We set out for Serbia in two groups — Teresa and LaJuana at 11:30 a.m. Friday morning, ReNata and Lorie at 7:05 Friday evening. In addition to our own luggage, we carried with us two large duffle bags full of knitted and crocheted caps and hand-sewn baby blankets for Roma children.
We arrived in Belgrade, Serbia around noon on Saturday, and drove to our first stop of the trip, Prokuplje, Serbia – arriving just after dark on Saturday evening. After checking into our rooms, modest but adequate, we shared a quick pizza dinner at Segafredo, which is in contention for the best pizza in Serbia.
Sunday morning found us back at Segafredo — a short walk from our hotel — for breakfast. From there, we made our way to the ruins of the fortress dating from the time of the Ottoman Turks, and enjoyed a beautiful view on this sunny day, as we prayed over the city and its surrounding villages.
We continued on to Pastor Marijan’s home where his wife, Slavica, had prepared a delicious lunch. Our lunch was chicken soup with dumplings (not the southern kind!), homemade bread, and stuffed peppers, along with traditional Serbian accompaniments like ajvar (roasted pepper spread) and pickled vegetables.
We went over our plans for our days in Prokuplje. We will be attending church and holding a Sister Meeting, speaking about subjects of importance to women: marriage, love languages, serving with your husband, a woman’s worth.
Out of the city and into the villages, we will be visiting home churches, distributing knitted/crocheted caps and handmade baby blankets, taking humanitarian aid in the form of hygiene items to an especially needy village, and visiting a Teach A Man to Fish project — a greenhouse — in a village where a home church sprang up after the greenhouse project was funded. This greenhouse has been in operation a year and a half, and had several successful crops. We’re anxious to see it again, as well as distribute caps to the children in that area.
We each spoke at church on Sunday night. I talked about why we do what we do, inspired by a book I’m reading, “For the Love” by Jen Hatmaker. An excerpt sums up my message, “Love God and follow Him. Really, nothing else matters. If you are ever unsure what to do, remember how Jesus loved people. He was the best at it. You can trust Him because anywhere he asks you to go, He has been there too. This is not an easy path. Jesus went to hard places and did hard things. He loved folks everyone else hated or despised. But if you trust us at all, believe me: this is the life you want — this Jesus life.”
Oh that we would all hear that message!
The children sang some Serbian/Roma songs and some we recognized, including “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.” Rodja and Marijan each shared a message, weaving in pieces of what each of us shared with the church during our introduction and welcome time. We closed with one of our favorite songs, “Devla Bical To Duho Akana” and a prayer.
We distributed caps to children who were headed out into the cold night air to walk home.
And we had an adventure involving Teresa and an axe . . . .Check out the picture of Teresa, Marijan, and the axe. We laughed until our sides hurt.
Tomorrow brings Sister Meeting, village visits, cap and aid distribution. Pray for us. For some of us, this territory is deeper than our feet could ever wander.
“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior!”
