Today’s lesson is: “On time is late for leaders.” Okay, it’s sort of an inside joke.
We left Prokuplje bright and early, with hearts full from our time there. We headed to Arandjelovac, where we met with Dragan and Danijela at their home for a delicious lunch. We then went to the room they rent for a children’s center, Club New Hope, and saw all the resources they have gathered. From there, we drove to Mladenovac. In that village is a Roma mahala where many Roma who were living in a mahala under a bridge in Belgrade were moved. There wasn’t enough housing for them, so they were moved into containers to live. We are proud to be partners with Dragan and Danijela in bringing “new hope” to the mahala in Mladenovac.
Next stop, Belgrade! We met with friends Dane and Melita in their flat. Melita often translates correspondence for us, and Dane is a publisher and pastor of First Baptist Church in Belgrade. Dane has made available 15 resource books for us to load onto the tablets we brought for the leaders. What a blessing! We had a lovely visit, including coffee and palačinke. It’s always so good to visit, laugh, and fellowship together.
Finally, home to Novi Sad. Nataša, Teodora, and Jovana met us at the door of Rodja’s flat and after hugs and quick catching up, we had a delicious dinner. Don’t miss the picture of the Linking Partners’ Serbia office, set up by Jovana. It is perfect!
Tomorrow will be another busy day — meetings with translator, printer, web developer, another potential partner for the northwestern part of Serbia, then catching up with Pastor Bora from northeastern Serbia. Stay tuned!
