So many great moments have defined the amazing nature of this month, but the last two days of service we had orchestrated by an English couple (Nick and Nikki) were the best of my entire World Race so far. This couple arranged with the Mayor of a small village outside of Veliko Turnovo, BG for us to meet with him about serving in some way.
The mayor agreed to have us help plant trees, build a fence for a children’s park and prune some rose bushes for the winter. During our first day of work, the townspeople were all so curious about our group. I vividly remember old ladies sticking their heads out the window staring at us. Our donated time inspired the village tree-salesman to give the trees to the village for free. Our service most unexpectedly, made many people in the town stop and ask why? Why would this group of American young people want to do this work for free?
As the newspaper wrote the story and took our pictures, Nikki personally asked why we would volunteer our time like that. And for the first time I was able to boldly tell her how much we all loved the Lord and that we came to serve the town because we wanted to show all of them the Love of Jesus. For the first time, our actions as Christians, made people wonder why? This is something I long for. I long to live my life in such a way that people notice I’m different, and I want to tell them that difference is BECAUSE of JESUS. That is why I’m here, not to push my faith on people, but to show them that God is a loving God and He wants us to love others the way He loves us.
