Catch Me If You Can (Part SERBIA/BULGARIA) - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Something about Serbia caught my attention when I was looking at the different race routes. All year long, I anxiously awaited the time we would enter Eastern Europe to see what it was about Serbia that the LoRd had been building my excitement for. When we had to go around it the first time for visa issues, I was so confused having felt confident that I was meant to go but kept getting delayed. The feeling of having to go continued on all throughout Montenegro, so I invited the team into praying over going there, even if for only a short time, before entering Bulgaria. They were on board with seeing what I was so hyped about, and we made it work to spend a few days there.

Throughout each country I’ve been to so far, I’ve learned not to give any value to the first impressions given at the bus or train station we get dumped off at, and Nis, Serbia was no exception. It was a dark and dreary day, and the bus station was loud, dirty, and in a very underwhelming part of town. People walked by with serious, stern looks, focused on where they were going as they passed by. We had gotten this feel many times before throughout Eastern Europe, but something about this town felt different. We finally made it to our hostel, exhausted after long hours of travel, and couldn’t check in for the next few hours so I went exploring. My team would tell you there was something supernatural about the joy I carried throughout both Serbia and Bulgaria that didn’t make sense because from the moment we landed in these countries, it was dark and heavy. I loved it though. From the moment we landed, we were busy.

One of my squadmates, Kate, had been to Nis the month prior and made a few connections she introduced us to. Our time started off well with an invitation to an opera performance by some of the local church members. Kate brought us to a smoothie place where we met Desa, a sweet and curious women Kate met the month before. We sat in the smoothie shop for hours at a time, days in a row, just sitting, sharing life, and answering questions she had about Christ. We showed up one night in the middle of town and watched an international pole vaulting competition. The language barrier was tough but we got the gist. We visited the local church and on the last day, we visited a concentration camp from World War 2. Hostel ministry had to be my favorite part though… This is something we are excited about for Asia because meeting fellow travelers who are looking for answers anyway can make ministry easy. We got to meet people from all around the world, including Paul, a forrester from Canada who linked up with us and traveled to Bulgaria with us!

I’m not 100% sure why I had such a fire, passion, and desire to get to Serbia, but it was tough to leave. We spent a few days there and headed to Bulgaria for another very short time which I may have actually liked more. We got to visit Sofia for a day and then headed to Varna where we met and interacted with locals and even got a personal tour. Vanessa, Jac, and Alex went for coffee one morning and met a couple who volunteered to take us all around the coast of Bulgaria the next day!

For someone who has such a passion and opinion about long-term missions’, it’s interesting to see and experience how the LoRd is breaking down my own stereotypes and teaching me to be intentional, pour in, and love the person right in front of me, no matter how much time we spend together. Maybe ministry does look like “loving unreached people in reached places” by going to a coffee shop and building a relationship with the same barista a few times a week. Maybe ministry looks like taking someone up on an offer to be driven around ridiculously gorgeous beaches to spend time together, get to know them more, and challenge them in what they think while learning how to better share what I think. Maybe ministry looks like making time to listen and love the teammate beside me, to hear what’s going on in their world and learn how I can love them better. I continually have to take off the lens and expectations of what I think ministry has to be and be attentive to who is on His heart for that day. Someone recently reminded me that this kind of short term missions’ is just what Jesus did. What a helpful reminder:)

Here are a bunch of snippets from my time in Nis, Serbia, and Sofia and Varna, Bulgaria.

Welcome to Nis

Everyone had their own nook! Arguably one of our favorite hostels around the world.

I couldn’t resist.. Sorry Jess:P

Everyone gathered in the center of town for the World Cup games.

Our new friend Desa!

The entrance to the concentration camp. So many pics I could share…

Traveling through Sofia for a day included a trip into town to see the famous Alexander Nevsky cathedral, Thai food, and lots and lots of street art. Loved all of it!