Something I am excited about

As many of you know over the past five years the Lord has led me on a journey of studying health and wellness. I radically changed my eating habits and took an interest in alternative medicine.  This is something that has been a passion of mine for years.  So when I was diagnosed with cancer (which I believe I had before I made the changes) naturally I researched how I could fight this disease naturally so it has been my mission to cure myself with alternative medicine along with the immunotherapy.  While on this journey I started researching essential oils and there benefits of fighting disease.  I had a few friends introduce me to DoTerra Essential oils.  Over the past year both Mark and I have been using DoTerra oils for various issues and we have been amazed with there results.  As I started sharing my desire with friends here in Phristina  to work with essential oils they all encouraged me to do it.  As I was praying about it I started to think that DoTerra has so many natural products I need to keep the cancer away,I figured if I join the company I can get my products at a discount.  As many of you know I LOVE talking about health and nutrition.  It has been a mission of mine.  So after much prayer and consideration I decide to join the team.  I figured I should start to make money doing something  I love to do.  

So I will be starting a Facebook page called Essential Wellness with Celeste and I will be sharing many wonderful thing about oils, along with diet and fitness.  Please visit my DoTerra site  http://www.mydoterra.com/celesteyocom/#/  Not only does DoTerra have oils, they have supplements, skin care, natural cleaning products etc.. They have many things you already use.  If you order these things off of my site you will be supporting us.  With our additional expenses with our Greece trips we can use the additional income from working with DoTerra.  Here is my site http://www.mydoterra.com/celesteyocom/#/.

If you would like more info on this amazing company please email me.  I am so excited about this. 

If We Had Not

“If We Had Not”

As I sit down to write this update, I am sitting the back seat of our car and my heart is full.  Full of what God did today.  Yes we are on our way back to Prishitna from my treatment in Greece and yes God did something today.  Well God does stuff everyday, but often times we really don’t recognize the things He does.  So why am I sitting in the back seat of our car on the long drive you may ask?  No, I am not sick needing to lay down.   I am sitting in the back because I am a homeschooling mom battling cancer, homeschooling my daughter on the drive home.   

Often times when we go to Greece we leave Isabella with our friends in Kosovo. The Lord has blessed us with an amazing group of friends who have been SO willing to take care of Isabella while we go to Greece.  I love my friends, but they are busy with families, ministry and homeschooling their own children as well.  Recently I have been feeling like, “we are getting into a routine at the hospital, I know what to expect, let’s just see how it would be taking Isabella with us and have her do school while I get treated.”  We will probably not do this all thetime, like when I know I have scans, however we may continue to do this the times when I will just receive my meds.  

So as I was getting settled in my room there was a knock at my door.  As I opened it I saw a man standing that the door with Greek Bibles, he wanted to make sure I had a Bible.  While I speak no Greek and he spoke no English, I wanted to tell him I was a believer.  So I showed him some of Isabella’s God school books I had with me and my Bible to let him know that we are lovers of Jesus too.  We both made hand motions showing we love all love Jesus and he left the room.  I was so encouraged knowing that there is a man in the cancer ward of St.Luke’s hospital going door to door making sure people have God’s word.  How cool is that?

So I continued to get myself settled and one of the male nurses came in and he saw Isabella was with us.  I loved to see his interaction with her.  After he got me settled he gave Isabella a job to do.  Her job was to press the “call” button when each of my bags were empty to change the meds.  She took her job seriously and did it.  So in regards to “homeschooling,” she is getting in some practical experiences, she is watching and learning what nurses and doctors do at a hospital.  

Once we got settled with my meds, we started school.  Today’s treatment went by really fast and after my treatment we were still waiting for the podiatrist to come and look at my toes.  Since Isabella had completed an assignment, she asked if she could go to the children’s room on the floor for recess.  One of the reasons why I had kinda hesitated about bringing Isabella is because I felt like it would kinda hinder us from trying to reach out to cancer patients.  When we come without Isabella we request a room with two beds, this way we can hopefully interact with patients and share the love of Jesus with them.  However when we come with Isabella we request a room with one bed in order to respect my neighbor who could possibly be experiencing some not so pleasant things as a result of receiving chemo.  Receiving  chemo could be hard and trying at times and sometimes a person needs to sleep and this would be difficult to do while an eight year old is in the room.  So today we had our own room, Isabella had a break with her school and we were waiting for another doctor.  This was a good time for Isabella to go play.  

After we were done seeing the other doctor we went for Isabella.  As we were in the kids room I noticed a mom with a little girl about 5.  As I looked closely at the little girl I realized that this girl and mom were not here visiting a sick person in the hospital.  This little girl was a patient, and what ward of the hospital were we in?  The cancer ward.  What gave it away that this little girl was a patient was she was wearing pj’s and she had the same type of needles in her hand that I have when I have treatment.  As I stood there collecting Isabella and looking at the mom and daughter,  I felt the Holy Spirit’s strong conviction saying “you do not leave this room without ministering to these people.”  I thought ok.  So I started talking to her.  They do not speak English, we do not speak Greek.  We got that this little girl has cancer, I tried to share with the mom that I too am battling cancer.  I asked the mom if we could pray for this little girl, God understands both English and Greek.  God sees this mom and little girl, God know the battle this family facing and God can touch this little girl and heal her.  So Mark, myself and Isabella stopped and prayed for them.  As we were leaving we noticed  another lady and her daughter were watching and they said “that is great that you stopped and prayed for them.”  They were Australian believer’s.  I wonder how that act of obedience touched touched the heart of the on lookers.  Maybe the Lord could of used that to encourage them to take a step of faith and to reach out to others?  You never know how God can touch ones heart.

As I reflect on that experience I could not help but think if we had not brought Isabella, we would not have run into the mom and little girl battling cancer.  Yes, we could not talk with the lady and the daughter, put we were able to show Christ’s love to her and pray.  I could not help but think about how God loves this lady and little girl and how, some how (only He knows) He wanted to show them how much He loves them by placing believers in there path to pray for them.  I love how God uses our ordinary days to do extraordinary things.  Although we may not see it at the time, but God may want us to change how we regularly do things (in our case bringing Isabella for treatment), in order to reach a lost and dying world.  

I hate cancer, but I LOVE watching God work as we battle cancer. 

Finally an update

I am so sorry I have not updated you all on things here recently.  We have been busy, a good busy. Since we have been back from the US, the Lord has been adding to the church and He has been bringing females, so I have been busy reaching out to them.  I started my MOP'S group back up again, started homeschooling Isabella and on Monday's I will be teaching English at a local language school.  

It  is that time again that we head to Greece for treatment. I have a few prayer requests for this trip as I am dealing with issues that I will be addressing with my doctor. I feel that I am still having some on going side effects that started when I had chemo and have not gone away. When the chemo started, I started having a runny nose and scratchy throat almost daily. Recently I have been having a lot of problems breathing through my nose and I believe this is why I have a scratchy throat often (I am not getting sick). Also due to not being able to breath properly through my nose, this effects my energy level. 

My second issue is for awhile I have been having nerves spasms in my back and feet, mainly when I am laying down or point my feet in certain positions. I have heard that this is a common side effect and it painful. It happens all of a sudden and when I am in pain there is really nothing Mark could do to help me. It is just a sudden pain that last a minute or so, but it is often.

Lastly, when I was in last I had an infection in one of my toes, the doctor gave me an antibiotic, it has gotten better, however it is not gone. Now I am having the same issues in my other toe. 

I sent a letter to my doctor today so he will be prepared to help me on Monday. He may possibly need to have a podiatrist look and my foot and a ENT doctor look at my nose.

Here are some other things to cover in prayer:

Please pray for the refugee crisis in our region. It hasn't affected us yet as the refugees are heading to Western Europe through Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia, but nevertheless it could as things have been changing and the refugees may look to alternative routs or places to settle. Pray that God would have his hand upon the situation and that we would be ready for whatever may happen. 

Pray for our new evangelism effort that we are doing right out in front of our church on Saturdays. Pray for Aron's salvation who started coming to church through the outreach. He is very open! Pray for divine appointments and that God would touch the hearts of the people in our community. 

Pray for the two young ladies who recently started coming on Sundays. One (Naime) is a believer and he cousin (Tina) who comes to church with her is not saved yet but is very open. Pray for Tina's salvation. Pray also for Naime that she grow strong in the Faith. 

On Monday afternoons Celeste will be tutoring english students at a school here in our neighborhood. Pray that God will use it to reach the students with the gospel.

Also please pray for the Lord to continue to provide for our finanical needs, for the ministry, personally and for our medical trips to Greece

If you feel lead to support us you can do so here:

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

If you feel led to help us with covering our Greece (medical) trips, you can do so here:

https://www.gofundme.com/yocumfamily

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

A little miracle today

The past few weeks we have been pretty busy with traveling, celebrating birthday's, getting ready for birthday's and weddings.  In the midst of the busyness it is easy to loose track of things.  Things like your camera. 

On Saturday evening Isabella drew a picture, one that really touched my heart. I wanted to take a picture of it, it was a pretty powerful picture..... I wanted to capture the moment of the picture.  As I went to get my camera, I could not find it.  It was not in either of the two places I normally keep it. It is either in my purse or in my desk drawer.  I searched everywhere for it and it was no where to be found.  I even called Mark, wondering if he had it, nope he did not have it.  I was REALLY discouraged.  There were a few reasons for the discouragement.  It was my birthday gift from Mark last year.  In the past Mark and I had always shared a camera and most of the time when he was out, he carried the camera with him.  Therefore when I wanted to capture special Isabella moments, take pictures of homeschooling stuff, my garden, stuff that I was cooking.....  I didn't have a camera available to capture the moments.  The camera was really nice, plus we really did not have the money to replace the camera.  Over the past few days I had been really discouraged about the loss of my camera. 

As I had been replaying things in my mind, I knew it had been in my purse and was certain I did not take it out of my purse at home after our last trip to Albania last weekend.  For some reason I felt I had left it somewhere in Prishtina.  I felt that I must of been digging around in my purse to either get my wallet or my ITouch or something and felt that I left it somewhere.  To be honest, I felt that I would never see my camera again.  Mark encouraged me to go back to the places I had been last week to see if it would come up.  This afternoon I went to a few place to inquire and it wasn't there.  This evening, after dinner Mark and I decided to go the restaurant we went to last Tuesday as soon as we had arrived back to Prishtina.  When we asked the waiter about it, he asked what time of day we had come in and he walked to counter and handed me my camera!  I was beside myself.  I felt that if I had left it at a restaurant that either a customer would of seen it and taken it.  Or it would of been taken by an employee.  As we left the restaurant we were thanking the Lord for the honesty of the people at the restaurant.  Thank you Jesus.

One outing, two contrasting conversations

Wow, what a very interesting outing I had this afternoon!  On Monday's Mark takes Isabella out in the late morning to have a special daddy/Isabella date.  This frees me up to have some time for myself.  Yesterday evening a friend had messaged me on facebook asking if I would have time to meet for a coffee.  We had made tentative plans to met.  This morning I realized I did not have credit on my phone to call her with the time and the place to meet, so I messaged her on facebook with the time and location that would be convenient for me, hoping she would see the message and be free at the time.    As I spent time reflecting on the events of the afternoon I am able to see how the Lord directed my steps this afternoon to open my eyes to the good as well as the evil that is taking place in the society that I am a part of.

Before my meeting I thought it would be nice to go and have a nice lunch by myself at a cafe I had not been to in awhile (I enjoy getting out for some quality alone time to read, pray and reflect).   As I walked in, I notice the cafe was crowded, however there was a table close to two young people who were speaking English.  To give you an idea of how close I was to these people, my back was almost touching the young man's back.  Although, I would not intentionally eavesdrop on a conversation (actually I was trying to read), I could hear what they were saying.  They were talking about Jesus!  The conversation was very edify.  From what it seemed like, they were a part of a short term outreach team.  The young man has a desire to be a pastor and the young lady has a desire to work with human trafficking.  Because I did want this people to think I was intentionally listening to them (really I wasn't), I didn't not speak to them.  I just left edified.  As I left the cafe on my way to another restaurant to meet my friend, I was just thanking the Lord for the wonderful time I had just experienced

As I .approached the restaurant I found a table to sit out that would be easy to spot my friend if she showed up, I wasn't too sure if she would show up as we had not made concrete  plans.  This table was very close to another young lady and man.  However the conversation that was taking place was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!  I really was not trying to listen, actually at one point I wanted to find another table simply because I found the language that the young lady was using was offensive.  Every other word that was coming out of the young lady's mouth was a swear word and she was speaking loud.  As they were talking I was really trying to concentrate on my book.   About half way into the conversation the young lady started talking about a relationship that she recently ended.  It turns out the young lady is a lesbian, she was sharing with this young man why she broke it off with her "girlfriend." The details that had taken place in her life were just not good.  I was trying not to listen, however the young lady was talking really loud and I am sure many others heard what she was taking about.  As I was sitting there reading and waiting for my friend, my heart just started to break for these young people at the next table.

My friend did not show up, however I felt the Lord had other plans for me.  As I left the restaurant I felt led to find a bench in front of the place to just sit and intercede  for the young people I was sitting next to at the restaurant.  As I was reflecting on what I had just heard, I felt the  Lord gave me a small glimpse of the ugliness that takes place in the homosexual lifestyle.  As I thought back to the conversation I heard earlier, two young people on fire for Jesus, desiring to seek Him and serve Him with there life, then hearing what I just heard I could help but think about the spiritual battle we are in, good fighting evil.  I felt that the Lord used this experience to open my eyes to what is going on in the spiritual world, there are people seeking Him to do His work, but yet the enemy is out to steal kill and destroy.  Although I did not enjoy hearing some of the things that were said in the second conversation, I am glad I heard them.  Why? You may ask..... Because the Lord loves those caught up in the homosexual lifestyle.  The Lord needed me to see these two young people because He wants to people to be praying for them.  I am thankful that I was able to get a good look at there faces that I will be able to remember them in prayer often.  I am also thankful that the Lord used this to give me a glimpse of what the people go through who are caught up in this lifestyle.   

Now I am sure after this post you all are going to think that I eavesdrop on every conversation, really I don't at all.  I believe the Lord just wanted me to hear some things.

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.

Hello Everyone,

Greetings to you from CC Prishtina... Hope you are all off to a good start for 2013 and abounding in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We want to thank each of you for your faithful prayers and support for what God is doing in Kosovo.

We are now presently fully moved into our new church facility but still getting settled and organized. It is a blessing to have the extra space and we anticipate a furthering of God's work among the people in Prishtina. As I had stated before we are located just across the street from the facility we were in over three years ago. It is on a main artery road that connects the south part of Prishtina with the center and at times we have thousands of pedestrians that pass by every hour. We had never planned or wanted to leave our last place but we had prayed that the Lord would do what he wished including to move us to a different location in the city according to his will and that's just what he did.


 As we are settling into our new place we are finding that we do have some needs, in order to function as a church better. 

        

Sanctuary

  Our kitchen is used a lot as we serve refreshments weekly after our Sunday service and our weekly MOP'S meeting.  As well as to feed team members.  We are praying for the Lord to provide the funds to be able to purchase small stove top burners as well as a small oven in order to cook monthly lunches for the church as well as for teams to be able to cook.  We are also needing proper cooking utensils. 

Fellowship Lounge

We are hoping to get some nice chairs for the office as well some pictures on the wall and a book case.  We have often talked about getting a copier as Celeste often has to go to the copy place to make copies. 

 We finally have a kids room and Celeste and Isabella are excited about this.  As you can see from the picture we do not have a place to store the toys.  We are needing some cabinets and bookshelves for this room.  We would also like to get some children's chairs and a small table for the kids.  It would be great to have an easel as well as some children's Sunday School pictures on the wall. 

The bathroom on the left is the located on the 1st floor next to the sanctuary and the one on the right is on the second floor.  The bathrooms are in need of shelves as well as small cabinets to store cleaning products. 

While our Christmas was occupied by the move into the new facility we did have a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration (the last in our old facility). We were at a maximum capicity of people attending the service which included a group of US soldiers from the NATO HQ. We also managed to distribute a small number of OCC gift boxes to the kids that came to the service with their parents. We were also blessed this holiday season with a visit from one of our members, Niti and his family, who are presently living in the US but may be coming back around the summer to live here in Kosovo.

A few weeks ago  after the Service, Xhavit's two boys (Fatlum and Arbnor) prayed to receive Christ. It was a real special moment for them and it really meant a lot to Xhavit to see his boys ope their hearts to Christ. So we are looking forward to another baptism this coming summer with Xhavit and two boys ready to be baptized.

Recently a young American couple (Sam and Elizabeth) from Illinois who had started attending our fellowship; are now doing worship for our services. Back in 1999 when I first came to Kosovo, Sam's father (who was working here in Kosovo) was my roommate.  Sam is teaching at a private high school here in Prishtina and he and his bride Elizabeth are newly married since August. We are greatly blessed to have Sam and Elizabeth with us. 

 

Celeste is planning to start a weekly Bible study for women on Saturdays in the next couple weeks. This will be in addition to her Mom's meeting that continues to meet Wednesday mornings. Isabella is now at the kindergarten level with her home schooling which she is doing very well with. Lirak is also doing Albanian classes for her. Josef who has been in Spain is doing well and met up with me in Germany  for the CC Pastors Conference.

Genesis 1:1 in Albanian

Isabella Writing the Bible

Mop's Christmas Party

 Ministry to the soldiers is entering a new season as well as a new commander, LTC Brett Criqui has stepped in. I have enjoyed getting to know Brett. He is an Iraq war veteran who commanded an Apache Helicopter group which was the first to enter Iraq at the beginning of the war. God continues to bless the weekly Bible study at Camp Film City and we are seeing wonderful doors of ministry open to us at Camp Bondsteel as well.

In March, Celeste is praying about attending a Pastor's Wife's conference in Paris France.  She attended last year and came back to Kosovo refreshed and encouraged.  It would be such a blessing for Celeste to be able to attend this year again as she rarely is able to sit in the Sunday service since she teaches Sunday School and isn't able to always make it to  the midweek study as we do not always have childcare for Isabella ( the past few month's Celeste has been able to attend).  Celeste is looking forward to the time of just being able to sit and receive as well as the fellowship with like minded believers.  Please pray with us for the provisions to be able to attend this conference.  

Celeste is seeking the Lord concerning which homeschooling curriculum to purchase for Isabella in the fall, as she will be starting first grade. If anyone has any used curriculum or would like to contribute to Isabella's curriculum  please contact Celeste at celesteyocom@gmail.com to find out what Isabella's needs are for this.

Winter Fun!

Thanks again so much for your prayers and support

Prayer summary:

*  God's blessing upon our new church facility. 

*  God's provision for the added expenses and things we need for the facility such as furniture for the kids room, Mark's office, a copy machine and the needed kitchen equipment.

*  We will be light and salt in our new location and neighborhood.

*  God's blessing upon all areas of ministry at CC Prishtina.

*  The Bible study Celeste will be starting in coming weeks.

*  God will strengthen the members of our fellowship in their relationships with him that they would have close walks with the Lord and bring forth much fruit in their lives.

*  Xhavits two boys; Fatlum and Arbnor that a solid spiritual foundation would be laid in their lives.

*  Sam and Elizabeth that God would bless their involvement in our fellowship with leading worship.

 and that God would bless their new life together as a married couple. 

* God's blessing upon the ministry to the US service members and for the weekly Bible study.

*  Provisions for Isabella's homeschooling curriculm

*  Provision for our insurance payment that is due in March
*  The Provisions for Celeste to be able to attend the Pastor's wives conference in March.