2.17.08
In light of James needing to leave the country in order to return and be legally in Hungary, a group of us decided to cram in a van and drive to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and use the time for God’s glory! So, Saturday morning nine of us (James, Tanya, Kate, Abby, Matt, Adrial, Jason, Gustabo and myself) climbed in the van and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Serbia.
When we arrived at the Hungarian boarder, they took a while inspecting James’ passport, but let us through. When entering Serbia, they spent a lot of time looking through mine….constantly revisiting my Russian stamps and visas, and then went over Tanya’s quite a bit. In the end, they pulled Tanya’s passport due to all of her travel back and forth to Serbia (Tanya spent her month of outreach in Serbia, but is from Minnesota). They wanted to question her and couldn’t understand why she would have a Serbian visa and have spent so much time there, yet couldn’t speak the language. Thankfully, after much prayer, he eventually handed our passports back and let us continue.
Driving into Serbia we were so excited to see SNOW!!!! :o) We arrived in the town of the Calvary Chapel and met Chris who would be taking over as the Pastor of the church that Sunday. Due to the transition in the church, we were asked to keep things low key. We decided the best thing we could do was to pray over the city. So, after feasting on Burrak for lunch, we broke up into groups and hit the streets to begin our prayer walks.
Jason, Tanya and I headed out. We passed a little old man who was struggling to shovel his walk. Jason had it on his heart to help him, so we went over and as Jason cleared his sidewalk for him, Tanya and I tried to talk to him; Tanya with her broken Serbian and I with my little Russian (Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian). We found out that he was 88 years old and couldn’t stop thanking us. There was this really touching moment when Jason finished and the man wanted to shake his hand. Tanya told Jason how to say “Jesus Loves You” and the man just shook his head in what seemed like amazement. It was frustrating to feel so bound by not speaking the language, and yet Christ’s love still shined through! He never ceases to amaze me… never! How good is our God!?!
One of the things that God has been really speaking to my heart about is the power of prayer. In the states it is so easy to go about your day, praying occasionally, but never having the NEED to be on your knees seeking God’s direction and guidance. In our Westernized society it is easy to lose our dependency on Him. Let me tell you, being ripped out of your comfort zone, in another country, in another culture, teaches you to quickly find who your strength is and what your foundation should be.
I was actually disappointed that we were asked to keep things low-key and not really share with people. Isn’t that the essence of evangelism: sharing? What is the point of going on an outreach if you can’t share? God showed me something so much greater….so much more foundational: PRAYER! It sounds really simple, and yet I realized how big of a concept it was for me to grasp. Walking this city in Serbia, in the bitter, freezing cold, and lifting up the people, the government, and the church, this city become imprinted on my heart. With each step in the snowy streets, these hearts become a burden on my heart! It was like claiming the city with each footprint…claiming it for Jesus!
I was so unbelievably blessed by just praying....by just talking to Jesus! And I believe He was blessed too :o) We left Serbia thanking God for the time we had to encourage Chris, see the city, pray for the people and to have them integrated with our hearts! There is such power in talking to our Daddy!
In light of James needing to leave the country in order to return and be legally in Hungary, a group of us decided to cram in a van and drive to Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and use the time for God’s glory! So, Saturday morning nine of us (James, Tanya, Kate, Abby, Matt, Adrial, Jason, Gustabo and myself) climbed in the van and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Serbia.
When we arrived at the Hungarian boarder, they took a while inspecting James’ passport, but let us through. When entering Serbia, they spent a lot of time looking through mine….constantly revisiting my Russian stamps and visas, and then went over Tanya’s quite a bit. In the end, they pulled Tanya’s passport due to all of her travel back and forth to Serbia (Tanya spent her month of outreach in Serbia, but is from Minnesota). They wanted to question her and couldn’t understand why she would have a Serbian visa and have spent so much time there, yet couldn’t speak the language. Thankfully, after much prayer, he eventually handed our passports back and let us continue.
Driving into Serbia we were so excited to see SNOW!!!! :o) We arrived in the town of the Calvary Chapel and met Chris who would be taking over as the Pastor of the church that Sunday. Due to the transition in the church, we were asked to keep things low key. We decided the best thing we could do was to pray over the city. So, after feasting on Burrak for lunch, we broke up into groups and hit the streets to begin our prayer walks.
Jason, Tanya and I headed out. We passed a little old man who was struggling to shovel his walk. Jason had it on his heart to help him, so we went over and as Jason cleared his sidewalk for him, Tanya and I tried to talk to him; Tanya with her broken Serbian and I with my little Russian (Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet and is closely related to Russian). We found out that he was 88 years old and couldn’t stop thanking us. There was this really touching moment when Jason finished and the man wanted to shake his hand. Tanya told Jason how to say “Jesus Loves You” and the man just shook his head in what seemed like amazement. It was frustrating to feel so bound by not speaking the language, and yet Christ’s love still shined through! He never ceases to amaze me… never! How good is our God!?!
One of the things that God has been really speaking to my heart about is the power of prayer. In the states it is so easy to go about your day, praying occasionally, but never having the NEED to be on your knees seeking God’s direction and guidance. In our Westernized society it is easy to lose our dependency on Him. Let me tell you, being ripped out of your comfort zone, in another country, in another culture, teaches you to quickly find who your strength is and what your foundation should be.
I was actually disappointed that we were asked to keep things low-key and not really share with people. Isn’t that the essence of evangelism: sharing? What is the point of going on an outreach if you can’t share? God showed me something so much greater….so much more foundational: PRAYER! It sounds really simple, and yet I realized how big of a concept it was for me to grasp. Walking this city in Serbia, in the bitter, freezing cold, and lifting up the people, the government, and the church, this city become imprinted on my heart. With each step in the snowy streets, these hearts become a burden on my heart! It was like claiming the city with each footprint…claiming it for Jesus!
I was so unbelievably blessed by just praying....by just talking to Jesus! And I believe He was blessed too :o) We left Serbia thanking God for the time we had to encourage Chris, see the city, pray for the people and to have them integrated with our hearts! There is such power in talking to our Daddy!
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