Split and the Diocletian Palace, Where Christian Martyrs didn’t Die for Nothing

The city of Split was unanimously the best two weeks we had on outreach. We managed to find an apartment for all 17 of us that was within our budget. We made a contact with a ministry from Texas who had a cafe and church in the city. For the first week in this beach town it seemed we could do nothing right and it rained constantly. We spent most of our time serving, repainting and decorating at the cafe. Eventually we realized that the historical Diocletian palace that we were in (built 1700 years ago) was a place of heavy spiritual warfare. Finally we followed God’s idea (a very good idea) covering every street we possibly could in prayer making our shoes and clothes soaking wet and cold.

Oddly enough, it was the best time we had even though we weren’t even dancing. God was constantly keeping us on our knees before Him, to help us be unified with each other, to trust in Him and to know that all of our time was based on what He wanted to do with us. Then God started to work. We met a headmaster of a school who seemed to know everyone in the city and we got hooked up with a dance studio who let us use the studio and teach her students in the evening, plus we were able to teach a professional pom pom team and dance at a couple of schools and a YMCA center. By the second week the sun was shining brightly. One day we visited a music academy where we met a student who asked us to come and work with the chamber orchestra and improvise with their music which would later be performed in front of the school. We also got a chance to perform some of our own dances.

Nada, who let us use and teach at her studio was so sweet as well. We believe that God meant for us to meet her. Her father had died only a week before and her mother recently as well. She said that had it not been for our team she would have closed down and given up. She would say to us everyday, “who are your choreographers? There’s something more to your dances. I watch modern dance as much as I can on TV but there’s something different about your dances – I can’t explain what.” And so we were able to share with her the love of Christ. When we left Split she said to us, “You’ve been sent from heaven, I was about to close down my studio…you all love each other and you’re so united, and that’s the reason for your success.”

At the cafe there were a few boys that hung out and worked there constantly. Our contact said that he wished he could video tape the drastic change the boys had when we started to spend time with them. One of the guys, named Dino was struggling with believing in God and he said that we had so much joy as a team and that “most missionaries who come here just preach but you guys don’t have to preach it – you just live it. That’s the difference.” He also said to one of our girls from Costa Rica, “With your testimony I just might believe.” Dani, one guy from Serbia is actually coming to Montana to do the Musician’s Summer of Service!

We had been advertising for our final show at a theater in the Diocletian palace (which ironically was built by the Diocletian ruler who was one of the top persecutors of Christians). We named our show “Adouma” after one of our dances, which means “life” in an African language. It was symbolic that we were spreading life all over the city. At the end of our time in Split we performed in the Diocletian palace and all of the people we had made friends with and the people we had taught and spent time with came to see our show and hear our testimonies. We were able to talk with many of them afterwards and even met people in later days who had watched us and had more questions about God. We know that had we not prayed the first week the second week would not have been so fruitful.

The family that had been working in the cafe ministry there for five years had not seen hardly any growth in the church and we believe that now, there will be a huge harvest and all of their perseverance will finally begin to pay off. They actually said to us that before they ever left to be missionaries in Croatia that a word of prophecy was spoken over them that “a group of performing artists would hugely help your work.” To think that five years ago, God had our school planned to come and help them!

While we were on a ferry to travel to Padova Italy for two weeks, a man came up to our team and asked us, “Are you the dance team that danced in Split?” We told him yes. He said to us, “When you are dancing, I don’t know what it is, it’s something you have to watch, you’re all smiling and there’s a sparkle in your eye – it’s like a magnetic pull – I was drawn to it!” he said also, “I was only able to watch a couple of your dances but I wanted to ask you some questions.” Then for most of the night many of us stayed up with him telling him about why we were in Croatia and about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not only was this a miracle but there was a woman who had talked to this man also about Jesus Christ, who was talked to by one of our girls (Jackie) all the way back in Zagreb four weeks ago! It made us realize that if we change one person’s life with the Truth, they will change other people’s life with their testimony and the chain is endless.

Meanwhile we still had two girls from Samoa and Africa who did not have their visas to enter into Italy with the rest of us. The embassy in Zagreb was being very difficult, and everyday it seemed we were praying for those visas. To process them in that short amount of time was literally impossible but we prayed anyway. Finally, Sene’s was processed five days before we left! After being told a day before we were supposed to leave for Italy that Jackie’s visa for would be an impossibility, we got another call soon after telling us that her visa was ready to be picked up. We picked up her visa the same day we left for Padova! There are no impossibilities with God. In Padova, Italy we would soon realize that even more as God would break more and more boxes that we put Him in.

To View more pictures click on the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericalp/sets/72157604471852460