Karl has been so busy since we returned to Serbia.  He began right away getting things ready to completely renovate the kitchen - making the current kitchen into a pantry/expanded dishpit area and moving all of the kitchen into what was the pantry/extra room.  There is also space where the stairs were taken out.  A lot had to be ripped out, busted out, moved out, dug out, and more!  He has to run new drainage pipes for all of the new plumbing (bathroom upstairs, new and relocated sinks, etc.) which involves digging down in the foundation to lay pipe.  It's backbreaking work!!  And it looks like a an archeological site!  :)  Please pray for Karl as he does all of this very physical work!  After the plumbing is complete, he will begin the electric work, and then tile will be put on the floors and walls.  

We also hope for work to begin shortly on the foundation of the dining hall addition of the white house as well as the second floor.  It's a lot of work and will be contracted out to a local company.  Please pray for all that needs to be done before summer camps begin in June!  

Here are some videos for you to look at:
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We're excited about what the Lord is doing at camp!!  Thanks for your prayers and support!

This past month we had a team from World Race with us.  These six came with servant hearts and strong muscles and helped with the next phase of renovation - tearing out the concrete stairs and pouring a new upstairs floor.  It took a lot of muscle, hard work, and sweat to knock down the stairs!  Then it took all of us to help pour the floor - with no stairs, we had to have an assembly line with a couple people making the concrete, a couple loading buckets, a couple hauling the buckets up via pulley and carrying them to Karl who poured the concrete for the floor.  With teamwork, we made it happen!  Then came workers to brick up the walls for the new bathroom.  Karl is working on plumbing and electric now, with new windows and doors on order.  We look forward to this new bathroom for the upstairs rooms!  The team did other work around camp, and we are so thankful for all they did to help Camp Mrcajevci become more useful for all who come!

Wow!  The camp season is underway!  We've already had two weeks of camp - one week of children's camp and one teen camp!  We've also had a week of training for summer missionaries (Christian Youth in Action - CYIA - a CEF training for older teens), and this week is the practicum week, where the teens put their training into practice in different towns.  They are holding 5-Day Clubs, teaching the children games, songs and Bible stories!  

There is no camp this next week, but camps will begin again on July 26th.  There will be one week for children, one week for Slovak speakers, two weeks of music camp, then a week for Hungarian speakers.  More fun and learning about God!  

To see some pictures of the first two camps, click here.  

Thanks for your prayers and support!  I'll update again soon!

Things are done differently in different places around the world.  Sometimes we have to learn a new technique, and other times we have to make do with what we have.  :)  Always an adventure!

Lots of work!  That's what Karl and those helping him have before them!  But things are coming together.  Tile is almost finished in the yellow house!  Darko and Darko have come to help Karl wire the buildings.  Plumbing is ready for fixtures (toilets, sinks, etc.). The walls are ready to be finished and painted.  

To see more pictures, go here.  Thanks for your prayers and support!  Camps start mid-June, so we're working hard to have it all ready!!

Well, it's a mess.  But a mess with a purpose!  The old is being stripped away.  Ok, more like chipped, jack-hammered, beat out with a sledge hammer.... you get the idea.  Walls are a'tumblin' down!  Karl is tearing out the old to make way for the new!  The "yellow house" at camp is getting an entirely new look!  This three-bedroom one bath house is being converted into a cabin with three private-entry bedrooms with their own private bathrooms.  This will be great to give more bathroom space to campers as well as to have rooms when families are at camp.  We're excited about the possibilities!  

How can you help?  Funds are always needed to help pay for the renovations!  Would you consider investing in making these much needed improvements so that more children can come to camp?  Click here to contribute to this project and others!  (Click on Bannert, Karl).  Thank you!!

A look at camp in the winter.  Beautiful.

Greetings to all on this very cold New Year's Day in Serbia!  Snow is covering everything at camp.  Temperatures got below 0F last night!  Brrrr!  

2015 will be a wonderful year at Camp Mrcajevci!  Plans are being made for further renovations, for summer camps, and for retreats.  We are so thankful for donations which will enable us to continue work to make camp for more campers throughout the year!  As soon as it warms up a little, we hope to have AC/heating units installed in the rooms so we can hold camps even when it is cold outside.  Thank you, Lord!  Please continue to pray for other remodeling projects in the coming months.

We pray that 2015 brings you closer to the Lord.  Thank you for serving Him shoulder to shoulder with us.  May the Lord bless you!