Yesterday morning, my team and I were set to leave at 4:30am to catch a bus from Pristina, Kosovo to Belgrade, Serbia. Within the first hour, we hit the northern border of Serbia and Alyssa, Greg and myself were asked to come off the bus because the border police had some questions for us. This is not something that is totally out of the norm. Most of the time there are a few people from the squad who are pulled aside for some questioning just because they want to know what we are all doing in their country. So, in my head I wasn’t worried at all, but rather just preparing myself for their questions. But that’s not exactly what ended up happening. Two weekends prior, the three of us had traveled to Macedonia on our adventure/off days and apparently since we had that stamp we had to go back through that same border crossing, on the opposite side of the country. We tried to asked for an explanation, but it was hard to understand the reasoning behind the decision from the border police’s broken English. We think it has to do with Serbia not recognizing Kosovo as a legitimate country with actual borders. The border police suggested that we go back to the city we just came from, grab a taxi to the border of Macedonia, and then take a bus from Skopje, Macedonia to Belgrade, Serbia. No matter how hard we tried to explain our side of things, there was no way they were letting us cross over into Serbia. We had no choice but to follow the instructions we were given and separate from the rest of our team that was able to keep moving forward.
So, with really no time to think at all, the three of us grabbed our belongings and hopped off the bus, while watching the rest of our team ride away to Serbia. We had some frustrations, angry tears, and a few choice words but kept going. We did exactly what the border officer said to do to get Serbia, which set us back a full day of travel. Once we got to Skopje, Macedonia we had about 3 hours until our bus to Belgrade, so we decided to post up in a cafe until then. The crazy part/most cool God moment was when we were leaving the cafe to head back to the bus station to catch our 1:10pm bus. We ran into our friend, Sara, who was on the worship team during Impact Kosova with Alyssa and I just a few weeks prior! She was literally walking across the street towards the same cafe we were leaving. We both noticed each other from across the road and had the same look of shock and amazement. We ran to each other and embraced and couldn’t believe that we had crossed paths with each other again! Just some background on Sara, she is 23 years old and a beautiful, mighty woman of God who loves people so well. Her parents are Albanian, but she grew up in Italy and now lives in Macedonia as a missionary. After our reunion, Sara had to get on her way to a meeting with some other missionaries, so we said our goodbyes, exchanged contact info, and she called us a taxi to the bus station. While the three of us were waiting for our taxi, two men came up to us and asked if we were American. We all answered “yes” and the one who asked, Ed, was like “No way, me too! What are you guys doing here?” We explained that we were missionaries and also about our situation at the border. Ed’s friend Ian, who was from the UK, explained how him and his family were missionaries there in Macedonia and how he was on his way to a meeting with other missionaries in the area. We asked if he knew our friend Sara, and he replied that he was on his way to meet up with her today! With minutes to spare before our taxi arrived, Ed and I were able to exchange emails. He has been a missionary for about 11 years, with no organization, just Him and the Spirit leading Him. Since then, we have been in contact and been lifting each other up in prayer. He has been asking about our time in Kosovo and how we served there, seeing if that is the next place that the Lord wants him to go serve.
I share this story with you today because God is just so good. How cool is it that He would take this situation and turn it into good and for His glory? I’m so amazed by how His Spirit is always moving and guiding us. Obviously God had others plans for us today. Also, I’m super grateful and humbled to now be able to pray for these fellow sisters and brothers who are all bringing the good news of Jesus everywhere they go.
So, what I’ve learned today is when my day doesn’t go as planned and things seem to all be going wrong, I need to pray, have a grateful heart, and remember who is always good and working things for His good. Our God. He is constant, never changing, and a good, good Father.
Our final destination is Pestere, Romania. I know we will get there eventually, but by God’s perfect timing. So, until then we are continuing on our journey, Spirit lead.
Please pray for safe travels and I will keep you all posted! Thank you for your prayers and for reading this 🙂
Be blessed!
Sunny
