Starting month two R squad split into individual teams and it'll be like that for the remainder of the Race. My team made its way by train from Bulgaria to Serbia. I loved the train ride. For a moment I stared out the large window at the sun setting over the green hills and I imagined myself in a scene from Harry Potter, just waiting for the food trolley full of chocolate frogs to stroll by our compartment. We made friends, two from Great Britain and one from Holland. I don’t know about the other two but the Hollander would make a good Hufflepuff.
My team is partnered with the only evangelical Christian church [most are Eastern Orthodox] in Pozarevac, Serbia. One small body of evangelical believers [less than 30 members] in a population of about 80,000. Apart from assisting the church with odds and ends, we are having what we call an “ATL month”. ATL stands for Ask The Lord.
So we ATL-ed and then we invited a bunch of girls from the youth group to our apartment for a sleepover last night. We painted nails, ate hot dog-flavored chips [that was a first], made s’mores, belted out to T-Swift & Pink, watched Pitch Perfect and inhaled ice cream.
Earlier in the day our team prayer-walked around the city of Pozarevac and had the opportunity to speak with an old Serbian man who only spoke Serbian [classic]. I was flattered when he started rambling, implying that he thought I was fluent in Serbian. But then it hit me that he might’ve been a little tipsy. His breath smelled and he just came from the bar next door. But he was jolly as a drunk Irish man. And the language barrier didn’t stop him from speaking with us for 20 minutes. We couldn’t get past his fast Serbian speak so we made up what we liked to think he was saying. Things were less awkward that way. “Oh so you’re a Christian?” He points to the tattoo on his arm. “Oh so you’ve been saved since 1975?” He flails his arms making big circular motions. “Ohhh holy spirit, yes.” He eventually gave up and went into the house next to where we were praying outside the church. We prayed for him and found out later that he is the landlord for our church building and he’s not Christian, by the way. We’re continuing to pray for him and plan to speak with him again.. but next time with a translator.
This month is interesting because we are not required to do a lot of physical work. Our ministry is literally to Ask The Lord. It was a delayed adjustment at first because all of us come from backgrounds where we do mostly tangible work and see physical fruits as a result. But I’m reminded that Jesus’s disciples must’ve mastered the “ATL”. How else would they know the Spirit was moving them to say the right words, heal people, or cast out evil spirits? And this small Serbian church is passionate, hungry for the Lord and desiring for Him to speak into their lives. Needless to say, we’re learning how to pray like a boss.
I’m so pumped to build relationships, help women who are trapped in human trafficking, teach English, plant churches, play with children, help the poor. But more than anything I’m excited for more intimacy with God and in doing so learning how to be led by the Spirit. The greatest and most fruitful ministry is the one God, and not man, has the biggest say-so in.
Yesterday when we were sitting outside that church in 100 degrees talking and sweating and praying God put something on my heart so I said, “It feels like this month God is preparing us for something.” Sarah Anne said God has been speaking to her in the same way over the past few days. Whatever is in the upcoming months will be exciting and hard and worth it.
