As we arrived in Cacak, Serbia on Wednesday evening we were greeted off of our bus by our ministry hosts, Karl & Julie. They have lived here in Serbia as missionaries for sixteen years and are originally from Texas.
The first night we sat in their apartment building before seeing more of the beautiful city. We joined in fellowship and just listened to how God brought them to Serbia and just how much the Serbs need to know the truth of Jesus.
Many of you may not know, but my paternal grandparents came from Yugoslavia in the early 1900’s. Choosing this route I knew that I would get to see culture of my dad’s family, and I was radiating with joy. God’s favor has poured out more than I could have ever imagined. Losing my dad in February of 2012, God has continued to give me reminders of the loving earthly father that I had even in the midst of grieving.
As we sat in the living room, Karl, went around looking at us and stared at me for not even two seconds and said, “Yes, you could pass as a Serb.” That, my friends, was just what I needed to hear. In that moment was another one of God’s faithful reminders and the greatest compliment I could have received. I then went on to tell him the story of my dad’s family.
Later that night we had some beautiful Serbian food, saw the center, and made our way out to Kamp Mrcajevci. We arrived as there were just a couple more days of sports camp happening. This camp consisted of about 50 kids from the age of 8-16 and reminded me so much of the camp I ran back at home. We participated in some of the activities with the children, but most of our ministry help consists of cleaning up, cooking, and maintenance around the area.
The first couple of days of ministry we mowed and picked up branches…
built a tire swing…
secured a fence…
played water limbo and had water balloon fights…
and have just loved making friendships with everyone we meet.
Among those things, we have cleaned up around Kamp, had a ladies bible study with a few of Julie’s Serbian friends, and have enjoyed watching my teammate Devon use her talent in the kitchen. Praising Jesus for how well we have been eating. 🙂 Keep praying for this country and that the Serbians will find a true relationship with Jesus.
Look out next week for our very first Team Atlas vlog.
Ciao,
Kricket
