Montenegro was amazing yet difficult in many ways. Like I said I’m my previous blog the relational ministry was a difficult thing for me. Even though I gave up my expectations to God, I still struggled with meeting new people. Some days I just didn’t want to meet new people. Sometimes God showed up in some unexpected ways.
One man we met in the park was named Vassillya. He was an older man probably in his 60’s. My teammate Lindsey started the conversation with her broken Serbian greetings. He invited us all to sit down and talk. We had one of our amazing hosts with us who was able to translate the whole conversation for us!
He told us about how he was wrongfully accused at his job and put in prison for 17 days. He was housed with some pretty rough guys, but somehow they showed love to him and they even washed his socks. After his time in prison he was under so much stress from the lawsuit and broken friendships that he had a stroke. And ever since that stroke his leg was always hurting. He kept on talking but I just kept thinking how we needed to pray for him. When he got to a good stoping point Lindsey asked him if we could pray from him. We prayed for healing and restored friendships. We told him that we’d be at the park the next day and would love to hear more about him. So we meet up and he had a giant smile on this face! We go over and tells us that his knee felt better than ever! WHATTTT?!?!?! It was amazing to see God work in ways I had never see him work before. We went out and he got us some delicious cake and had more great conversation. He was so thankful that we had so much interest in him and his life. It was so amazing to see how God was able to use us in so many ways to shows his love for Vassillya.
Another way God showed up was in week three. I had a very sore throat and just in general felt like crap. Lindsey had a lingering ear infection and decided to go to the doctor. I was staying home anyway so I went with her and see how the doctor was if I needed to go later. After Lindsey was all done our host told him that I wasn’t feeling the greatest to so I hopped up on his chair and he was able to prescribe some antibiotics. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know how we got started on the conversation about religion. (He knew about the Mennonites—which was amazing!) He told us he was an atheist and doesn’t really like religion but studies their literature a little. God took over the whole situation at that point because I reached in my purse and gave him the little Gideon bible our ministry host gave us to hand out. He received it so well. Even at the doctors, when we felt like crap, we were evangelizing.
So even if something is hard for you, God will still use you in so many ways that you could never imagine. He will provide the knowledge you need to share with those you meet. God will show up anywhere, anytime, no matter how you feel and work in great ways.
Thank you for reading my highlights of my first month on the race! God is really working on my heart already and I can’t wait to see how much he keeps changing me through month 11!
