The Past 48 hours

As I write this blog update I do it with a very heavy heart.  The past 48 hours has been such a roller coaster of emotions for us.  Monday morning I went in for my immunotherapy, it was at that time we learned that our friend Pastor Larry Anderson, who was staying in our apartment in Kosovo, filling in for Mark for three weeks was not filling well.  Mark advised Lirak to call our doctor/American missionary friend in Kosovo, Lirak was advised to get Pastor Larry to the hospital.  He had an  intestinal infection and  was very dehydrated.  He was given an IV and sent home.  Thankfully Lirak took him back to his apartment where both him and his wife could take care of him.  However soon after he had to be taken back to the hospital because he was having a hard time breathing.   Before long his  kidneys started shutting down and his lungs weren't doing well.  At one point he did red line for 24 minutes and they were able to resistant him however he went home to be with the Lord yesterday morning around 10:30 am.

Pastor Larry has been my friend for over 16 years. I first met him when he came on an outreach to Moscow in 1997. Then his church started to support the work in Omsk, where I was serving and he would go out there to minister. Because he picked up the church in Omsk to support, him and is wife kinda adopted me as a missionary so every time I would come to CA on furlough I would spend time with him and his family. Because Mark and I got married he started to take an interest in our work in Kosovo and wanted to help us. He was in Kosovo last June and did a marriage retreat for our church.

Mark and I are battling with feelings of feeling responsible  for this.   He was our guest in our home.  We love our guests, we want to serve our guests.  We feel like the unimaginable just happened to one of guests, our friend, and his family. Thinking if he wouldn't of been in Kosovo this wouldn't of happened.  However we try not to go there with those thoughts. We just hurt!  We hurt really bad for what happened and we hurt for his family.  Both Mark and I have shed ALOT of tears over the past 48 hours.   Mark is trying to do everything he can to help with the details of getting his body back to the US. Mark did consider going back to Kosovo for a week. However the body of Christ there in Kosovo is doing an amazing job taking care of all the things that need to be done to get Larry back to his family.

Although we are hurting for the family.  We are rejoicing for Larry.  He is with Jesus.  We received word about his last message that he preached on Sunday from the pulpit at Calvary Chapel Prishtina, it was taken from Psalm 92. One of the members of our church posted this on fb about his last message:  "Late pastor Larry mentioned in his sermon pastor Chuck Smith who was ministering till the end of his life...more precisely, pastor Chuck preached his last sermon two days before he met the Lord. On that very moment nobody who was worshiping at CC Prishtina knew what would happen in two days...Now, if I reflect upon the last Sunday's message I am simply to say left with no words..."  We did hear from another member for the church that Pastor Larry said he wanted to go that way as well and he did.  As I have been reading posts from those who love Pastor Larry, it is repeated over and over again how the Lord used this mighty man of God.  Larry had a heart for missions and he died doing what he loved.  Rest in Peace Pastor Larry!  We love you.  Jeri and family as well as friends of pastor Larry, words cannot describe how Mark and I feel about this situation.  We are so, so sorry.  We hurt for you!  We love you and are praying for you.  

If anyone reading this post feels let to help out the family in getting Pastor Larry's body back to the US you can do so  here:  http://www.gofundme.com/PrLarryAnderson

It has been AMAZING!!

Wow, it has hard to believe that we have only been in the US for two weeks, so much has happened.  We are currently staying with Mark's sister and her family.  Our first Friday back we went to watch my nephew play baseball, followed by that we went out for pizza with my sister, her husband and Mark's sister as well.  We had a great time catching up. 

Our first Sunday fellowshipping at Calvary San Ramon was amazing for me.   Two things happened to me that had me praising the Lord when I left.  One, when I left Kosovo I had a silent prayer request.  I was praying that God would give me the opportunity to attend a ladies retreat.  Before the service got started the pastor briefly mentioned something about a ladies get away.  After the service I inquired about it and it turns out that the ladies from the church were going to attend a retreat hosted by Calvary Chapel Laguna Creek in the Santa Cruz mountain.  My friend Sherri Youngward was leading worship and I was invited to come along with the ladies. 

The second amazing thing that happened at church that day was a man came up to us and said I would like to know if the cancer drugs you are currently on are the drug that my company makes.  We told him the drugs that I am on and it turns out that his company does make them.  He went on to say that one of the drugs I am currently taking is known in cancer industry as the "miracle" cancer drug.  He also told us that if any thing ever happens with our insurance and them not covering me that he could get me the drugs for free.  How amazing is that!  We met him for dinner and he went on to tell me how good the success rate is of the treatment I am on. 

Last week we got in some good baseball, we went to my nephew's high school baseball game and the Lord blessed us with tickets to go see the Angel's play the A's.  The Angel's lost but it was still fun to get out to the game.  While I was at the ladies retreat Mark took Isabella to see the Angel's play the Giants.  They had a fun daddy/Isabella date.

This past weekend I attended the ladies retreat.  I had an AMAZING time!  The theme of the retreat was "Upon the Waters" Gina Chaffin was the speaker.   The subject really hit home for me as Gina talked a lot about Jesus walking with us during the storms of life.  I felt like the messages she shared pertained to me and what I went through last year.  Saturday evening there were a group of ladies on a panel answering questions.  One lady on the panel shared a little bit of her story on how her son was diagnosed with stage four cancer.  As she was sharing the Lord was showing me that I needed to talk with this lady before the retreat was over. I felt that I needed to tell her, that her son loves her and that he fought cancer for her. When she shared, she did not share the outcome of his situation.  However she did tell me that he is now tumor free, he had tumors all over his body.   That Saturday evening after the session was over I was too tired to talk.  On Sunday the Lord gave me an opportunity to speak with her.  We both had a good heart to heart talk and we both shed tears.  It was good for me to talk with her to understand what my mom may have gone through as I was battling cancer and I think the talk was good for my new friend as well, I think it helped her to have a better understanding of some of the things her son went through.

We ended our weekend by visiting some good friends from Mark's College and career days at Calvary Costa Mesa.  We had an amazing Mexican meal.  Mark also had the opportunity to teach on Sunday at Calvary Chapel San Ramon.

This Saturday I will be attending a one day ladies conference at Calvary the Rock in Santa Rosa.  I am looking forward to hearing  Gisela Yohannan and Inga-Lill Guzik speak.

Tomorrow we will be taking Isabella to the  Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland.  We are looking forward to a fun day studying space. 

Monday I will be having my immunotherapy treatment.   Please be in prayer for that. 

Spring Update

Hello Everyone,

Greetings to you all in the name of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!! We are  finally sending out this update after several very busy weeks of personal business and ministry activities. We will start with the ministry related things.

We just celebrated a wonderful Easter together with the churches of Prishtina which included a  joint Good Friday Service at which Mark delivered a message on the demonstration of "God's love at Calvary" and then again a joint Easter Sunday service after which the CC family gathered at our church facility for a wonderful ham lunch prepared by Celeste. It was a great time of food and fellowship!!

A few weeks ago we had a wonderful time with the CC Bible College from Montebelluna, Italy as we toured the locations visited by the Apostle Paul in Northern Greece which included Philippi and Thessaloniki. At each location Mark shared messages from the accounts recorded in Acts 16-17. We ended our trip with our visit to St. Luke's hospital for Celeste's cancer treatment which also went very well. Recently Celeste had a complete CAT scan and the doctors reported that her cancer remains in complete remission!

And the week before we had our brother Steve Coon back again from California who did a week of evangelism with several members of our fellowship including Mark. We had a number of people who responded openly to the Gospel message with whom we engaged in good conversation.

And the week before that we had the Joint Kosovo-Albania National Assembly for the Evangelical Alliances of both countries held in Duress, Albania attended by our member churches from all over the region. We enjoyed a great time of worship, fellowship, prayer and teaching. Its exciting to discover what God is doing in the different areas through different ministries. We now have over 40 member churches and organizations here in Kosovo. I am now in the third year of serving on the board of pastors for the Alliance and it truly has been an rewarding experience. 

With our coming furlough beginning April 22nd Mark has been getting things prepared such as the teaching schedule and other things related to practical ministry. We will have Pastor Larry Andersen from Phelan, CA coming for several weeks in May to minister to our CC church family here in Prishtina.

On the personal level we have been quite busy dealing with the renewal of our residency permit which we finally got finished and approved by the ministry of internal affairs. Also on top of that Mark had to do our vehicle registration. These things required quite a bit of running around so we are relieved to finally have it past us!!  

And so we will be taking off from Prishtina early on April 22nd for a three month furlough which will begin with a month in the Bay Area of California, and then a month in New Mexico, and then ending with a month in So. California till we leave to return to Kosovo on August 3rd. We are looking forward to time well spent with family, friends, and supporting churches. It has been almost three years since our last furlough so it is well over due. We hope to connect with many of you during our visit in the US. 

Thanks again for your prayers and support!! 

By His Grace,

Mark, Celeste, and Isabella

Here are some things to keep in prayer.

God's blessing and protection upon our fellowship while we are gone.

The members of our church that they will continue to grow and be strengthened in Christ.

The Adam family who have been battling the flu and pneumonia.

Lirak and Suela and for their baby boy which is due to be born in August. 

And that Lirak to be able to find work.

The ministry to the US service members serving here in Kosovo.

God's continued provision for both our personal and ministry needs.

A blessed and refreshing time during our three month furlough in the US. 

Financial Support can be sent to:
Check can be mailed to:  Calvary Chapel Las Vegas, P.O. Box 3235, Las Vegas, NM 87701 or you can  go on-line to www.calvarylv.com and under resources menu there is an on-line giving option for one time or for auto giving every month.  You will need to use the "designated gift" box and designate it for Mark and Celeste Yocom

2014 What A Year!

Greetings Everyone,

We have made it to the end of another year and looking back on this past year of 2014 it was certainly unlike anything we have ever experienced. At the beginning back in February our lives were shaken as Celeste had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that was spreading to her lungs. Then we began the long difficult path of cancer treatment with its side affects which involved chemo and immunotherapy every three weeks. But thank God her treatment was very successful as they were able to apply some of today's most advanced immunotherapy treatment available! The tumors completely disintegrated from the treatment and she did not have to have any surgery! Wow!

So now having ended 2014 with Celeste's cancer fully in remission and she is now almost totally recovered from the side affects from the chemo therapy! And looking back we can clearly see the hand of God upon our lives in this situation as He has sustained us and has provided for our every need! Wow!!

"The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut 33:27)!
It is just amazing how God has been there for us on all sides. We had wonderful support from the local churches and missionary community. And then also our own church family and U.S. Service members who were there to support us. People did things such as prepare meals for us, do house cleaning and laundry, and take care of Isabella when needed. And of course our precious daughter was such a blessing as she brought cheer and sweetness into our lives in dark times. And then we have had our State side supporting churches who have covered us in their prayers and with financial support. Also, while serving on the council of ministers for the Kosovo Evangelical Alliance I have had a great group of brothers (fellow council members) who have been there supporting us and praying for us. And then we had St Luke's hospital in Thessaloniki with a wonderful team of physicians and medical professionals that provided outstanding care! I can just keep going on here! Wow!

And what's also amazing is that all of this happened without having to step aside from our work and ministry at Calvary Chapel Prishtina. Celeste of course did have to pull back a bit from involvement but not entirely (the ladies in her MOPS group were able to carry on when she wasn't able to be there). And there were those times when I needed to be there to help Celeste. We were certainly open to all options and considered them, such as returning to the US, which would have been fine but we sensed that it wasn't what the Lord intended for us. However we do plan to do a needed furlough to the US later in 2015.

I think of that great passage in Ephesians 3:20-21
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen". And so we can certainly testify to this truth in our own lives and experience.
Again we are so grateful for the outpouring of support and prayers this past year. Presently Celeste continues her immunotherapy which she receives every three weeks. This needs to continue to keep her type of cancer which is incurable in remission. And of course we are trusting God to continue carrying us down this path which we know He will. Please do pray that her treatment will continue to be affective and of course for a healing miracle too. Pray also for our visit to the US later this year, and for Gods provision.

Please pray for the funds for Celeste's treatment that she needs every three weeks.  In March we need to renew our insurance which means that before we receive reimbursement for her treatments we will first have to meet the $2500.00 deductible.  We also have our additional travel expenses every three weeks which our insurance does not cover.


Pray also for Gods blessing upon the ministry at Calvary Chapel Prishtina. Pray also for Gods blessing upon the ministry to the U.S. Service Members deployed here in Kosovo. We have things that are in the planning stage for ministry which involves some teams coming this year. Pray for God's hand to lead us in all our outreach and ministry endeavors this year.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support, and God bless you as you begin a new year serving Him.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella

Financial support can be donated online at this link: https://www.easytithe.com/f/?k=6SSHN0DEHB4KG6DH
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

Or  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

Outreach Week

This is just a quick prayer request.  This week we will be hosting a team from the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Italy.  They will doing quite a bit while they are here.  They will be working with our children in our MOP'S group, hospital visitations, spending time with high school students, worship, helping out with Sunday school as well as helping out with practical things around the church.  Please keep us in prayer that we will have a fruitful week of outreach. 

Praying for a new vehicle

As many of you know we have been praying for the provisions for a new vehicle.  For the last few years we have been having quite a few problems with our Land Rover.  This year the problems have intensified.  Last night on the way home from ministering at the base outside of Prishtina the Land Rover broke down on Mark late at night outside of Pristina.  Please keep us in your prayers as we need to get the Land Rover repaired as well as purchase something that will be reliable for our family.  Thank you for standing in the gap for us. 

August Prayer Update

Hello Everyone,
Greetings from CC Prishtina, Kosovo and thank you all for your prayers. To update you with whats happening and how you can pray.  Mark was recently diagnosed with having a kidney stone. So he is presently waiting for it to make its way out of me. Being that its the first time he has ever have dealt with this, he has yet to find out how painful it is as everyone is telling him.   So pray for God's strength and grace to get through this experience.

Also we have been dealing with a lot of problems with our vehicle (98' Land Rover Discovery); it is presently having its second major repair of the year and at this point we  think we will need a new vehicle. Please pray for God's provision for a new vehicle.

On the 28th of August our assistant Lirak will be getting married to his fiance Suela. They will be having their wedding in Tirana, Albania. Pray for God's blessing to be upon the wedding and the marriage as Lirak and Suela come together in holy matrimony. Pray that God will supply all their needs as they settle into their new life together. Pray also that God will give Suela the grace to settle into her new life away from home and into life here in Prishtina.

Our youth outreach in the community near the church has been facing some challenges. We had a major opposition rise up against us and had to move on to a different area. So we are in the same neighborhood but a different area where a park is. We  have been spending time at this park on Friday evenings and have had some good interaction with parents and their kids. We were also invited to visit one of their homes. Pray that God gives us favor with the families and that we would be able to share the gospel with them. Pray for those who are held captive by the evil one that they would be set free.

Next week our worship leader (Sam and his wife Elizabeth) will be returning from the US. Pray that God will give them a safe trip back to Kosovo. On August 16th we will be going to Austria to attend the CC Missions Conference. Pray for traveling mercies and a refreshing week.

Celeste also desires to go the the US in the Fall to attend a pastors wives conference. She would be bringing Isabella with her and she would  be staying with her grandparents. Pray for God's provision for this trip.

In a few weeks we will be attending the annual mission conference in Austria.  We are really looking forward to this trip.  This conference is such a refreshment both physically and spiritually for our entire family.  The teaching, fellowship and rest is amazing.  This is also a wonderful experience for Isabella as she attends the VBS and reconnects with her missionary friends that she has made over the years.  An added blessing to this trip is that Celeste's parents will be serving at the conference.

We are also needing help in rebuilding our care team in New Mexico and possibly getting a few started in both Northern and Southern California.  If any of you would like more information on what a "care team" is, please email Celeste at celesteyocom@gmail.com







Thanks again for your prayers and support and God bless you.

Mark, Celeste, and Isabella