Dear All,

I have finally arrived in Slovenia! It took a while, but I am very glad to be here. Thank the Lord there were no problems traveling! Thank you for your prayers! The city of Ljubljana is beautiful. It's surrounded by hills and mountains. There are a lot of old buildings, cobblestone streets and flowers, especially roses. However, the city of 2-300,000 people is slightly bigger than I am used to. Right now learning my way around the city seems very intimidating, but with God's help and you guys cheering me on, I'm sure all will be well. I made my frist bus trip by myself today and that felt like a huge accomplishment. I also took my first language course today. If you are looking for an easy second language to learn, don't try Slovene! But, hopefully by the end of the course I will be able to understand my surroundings a little more.  

All of the volunteers and church people have been so helpful and kind. My roommate has been especially helpful. We had a church picnic on Saturday. That was a great time of getting to know people and meeting the few teens that attend the church at this time. I also heard more about the ministry and challenges in Slovenia. The other volunteers as well as Slovene believers talked a lot about how hopeless most people are and the problems with alcohol and suicide. Slovenia needs the light of Christ. It is my prayer that the Lord will use me to be a light in the darkness. I have found that this is the prayer of the others who minister here. The missionary, Daniel Psaute and the other volunteers focus on being Christ to everyone we meet. I have also found the team attitued of the group I am ministering with to be a huge blessing. We have lots of prayer time together. It is a great source of encouragement.  

Well, I could write more, but there is so much to do and I only have a year! :) I will be writing again soon.  

serving with a smile in Slovenia,

Brittany

p.s. I'm still trying to get all of my e-mail addresses together, so, if you could pass this on to other church memebers that would be wonderful! Also, feel free to pass out my e-mail to whom ever might want to stay in contact with me. Thanks!

For those of you that would like my address here in Slovenia here it is:

Brittany Coleman

c/o Prodnik

Adamiceva 18

1000 Ljubljana

Slovenia (Europe)