SEND South Central Europe had its area conference from August 13 through August 18. This was our second conference since arrival on the field and it was very refreshing. Here is a snapshot of our travels and conference.

On Tuesday the 12th we drove to the eastern side of Croatia. The area is called Slovonia. We did this because it is too far to safely drive all the way to Bulgaria in one day but we didn't want to cross into Serbia as that would have cost us an extra day out of the country. (Because of the current laws for foreigners, we are only allowed 30 days out of the country per year.) We made a side trip to the town of Vukovar. Vukovar recieved very heavy casualties during the war between Croatia and Serbia in the early 1990s. We wanted to see the town and to get a feeling for what happened there. Vukovar has become a symbol for the people of Croatia and still evokes strong emotions among the people here.

We were disappointed that we got to town too late to go through the museum or even to get information in the tourist office. We just bought a book from a hotel lobby and gave ourselves a brief tour. Of course, I took quite a few pictures. (Probably too many.) Here are some of them:

The Museum

The Danube River (Rijeka dunav)


Memorial Cross


A Small Boat (I tried to get artsy.)

Bullet Damage Was Everywhere

Many Buildings Are Vacant and Heavily Damaged







The Kids with Croatia's First President


Brenda was moved by the flowers flowing out of this ruined building.



This old woman, Marija, came over to us and showed us pictures of her dead husband's coffin. She told us that she has three great-grandchildren. She expressed to us how hard life is for her.



Then she went around the corner to see how much money we gave her for her story.

Once we were actually at conference in Bulgaria we had a mix of both business and pleasure.

We were refreshed and encouraged by good teaching from a guest speaker.


We enjoyed an excursion up a mountain via chair lift:
 




While on the mountain we saw many, many para-gliders:



Ian had fun with the other boys:



Lily had a good time too!


I even found something on the mountain to try to get artsy about:


For the kids, swimming at the pool was a big part of the week.




Of course the main reason for conference was business meetings. We discussed proposed changes to SEND's organizational and decision making structure. We also listened to reports from each country and prayed for those countries. The following picture is of me giving the report for Croatia.



Here is picture of the entire SEND South Central Europe team:


On our way home, we took another side trip in eastern Croatia. This time it was to meet the family of some of Ariel and Connor's friends from camp. They live in Osijek. We found the town to be beautiful...



...but new friends to be more so!



Oh...does anybody know how to order a Quarter Pounder in Bulgarian?
 

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