We arrived in Sombor, Serbia one week ago today! What a blessing the people of Sombor are, so eager to spend time with us. So eager to just stop what they are doing and do the simplest of things with us. From sitting down over coffee, to just dropping in as we have our team’s family dinner (which I have thoroughly enjoyed), to playing ping pong (yes…we have a ping pong table, slightly spoiled, I know!!), and reading scripture together. I am amazed by all of the beautiful things that are happening here. God is starting us off on the right foot.
I have seen some very kind and generous hearts here. Ok, so we just finished up our church service (which starts at 6 pm on Sundays) and I went out for some pizza with my squad leader. As we walked into this small pizza joint we noticed two of the women who were at church. As we were getting ready to pay, they jumped in and told us that they were going to pay for us! We both appreciated the thoughtfulness and generosity that they showed us, it was quite unexpected. It was a special treat that warmed both of our hearts.
Part of me wants to have everything planned out and organized and then the host just tells us what to do and when to do it, but this is not that at all. This month we create our own schedule. So far our week has looked like this: Going to the market to pick out food for a couple days, walking around town to see what there is, went to a movie theater with my squad leader, prayer walking around the church block, running and doing various exercises in the morning as a team, having coffee at a local coffeeshop, inviting people we meet to English club ( a time where they can come and hang out with native English speakers and practice their English by playing games and talking about spiritual things), playing outside at the park with the neighboring kids, and going to a birthday party at Goran’s house (a Serbian whom we have become good friends with), and even traveled to Budapest during our off/adventure day.
As a squad we are discovering and discussing what our “false self” is and what our “true self” is. We are on a journey both personally and as a community to destroy this “false self” image we live with. This is the identity we desire to place in front of others. The one who has it all together. This is not an easy process and it deeply hurts, because it is a rooting away of what I have believed for so long. Lies that I have held as identity.
Prayer Requests:
1) Pray against jealousy. What started out as admiration of my teams success’ have turned into discontent and jealousy as I am tempted to believe lies and compare. Pray with me against these temptations.
2) Pray for a spirit of compassion and thankfulness to overwhelm my heart.
3) Pray for my team that we are able to dig in, and trust each other. That I would be able to connect with them, not in the identity of my false self, but my true self. The one that He created for me!
“Our false self is a mask we put forward in our interactions with others to get the validation, affirmation and attention that we crave. We design our false self to be more funny, more interested in others, more interesting, more socially capable, more bold, more normal (or sometimes more abnormal). These exaggerations are not reality, but we cling to them so persistently that we eventually start to believe the lie…The true self is indestructible and characterized by an inner-abundance. It is not needy, easily offended, or hurt. The true self is characterized by contentment, an abiding low-level peace and happiness.”- By someone whom I can’t remember right now 🙂
Here are some videos that my teammate Jason has posted:
