This week I had the privilege of going on a trip with a small team to the Balkans countries. We went to Greece, Albania, and Macedonia. What a trip this was.
We had a rough total of 32 hours in the car, about 1,000 tracks to pass out and absolutely no idea what towns we were going to or where we were going to sleep.
Personally, I love this lifestyle of living in the unknown, because it brings deeper dependency and trust that: God will take care of me, that He will provide everything I need, and He will protect me in every situation, putting me exactly where I need to be.
We finally get to Veroia, Greece (Acts 17: Paul was kicked out of Thessaloniki and went here) and everywhere we went, we got out hoping someone would speak English and we can evangelize. God had put divine appointments throughout our whole trip. As soon as we got out of the car some people on my team met 2 English speaking Christians, that were potential connections for future ministry in Greece. We kept walking around the streets passing out tracks and getting mostly rejected. Then, after a long time of walking around going to Paul’s Tribune, seeing some ancient ruins, and visiting an Orthodox Church, we decide to head to Albania for the night. On the way to the car we are handing out whatever tracks we had left and I hand one to a man and he says to me “why are you giving me this I could be an atheist.”, my response to him was “well that’s the chance I take to love people”. He looked at me for a minute and then we proceed to have a really good conversation about creation, love and God.
For me Greece was the hardest country on this trip, we experienced so much rejection. This brought me to Galatians 1:10.
“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal I would not be Christ’s servant.”
The rejection on the streets of Greece and really anywhere isn’t a rejection we bare, we give people the choice and when they do reject us they reject God. All I did was be a vessel that could bring a potential transaction between someone who is lost and the father.
Our next stop was Albania, at this point we had been driving since 4 in the morning. We had eaten at 10 am and hadn’t eaten since. It was 10 pm when we arrived in Albania. We were tired and hungry and had realized some much at this point. Yes, I’m hungry and I’m tired but we are literally doing what Paul did. Going to these small towns bringing God’s word and His love, if we don’t eat that’s okay because God will sustain me, has the only bread I need.
God is so so good. We ended up eating that night, and it ended up being one of my favorites, SPAGHETTI. That was something so small, God just showed me again that when we give up everything to Him, He blesses us so much.
The next morning we were blessed with such a beautiful view of Albania from the mountain to see the valley we were going into was so so cool.
After a couple hours of handing out tracks we had come to the last block, before leaving. At this point I was not feeling so hot and I was very tired, and I just really needed more of Jesus. Emalani and me sat down and began to pray and read scripture. I felt the Lord moving and i looked up and saw a young girl with a pink coat and pink hair walking with her mom and God said to me “That’s her”, so i go to get up and talk to her and he says “no stay still she will come back to you”. Immediately I doubted God because I thought that evangelism was seeking people out. She passes by and we keep praying and i feel a tap on my shoulder and look up and it was her, I was so excited. She asked me what I had in my hand and I gave her the track and explained that this was the reason we came. She thanked me and smiled and walked away with her mom again. Through this interaction, God showed me that evangelism can be still because of the sweet aroma the presence of the Holy Spirit in us attracts people.
We left Albania that afternoon and I was completely in awe of God, but I knew a feast was awaiting us in Macedonia.
At this point in the trip we have basically had all snacks and were itching for a good meal, and also itching to get out of the car. As soon as we cross the Macedonian border, my bible app on my phone rings and the verse is 2 Corinthians 9:15 which was the oddest out of context verse, or so i thought. When I looked in the Bible this passage was talking about the churches in Macedonia and how they gave glory to God because of the ministry they brought long ago. God was already showing off and we had just crossed the border. We drive further and pull over at an apple orchard to get some apples and this apple was the most perfect red, sweet, crunchy apple I have ever had. Already we had feasted spiritually and physically, and still there was more.
cringy Apple car picture
That night I had the best chicken and conversation with my team. It was so cool because we were separated month 2 and we got to catch up and even celebrate a birthday together.
The next day and the last day we got up and went out on our own to pass out the last of the tracks. We visited a Mosque and an Orthodox Church, and finally got some coffee. Just as we are about to leave, we meet a man that speaks English and I come to find out he is from Moorestown, New Jersey. This comes as such a shock because in all my time here and even at training camp not one person is from New Jersey except me. And this made me realize that God has ordained so many beautiful moments from the beginning of time. He put me in a small town that morning in Macedonia “for such a time as this”.
In our travels we experienced so many beautiful skies, high mountains with winding roads and low valleys with people willing to hear about God, and people that didn’t want to be bothered. I wasn’t even supposed to go on this trip, but God had other plans. He showed me how much dependency I need to have in Him, He showed me the value of being expectant on Him and His presence, and He showed me that even when I don’t understand or think what I’m doing is pointless, His plan is so much greater.
