Spring Update From CC Prishtina

To bring you up to date with whats happening over here. Recently  Isabella's finished preschool in our homeschool "The Yocom Christian Academy" and she has now begun kindergarten. Mark was greatly blessed to do the last assignments with her to finish preschool. Her kindergarten has come with an increased volume of work and assignments. We have loved homeschooling our daughter and the time and work is worth it. It has been such a rewarding experience for us as parents. Its just such a great blessing to be directly a part of our daughters academic development and to lay in her life a Biblical foundation with it... Isabella is becoming a little evangelist as she endeavors to tell people about Jesus and how they can go to heaven.

We are starting our garden.

 

In science we studied plants and the desert.

Isabella loved planting our garden.  We planted cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, herbs and flowers.

We made cactus's

This is an experiment on how water climbs up the stem.

 In Math, we played store.  Here she is learning how to write the prices of the items she is selling.

 Recently she was invited to join the worship team (playing the tambourine) at a chapel service we attend every other Sunday evening at Camp Bondsteel. Its a blessing to see her growing up into a servant of the Lord!

She received a certificate of apprecition

At CC Prishtina we have been studying through the book of Titus on Sunday mornings and we just finished the book of Job on Thursday evenings. So we are now getting ready to study the Psalms on Thursdays which Mark is really looking forward to.

 Lirak is presently taking a break from teaching every other Thursday due to a busy schedule with school and work etc. He and his fiance Suela are now preparing from their wedding on August 28th. It will be my Mark's wedding he has ever officiated  Lirak has been as a son in the faith and it will be an honor to officiate his wedding. Lirak and Suela will also be attending the ministry conference at Vajta, Hungary at the end of this month. 

Since the outreach with the soccer team from Vienna, a new chapter of youth outreach has begun in our ministry as we have now been doing the kids club again every other week. We have had a group of around ten kids from the Dardania district (near the church) coming for a time of activities such as songs, Bible teaching, English lessons, games, and crafts. These kids are from the same area where we first began doing outreach at Calvary Chapel's beginning 12 years ago. Many of the kids that we first ministered to back in the beginning are young adults and so the younger sibling of some of them  are now coming to our programs. And in addition we have been going out to a school yard every Friday evening to do recreational activities with the kids. 

Another highlight to update you with is that we have a new family attending our fellowship who are from Serbia. The man Dejan, is Serbian and the woman Daily, is Estonian and they have three beautiful children. They are baptist missionaries in a small town outside of Prishtina called Gracanica which is predominantly Serbian. So their focus of ministry is reaching the Serbian minority here in Kosovo. They presently operate a community center in Gracanica that provides a kindergarten and other services for the community. What's significant is that we have a Serbian believer who is gathering with Albanian believers to fellowship and worship the Lord despite the deep rift that still exists between the two ethnic communities. So this is a very significant development in our church at CC Prishtina. The Albanian members of our fellowship have received them very well. Only this can happen as a result of the work of God's spirit in people's hearts. 

Ministry at Film City (NATO HQ) continues with the Bible study on Tuesday evenings and counseling and prayer on Saturday afternoons.  

After a great Spring with the mom's ministry Celeste and the ladies are now taking a break from their weekly sessions for the summer season. They will still be meeting regularly to do outdoor activities with the kids. 

And and again thank you so much for your prayers and support. We look forward to a summer of fruitful ministry and outreach as The Lord opens doors here in our community. Keep in touch and may God bless you richly in Christ.

By His Grace,

Mark, Celeste, and Isabella

Prayer Summary:

* That God will move upon peoples hearts in our community and draw them to himself.

*  For God's blessing and anointing to be upon the ministry of the Word as it is taught and preached throughout each week.

*  Isabella's home schooling and that God enables us to provide her with a quality education. 

*  The funds to be able to purchase next year's curriculum. 

*  Celeste's group of women and children that they would continually be strengthened and refreshed.

*  Our outreach to the kids and families in the Dardania district, that God would draw the kids to himself.

*  The Saturday kids club that God would anoint us to minister to the kids.

*  Lirak and Suela's wedding in August as they plan their future together. 

*  Our US service members serving here in Kosovo that God's hand would be upon their lives and for the ministry to them at Film City. 

*  God's guidance and wisdom and that the council of ministers, (which I'm serving with) will be able to deal wisely with the local government and religious communities in Kosovo.

In regards to financial support; donations may be done online at this link: https://www.easytithe.com/f/?k=6SSHN0DEHB4KG6DH

You will find  Mark Yocom in the missionary list provided.

Or a check can be made payable to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa with a note attached indicating; "Missionary Account : Mark & Celeste Yocom". 

Then it may be sent to the following address: 

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa

Attn: Accounting.

3800 S. Fairview Rd.

Santa Ana , CA

92704

It has been awhile since I have shared about our life and ministry.  Wow, a lot has been taking place over the past few months.  In order to share all that has taken place I have decided to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

In March I had the opportunity to attend a Pastor's Wife's retreat in Paris.  It was a wonderful time of refreshment and encouragement in the Word and GREAT fellowship!

Within a week of returning from Paris we hosted a soccer team from Surge International.  The group is based in Austria, however the team members were from American and Canada.  Not only did they play soccer with the kids, but they hosted and English Camp.

  Mark sharing the Gospel with the kids.

 While the team was here we hosted a church lunch for Easter.  We had a great time of fellowship and every one seemed to enjoy the food.

Family fun in Skopje, a day of rest

Thank you all for praying for us.  It has been a pretty busy spring and we are looking forward to a great and fruitful summer.