The Rock Church

English Club has been well attended!

English clubs have been going well. We’ve had over 70 people sign up for them so far, and we’re hoping to have 100 people sign up by the end of the week. Everyone has been very enthusiastic, and we’ve all loved getting to know the university students. God is fostering the foundations for deeper relationships already, and he’s brought several people for each English Club level, so we have our hands full each day with English clubs!

We haven’t had anyone else yet get saved that we know of, so if you could please be praying that we would continue to have Gospel conversations and see more people pass from death to life, it would be much appreciated!

Here are the general plans for the rest of the week. 
We’re having a cooking class tonight and teaching them how to make pancakes! This should be a very fun time. Also, as this is the middle of the week, it’s likely we’re going to get into deeper conversations with the students, and the same for the rest of the week. It will be the standard English club format for Thursday and Friday, although, on Friday, we’ll hold a sort of “graduation” party to celebrate the end of the week.

On Saturday, we’ll be going on an excursion to the town of Chiavenna! We have already begun to invite the students, but please pray that the majority of them will want to come with us and be able to so we can continue to shine the light of Christ in their lives and love on them! 

Church, we’re so grateful for your continued support while we labor here with the Apisas and the Lehtonens. Have a wonderful day!

Grace and peace, Abbi

Posted in Missions by The Rock Church

Salvation on Day One

Well, we’ve been in Italy a little over 24 hours. We got here with everyone, all our luggage, and only mild jet lag. The weather has been pretty nice for us, so far. We might get rain in the last half of the week. Church was great this morning. We got to worship with about 20 Italian members, so our ten increased the numbers by 1/3. For me, it’s always great to catch up with everyone, give them a hug, and just let them know that they aren’t in this alone.

While we were out seeing some of the sights, one of the church members, Andy, from Ohio, and one of the previous English Club students joined up with us. As we walked through the city, Andy (from Ohio) and Lourdes (from the Utah team), shared their stories of salvation with Pasquale, and he prayed to accept Christ. We don’t usually see salvations every year, but God had been working on his heart from coming to previous English Clubs. Please pray for him, his confidence in his salvation, and clarity on taking steps to start his life as a new creation.

We start the English Clubs tomorrow, so we need a lot of prayers. Pray for everyone that signed up and pray for them to show up. Pray for more people to sign up and show up. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help all of us team members to meet lots of people, listen to what they have to say, and to give us the right things to say and the right way to say them. God is at work in Italy, for sure.

We thank you all for your love and support. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do this week and what amazing things He has planned for everyone in the future. In the meantime, we hope all of you are doing well in your own, daily, personalized mission trips that God hand picked each of you for.

God Bless,

Chris Troxel

Posted in Missions by The Rock Church

Reflections From Europe

Recently, my family and I returned from a 10-day trip to Croatia. While we called it a mission trip, in most ways, it was more of a serving trip. My family (and our team of 18) provided childcare for European missionaries so they could fully engage in a conference taught by Pastor Bill. They also got some much-needed relaxation. We watched over a lot of kiddos, swam, and played night games. Not to mention, we also got to eat good food and gelato. Consequently, I’d like to share a few reflections from the trip. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Witnesses of God’s Work: Reflections from Croatia

“God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out on you what you both see and hear.” — Acts 2:33

By God’s grace, we finished our mission successfully. The missionaries were blessed and our team has made lasting friendships and memories. 

Posted in Missions, News by The Rock Church

A Marathon Day of Fun in Vrsar

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” — Acts 20:35

Today was our marathon day, of sorts, with thirty-six children, nine adults, and eleven hours of childcare. This allowed the parents an entire free day to rest and /or adventure around Istria. 

Posted in Missions, News by The Rock Church

The Beauty of Fellowship: A Glimpse of Heaven with God’s People

“For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Our team joined all the missionaries and their children on a boating excursion in the Adriatic Sea today. We stopped for lunch in Rovinj, then headed up the Lim Fjord, stopping at a historic pirate cave. 

Posted in Missions, News by The Rock Church

Third Culture Reality: A Metaphor for the Christian Life

 “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!” — Psalm 90:1

Our team had a full day with the European missionary kids. The older kids (12-19) had a hike, devotional, polar plunge in the Adriatic, rock climbing, board games, and a night game of kick the can. For kids 11 and under, they went swimming, played tag, looked at tide pools, skipped rocks, did an obstacle course, watched a movie, and played video games. It was a full day that hopefully gave their parents essential rest.

Posted in Missions, News by The Rock Church

Gathering with Brothers and Sisters: Following the Example of Paul

“There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome. Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appias and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked them and took courage.” — Acts 28:14-15

It has been an encouraging coincidence that I happened to be studying the book of Acts both leading up to, and during this trip to Croatia. My family, church family, and I (18 of us in all) are here in Croatia to minister to the Saints living abroad as full-time missionaries. These missionaries live scattered throughout Europe, even as far as Africa. I haven’t met most of them yet, but am assuming that they don’t have the same comforts that come from having a close church family back in the States. These missionaries are all familiar with each other, but all working in different parts of the world. So, when they reunite tomorrow, I imagine it unfolding much like those verses above. Where brothers and sisters in Christ gather, there is mutual encouragement.

Posted in Missions, News by The Rock Church