A month like no other.
This month we landed in Bosnia with no host, no assigned ministry and no restrictions on what city or even neighboring country we could go to. This month is a “figure it out month” that teaches you to really rely on God to show you where to go.
At fist this sounded like a grand adventure but after we landed it was a bit over whelming considering where to go, where to sleep that night, what to eat and how to spend our days all while trying to stay in our tinyy budget.
The morning of day one my team hit the streets praying we would find a lead, we wanted to find a need and all felt drawn to the idea of working with refugees…but tons of questions on how to achieve that still lingered.
A block from our hostel we came across a cathedral, Ryan decided to go inside and find a local to chat with in hopes of getting the ball rolling. Wouldn’t you know it the first guy he talked to named Terik was a Christian, spoke English and had a friend who could use volunteers!
We called this friend and were excited to hear that he would like to meet us. However, he lived in a city 3 hours away. Within a snap we booked buss tickets for the next morning. In the meantime, Terik canceled all his plans for the day to show us around his city of Sarajevo, he used to be a tour guide and took us to all the good spots. Keep in mind we literally just met him! I don’t know how we keep coming across the world’s most friendly people but we do.
As we got off the bus in our new town of Tuzla the next morning we quickly realized we left the charming picturesque Europe behind for an ordinary run down quiet little city. But that wasn’t the only realization we had; after meeting Tarik’s contact we realized that we would gladly give up a quaint view for kind people and purposeful days.
We were warmly greeted by pastor Jelco and his wife Layla, they brought us to their church, asked us a few questions and said that while it appeared we “fell out of the sky from mars” they felt that God had sent us to them and so they were going to use us.
They gave us the keys to their church so that we could save money on lodging and sleep there. They took us out for dinner. They told us their life stories. They took our laundry to wash it for us. They welcomed us into their daily routine. Think about that, mind blowing.
Within 2 days we went from cluelessly wandering around to having a full schedule, a roof over our heads, and a Bosnian community. We are working at the old folks home here, teaching English at the church, spending time at the Special needs school and of course joining in on all the church activities; small group, worship practice and services.
Today was spent at the Special needs school preparing for Prom; we gelled hair, painted nails and applied lipstick, we served food and danced with all of our new friends afterwards joining the clean-up crew. What a day.
We will be going with Jelco and Layla this weekend and the next to refugee corridor to serve there, I’m not sure what this will look like but we are all so thankful that we get the chance to join them in this way. It’s something they are very passionate about.
I can’t help but feel so thankful for this mystery month that turned into a month full of hospitality, warmth, work, and hugs. Seriously, its crazy, no one enters a room here without hugging every person in it. Hugs for days!
Life is so crazy. People can be so kind. God will always provide.
Love, Megan
