Meet Karl and Julie. From one of my other blogs, you already know about Karl’s adventurous side. Here’s all the other (more important) things you need to know about them, Serbia, and my first month on the World Race.
Karl and Julie have been married for 27 years, and have 3 beautiful children, one of which I had the pleasure of spending a decent amount of time with (love ya Kelli). They’re from Houston, Texas, and absolutely love Shania Twain. What a great gift from God. My first month as a missionary and I get paired with a couple from Texas that loves to blare country music. Can you imagine our work days? We would paint wood beams and drag fallen branches while shouting out “Man, I Feel like a Woman”- Karl included.
They’ve lived in Serbia for 15 years- moved here pretty much right after the NATO bombing. What faith they must have had to do that. I don’t know about ya’ll, but if God asked me to move to a war-torn country that pretty much hated Americans, right after a bombing, without knowing anyone or knowing the language? No thanks. I’m not even going to pretend, not even a little bit. I don’t think I could do it.
But thankfully, God asked them instead of me. They started out working with IMB (International Mission Board) but eventually felt called to branch out on their own, buy an old farm, and transform it into a camp for Christ. And that’s exactly what they’ve done.
When it was bought, the farm consisted of an old barn, a few run down buildings, a small kitchen, and tons and tons of weeds/trees/trash. With Karl’s dream and Julie’s support, they’ve transformed it into an absolutely beautiful camp. There’s a full kitchen, really modern bathrooms (with hot water), and hand-made bunk beds in all the cabins. Plus- there’s a soccer field, a volleyball net, and a few archery targets. They’ve really transformed an empty space into a place that people can feel welcome.
A program called the CEF (Christian Evangelism Fellowship) runs their camps out of Kamp Mrcajevci (Karl & Julie’s), and the approach is to let children, teenagers, and adults find God in ways that’s most comfortable for them. Some people are sports fanatics, so they run a sports camp a few weeks of the summer. There’s a music camp, children’s camp, evangelism camp, and more- all in several different languages, so to not exclude those that want the love of Christ but can’t communicate.
They’re hoping to expand their camp yet again, to enclose their meeting space to make the camp year round. Currently, it’s just a summer camp. There’s no way they could hold camp with an outdoor meeting space all day long with snow on the ground. So- my loving blog followers, if you would pray for the future of their camp, the brightness of their spirit, and the encouragement to keep going. If you feel called to take it a step further and help make this dream a reality- you can donate here: https://raisedonors.com/cefonline/individual-missionary and put “Serbia-Camp Good News-Building/Construction” in the comment box.
Speaking of donations- I am still praying to be fully funded! I’m not quite there yet. As I write this blog, I am about $5000 away. I would love your prayers and continued support as I finish month 1 and move on to month 2. Serbia was absolutely incredible, and I’m sure Romania will be just as fulfilling. 1 down, 10 to go!
