Hello Everyone,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ… We hope this
newsletter finds you being refreshed and strengthened in the Holy
Spirit. To bring you all up to date with the latest of what’s
happening here at CC Prishtina; we would like to begin by saying
thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support… This we week
(Friday, Nov. 5th) Celeste and Mark celebrated our 6th wedding
anniversary. We had a wonderful time celebrating as a family in
Skopje, Macedonia. We thank God so much for the gift of marriage and
all the blessings that has come with it such as our beautiful daughter
Isabella.
Since we have been back from our furlough in August we have faced some
challenging times. Beginning with the break-in to our facility (which
we have gotten through), then we have had some of our members in the
fellowship face hardships economically and from their families. They
face a lot of discouragement as they do not really have the option to
move out of their homes away from their families and live on their own
where they have more freedom to live for Christ. Pray specifically for
Besi and Florim that are going through this. Pray that God will
strengthen them and encourage them and pray that they will grow in
their faith and see God come through for them. Pray that God will
provide for their needs.
Celeste’s mom’s meeting on Wednesday’s is going very well, as it
provides a time for Celeste and the ladies that come, some fellowship
and encouragement. They do need help with child care. Please pray that
the Lord will send help for the area of child care ministry. This
individual could also be useful in the area of kids and youth outreach
as well such as conducting a Saturday Kids Club
Last Friday Mark stopped in for a visit at the hospital to see some
friend s that he hadn’t seen for a while. While there he visited a
couple patients in ICU. One of them was a boy that was badly burned.
He spoke with him briefly and prayed for him. Mark is visiting the
hospital now once a week after not having been there for a while. Pray
that the Lord will use him to minister to people there including the
hospital staff. This coming Christmas we will be doing another the
Operation Christmas Child gift box distribution at the hospital. Pray
for the preparations for our Christmas outreach with the shoe boxes.
Pray that all of them will get to us here in Kosovo without any
problems.
Mark has continued spending a lot of time doing one-on-one
discipleship with the young men in our fellowship which has been real
fruitful. Mark has Lirak presently translating the “Calvary
Distinctives” by Pastor Chuck. Our Sunday Service study through the
book of Colossians has been a rich blessing for Mark personally as for
those in the church, we have been studying it in depth. In verse 27
we read; “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. This phrase has really
taken on significance to us as we have studied what this means; His
destiny has become our destiny. We are a people with a destiny of
glory as joint heirs with Christ!! On Thursday evenings we are
starting a study through 2nd Chronicles looking that that history of
the kingdom of Judah. Some exciting stuff to look forward to. God
bless you all and thanks again for your prayers and support.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella
Support:
Mark and Celeste Yocom
c/o Global Adventures
4001 Osuna RD. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
This Morning
In the morning after breakfast Isabella normally likes to cuddle with mommy and daddy. This morning after our cuddle time Isabella said "let's do something else." My response was "ok, how about mommy reads her Bible and exercises, daddy reads his Bible and Isabella reads her Bible in her crib. How does that sound?" Her response was "sounds great."
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Ministry Update
Hello Everyone,
Greetings to you all from CC Prishtina... First of all thanks again for your prayers and support. The Lord has been so faithful in answering the prayers of his saints... We see the Lord faithfully sustaining us and strengthening us through trying times... Here are some things to update you on... On April 7th we will be going to the US for a four month visit till August 9th... We will be staying in several different regions throughout our visit. So here is our itinerary so that you will know where we are and hopefully we can meet up with many of you who are States side.
April 8th-May 12th we will be in Northern California (Bay Area)
May 12th-June 12th will be in Southern California
June 12th-July 22nd we will be in New Mexico/Arizona/Colorado
July 22nd-August 9th will be in Northern California
August 9th we return to Kosovo.
Here are some things we need prayer for in regards to our visit back to the States.
We still need someone who can come help with the work here at CC Prishtina while we are gone. Their responsibilities would be looking after the practical needs of our home and church facility, ministering to the believers in our fellowship, and teaching at least once a week. (Lirak could probably manage on his own but because he works a full time job he needs help).
We are in need of accommodations and vehicles in some of the places will be visiting.
Pray for God's provision in the area of practical needs.
Pray for the continued provision of the our financial needs of the ministry at CC Prishtina.
Other than our plans for the trip to the US here are some other things going on here. We have a couple teams coming this year. One from Vienna that was here last Spring... The team will be doing a soccer outreach in the community. They will be here over the Easter weekend. And then in July a team from CC Leipzig Germany will be coming to do a 10 day outreach. Among other things the team will be conducting a church retreat for the members of our fellowship.
Due to weather conditions and other factors lately we have canceled the community clean up project and have instead been going to the hospital to minister to patients on Saturday afternoons. A couple of the guys in our fellowship have been coming with me and they have really enjoyed ministering and praying for the patients and their families.
One young man in our fellowship named Besim who had been going through a lot of difficulties recently with his family has really experienced a touch of God in his life and is really on fire for the Lord and he has gotten really exited about serving the Lord and evangelizing in the community. Pray for Besim that God will protect him and use him. Pray also that God will provide work for him.
We continue to see God work among the US soldiers stationed here in Prishtina through the weekly Bible Study at Film City (NATO HQ base). It has been a great blessing to study the life of David with them, Pray that God will continue to bless this specially ministry that God has opened to us.
Recently we have had some new people coming around, that members in our fellowship have been inviting. Please keep them in your prayers... One is Ilir a law student studying at the university here in Prishtina. He is very open and close to receiving the Lord.
Also this past week I met with Armend, the brother who had back slidden last summer. While the desire is there to want to follow the Lord he faces much pressure in difficult circumstances, being at home among family members (especially his father) that oppose his decision to follow Christ and sadly he was pressured to get engaged to a Muslim girl.
He is hoping to find a job in Prishtina so that he can move back here and have greater freedom to follow Christ and attend church. Please pray that God will give Armend the strength and grace to stand strong and uncompromising in his faith and that God will allow a way of escape from the living situation that he is in to be able to move back to Prishtina.
Pray that God will really get a hold of his heart and bring about a restoration in his life.
Lirak is now working a new full time job at the US Army base called Camp Bondsteel which is 40 minutes from Prishtina. He is able to come on the days when we have meetings (Sundays and Wednesdays) but is living at the camp the rest of the time. Pray that God's hand and protect would be upon CC Prishtina and that he would continue to provide for the needs of our fellowship and ministry.
Pray for Lirak as he will start teaching the Word once a week when we leave to the US. Pray that God's anoint would be upon him to minister to the members of our fellowship. Pray that God will give him wisdom and a shepherds heart. Pray also that the Lord will work out his transportation needs to get between work the Army and Prishtina.
Thanks again for your faithful prayers and support... We really appreciate each one of you who have been standing in the gap. Again we hope to see many of you who are State side this coming Spring and Summer. keep in touch and God bless you.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella
Greetings to you all from CC Prishtina... First of all thanks again for your prayers and support. The Lord has been so faithful in answering the prayers of his saints... We see the Lord faithfully sustaining us and strengthening us through trying times... Here are some things to update you on... On April 7th we will be going to the US for a four month visit till August 9th... We will be staying in several different regions throughout our visit. So here is our itinerary so that you will know where we are and hopefully we can meet up with many of you who are States side.
April 8th-May 12th we will be in Northern California (Bay Area)
May 12th-June 12th will be in Southern California
June 12th-July 22nd we will be in New Mexico/Arizona/Colorado
July 22nd-August 9th will be in Northern California
August 9th we return to Kosovo.
Here are some things we need prayer for in regards to our visit back to the States.
We still need someone who can come help with the work here at CC Prishtina while we are gone. Their responsibilities would be looking after the practical needs of our home and church facility, ministering to the believers in our fellowship, and teaching at least once a week. (Lirak could probably manage on his own but because he works a full time job he needs help).
We are in need of accommodations and vehicles in some of the places will be visiting.
Pray for God's provision in the area of practical needs.
Pray for the continued provision of the our financial needs of the ministry at CC Prishtina.
Other than our plans for the trip to the US here are some other things going on here. We have a couple teams coming this year. One from Vienna that was here last Spring... The team will be doing a soccer outreach in the community. They will be here over the Easter weekend. And then in July a team from CC Leipzig Germany will be coming to do a 10 day outreach. Among other things the team will be conducting a church retreat for the members of our fellowship.
Due to weather conditions and other factors lately we have canceled the community clean up project and have instead been going to the hospital to minister to patients on Saturday afternoons. A couple of the guys in our fellowship have been coming with me and they have really enjoyed ministering and praying for the patients and their families.
One young man in our fellowship named Besim who had been going through a lot of difficulties recently with his family has really experienced a touch of God in his life and is really on fire for the Lord and he has gotten really exited about serving the Lord and evangelizing in the community. Pray for Besim that God will protect him and use him. Pray also that God will provide work for him.
We continue to see God work among the US soldiers stationed here in Prishtina through the weekly Bible Study at Film City (NATO HQ base). It has been a great blessing to study the life of David with them, Pray that God will continue to bless this specially ministry that God has opened to us.
Recently we have had some new people coming around, that members in our fellowship have been inviting. Please keep them in your prayers... One is Ilir a law student studying at the university here in Prishtina. He is very open and close to receiving the Lord.
Also this past week I met with Armend, the brother who had back slidden last summer. While the desire is there to want to follow the Lord he faces much pressure in difficult circumstances, being at home among family members (especially his father) that oppose his decision to follow Christ and sadly he was pressured to get engaged to a Muslim girl.
He is hoping to find a job in Prishtina so that he can move back here and have greater freedom to follow Christ and attend church. Please pray that God will give Armend the strength and grace to stand strong and uncompromising in his faith and that God will allow a way of escape from the living situation that he is in to be able to move back to Prishtina.
Pray that God will really get a hold of his heart and bring about a restoration in his life.
Lirak is now working a new full time job at the US Army base called Camp Bondsteel which is 40 minutes from Prishtina. He is able to come on the days when we have meetings (Sundays and Wednesdays) but is living at the camp the rest of the time. Pray that God's hand and protect would be upon CC Prishtina and that he would continue to provide for the needs of our fellowship and ministry.
Pray for Lirak as he will start teaching the Word once a week when we leave to the US. Pray that God's anoint would be upon him to minister to the members of our fellowship. Pray that God will give him wisdom and a shepherds heart. Pray also that the Lord will work out his transportation needs to get between work the Army and Prishtina.
Thanks again for your faithful prayers and support... We really appreciate each one of you who have been standing in the gap. Again we hope to see many of you who are State side this coming Spring and Summer. keep in touch and God bless you.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Update for the new year
Hello Everyone,
Greetings to you from CC Prishtina. First of all thanks for your prayers and support. This past Christmas we had some fruitful outreach to the community which included reaching out to the kids through the Saturday Kids Club program. This year we did not distribute the shoebox gifts to the kids as we have done in past years. We sensed the Lord impressing upon us the need to emphasize and celebrate the coming of Christ into the world with out the gift distribution. We taught them the need to give ourselves, our hearts and lives, to the Lord as a gift to him in return for the gift of salvation that he has given to us. The response was very good and kids still came back the following weeks even after telling them we would not be doing the gift distribution. Then for our Christmas Eve service some of the kids brought their parents and we had a great time of celebration with them. We did do a shoebox gift distribution to some poor families in the area and at the pediatric hospital here in Prishtina after the New Year’s and some US service men and women stationed at the NATO HQ here in Prishtina came alongside to help with the distribution. And as always, as in recent years, we were well received by the kids, their families, and the hospital staff.
This Christmas we were also blessed with the visit of our worship leader Niti who was home from school for the holidays. We also attended a wedding of some friends of ours whose son got married. So now having begun a new year we look forward to what the Lord is going to do in 2010. To begin the year I have started doing a weekly Bible Study at the NATO HQ for US soldiers stationed there. We just started a study on the life of David. We really feel honored to be able to serve those that are serving our country in uniform. Presently at CC Prishtina we started going through Paul’s letter to the Philippians on Sundays and on Wednesdays we are still in 2nd Kings. Lirak is doing a great job teaching as he and I are rotating on Wednesdays. Our friend Jen who serves in another city in the region called Malishev is still coming out every other Sunday to lead worship for which we are very grateful.
We do have a special need that we feel we need to make known to you so that you can pray for us. We have now been in our present facility for just over a year now. We like the location and the facility has been suitable for our needs as a church. However we like many others have been impacted by the recession and we are finding it difficult to afford the rent which is 800 euro’s (approx $1,150) per month not including utilities, especially now that we have a vehicle which has substantially added to our expenses. So at this point we are faced with how to go forward. Do we just go by faith believing, trusting from month to month that God will somehow provide for our rental needs, or do we start looking for another place that is half expensive? So I would ask for your prayers, that God would give us wisdom and guidance about what to do.
Also we are hoping to do a 2-3 month trip to the US this coming summer. It has been over 2 years since our last trip so we are over due for a visit. During the time we are gone from Kosovo I hope to have someone here to oversee the fellowship and ministry. So please pray for God’s provision in making the trip possible and that he would send help to cover while we are gone.
That is all for now… Thank you again for you prayers… Keep in touch and God bless you.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella.
Greetings to you from CC Prishtina. First of all thanks for your prayers and support. This past Christmas we had some fruitful outreach to the community which included reaching out to the kids through the Saturday Kids Club program. This year we did not distribute the shoebox gifts to the kids as we have done in past years. We sensed the Lord impressing upon us the need to emphasize and celebrate the coming of Christ into the world with out the gift distribution. We taught them the need to give ourselves, our hearts and lives, to the Lord as a gift to him in return for the gift of salvation that he has given to us. The response was very good and kids still came back the following weeks even after telling them we would not be doing the gift distribution. Then for our Christmas Eve service some of the kids brought their parents and we had a great time of celebration with them. We did do a shoebox gift distribution to some poor families in the area and at the pediatric hospital here in Prishtina after the New Year’s and some US service men and women stationed at the NATO HQ here in Prishtina came alongside to help with the distribution. And as always, as in recent years, we were well received by the kids, their families, and the hospital staff.
This Christmas we were also blessed with the visit of our worship leader Niti who was home from school for the holidays. We also attended a wedding of some friends of ours whose son got married. So now having begun a new year we look forward to what the Lord is going to do in 2010. To begin the year I have started doing a weekly Bible Study at the NATO HQ for US soldiers stationed there. We just started a study on the life of David. We really feel honored to be able to serve those that are serving our country in uniform. Presently at CC Prishtina we started going through Paul’s letter to the Philippians on Sundays and on Wednesdays we are still in 2nd Kings. Lirak is doing a great job teaching as he and I are rotating on Wednesdays. Our friend Jen who serves in another city in the region called Malishev is still coming out every other Sunday to lead worship for which we are very grateful.
We do have a special need that we feel we need to make known to you so that you can pray for us. We have now been in our present facility for just over a year now. We like the location and the facility has been suitable for our needs as a church. However we like many others have been impacted by the recession and we are finding it difficult to afford the rent which is 800 euro’s (approx $1,150) per month not including utilities, especially now that we have a vehicle which has substantially added to our expenses. So at this point we are faced with how to go forward. Do we just go by faith believing, trusting from month to month that God will somehow provide for our rental needs, or do we start looking for another place that is half expensive? So I would ask for your prayers, that God would give us wisdom and guidance about what to do.
Also we are hoping to do a 2-3 month trip to the US this coming summer. It has been over 2 years since our last trip so we are over due for a visit. During the time we are gone from Kosovo I hope to have someone here to oversee the fellowship and ministry. So please pray for God’s provision in making the trip possible and that he would send help to cover while we are gone.
That is all for now… Thank you again for you prayers… Keep in touch and God bless you.
By His Grace,
Mark, Celeste, and Isabella.
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