We got off of our 2nd bus for the day, haggled with 2 taxi drivers, loaded our stuff, and away we went. As we drove out of town, the roads began to curve every which way and we were amazed at the rolling hills we saw before us. We made small talk with our driver, but other than that we were silent as we took in the views. The peaks of the Balkans came into view as we wound through the mountains and road alongside a rippling stream. Our hearts and souls were instantly in awe and a sense of peace overwhelmed us as we realized that these views and this place were what we would get to call home…for the time being. We were dropped off in the small mountain village of Boge, Kosovo with our backpacks and not much else. No lodging. No ministry schedule. No food. Just our faith and trust that the Lord would guide us, and that he has!
How did we get here? Not to give you the cliché answer, but the Lord. Literally. There is no other way that we would have found this place or that things would have worked out as they have without his interference. Let’s back up a little so that you can understand the pieces of the puzzle that led us here.
Towards the end of our month in Albania, we were told that month 7 would be an “ATL (Ask the Lord)” month. This means that instead of being given a location and ministry to work with in Macedonia, we would be led by the Lord as to where we would be, where we would lodge, and what we would be doing. The logistics of the month would be up to us to handle. Besides the given exceptions, we would be able to pray and see where the Lord led us, even if that was outside of Macedonia. During debrief, our team prayed together and individually to see where we would be headed for the month. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive and nervous. What if we all got different things? What if we didn’t hear anything at all? What if our own desires for what we wanted the month to look like got in the way? This year the Lord has been teaching me about trust and growing my confidence in hearing from him, but obviously I still sometimes let these fears and doubt creep in. I shouldn’t have been worried…as he always does, the Lord spoke and he made it clear as to where we would be going. Here are some of the things that our team heard that all pieced together:
-Relationship-oriented; Possibly even tourist ministry
– Not returning to Albania (a thought that we had before debrief)
-Serving local Christians
– A month of being unsettled and uncomfortable
– Learning to invest deeply quickly and being okay with leaving that behind and trusting the impact that was made in a short amount of time.
– A picture of a small, circular country
-Kosovo
– A month that focuses on team relationships, healing, and prayer
– A split month
– Mark 6:8-11 and Luke 9:58
-Trust
So, since we all had themes that worked together, but the only place we got was Kosovo, we started looking at housing online. We have a very small budget, so the test was going to be finding something that would be within our budget. We didn’t have any idea of cities to start with, so we just searched hostels and air bnbs throughout the entire country. One came up that was super cheap and happened to be in Boge…a city that we knew nothing about. There were no reviews but we decided to book it for a week and then see where the Lord led after that. We were never able to contact the owner and were trying to figure out buses, so we had decided to stay in Skopje another night for planning purposes. Our housing fell through for the night, so as we were arranging other plans and trying to figure out the best way to contact our lodging in Boge and planning buses, one of our squad leaders issued us a challenge (thanks, Jacob). He said, “You all know that you’re clearly called there. Why the extra night here? Buses are easy. Maybe your housing fell through here for a reason. Just leave in the morning and watch how the Lord provides.” Paige, Becca, and I looked at each other and said, “Well…why not.” So we told the team the change in plans and arranged to leave the next day.
We left Skopje at 12:30 in the afternoon on a bus to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. While at the border, the guard called out Becca and began to talk to her about the food in Kosovo, our plans, and ended up asking her to be Facebook friends. On the bus we befriended other travelers- one from Canada, one from Albania, one from Macedonia, and one from Turkey. We were able to swap stories and get to know one another along the 2 hour trip. Once we got to Pristina, our goal was to buy SIM cards for our phone, buy bus tickets to Peja (the closest town to Boge), find an ATM, and get food for the night. Right away when we got there, we met a guy named Jed who was from America and came over because he heard our accents. We got to chat for a while with him and he was kind enough to give us euros to use the restroom. As I looked for SIM cards and an ATM, I asked a gentleman for help who just happened to speak limited English. He told me both of those things could only be found in the city center, but he was a taxi driver and he took Becca and I into town. He helped us find an ATM and buy our SIM cards (which were from some random guy on the side of the road…we’d have never figured that out). When we got back to the station he helped us activate our SIMS and get on our way. We got food and loaded the bus for Peja. A short ride later, we were dropped off in the parking lot in Peja and were left to find taxis. A kind lady helped us translate and haggle for a better price for the hour drive to the village of Boge. We loaded up the taxis and away we went.
When we got to Boge, we found the place we had booked. Becca and I went ahead of everyone to make sure it would work out before they climbed the steep hill with all of their stuff. The owner of the villa was not there, but there was a kind family who was staying there that helped us call him. As Becca tried to figure out logistics, I went to pay the kind taxi drivers who had waited with us and to explain the situation to the team. As the taxi drivers left, it started to rain, but a kind family welcomed us onto their porch to wait out the rain while we waited for Becca and to see if our housing would work out.
Turns out, there was a glitch in the website that we used to book and the villa was out of our price range. So here it is, after 6 pm and we have no place to stay. However, the family that welcomed us onto their porch went with me to translate as I tried to find a place. I was prepared to haggle the best I could, but lo and behold the first place we asked was under our budget. So now my team has a cute little cabin to live in.
We’ve seen so much of the Lord’s provision in just the few short days that we’ve been here. Had we stuck to our plan of leaving on Monday, we would not have met our family that helped us find lodging (they were only here for the weekend and left 30 mins after we got settled in). Had we not booked the original villa and had the glitch on the website, we would not have met the family that was staying there. That family has become our adopted family. The village has no ATM and no actual place to buy groceries, so we had no money or food with us. The dad of that family took Becca and I the hour into town with him so that we could get money and food for a week or so. We had prayed for a friend with a car and a teammate dreamed that someone would offer us a ride and that day 2 of the people we met here offered us rides. God is so good! Since being here, we’ve had the privilege of investing in that family and others in this small, less populated village. It’s a place of peace, rest, and relationships. Something that speaks directly to the heart of this team. There are so many more ways that the Lord has been working and so many more ways that he will work this month. I am not sure how long we will be in Boge, but we are soaking up the time that we have until the Lord asks us to move. I cannot wait to share with you the stories that I am sure this month will hold!
