My teammate, Emily and I walk into a Cafe and Lounge restaurant called The Loft. We are greeted by a nice man who pointed us to an open seat. We sit down and are greeted by a sweet and warm smile from our waiter. We order, received our food, pray, ate, paid and left. On the way out, our waiter, with his sweet, warm smile, told us that he hoped we would come again.
The next day we decided to eat as, a team, at the same restaurant. I saw our friendly waiter from the night before, he came and said hello but he wouldn’t be the one to serve us that night. We ordered, joined hands, prayed, ate, paid and left. We got to the hostel, changed into my comfy clothes. I went to put my headphones in and realized I was missing one of them! (They are the wireless Bluetooth ones).
I had to get REDRESSED and then walk back to the cafe to see if I could find it. When I arrived, I was greeted by the same friendly face, I asked if he could look for a headphone and showed him the other one as a reference. He quickly went to go check under the occupied table and returned. He looked at me with a face of reassurance and dedication and said, “I WILL FIND IT TONIGHT. When we turn on the lights to clean, I WILL FIND IT. Come back tomorrow!” The next morning, I walked in and asked one of the waiters if they had found a headphone and sure enough it was there! He found it! I was so grateful.
That night we were eating with another sweet man who you will hear more about in my next blog named Danijel. When we decided we would take Danijel to the Cafe. I went a few hours ahead of time to make a reservation since we were a big group. I asked the host if it was possible to make a reservation? As I finish talking with the host, I turn and there was our waiter friend! He said, “Did you get your ear plug? I found it!” I replied, “Yes I did! Thank you so much!” He said, “I told you I would find, and I found!” He was a man of his word. I asked him what his name was and introduced myself. Risto is the name of this sweet, warm smiling, friendly waiter. He asked if we wanted a table and we told him that we would be coming back later to eat. He replied, “I would like to serve you.” He also told me to add him on Instagram, he told me his username but I have a bad memory and forgot. So, when we arrived that night Risto said, “I did not receive a request from you.” I pulled out my phone and added him on the spot so I wouldn’t forget!
He sat us at the table, served us water and said something I don’t think I will ever forget, “I saw you pray for your meal, it warmed my heart. I have never seen this in my life.” Danijel replied to him in Serbian and the night continued. We ate, paid and left to our hostel. Later that night I received a message on Instagram that asked if me and Emily would like to go for coffee the next day. He would like to meet us more and tell us his story.
The next day we met Risto at a small coffee shop on the corner. He asked us why we were in Serbia and what we were doing here. We told him we were Christian Missionaries and told him about The World Race. He smiled and said, “I knew there was something different about you! From the moment you walked in, I knew! You came in and you were always smiling. You also say thank you for everything and then I saw you pray for your meal.” As our conversation continued Risto told us some of the history of Serbia and of his village and how he dreams to travel and raise a good and loving family one day. He said, “I don’t care about money, this is not important. Making a difference in life around you is the only thing that is important.” He told us that we made a good impression on him and I can truly say that he did the same for me. I was so blessed by our conversation. Meeting Risto was a huge blessing for me and I wouldn’t have wanted to end my time in Serbia any other way.
Don’t let the gospel just be something you read and/or talk about, LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL. Let the love we receive, freely flow out of us. People can see it. We saw there was something different in Risto, just like he saw that there was a difference in us.
