Tuesday, July 5, 2011

This morning I woke, got ready, and finished packing. When I was confident I was finished, I woke Tim for some breakfast. Because I had had a filling late lunch with Stole the day before, I hadn’t eaten my food I had purchased for dinner. Tim and I ate that and the breakfast fruit and food I had as well. We spoke about some of our theological leanings while we ate and drank some Schweppes “Bitter Lemon” soda. Stole arrived soon afterward, and we grabbed my things and headed to the bus station. He made sure I was loaded before leaving. My bus ride lasted from 9:25 to about 12:20 (when I got off the bus in Vranje (pronounced Vron-yay), Serbia. I spent the time reading and praying. Vladica met me at the station and together we headed to the Roma (gypsy, but the people are called Roma (Rome-ah) by the language they still speak). At the church I met Iveca (EE-vet-sa). He’s an elder and leads worship. This is the church where our brother Janosh was an elder. About half or more of the church is currently gone for season work – two of the elders included. But, about 50 people are still showing up a few times a week for worship, services, and prayer. Normally, they hold youth meetings on Saturday nights and then have a time for hanging out and coffee, sometimes at Iveca’s house. He and Vladica are both married. Iveca is 36 and Vladica is 34. They both have three children; Vladica has the only boy between them. At the church, Vladica, Iveca, and I had some drinks and some of the snacks I had for traveling but hadn’t eaten. It was then that Vladica told me that we had been called to have breakfast with Irena (EE-rain-ah) (Janosh’s widow) the next day. Some of the church’s youth who are still in Vranje arrived for worship practice (4 young men: Christian, Stefan, Chaslav, and Mario). Vladica had told them that I was coming, and they wanted to spend as much time as possible with me. After practicing for a little while (these brothers can jam), we took my bags to Iveca’s home up the street, and then the boys took me up a nearby mountain to see the Hotel Prarz (Pra-zhars). We took some drinks and snacks with us. While there, Chaslav translated for me as best he could and we talked about all sorts of things and took pictures and video. We eventually came back down the mountain and they dropped me off at the home and I went with Vladica and Iveca for some hamburgers at a local park. We then came back and took a rest before the youth meeting. I wrote a few notes, prayed, and napped for about an hour. Vladica and I then headed to the church and prayed with the youth and some other adults leaders for awhile before the service began. After singing several songs (though I mostly prayed a lot), God moved my heart and I prayed a very strong prayer. Just after praying that prayer, Irena, came and gave a word from Psalm 37 which was God’s direct answer to my prayer. You see, Irena has taken up the ministry that fueled her husband. She is very much involved in mentoring and leading the young people. After that word, Vladica and I went up before them and shared. Up on the mountain the brothers had taught me how to say “God bless you/you all, My name is David, and it’s nice to meet you,” and so I began with those. I then shared with Vladica translating. I also shared the testimony about the beginning of service (from my prayer and God’s answer through Irena’s word) and the war that is waged for our hearts’ affections. After the service I went walking through Vranje with the young guys and girls (who hadn’t been able to come with us earlier – all between 16 and 17). Walking through Vranje we were able to see both the Serbian corzo (that walking street of Turkish origin) and the Roma corzo (which is right next to the church). Coming back from our walk, we stopped at the church and had some drinks (we’re not buying drinks all the time, we have 1.5 liter bottles and keep drinking from them) and watched a few worship videos and a video of their summer evangelistic meeting from the year before. Chaslav then prayed for all of us before we left. They took me back to the home (it’s through alleys and such) and we met Vladica and Iveca on the way, walking the street with some other church members. I returned to the room they blessed me with (their own bedroom) tired and ready to sleep. I wrote this update in bed and updated it today (Thursday). I found out that I preach in the evening tomorrow. Because Iveca had spoken to the youth of how important prayer is, I decided that I wouldn’t give the same message to the rest of the church, but that I would speak on prayer. God bless.