I thought I would give a little update about what the past week has looked like!
Our first assigned country in Europe is Bosnia. However, this month looks a bit different. Just like how my first month was, we don’t have any hosts again. We started in Sarajevo, Bosnia and were told to follow where we felt the Lord leading us. We didn’t want to put any boundaries on where the Lord was leading us, and even had the possibility of going to neighboring countries.
(SIDE NOTE: Part of being a squad leader is that I do not have a team of 6 people that I am with for several months in a row. Instead, I travel around to the different teams each month. So this month I am with 6 awesome people that make up SPK. You can check them out under “Meet my Squad”. They seriously rock.)
In preparation for the month we spent time in prayer and saw many things that we felt the Lord had in store, but no definite destination was revealed. Some general things we felt He had for us were working with refugees, helping the elderly, forming many deep relationships, working into the night, and moving around continuously.
The first night that we were in Bosnia, we took the day to rest and adjust. We stayed in this lodge in an adorable little ski town on Olympic Mountain. Even though it is beginning summer here, it is still about 30 degrees cooler than Asia was (PRAISE!), so that has been quite the treat!
After that first day we headed down the mountain to the city. While we were walking around and just seeing where the Lord wanted to lead us, we came across this gorgeous Catholic Church. Through many conversations, our team eventually started talking with a man who was protestant. We explained what we were doing and asked if he knew of anywhere we could help out. He then connected us with a pastor in another city about three hours from Sarajevo called Tuzla. Before contacting this other church, we prayed that God would only open doors that we were supposed to walk through, and that any other doors would be closed. Well, God made it pretty clear that this was an open door when the church wanted to meet with us the next morning!
So, in true nature of the race, we hopped on a bus the next morning with all of our stuff and headed to Tuzla! We didn’t know much of what was to come, but we were full of trust in God’s plan and full of expectancy that He had great things in store. And when I say that God showed up, I mean in every single way possible!
Over the course of several hours of meeting and talking with the church staff about our purpose and their mission/need, there was so much confirmation. This church is amazing and they have such deep faith in what God is doing here.
They offered to let us stay in the church for free for the rest of our time here and partner with them in all of the ways they serve the community! They immediately treated us like family and have made us feel so welcome from the very beginning. Everyday we are greeted by every single person with hugs and words of endearment. We pray together and laugh together and spend most of our days serving or spending time together. Talk about deep relationships already being formed (CHECK)!
In the few days we have been here, we have had so many incredible opportunities. Our very first morning we went to the elderly home down the street, where we played dominos and chess, made cards, picked weeds, served coffee, and smiled and chatted with the adorable grandmas and grandpas there (CHECK).
We have also gotten to work at the school for students with Special Needs (talk about my ideal ministry!) where we helped put on their Prom. We even sang in the choir of the church service where we learned Bosnian. Each day, regardless of what we have been doing, we usually work late into the night (CHECK).
However, what confirmed that this was the Lord’s plan more than anything was when they talked to us about their work with refugees. They go out about every other week to other cities and visit refugee compounds, bringing whatever they can to help them. They are going on two different trips in the time we will be here and offered to let us come with them. So during the week we will work in Tuzla and on the weekends we will travel with them to the other cities and the refugee compounds (CHECK and CHECK).
I just sit here in awe of how much the Lord has already done in just a week. He has provided us with everything we need and so much more just because we walked through the doors He opened. He has brought us to a beautiful country and given us a beautiful family to spend the month with. If He can do all of this in just one week, I am beyond excited to see all He will do in our next few weeks here. Stay tuned!
“Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 TPT
