Introducing, Team TORCH:
(Wade, Jordan, Rodolfo, Chris, meeee, & Forrest)
Our first weekend in Montenegro (at the beginning of June), we had Leadership Development Weekend (LDW). I think I’ve explained it before, but just in case: LDW’s are 2-3 days where we sometimes get new teams and some of us get new leadership roles. In the past two teams, I’ve been the treasurer. I’ve grown a lot in that (ya girl desperately needed a crash course in money management, and she got it), so naturally I expected to just be treasurer again.
Just kidding. They asked me to step into a new leadership role: Team Leader. I was overwhelmed and nervous and a little insecure about saying ‘yes’ – but this year is all about new things and trusting the Lord in all of those things… so, here I am.
Trusting the Lord is always a great thing, because take a look at these great people. I get to be on a team with them, whaaaa?! And, just as I expected: these past couple months have been CRAZY…but in all the good ways 🙂
We soon found ourselves in Ohrid, Macedonia (aka: one of the most beautiful places ever).
Our first full day here, we planned to meet with a new friend by the lake. We met by some boats and didn’t really have a plan for what to do. A man named Zoran approached us and asked if we would like to take a 30-minute boat tour…of course we said YES!
The boat ride was so fun – a few of us even got to drive! When we pulled back into the dock and were getting off, a family was walking past…
“Ah, this family is from America, too!” – Zoran said.
The family stopped, we started chatting and found out they have been missionaries here for the past year and a half. This was the first time I had met a connection like this (seemingly) out of nowhere – most connections we’ve had in countries have been through mutual friends/recommendations.
We had the opportunity to join the Belvins (Grayson & Debi) for dinner for a few nights, hang out with their kiddos, and be completely blessed by their perspective, passions, and encouragement. Once again, I found myself completely in love with people I met in an area of the world I was only in for a second.
Spending time with the kids reminded me how much I enjoyed nannying back home. All of the questions they asked, random facts they knew, games they wanted to play, the sass and attitude, and all of the energy… those are my favorite things.
One of the hardest things about this year is sometimes feeling like we aren’t doing anything. We aren’t constantly working in orphanages, meeting with organizations and churches, building houses or painting, feeding the homeless…I don’t know, just any stereotypical mission trip “thing”. It was so encouraging to see a family living out what we’ve dedicated our lives to this year: just being Jesus in every community. They’ve built routine in Ohrid, eating at a pizza place in the middle of town and building great friendships with the people that work there. One of the women is reading the New Testament now, and Debi is walking her through it. Building the Kingdom, one person at a time 🙂
Macedonia wasn’t on our original route, but the Lord is SO fun and knew exactly what the team and this family needed. We needed each other 🙂
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I know, I know, I’m SUPER behind on blogs – this is a story from the beginning of June and July is already almost over!! I have plenty of stories to tell, and I plan on sharing them all, so stay tuned 🙂
