One of my favorite things about the race is getting to meet so many great people in each country. It is also one of the hardest things about the race because eventually we have to move onto the next month and leave the wonderful people behind. But I really do treasure the short amount of time I share with people and the moments we have been given to encourage one another. I would like to share some of my favorite memories I had during my stay in Serbia.
Flag football game against a Serbian team. One day we were invited to play American football against a real women’s team here in Serbia. We didn’t know what were getting ourselves into. When we arrived on the field we found the girls in jerseys practicing. Immediately we were worried, being that none of us had actually played flag football in years. But they were patient with us and we ended up having a great time.
Dinner and sleepover with Mirela. I met Mirela at bible study where right away she invited us over to her house and wanted to get to know us. She so generously treated us to dinner and a sleepover at her house. She is a wonderful woman with a lot of wisdom. Please pray for other Christians to enter into her life so that she can have a strong community.
Evening in town with Tamara, Filip, and Jovana. I met these great young people in Kraljevo, Serbia. We got to hang out various times, but one of my favorites was one evening out in the city. Filip treated us to cotton candy and we walked around town talking about life and silly things.
Lunch with Ziza. Ziza is now my Serbian grandma. She is a very special person to me, she is so wise and sweet and reminds me a lot of my wonderful grandma in Iowa. (Hi Grandma!) Although she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Serbian I feel connected to her. Ziza once said it doesn’t matter what language we speak on earth because in heaven we will all speak the same language. She graciously invited us into her home, made us a delicious Serbian lunch, and gifted us with candy and stockings.
Dinner with Karl and Julie. This couple from Texas showed us such great hospitality and love while in Serbia. They were always there for us if we had any kind of problem and treated us like their own daughters. Our last night in Serbia, Tiffany and Megan prepared fried chicken with all the fixings for us all to enjoy. Please pray for the work they do in Serbia in their English clubs and at the camp.
Weekend with Abbey. So this wasn’t actually in Serbia but still one of my highlights from the past month. My team and I went to Skopje, Macedonia for a 4 day mini vacation. Our contacts knew people who knew Abbey and so we stayed with her in Macedonia. She is from Tennessee but has been serving in Skopje for almost 2 years now. We immediately connected and realized we had so much in common, it was crazy. She was such an encouragement to me and was exactly what I needed coming into month 8. We have already agreed that we are going to be friends when we come back to the states too!
I arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday and we will be working with the organization Mission Possible. I will update soon about the things we will be doing this month.
