Pastor Milan Špoljarić of Crkva Krista Kralja (Christ the King Church) went on a morning stroll with us to the nearby auto part store in Rijeka. The bumper of our rental car kissed the curb a little too fast, and the license plate holder needed to be replaced.

Pastor Milan officially retired from church but is still very active in ministry. He’s on rotation with his son Ivan and another elder, Ivan Paracic, for Sunday sermons. They’ve just ended a month-long series on Christian standard for living, emphasizing daily scripture time and abstinence from vices like smoking and drinking. The church parking lot had been extended with the purchase of land in the back and can now accommodate 25 cars. Plans to build a larger campus uphill for 150 people with guest rooms and community space were still awaiting permit from the uncooperative city council, multiple years later. So the new plan is to renovate the old fellowship building behind the church for a smaller 100 people capacity with 2 Sunday school rooms. A contractor surveyed the area today and will propose some possibilities.

Then we set off to meet church member Robbie Marchesi for coffee and lunch. Robbie shared difficulties of housing and general coast of living. A small 2 room condo in Rijeka typically went for $400k, overwhelming on unchanged pre-EU and pre-pandemic salary. Please pray for wisdom and provision for his expanded family.

At the evening prayer, Ja read from Zachariah 9 about the fulfillment of prophesy of Jesus’s first coming and the inevitable fulfillment of his second coming because God is the one who guaranteed it, and he is trustworthy. We prayed for God to be glorified and His name be honored in Rijeka and in Salt Lake, and for their churches, including Risen Life Midvale. We prayed for God’s will to be done in the conflicts around the world. It has been a blessing for us to visit these faithful, prayerful brothers and sisters in Christ for five years now. They are so thankful to see us each year, but we truly receive so much more in return.