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The McCollum Family

Prayer Letter
October 2008
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Dear Friends,
One of our church partners is New Covenant Bible Church in Cedar Rapids, IA. It is the church Mike attended during his junior high and high school years. It is also the church his parents still attend. Last week, we provided a text and some pictures to be shared with the fourth graders there. We thought this might make a good prayer update to send to you so here it is!

Thank you for reading and praying!

Blessings,
Mike, Brenda, Ariel, Connor, Ian, and Lily

Education

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Although last year, Lily attended a Croatian elementary school, all four children are currently homeschooled. Their mother, Brenda, is their main teacher and they each have several hours of work each day. On Fridays, Ariel and Connor ride a train by themselves across town to meet with other missionary kids. They have a discussion group regarding their history and literature lessons. (Right now they are studying ancient Egypt and have made some neat crafts with Brenda's help.) When they are done with this discussion group, they walk to another house where they have science lab related to what they have been working on at our house during the week.

In addition to school at home, the kids take classes at our local cultural center. Connor is taking a computer class, Ian is learning to play the guitar, and Lily is in modern dance.

**Pray that the kids would learn well and that Brenda would teach well.**

Church

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There are 60-80 people in attendance at our church. Currently there are no other girls in Ian and Lily's class and no other boys in Ariel and Connor's. Ian does not play much with the boys in the younger class. Ariel enjoys the girls in the older class but most actually live two towns away so they only see each other at church. There is one girl, though, who is three years younger than Ariel who is fun for her to hang out with. She speaks English well because her dad is British. He is one of the leaders of our church.

**Pray that the church would do a good job of reaching the community for Christ. Also pray for wisdom regarding it starting a new church in a nearby town.**

Language Learning

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We are still in the language learning phase. I am at the university 15 hours per week plus commute and studying outside of the classroom. Brenda cannot focus on studying language this year as she did last year. Her homeschool responsibilities are too great. The kids are hopefully learning language through contact with Croatians at the cultural center and church.  Until our language level reaches an acceptable level, our active ministry will be limited.

**Pray that we would continue to advance in our Croatian language abilities.**

Interests

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Fiona, the dog we got two months after arriving in Croatia, and Blossom, a kitten born this spring in our furnace room, are two big interests for the kids.

Connor, Ian and Lily all enjoy playing with Legos, action figures, dolls and other toys. (Well, Connor doesn't play with dolls...EVER!) Lily and the boys also enjoy video games. While others are playing, Ariel likes to bake or correspond via email and Facebook.

**Praise God with us that the kids enjoy being together!**

Attitudes

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The kids' attitude toward being in Croatia is improving but they haven't fully embraced living here. Last week I listened to Sara Grove's song "Painting Pictures of Egypt." I think that song describes the kids, especially Ariel and Connor, well. Sometimes they think only about the positive things about their old life in America and leave out the parts that weren't so good. All four need to embrace where they are now. Having a good attitude about the language would be a good step in the right direction.

**Pray that the kids would want to learn Croatian, want to make Croatian friends, and meet kids they enjoy being with.**

Encouragement

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The kids love getting correspondence. Contact us through our email and we will send you information on how to connect with them.

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