MISSIONS MARCH!

The phrase is familiar to all who have ever attended a GGWO International Conference, every year we watch our affiliated missionaries and churches from around the globe march across the flag-strewn chapel, celebrating local and foriegn missions. However, I'd like to raise the phrase to another level in order to describe these last 26 days of the year 2007, it was nothing less than a Missions March.
The fun began on Thursday, March 1st, when we recieved a visit from Miss Carolyn Peters, artist-director-actress-traveler-extraodinaire. She was at the tail end a a three month world tour that had already taken her across Africa, England, France, Germany, and Austria. She stayed one week with us in Zagreb before going to Budapest to help prep for the European Conference. On Satuday, March 3rd, we rented a car and caravanned along with a South Korean missionary pastor, to a small romy village outside Zagreb.

Pastor Chan has been doing a Bible Study in the very poor neighborhood for about one year.

The gypsy people live roughly but are very kind and hospitable to guests.

We did sketchboard, sang, P. George shared the Word, and we took lots of pictures, they love pictures.

The oldest person in the village is a 78 year old woman named Ana who has had 22 chidren! This young lad was very proud to show us the livestock. Outback, Tomas shares the Word while some Chickens cross the road.

After returning from the village we made more use of the rental car by visiting Medvedgrad, the ruins of a historic castle on the mountain side overlooking Zagreb, yielding spectacular views. We saw the evening lights of the city's 1 million people and it stirred our hearts. We sang some worship songs inside a one-dome stone chapel which seemed to have been designed for that very purpose; it felt like our voices could be heard miles and miles away, indeed they could.

(photo from the internet)

On Wednesday, March 7th, Pastor Chris Moore arrvied and taught our weekly Bible School class that night. We had 11 Croatians come out to join us, 10 men and 1 woman. Including all of us (and Camden), there were 19 1/2 people there, a great event. We continued with an after Rap at McDonalds with "four-young-Croat-men" and that night one of those young men went home and prayed in his bedroom to recieve Christ as his Savior (according to his own testimony). Pastor Chris Moore with two high school seniors: They have attended the Sunday Evening Bible Study in New Zagreb consistently for the past month since coming to see the Jesus Film. So often these people never even meet each other because they come at different times. It was so great to gather the whole group together in one place, at one time, and lift up the Word of God. We had a bible study at a Cafe the next evening also. Pastor Chris and P. Tomas met a man on the tram on thier way there and he joined us for the study. Pray for Mark. We have no contact on him but he knows where we meet. That night, Thursday, March 8th, myself and pastors George, Tomas, and Chris boarded a midnight train to Belgrade, the Captiol of Serbia.After, what P. Tomas called, "A-Serbian-Night", we arrived in Belgrade around 6:20am. Belgrade, or Biograd (white city), is approximately the same size as Budapest with 2 million people, and was also the capitol of former Yugoslavia.

The effects of the recent wars can still be seen in bullet holes across parliament bulidings or even large unrepaired blasts like the one below.

The soulwinning was interesting because we had little or no literature to give, the people were very kind and less proud religiously than what we have seen in Zagreb. Many of the conversations were rushed though because the people are on the move, they are very busy people.

Tomas in the far left witnesses to an Englishman, while Pastor George (by light post) speaks to three young men.

The others stayed the night in Belgrade and then went on to NovySad, Serbia the next day. I left on a 3pm train that same Friday back to Zagreb, arriving at 10:30pm, just in time to welcome my parents and sister who arrived by train from Budapest at 10:20pm.

We spent the day Saturday walking though the city and seeing the sights.My dad even found the same guitarist he had bought a cd from the year before, of course he got another cd.

On Sunday afternoon, March 11th, the fam rented a minivan and we took a trip to Split, a city along the beginning of Croatia's Dalmatian coast. We arrived sometime in the evening ready for a hotel but the prices were outrageous. After much searching we left the city and began looking for any hotel signs in site. By divine providence we stumbled across a humble sign which sent us meandering through small, one-way streets, left, right, left, until we heard it... the ocean! We thought we had left all the water behind us on our escape from high prices, but there it was, a small coastal villa on the waterfront with great prices and vacancy for all.

Hayley snaps a photo out front of the hotel.

Split is home to the Diocletian Palace, a masterpiece of stonework which has now been converted into the floors, cielings, and walls of an extravagent outdoor walking mall, so to speak. It takes several failed attempts to manage one's way through from one side to the other, with each turn a postcard waiting to happen. From Split we took a one hour ferry ride to Brac (brawch), the nearest island, and spent a few hours just walking around and admiring the beauty. A brochure said that the White House is built from some stones from Brac, needless to say there was a lot of admirable stonework there also. The entire trip was simply beautiful and a very enjoyable time with the family.

Camden playing on the Island, Brac.

If you have made it this far you can see how the month of March earned it’s name, at least here in Zagreb. The most important part of every march however, whether it be a military march, a wedding march, or a month of the year, is the mission behind it. The mission behind this March was the annual GGWO European Conference in Budapest, Hungary.

We did not take many pictures at the conference but we were able to bring two croatian men there with us, Boris and Max. Upon leaving, Boris said to Pastor Schaller, "The words Body-of-Chirst will never mean the same to me again. Every time I read them in my Bible from now on I'll have to stop and take a breath." The quality of life in the ministry of Christ is just that, breath-taking! The EuroCon was a tremendous edification for all us and not to mention the joy of seeing many dear friends from the States and across the map.

After the Conference, the march conitnued... on Sunday, March 18th, we traveled back to Zagreb with Susanna's sister Jen (middle) and Ann-Margaret (left).Jen catches a ray of sunshine behind one of Zagreb's chestnut trees. Jen & Ann-Margarine (as she became known), stayed with us for five days in Zagreb, it was a great time.

Others who joined the March...

Pastor Barry brough the Reagan men with him on Monday, March 19th for a day trip. The weather was poor but we had fun and lots of fellowship at the ice cream parlor, Millenium.

Ryan returned on Wednesday, March 21st, and stayed two nights with us also. The days were full of laughs and the weather cleared enough to have a great time in the city.

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Just now we recieved a visit from some American missionary evangelists who know Pastor Tomas and have visited some of our Greater Grace Ministries in Europe. One of the missionaries they brought with them was a 24 year old girl who spent 18 years in the Amazon Jungles in Venezuella, South America. Her Father is the only white man alive who speaks the tribes language and he is translating the Bible in entirety. The group was very edifying and they were great musicians as well. The group leader is Randy Dodd and he is also a Christian Fiction writer, he writes under the name Randall Arthur. All that to say, the March is still on.

We have had an incredible month, thanks for reading about the great things happening in Zagreb, Croatia. Our laptop has been in the service centar due to a power surge, the problem is not yet solved.

Please leave a comment by following the links at the bottom of the post, we'd love to hear from you...

Love never fails,

The Tanguayz

Fruit that Remains!

"I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain..."

John 15:16

At the City Market, this lady vendor (below:left) speaks great English and loves seeing Susanna & Camden.

The Jesus Film Project

Several months ago we contacted the Campus Crusade ministry in Zagreb and requested a copy of the movie known as The Jesus Film. Not only did they give us a dvd copy in the Croatian language, but they also donated almost 50 full color posters in two sizes for us to put around the area, along with magazine style booklets of the gospel of Luke to give to each person who comes to see the film.
After recieving a brand new PC projector [donated by a dear family in the body in Baltimore] we were able to set the plan of showing The Jesus Film into motion.
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The date would be February 11th, 07.
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Right: the movie flyers we printed & passed out.

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Pastor Tomas Bulicek, delivering the good news.

Below: Our Meeting Place in New Zagreb where we showed the flim. The city gave us a key to use this facility every Sunday evening free of charge.

We began by putting up several posters in key locations near the building, only to recieve a phone call from the city office the next day telling us our posters had been taken down due to complaints. We rejoiced, knowing that we must be doing the right thing. We were more careful about where we put the other posters and with only one week to the showing time we began to pass out the flyers. We didnt know what to expect, how many people would come in only one week's notice? We cut the movie length from two hours down to one and a half to make time for some preaching at the end. The film was scheduled to start 7pm and at 6:30 there was a line of ten people at the door. By the time we started the projector, with a screen size of almost 20ft, there were 28 croatians seated in the audience. We praised God in our hearts as we sat listening to the life of Christ in another language.

These dear people saw & heard the glorious Gospel.

The presence of God was with us. Pastor Tomas stood at the conclusion of the film and a young man named Vlado in the audience stood to translate for him. He spoke from Nahum 1:7b, "the Lord knows them that trust in Him." No one was asked to raise their hand but so many people left thanking us and expressing interest in coming to the Bible studies on Sunday nights. An elderly man was crying during the closing parts of the film when the salvation message was playing. We made some great contacts.The young man Vlado (who translated) and his friend Igor are high school seniors whom Tomas and I met in an underground passway earlier that week. They came to the Bible study last night with a bible and notebook, but according to Vlado, he couldnt take notes because he was too busy listening. They said after the message on Christ and the Brazen Serpent, "we will not foget this." Keep these Croats and the many others who attended the film in your prayers, that the images and words would take root in thier hearts and not be stolen away... that they would be drawn to Christ, our fellowship, and the Word of Grace.

Valtentine's Day

Above: Camden playing with her Valentine's Giraffe in Jelacic trg.

Valentine's Day, or Valentiovo as it's known in these parts, fell on a Wednesday this year. We decided we would transform our regular Wed. night Bible School class into a Relationship Seminar to take advantage of the occasion. We printed up a number of these flyers below advertising the event.

No one came from the streets, perhaps because it was Valentine's Evening and they had other ideas of a romantic night in the city, but seven of our contacts came and it was a tremendous time. Susanna and I put these fun welcome gifts together, just some chocolate, a pen, and an it'll-do notebook. It was a good opportunity to hit the subject of relationships with our people and mix up the routine. Pastor George and I spoke there and based on the rap sessions afterwards, the people enjoyed it.

Above: Camden Swings all by herself as Mom (below) watches from a nearby bench in the Upper City park.

The First Annual GG Zagreb Billiard Tournament

Official Results:

1st: Boris S. 2nd: Eva B. 3rd: Snzjene 4th: Ben T. 5th: Carol A. 6th: P. George A. 7th: P. Tomas B.
(Notice Eva & Carol's standings vs P. Tomas & P. George. Susanna didn't join the competition, lucky for me.)

Pray for Velika Gorica

We have been talking a lot about visiting near by cities and have even been able to do so on a few occasions. With little finances to do so we simply haven't been in a while. Instead of talking about what we "would do...if" we decided to find out the furthest distance we can go on our monthly transportation passes. That is Velika Gorica, a small city/village about 40 minutes outside Zagreb. We gave our five loaves and two fish to the Lord, asking him to do it, and we found ourselves in a close by city speaking with great authority and boldness on the street, making good contacts and thinking about starting a bible study there soon. Pray that miraculous doors open in Velika Gorica, that God would lead us to KEY people and start a great work there, pray for the FRUIT that REMAINS!

Thats all for this edition of the Zagreb Times, thank you for keeping the Tanguay family and TEAM ZAGREB in your thoughts and prayers. See you at the EURO-CON!!!

P.S.- The Chapel Looks Awesome & the messages are out of this world.

Kept by the Power of God,

Ben, Susanna, and Camden

"Missions is the best kept Secret"- P. Schaller

The first snow fall of the season sat softly on the village rooftops along the rolling Croatian countryside, I sat softly also on the first train out to Budapest, Hungary. Susanna and Camden were flying in from America and I could not wait to see them after being apart for nearly a month. The time for me in Zagreb was fruitful and full of evangelism, investment, prayer, bible studies, team life... and the days flew by. Nevertheless, it was time away from my wife and daughter and with the house so quiet i was more than ready to recieve them. They have been back in Zagreb for over a week and it so great to be on the missionfield...

together again.

We just enjoyed a rich visit from Pastor Graham King and a team of 7 hungarians traveling with him (okay 6 hungarians and Krista Wilczek).

The team rolled in Friday evening and crashed in our apartments after a delightful round of lentil soup and fellowship late into the night. They brought with them such a sweet spirit of Life and encouragment from the body in Budapest. Saturday morning, after a P. Graham knockout message on team life and being "findable" by the Word of God, we set out to the city for evangelism.
Apparently, all of the other 950,000 people in Zagreb decided to go the main square on Saturday morning also. We found everything there from a group of men dressed up as mountain goats with clammering bells, to a racous animal rights parade chanting and picketing across the square. (BELOW: Pastor King decided to join them, holdign up a flyer and shouting loudly in a british accent, "Save the Whales")

Enjoying the great weather, we grabbed some pizza near the Train Station and had a lunch rap outdoors in King Tomislav park. Two croats were able to join us as we enjoyed some thoughts from the Bible.

The Group...

Zagreb really is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the sights all over again as we took a walk though the old streets leading to the upper city, sharing the gospel with people along the way. It was a day well spent together and an investment into eternity, pray for all the conversations and for the contacts we made.

In all the things that one could win, there is nothing as valuable as winning a soul!Camden suprised me with how much she had grown since Christmas. With her new repertoire of words, dances, games, and songs... she lights up every room she walks into. I think she is also excited about being a big Sister someday soon.... thats right! Many of those in Baltimore have already learned that Susanna and I are expecting another baby with an arrival date somewhere around September 25th. We had the first check up just the other day and sure enough there appeared on the screen a little bean with a beating heart, we are thrilled about this next step as a family and trust God for His direction of our lives.

Here is the first picture... Big Sister watching a video in her Igloo from Grampa Pray for this coming week as we will be showing The Jesus Film in New Zagreb on Sunday evening, February 11th @ 7pm (thats about 1pm EST). We were given full color posters from Campus Crusade to put around the area and we will be flooding the neighborhoods with flyers all week. We would not be able to do this if it wasnt for the gracious gift of a projector that we recieved while in Baltimore for Christmas. God knows our needs. The film is in Croatian and we were also given magazine style booklets of the Gospel of Luke with the 4 spriritual laws to give to everyone who comes out for the event. Pray for a great attendance, salvations, disciples to continue with us for Bible Studies, families... pray for a church to be PLANTED in New Zagreb.

Thank you for taking the time to read about some of things happeing in Zagreb, Croatia. Pass the news along to anyone who might be interested. This would not be possible without you.

Much Love, The Tanguays