It’s MONTH SIX!
and…
I am in Europe.
My team is happily settled at our ministry site, a church in Novi Sad, Serbia. Our ministry consists of helping out with church events, and building relationships in the community. Our ministry is very open, we have freedom to do our own thing most of the time. So far, I have loved it. In fact, yesterday was one of my favorite days on the race so far.
Here’s what happened,
We made plans in the morning to go to the Novi Sad Synagogue for a prayer walk. A little background; this is a historical landmark said to be one of the largest non-active synagogues in Europe. It was in active use from 1909 to 1941 until Serbia was invaded by Germany. Before the second world war, there were 33,000 Jews living in Serbia. About two thirds of Serbian Jews perished in the Holocaust.
In 2014 I traveled to Germany with some friends and we had the chance to visit a concentration camp called Dachau. I remember the feelings of emptiness and heartache I felt while standing on ground where there was once so much pain and sorrow. When we arrived at the synagogue yesterday, I honestly wasn’t expecting to feel these same emotions.
We walked inside and everyone went silent. Two of my teammates are Jewish and grew up practicing Messianic Judaism, which combines Christianity with elements of Judaism and Jewish tradition. They put their arms around each other and started to wipe away tears, and I lost it. In that moment, I felt the same kind of pain I felt when standing in the concentration camp. I imagined this place full of people singing, dancing, and worshipping. We knelt down together and prayed, and then my two teammates sang a traditional prayer. I cant even describe the emotions that came while experiencing this with them, what a beautiful experience that was.
I love my new team, and I can’t wait for more meaningful experiences like this one!
In my next blog I will talk about the second half of this awesome day, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!
