation of US soldiers arriving in Kosovo from South Carolina. So please pray for strength, guidance and wisdom from the Holy Spirit as we reach out and serve our troops deployed here in Kosova. Pray also that the transition for the incoming and outgoing rotations will go smoothly. 

 At CC Prishtina, the church and our ministry team managed well while we were gone. Lirak who did most of the teaching continued to teach through the Gospel of John while Josef looked after the practical needs of the church. We were blessed also to have a hand full of visitors come minister from the Word including Pastor Jeff Harry from Malishev. 

Niti, our worship leader, and his wife Lule will be in the US for a while at this time. Their baby; Alba has a minor birth defect that will need to be surgically corrected when she turns one. Please pray that God's hand would be upon Niti, Lule, and Alba and bring them through this season in their lives. Since Niti has been gone we have had a young lady named Jehona step in to do worship for some of our meetings. 

 

We will be continuing our study through 1st Timothy on Sunday's and through Esther on Thursdays. Pray that God will bless our worship services and anoint his Word that it would bring about transformation in peoples lives. Josef just left to go to his home in Norway for a couple months. Pray that God will bless Josef and his time with his family. Celeste will continue her MOPS meeting on Weds and the English classes at the widows center on Fridays. Please pray for open doors to share the gospel with the widows and that God will bring about spiritual breakthroughs in their lives. 

Prayer Requests

 

God gives the members of CC Prishtina Strength and courage.

Besi who recently returned to the fellowship, he left two years ago.

For open doors to share the gospel at the widow’s center

Niti, Lula and the health of there baby.

Josef and the time with his family in Norway.

Strength guidance and wisdom from the Holy Spirit as we reach out and serve our troops

Contact Us and Support:

mark@calvaryprishtina.com

celesteyocom@gmail.com

To make a tax-deductible contributuon to the Yocoms’ ministry in Kosovo, mail a check to:

Global Adventures - Yocoms • 4001 Osuna Rd. NE • Albuquerque, NM 87109