Johnstein!

Update Many of you support us financially. Some of your support us in prayer, some of you have visited us on the field (or are planning to soon!) and some of you follow and regularly read our updates. We are thankful for how you all have been a part of our call to missions; first to Austria and now to Kosovo. We moved to Kosovo in June of this year and by the Grace of God have been able to accomplish more than we imagined. Global Baseball is now a registered NGO in Kosovo. We have met with the mayor of our town, a number of pastors throughout the country, and have developed relationships with young people interested in making a difference in this country. We have been part of a sports initiative aimed at integration and conflict resolution amongst members of 4 different ethnic communities and have been working with two dozen committed young coaches to help them improve their baseball skills. In the coming year we will begin a school based instructional program while also estab...

Some of what I write below is from my thoughts during my devotional reading...some of it is from coming to grips with things I see on social media and conversations I've had in regards to the current world issues of how "we" should respond to the refugee crisis in light of terrorists threats. It's a bit long... Matthew 25:31-46 English Standard Version (ESV) 31  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,  then he will sit on his glorious throne.   32  Before him  will be gathered  all the nations, and  he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates  the sheep from the goats.   33  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.   34  Then  the King will say to  those on his right, ‘Come, you  who are blessed by my Father,  inherit  the kingdom  prepared for you from the foundation of the world.   35  For  I was hung...

It's been close three years since we were first introduced to the opportunity to work in Kosovo...since that time it's been pretty cool to see how the idea to introduce baseball and share Jesus has grown from a simple 4 day camp to a much larger vision to make an impact in this nation. We have planned and prayed for this initiative, but I am so wonderfully struck by the way God just makes things happen that are beyond our expectation. For example...this past weekend we took a group of players to Camp Bondsteel to play on a real field. In my mind, this was simply going to be a chance for some beginning players to get a taste for how fun baseball can be. I figured that if the young folks that joined us enjoyed themselves, then it would be a success. Boy...did I underestimate the impact of this weekend. In the last couple days, Global Baseball and the Kosovo Baseball Initiative has received national and international coverage of our work to introduce baseball to Kosovo. I have...

The most exciting thing about our vision to introduce baseball in Kosovo is that local guys are getting behind it. Michael will be heading up to Peja next week to train new Baseball coaches. This project has been organized by one of the guys we trained back in January. He is part of an NGO called Centre for Tolerance and Integration - Pec ( CTI-P) and they work primarily in the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslims) community trying to develop activities that will lead young people from multiple ethnic groups into positive relationships with each other. They recently have received a grant from an international (mostly European) organization called Play International (formerly Sports Sans Frontières). This was a very competitive process that saw 75 NGO's apply for the opportunity. CTI-P  was one of three NGOs that were awarded a grant to use. The unique part about their grant was that it is focusing on building understanding and reducing ethnic tensions, and it is aiming to do this thr...

We have been in our new house for a little less than a week, but we are already learning more about the neighborhood that God has placed us in. We want you all to get a feel for our neighborhood. We'd love to invite you to do "virtual prayer walks" from time to time through our neighborhood as we look for opportunities to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Location 1 - Our house. Just outside our house is a Salon that is owned by the owners of the house we are renting. Already, Kailyn and Rebecca have spent a lot time just sitting in there with the ladies. It is a training facility so there are a lot of girls coming in who love to play with Kailyn. Might just turn in to a recruiting center for babysitters (and softball players)! Please pray that Rebecca and Kailyn will be able to build good relationships with these girls and serve as a witness to God's Grace. Our front patio. This is a great space that we hope to use to have friends over for bbqs and to watch game...

We've been in Kosovo for 3 weeks. Some times, we feel so comfortable it feels as though we've been in Kosovo for years...but most of the time we can't help but realize how much we are strangers in this place. There's so much we don't understand...and this is frustrating sometimes. Some moments, I wonder what the heck we're doing here...other times I feel like we truly belong here. Some days it seems like all the details fall in to place and we end up being productive...other days we spend a lot of time sitting around and seem to be spinning our wheels (figuratively, of course, since we are still trying to find a suitable vehicle). And through it all, the Lord God is faithful. He truly is a God of provision and He has provided in so many ways. This blog has served as a journal for us since the day we started it back in 2010. I love reading through old posts to see how God has provided. I want to use this post to list many of the ways God has provided in the p...

After a week of, seemingly, no options...we have found a home! This is an answer to prayer! This is a wonderful place with some great owners who really are supportive and trying to make this place comfortable for us. Unbelievable, really. We saw this house on Tuesday morning, and by Wednesday at 7pm we were sitting with the owner finalizing the agreement after 3 hours of identifying improvements and working on details. The home has 3 rooms, big living room/kitchen, a huge entry way (which could double as a sitting room), small basement, and has a pleasant front yard that is fully enclosed and protected. The home has very thick concrete walls so the house is quite cool on hot days and will stay warm during cold days. View from street. Shop to the right is a beauty salon owned by the same folks who own the house. driveway (from house, looking out towards the main street). Added Bonus: wooden door on right is a bathroom (squatty potty) driveway front porch, garden/...

If you're at all following our move to Kosovo, you might know that we have experienced some slight delays in getting settled. We've been in country over a week and had really had no hope in sight in terms of finding a home or car. Now, I suppose a week isn't so long of a time to wait...but it has definitely seemed like a crazy long time. I was asked many times in the weeks before our departure "so, where are you gonna live"? My answer was always..."not sure...but we're trusting that God will provide".  And we believed it. We weren't just blithely moving to Kosovo WISHING that there would be a perfect place. No. We truly had faith that the right place was already "set aside". Of course, our faith hasn't been a blind faith. God has completely provided at every step. He has confirmed this calling by making a way for us. Yet... we were worried, we were stressed, we were frustrated. Fortunately, many people, probably most of you readin...

Recently, a friend of ours serving in Vienna wrote about rest on her blog . One thing that really struck me about what she wrote was the idea that rest is more than a nap. As I read her post, I realized that real rest is something that has been a bit elusive for us. The past year was intended to be one of rest. And certainly, we did rest. We took time out and spent it with family, the Word, and our church home. We were comforted and confirmed in our call to Kosovo. But at the same time, we were restless. There was a lot to DO. Plans to be made, paperwork to complete and prepare for the move, boxes to pack...the list most certainly goes on. Now we are here in Kosovo. This is the place where God has called us to serve. And it seems that God is wanting us to rest here. But wait! This where we are supposed to DO. We expected to hit the ground running. Rebecca and I had a plan that we would get out and find a house and car right away. We would get settled and then start doing what we ...

Last night was a weird night. Kailyn was talking in her sleep. Crying out on occasion, but never fully waking up. Of course, we woke up every time. But that's parenthood. Finally she woke up and came in to our bed. No problem. At about the same time, there were also some dogs barking continually. They were just far enough away that we could just barely hear them. Annoying but didn't fully keep us awake. But then, as things were setting down (about 3:00 am or so) I had a sudden "panic" attack. Suddenly, for some reason, the demands of the coming months crashed down on me. In one month, we will be waking up in Kosovo, likely getting ready to head out rent a house, buy a car, and learn a language. Holy crap. The questions and worries just started piling on top of each other. In less than two months, we're going to drive through the Balkans back up to Vienna for a month's stay as we do a 3 week academy. I don't know where we're gonna stay during ...