Zdravo from Novi Sad, Serbia! (I can’t actually say that word without the Serbian teens laughing at me, but oh well). We are living in the land of coffee and fresh flowers, bread, and red rooftops. We’re living in a culture that claims Christianity and working with a church whose aim is to move people from claiming Christian Orthodox tradition but living otherwise to experiencing the transforming love of Christ.
I’ve eaten more bread in the last two weeks than I’ve eaten in the last two years. I’m praising Jesus for a body that’s digesting bread better than it has in years, because many times this week it was bread or nothing. I’m also thinking a lot about bread and how the Lord is always perfectly providing for us our daily bread. So here’s what Serbia’s taught me so far on living on the daily bread the Father gives:
1. Take what you need and only what you need.
2. If you’re given more than you need, which you will be, find someone who needs it more and give it to them.
3. Daily bread is daily but each day doesn’t bring the same bread. Accept each day’s bread for what it is. Filled with cheese and ham? Great. A plain loaf with ketchup? Cool. Slices with butter and jam? Sweet treat. Fried bread with options for garlic and sour cream or plain with jam OR sour cream and jam? Bless. Rejoice in all of it.
4. Take care to thank the giver. Everyone likes to be thanked, and you’ll feel more thankful for what you have, whatever the day may look like.
5. Use its sustenance to serve or play or lift someone up or jump for joy – whatever needs to be done.
Last night concluded my team’s week working alongside Novi Sad Christian Fellowship’s leaders for team camp. Each day was full to the brim.
Christina and Gale, Novi Sad Christian Fellowship’s youth leaders and also world’s trendiest and most creative youth leading couple
We danced, we worshiped, and five members of our team got to share their testimonies with the whole group. We all got to share bits and pieces of our stories with the teens there as we got to know them, got to hear their stories, and share in one another’s journeys.
These two love ice cream and english songs (esp. T Swift) and are the sweetest friends
We gave the teens a chance to practice their English as we failed at speaking Serbian and left them no other option.
We played games; relaxed card games, silly games, games that blended games the Serbian teens knew and ones that the Americans grew up playing, and games that got more competitive than expected.
WR Game Tip: Relay tic-tac-toe is great, but call it closely and confidently. There will be conflict.
I got to help lead a soccer workshop each day and play with four of the most competitive and sassy young teenage boys I’ve encountered. I got to share with them how Jesus has transformed my life after first establishing dominance, I mean, earning their respect, on the pitch (Jesus and I are still working on my pride).
Pavle has a lot of spunk and sass and doesn’t speak much English, but every time we were on a team together he yelled “DREAM TEAM,” so I think he’s pretty great.
We danced in the rain and rejoiced in the refreshment it brought. We played water balloon games even though we were already wet from rain.
I had the honor of praying with teens who had encountered Jesus for the first time or in a new way.
We saw the Lord working in the teens, in the leaders, in us.
The days were long and sometimes challenging, and the rest was sparse, but we always had enough and had exactly what we needed.
We ate the Serbian food served at camp.
We were given bread at least three times daily from camp (sometimes as a side, sometimes as the main course), but we were given daily bread from our Father that sustained us.
Thank you always for prayers and encouragement. I look forward to this next week being spent following up with the teens, continuing to build relationships with them, and ample time to remind them how loved they are.
