It’s been seven days since I dropped my bags on the floor of a dim apartment on the outskirts of Pozarevac, Serbia and started to process the fact that this would be my home for the next month. One week later and I still have not finished that process. But nonetheless, I’ve experienced a lot of things and feelings in those days and I wanted to share those things with the people who enabled me to get this far.
The city of Pozarevac (locals pronounce it Po-Sha-Ra-Vits) is located about an hour southeast of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. There is a decently-sized “downtown” area with winding, tight streets and buildings on top of one another; but beyond that there are only small towns and villages speckled around it. The ministry we are partnering with is a small evangelical church in the downtown section of the city. The Orthodox Church has an iron grip on the country of Serbia so I’m just going to refer to our contact as “Dave” and to our translator as “Debbie” to ensure I don’t make their lives any more difficult by making it known they are evangelicals.
Essentially, our duty for the month was to show the young people of Pozarevac the real Gospel; that there is a God who loves them and wants a personal relationship with them. Our ministry consists of our team going into town everyday and building relationships with as many young people as we can, while pouring into the youth who currently attend the church.
I’m looking forward so much to the things I’m going to learn from these people and this place in the next month, let alone the ten months after that; but right now I’m just focusing on what I learned the last seven days.
As it turns out, moving halfway across the world and changing every aspect of your life is a very difficult transition. I can’t really explain what it feels like to be dropped into a situation where everything you’ve learned to find comfort in is gone. But when you reach that point you have no option but to deal with your issues, which is the healthiest/most displeasurable thing to do.
I’m learning that living in community 24 hours a day is almost comically difficult. I’m learning that I don’t need to be constantly distracted or entertained to be content. I’m learning that air-conditioning is a luxury, not a necessity. I’m learning that no matter how tired and fed up I feel with everything, it’s still my duty to love on every human being I can. I’m learning that this journey ahead may not be as neat and simple as I expected it to be, and I’m learning that’s the way it should be.
