Friday morning, we held the last day of Bible classes for the children. Every day, they were such a treat and it was so rewarding to work with the kids. The language barrier was still somewhat an issue, but we heavily relied on the few kids who could interpret to the others for us. We tried to push ourselves out of our comfort zone too and attempt to communicate back to them in their own language, though the kids had no problem laughing at our attempts.
What would Vacation Bible School be without flannelgraph? As Melissa and Pastor Rich told of the story of the conversion of Paul, Jason and Lacey worked the flannel board.
Our second activity was much like hot potato. They passed around a package that was several layers of wrapping and between each layer was a bunch of candy. When it stopped at a kid, they had the option to keep the candy for themself, or to share it with others.
They were all very interested in getting the candy.
We did some more face painting, and little Viktorija chose a pretty flower.
Some of them asked to have our names painted on their faces. It was striking to see possibly how much impact you could have on a young life in such a short span of time.
Brett performs his famous Missing Wedding Ring trick for Stoijan. Given the stories we had been told about the gypsy population, I was concerned that one of them might pull a sleight of hand of their own and the ring would go missing for sure. But we didn't come across any of that, and the kids were surprisingly well behaved the whole week. They were energetic at times, but they all got involved in the activities and crafts we did, and seemed to enjoy the three mornings of class.
The kids loved to have their picture taken. We were happy to oblige.
In the afternoon, we went to another town nearby named Verazdin (Vuh-rahj-din). It also had beautiful castles and a quaint village feel. It was rainy that day, so the missionaries told us not to expect too many people outside. There is a mindset that wet weather causes people to fall ill, so most of them stay inside when it's raining. They also feel the same way about ice cubes and cold drinks, which I had a very hard time getting used to. About four days in, I wasn't the only one who was craving a Big Gulp with tons of ice.
I love how neat and clean the streets are leading towards the main village square.
This statue was outside one of the churches. Notice how the toe has changed color from so many people rubbing it or kissing it for good luck.
Brett's Grgur Ninski impression.
It seemed like every rooftop in the country was the same color.
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