Since blogging last, my feet have stepped into Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Dubai, and Indonesia. Some of the days on the race tend to crawl by, but looking back on this time, it’s crazy to think that we finished moving around Eastern Europe and made the transition to Asia. Not everything has been smooth… in fact the ride’s been quite bumpy and often times feels like a blur. But I’m so thankful that when I stop to pause, to look around and take in my surroundings, I am continually seeing how we are not only impacting the people we come into contact with every day, but the LoRd has continued to shape and refine me in ways I never saw coming.
At the beginning of June, we got into Montenegro and switched up teams. Jesse and Jac I’d been with before, but Alex and Josh were new. As we excitedly prayed into our first steps and what the vision was for this new season, Alex shared that the LoRd told her “It was going to be messy”. Having no idea what that meant, we prayed over it and continued in faith to Kotor, Montenegro. Jac and Alex stayed behind a day to work on passport paperwork at the embassy, and met up with us the next day. That evening, during a hike in the mountains, Alex found herself between a rock and a hard place that forced her to jump down 8-9 feet. How desperately we wish we could say that she landed with grace and style, but she ended up in the hospital that evening and for the next couple of weeks with a fractured vertebrae. We hadn’t gotten a clear picture of what ministry looked like for that time in Kotor, but we quickly jumped on the opportunity for hospital ministry and to her as she was to be on bedrest for the next couple weeks. Let the messy begin.
Our days were always different at this time. Some people had to finish taking care of passport things at the airport. Some of us did the grocery shopping and food prep for the team. Some jumped into the insurance calls and logistics of how to get around town and to/from the hospital. Some helped bake cookies to help Alex with her vision of giving back to the hospital workers, though they did next to nothing for her. Some helped her with showering, changing the sheets, and decorating the room. Even people from the US helped with some translation work to help Alex making signs asking how we could pray for the hospital staff and letting them know how much they are loved. It was an amazing time to step back and watch how the body of Christ worked together.
It was finally decided that it would be best if Alex’s mom came out to help her rest and recover as the team had to move on in Montenegro to debrief. The story of how she got to come out was a miracle in and of itself and another grand display of the how the LoRd provides for every single need. Isn’t He good? She came out for a couple of weeks with American snacks for the squad (bless. her. heart.), got things moving much more quickly at the hospital in a time of frustrating slow answers and help, and got Alex moved into a little studio apartment next to the hospital. Amazing what happens when a mama comes to town! She was such an incredible help and breath of fresh air for the whole team.
We reluctantly moved onto debrief for a time to rest, reflect, and refocus without Alex. It was a sweet time but would have been much sweeter without bedbugs, a sprained ankle, and other hiccups that forced us to look into staying in Montenegro as opposed to moving on to Serbia or Bulgaria, which I was desperately anxious to get to. While Alex had to continue on with bedrest for a while, we made a connection with one of a small handful of pastors in Montenegro. Actually in the whole country of Montenegro, there are only about 100 known believers, so we saw it as a cool opportunity to plug in and see what God could do with our time there!
We met and connected with Joel and Nikola, a missionary couple that has been living and carrying out the Great Commission for almost 30 years in different parts of Europe. What an honor it was to partner with them and take note of how they “do missions” in the Balkans and of their passions for the locals and for Christ. They met, became friends with, partnered with, and introduced us to Huso and Devla, and precious, young-spirited, Christ-loving couple from Sarajevo, Bosnian/Herzegovina that fled many years ago because of the war and conflicts in Eastern Europe. In our time with them, we met a few of the locals, shared testimonies at church, poured into one young man with Autism through many nights of basketball, and helped prepare the house for family coming into town. We continued going back and forth to visit Alex, worship and pray into what the next season would look like, and spend time with and be totally spoiled by her mom, etc.
Though the month in Montenegro was long, messy, and frustrating at times, it’s fun even a month later to look back now almost a month later and see how the LoRd had His hand in it the whole time. It was a month of being humbled, of being reminded that it’s not about us, and of learning more about ministry in the mundane, ministry with each other, and ministry with those directly in front of us.
Hospital Ministry:
Budva. Beautiful, beautiful Budva.
The four squad leaders and our squad mentor, right before they all went home! They are so loved and missed.
We moved on to Kamenari where we met these sweet souls:)
Joel and Nicola
Huso and Devla
Sharing testimonies at church on Sunday
Arguably one of the most incredible places the LoRd has brought me on the race so far!
Part 2 about Serbia and Bulgaria coming up!
