I see it, the light at the end of the tunnel. Training is now over, and we are all filled with conflicting emotions: relief and sadness. Training is exhausting; Nikki and I are both tired. But we have made new friendships and strengthened existing ones. I have a newfound respect for our instructors. They have a vast amount of experience, deep intelligence, and are all highly motivated to spread the gospel and finish the work. Our last class with one of our instructors brought a sobering thought: We will never again have this experience.

Conversely, we will soon be launching to Croatia, starting language school and exploring areas for our project. Our launch has been two years in the making. It is so close that I can almost taste the krumpiruša (potato-stuffed phyllo dough pie) and ajver (roasted red pepper and eggplant relish). I am hungry just thinking about it.

I also have a newfound appetite for God’s word. I have always enjoyed reading the Bible, but with the new Bible study techniques we have learned, I enjoy it even more. During a break, I had the opportunity to do a Bible study with some old friends from high school. We had a blast and were forced to cut it short as the children were getting restless. None of us wanted it to end.

Now the key will be to allow the Holy Spirit to do His job when we arrive in Croatia and lead us to a person of peace who craves Living Bread. But first things first: put our new knowledge to work learning the language and analyzing the culture.

I thank AFM and the instructors for this experience. I cannot say it was all puppies and flowers, but it was deeply enriching. Please pray for our launch.

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