We arrived in Lebane, Serbia.
We flew from Atlanta to Chicago – Chicago to Turkey- Turkey to Serbia. Turkey to Serbia was a 10.5 hour flight, but the plane was very comfortable and Turkish Airlines treated us amazingly well.
I get the opportunity to help with team logistics ( helping the team get from country to country) so I get to help in the airports ( getting tickets for the team, going through customs and future hostel and bus negotiations) which I love to do. All 45 people from our squad got off the plane, and we quickly realized that it was time for all of us to separate. Each team (we have 6 people) has a different assignment, and our opportunity to serve is in Lebane, which is 4.5 hours away. Once we arrived in Serbia our sweet host (Slavoljub) met us at the airport. With a huge grin on his face he talked about his family and his church. He kept apologizing for his English, but he actually could communicate very well. Such a humble man who loves the Lord. We rode a bus from the airport to the bus station.
At the bus station we saw refugees in tents set up outside the station. It was 11pm, and it was cold and wet. There were other teams at the station trying to figure out how they were going to get to their ministry host. I was very thankful our host came to pick us up, and watched how teams were looking for a place to set up sleeping arrangements around the bus station. I had watched the news and realized that I was probably going to encounter refugees, but when you see it for yourself it becomes so much more heartbreaking. There was one family that particularly caught my eye. There was a mom and dad with 4 kids under the age of 5. They were all huddled together for warmth sharing the little food that they had. My heart sunk. It was getting colder as the night went on. I was sitting on the bus station floor huddled around my bags waiting for our bus to arrive.
The bus finally arrived, and we jumped on and put our large backpacks underneath. I wished I would have grabbed my hoodie from my bag, but all I had was a sweater with me. We were all very tired including Slavoljub (our contact for Serbia). I was so thankful that he had come to pick us up. We all started to slowly nod off bringing our bags tightly close to us. I wanted to put my head on the head rest in the bus, but since I did not have my hoodie I was hesitant to lean back because I did not want to get lice. I hugged my day-pack, wrapped my arms around it and tried to lay my head on it. There was a stench in the air of red hot sauce. One of my teammates brought red hot sauce on the trip with him, and put the glass bottle on the side of bag before he checked it in…… well, you guessed it…………the red sauce shattered and the whole backpack was covered in red hot sauce. So we are still working on getting rid of the smell.
Thank you so much for those who have been willing to help support me to share the gospel to people all over the world.
