Hello to all of our faithful followers! Okay, hopefully you are following Jesus, but we also appreciate that you are following us on our trip and praying with us as we go.
I had hoped to have others share some thoughts and reflections by now, but we have been so on the go that you'll just have to put up with me for now!
Last night (Sunday) we joined with the Malta church for their service. It was really great to worship with them- they sing loud and love being together! All of the guys on the retreat are from this church, so having that connection with them made the night significant. I appreciate your prayers for all of the preaching I did- I felt that God showed up each time and somehow I found energy for each message.
Today, our team again "split" for different purposes. Most of the team returned to the small church in Ilidza to help with their second-hand store ministry. As many of you might have guessed already, Pastor Caleb was all over this opportunity! But what the guys really did, rather than getting to sort through cool Bosnian second-hand stuff, was lift boxes; over, and over, and over. I asked them how it went. They said, "we moved boxes for four hours." So I asked, "did you feel you were a help to them?" "Oh yeah- we made a huge difference!" And they were pumped to do so! The gals got to serve by cooking everyone (our team of 6 plus their 6 helpers) a "mexican" lunch. Bosnians rarely get mexican, so this was a real treat. But our gals confessed that all of the supplies were bought here in Sarajevo and it wasn't all that authentic. I'm sure the meal was still very much appreciated.
While most of the team sweated for Jesus, Noel and I took a curvy drive up into the mountains to see the only Christian camp in all of Bosnia. The director had invited us to come and see what the vision was for this ministry. I see it as a possible opportunity for our church to get involved in helping do some building projects. The photo you see above is the only permanent structure on site. It has only one useable room- a make-shift kitchen out of which they feed as many as 150 people in a given week. The other structure you see in the photos is their gathering area. Everyone who comes stays in tents- rain or shine! Pray with us for the ministry of the camp and for our potential future involvement. Think about this- 4 million people- one camp. Wow.
Tonight, two of our guys and the two gals did English speaking practice with two different locals. They said it was a great time of conversing. You can pray that these conversations might spark someone to ask more about Christ and faith- we'll be doing these practice sessions with locals the rest of the week.
We are well, but missing all of you. One final prayer request is that God would continue to direct our team, and our church, as to where we should direct our time and energy. There is so much to do in Bosnia and we want to go where God would lead. Ask Him for some direction. We feel pointed in all directions right now.
Peace to you from Sarajevo, a truly beautiful place-
Nick
No comments:
Post a Comment