I feel like I’m living in a paradox where foreign and familiar coexist within the very same seconds that fill my day. This past week my team and I have served at Kamp Betel, which is a church camp for teenagers ages 12+. I have been filled and poured out more times this week than I can remember and my heart swells with love (and my eyes with tears) when I think of the new friends that we have made since we have been in Serbia. I am in awe of the hospitality, love, and genuine kindness that has been shown to me.
Highlights from this past week include
- Belly-laughing while playing bananagrams with Emily Holland, Gracie, and McCrea
- Getting completely soaked during a prank war at camp
- Playing basketball in the rain
- Picking wildflowers in the Serbian countryside
- Melting a coffee pot (still adjusting to nonAmerican appliances lol)
- Reaching across fences to pick apples with Gracie, Diamond, and Justin
- Singing worship in Serbian and English twice a day
- Sharing the testimony God has given to me with strangers that are now friends
But, I would have to say that the biggest way God has used Serbia to impact my heart is through the people here.
How can 13 year olds love with such tenderness that brings me to tears? How am I able to laugh deeply over a joke that was said from the mouth of a boy whose mother tongue is not my own? How is it possible to meet someone and know the testimony of God’s faithfulness in their lives only 10 minutes later? Surely it is only because of God’s graciousness.
Thank you for reading and being patient with me as I have tried to put my experiences into words to share with you. I love Serbia and I am excited to see how The Lord moves within the next 10ish days that I am here.
all the love,
Emily
Blessed is the manwho walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the lawof the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3
