Everyone in Kosovo has a smartphone. I can’t go two steps without seeing someone shooting a text or taking a selfie. However, it is not like America where we have an abundance of manufacturers. We have Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, Google, and a million others. Sure, most people can say they would like an iPhone. It’s hip. It’s happening. It’s the status standard. You feel like you fit in if you have one.
Here, everyone has an iPhone. I may have seen two people with a Samsung, but that’s it. So, when I walk around with my two-year-old Samsung Galaxy S6, my peers start to poke fun. Bajrush even said that I may be the only American he has ever met with a Samsung.
iPhones are it in Kosovo. Normally that wouldn’t bother me. I’ve definitely survived back home being the only Samsung in a sea of Apple products. Sure, my friends would point out that I “ruined” their iMessage groups, but eh, no big deal.
I’m starting to realize how difficult it can be when I’m literally the only Samsung for miles. Sharing videos and pictures is not super simple. iPhones can Airdrop photos to everyone (except me) in the room. In a moment, everyone is part of a story and I have to wait at least five more minutes (spotty WiFi probs) fully relate to people. By that time, everyone else has moved on to something new. I’m left behind and isolated from my friends.
It’s pretty dang frustrating being the only one. Besides, I’m constantly bombarded by advertisements telling me to buy in. They tell me that an iPhone’s functions and capabilities will help me survive in this world. That I can easily relate to my family and friends. That I won’t feel left out any longer.
It doesn’t matter that I owned an iPhone for years and didn’t find any joy in it. I made a conscious choice when I changed my phone. It wasn’t an easy decision. There were so many similarities between the two and it would have been easier to stay with a brand that I’ve known for so long. If I stayed, I could’ve had fun and related to people easier. But I chose to make a change for the better even though it requires a continuous sacrifice.
Some of you understand the frustration of being the only person with a Samsung. Others can understand how annoying it can be when your friend has one and all you want to do is Airdrop your latest photo of a latte. But take a minute and reread this blog post and replace Samsung with Christian/ Christianity and iPhone with Muslim/ Islam.
Did you do it? Good. That’s how many of my friends who work at the church and its ministries feel every day. They come from Muslim families and once claimed to be Muslims, themselves. When they decided to commit their lives to Christ, the did so knowing full well that their families and friends might estrange them. This allegory of smartphones doesn’t even scratch the surface of the pain, rejection, and struggle that my friends endure. The members of this church have taught me true joy comes from God alone. Despite all they have experienced, they choose to say that God is a good and loving Father.
I ask you to pray for my friends here. They are such wonderful and beautiful people and show the love of God in everything that they do. Pray for the patience to continue to do work for the kingdom even when the fruit do not seem to grow. Pray for the strength and courage to fight the darkness and indifference that plagues the land. Pray that they can continue to find joy in all aspects of life.
Faluminderit!
*****This is not a plug for Samsung….Unless Samsung wants to sponsor my trip. That would be BOMB! I mean, if Apple wants to try to win me back, I wouldn’t complain…
