I met a guy named Rotso who lives in our hall at the hotel. Here is what life looked like over the last couple of weeks with him.
Coffee get together number one: ?He asked us to coffee. We got to know him and hear a little about his story. He is divorced and has custody of his daughter Yovanna. He is an Orthodox Christian.
Get together number two:
He invited us to go with him to see what an Orthodox practice of walking three hundred year old bones to the Orthodox Church looked like. The holy bones walk as we began to refer to it. I was a little skeptical at first, but thought why not. Turns out, we got the opportunity to talk with him while walking for over an hour about what we believe about Jesus. We got the opportunity to share about how we can talk directly to God and don’t have to talk through priests or saints (which is what he believes).
Coffee get together number three:
We met and all ordered. We found out that he is a professor here in Montenegro. He ultimately wants to move to Serbia and work there. He told us about how since he was divorced that has been really hard for him and that is culturally looked down upon in Montenegro. He shared with us about his religion and what he believed. He talked about how he believed in three years and six months Jesus would come back. At that time we would have the option of being micro chipped or not and that would determine your fate as to whether or not you were going to Heaven or hell. He just continued sharing things that were way over my head and I thought man there will be no fruit from this conversation. I began to ask the Lord for help and to provide a way to share with him what we believed. A minute or so later he asked what do you believe. I got the opportunity to share that I know where I am going because Jesus died for my sins and made a way for me. Because of that I can talk to Him wherever and whenever. He was absolutely shocked to hear this and couldn’t comprehend how that could happen. We wrapped up our time together and headed back to the hotel. When we got back I believed that we were supposed to give him a Bible. I ran upstairs and got one for him and he was so grateful.
Coffee get together number four:
We met up one last time before we had to leave. We got to share Christ’s love he had for him one last time. We got to hear about how his week was and how things had been hard. We didn’t have long due to his busy schedule but we were able to answer any final questions he had and let him know that we would be praying for him.
I have no idea what Rotso believes right now. I do know that seeds were planted and questions and thoughts were raised over those few days we got to spend time with him.
I am learning that quality is over quantity and building relationships and loving people is exactly what we are called to do. We are not called to change or convict but to meet them right where they are at. We don’t always see the fruit of what the Lord is doing but we have to go forth in faith knowing that God has a plan far greater than we can see although we may never know the outcome. Even if I only got to know a couple of people this month then that is alright. It only takes one to continue sharing with others the love Christ has.
