Carol Crom    

 

Carol Crom

Serving as a field correspondent.

 

My Story:

I was born in Iowa, the youngest of five children. We lived in a small farming town, Onawa, on the Nebraska/Iowa border. I loved to read and dreamed of traveling to faraway places, never imagining how true that dream would someday be. I started a course in computer programming at a small college. After three months of classes a few businessmen came to conduct practice interviews with the students. The surprise came a few weeks later when the insurance company I “practice interviewed” with offered to hire and train me. That began a nine-year career as a computer programmer/technician which eventually led to Orlando, Florida.

 

In 1985, the company I worked for in Orlando bought another, larger company and we were ordered to move north to Michigan, in November. I was used to snow but didn’t want to leave Florida. This seemed like a good time to take 3-6 months and go on a short-term mission project. At my pastor’s advice, I applied to an organization that matches interested people with positions available. Due to my computer experience, 47 organizations were recommended. I eliminated any based in North America or Europe except one group in Holland with which I had already been in contact. Five mission applications were sent out. The first response was to help build a school in the jungle of Venezuela, South America but I really wanted an opportunity to get to know a different culture and decided their one-month program was too short. The next offer was from Holland—to spend three months taking Bibles and books into Eastern Europe. My company agreed to give me time off if I moved to Michigan and worked for them six months—exactly until the day I was accepted to go to Holland. It seemed clear the Lord was in control despite the fact that my flight to Europe was cancelled, three times, due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster which happened just four days before I left. Central Europe became a region people were seeking to flee, not to visit.

 

My first trip was smuggling books into Czechoslovakia. Little did I (or anyone) dream that in less than three years the Iron Curtain would fall or that one day I’d be living in Bratislava, now the capital of an independent Slovak Republic! Through God’s provision, after the changes instead of bringing books illegally into communist lands we helped to start seven Christian publishing houses all across the region.

 

In September 2005, I joined Entrust (then known as Biblical Education by Extension, or BEE) as part of the Communications Team, sharing stories of where God is working in His world. It has been a wonderful fit.

 

May 1, 2006 was the 20th anniversary of when I came for a three-month ‘mission project’. It hasn’t always been easy. Slovak can be a frustrating language with its many tenses and word endings whose logic still escapes me, even though I am thankful to understand almost everything and communicate (even with butchered grammar) in nearly any situation. I have also learned “missions” is not something you do for a short-term and then you go back to your “real life”. “Missions” is putting your faith in action every day, in whatever job or situation the Lord places you.

 

Between leaving Iowa and moving to Europe, I lived in California, Missouri, Florida and Michigan. In Europe I lived in Holland (3 ½ years), Austria (2 ½ years) and in Slovakia since Feb. 1st, 1993. It is clear to me and those I work with that the Lord has led me here and He will provide what is needed. The local church in Bratislava is able to fulfill the role of spiritual and emotional support, but can’t contribute financially. I am looking for people, called by God, to join my monthly support team. In order to meet my living and travel costs, I need to increase the amount of regular gifts by $500 / month. That is a large amount, but it isn’t impossible for a group of people, working together. It isn’t impossible for God.  

 

To make a gift to Carol click here and select "Crom, Carol" under the Missionary pull down. For information on other ways to give click here.

 

 

For more updates and stories click on the links below to view Carol's newsletters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NameSizeTypeLast Modified
Crom - 2009 05157.8 KBPDF Document11/20/2009 3:44:10 PM
Crom - 2009 07141.6 KBPDF Document11/20/2009 12:46:18 PM
Crom - 2009 1095.5 KBPDF Document11/20/2009 12:46:19 PM
Crom - 2009 11208.5 KBPDF Document11/20/2009 12:46:20 PM
Crom - 2009 12235.8 KBPDF Document12/28/2009 6:00:21 PM
Crom - 2010 03154.2 KBPDF Document3/16/2010 4:24:32 PM
Crom - 2010 08113.7 KBPDF Document8/26/2010 4:31:06 PM
Crom - 2010 11158.7 KBPDF Document12/1/2010 5:55:43 PM
Crom - 2011 02141.3 KBPDF Document3/1/2011 6:52:52 PM
Crom - 2011 09171.4 KBPDF Document9/26/2011 9:04:30 AM
Crom - 2011 12664.0 KBPDF Document12/24/2011 11:57:04 AM