A couple of months ago Jess and I bought a season pass for skiing.  It was very affordable, and with the equipment we were able to borrow, it seemed like a great idea.

However, life just gets crazy sometimes…on top of that, the weather doesn’t always do what you want it to do.  We kept finding ourselves going out of town, and the weekends we were in town, we were very tired or there was no snow (or we didn’t have a ride to the mountain).  Also, we had to give our borrowed equipment back.

So, last weekend we decided to sell the ski pass.  With the season coming close to an end and Bible School right around the corner, it seemed our most logical option (Bible School takes place in another town over the span of two weeks).

A couple of weeks ago, we started asking around to see if anyone would want to buy our pass that had hardly been used.  Last weekend, one of my Bosnian friends sent me a text message saying he found someone that wanted to buy it.  Well, I finally talked to my friend on the phone at close to 10pm that night, and he told me that the guy would meet me at 9 in the morning the next day at the supermarket by our apartment.  Selfishly, the next day was the first FULL day off we had in awhile.  I was looking forward to sleeping in and doing nothing.  But, of course, I had to say okay.

The next morning I woke up five minutes before 9 and planned to go the supermarket, sell the pass, and go right back into the bed and sleep a little longer.  Well, it didn’t happen that way.  As soon as I met up with the guy, he asked if I had time for coffee.  I couldn’t say no.  I had met this guy a couple of times in our favorite coffee shop and knew that this could be a good opportunity even though my bed was calling my name.  So, I said okay.

All of this just to say…this coffee time was a wide open door to share the Gospel with this guy.  He told me a story about a ski injury he had last year.  He had collided with another person and sustained a head injury.  If he would have been hit a couple of inches from where he was injured, he would have died.  He told me that he believes in God and thinks He had something to do with this.  However, he then began to tell me about how all of us are energy and stuff like that.  So, I told him that I believed in God too, and asked if I could share with him what I believed.

I don’t know if anything will come from that conversation, but I truly believe that God was in it and ordained it.  I remembered that it seemed like Jesus was never in a hurry.  He welcomed the interruptions that came at him.  Sometimes we just need to slow down because we never know what could happen in an interaction with someone.  We should all make ourselves available to be interrupted every once in awhile.

Nermin has been a friend of the team for awhile.  One of the other guys on the team met him before Jess and I got to Sarajevo, and has been able to get to know him well.  One day, I was introduced to Nermin and we instantly found it very easy to talk to one another.

Nermin speaks very good English and actually lived in the U.S. for a couple of years.  I have been able to go to coffee a few times with him to talk about Bosnia, America, language, politics, and religion.  Nermin and I do not share the same faith in Christ, but it has been amazing to watch a good friendship form here.

This brings me to our most recent coffee chat.  It started like any other chat, but it eventually took a turn for the spiritual side.  Let me attempt to share our conversation with you in a nutshell.

We talked about the reasons wars are fought and why people hate each other.  We talked about how it seems that almost every war is so focused on temporal things like land and power, and that the only things that last forever, like God and our souls, are the things that are ultimately attacked.  This moved us into talking about how these temporal things cannot truly bring us joy.  This easily opened the door to talking about Christ again.  Now, I have been able to present the Gospel to Nermin before, but this time was different.

Honestly, I wasn’t saying many new things that I hadn’t said to Nermin before, but I feel like God is really moving in his heart.  Nermin wanted to show me that he truly understood what I was talking about.  He asked me for a pen and drew me a picture that most of us have learned in church in America.  He drew a chasm separating man from God with a cross bridging the gap.  I couldn’t believe it.  Then, he drew another picture with the same chasm separating man and God.  But, this time he wrote the words “Muhammad, Quran, and Deeds” in the middle.

I explained again to him that only Christ can bridge the gap (again, remember that I am summarizing our conversation quite a bit).  Nermin eventually tells me, “Billy, I am lost and I don’t know what to believe.”  I told him that I will never force him to accept Christ as the only way to Heaven.  I told him that no matter what he decides I will ALWAYS be his friend.  Nermin said, “Thank you.  I really want to talk some more about all of this.”  He has told my teammate and myself that we need to have some late night talks about religion and faith.  How exciting is that?!

So, please pray for Nermin’s heart.  I truly believe that he is very close.  My teammate that has known Nermin for awhile has already reached out to him quite a bit.  It has been great for us to work together and encourage each other here.  Please pray that God gives us wisdom and courage as we continue to love Nermin.

Sorry for the long story, but I couldn’t help telling you.  God is at work here and we continue to be so thankful to partner with you in ministry.

In Christ,

Billy and Jess.

Our awesome web designer has been able to put a media player on the left panel of the website.  Now, we can continue to record some songs for you and add them to the playlist.  I will add a post each time we add a new song.

We have just added “Preko Planina i Mora.”  You know this song in English as, “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever.”  Please remember that we are working on our language and we still miss up on the songs at least once every time.  But, I’m sure you don’t mind.

Here are the words in Bosnian:

We hope that you enjoy the song.  We love you all and always love to hear from you.  Also, our web designer has added the option to add comments to the posts, so feel free to talk back (however, we get to approve the comments, so make your comments wisely

So that all may know,

Billy and Jess.

This is a true story that I wrote into Bosnian for language class.  I thought that you would enjoy a new funny story in a different way.  It is a good way to let you see some more of the language (and maybe even learn a little bit).

Love you all,

Billy and Jess.

I’m very sorry that it has been awhile once again since the last story.  Please know that we will try to keep the stories coming as often as possible.  It definitely helps us as well to have these stories recorded.  I guess they are kind of like building an altar as the Israelites would do to help them remember.  So, here you go…

It is amazing how music can bring people together and make relationships happen. 

We try to meet every Friday at our office for a time to practice the Bosnian worship songs.  So, a couple of Fridays ago I was on my way down the stairs in our apartment building, with guitar in hand, to head to this music meeting.  This particular Friday, there ended up being a gentleman waiting for someone at the bottom of the stairs.

I noticed the man (whom we will call Sanel) looking at my guitar and he looked me in the eyes and began talking.  Just to let you know, when you are in a foreign country where you know just a little bit of the language, it can sometimes be pretty scary when someone starts talking to you.  However, I have an idea now that God had this encounter under control.

My strength with the language so far has been speaking it, but understanding what someone says to me has been a challenge for.  To my surprise, though, I was instantly understanding what Sanel was saying to me.  We began to talk about the guitar and music (that’s right…in Bosnian).  Next thing I know, he wants to see my guitar and asks if he can play it.  His daughter also happens to be a music professor in Sarajevo. 

Another amazing thing is that he tells me he has a piano (at least, I’m pretty sure he says this).  Jess loves to play that piano and has been wondering where she could find one to play.  I love when God gives us encounters like this.  However, I was leaving for Bible school for two weeks a couple of days later.  I got his cell phone number and told him we should play guitar together.

So, like I said, God is good and He continues to open doors for new relationships like this.  As for this story…it is to be continued…

We had the opportunity of getting to spend some great time with our new “family” here in Mostar.  There is another couple with our organization that lives here in Mostar, and they are from the U.S.  We were able to go to their home and have a wonderful meal (chicken, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and even pumpkin pie), play games, and watch a few videos (including the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special).  We even got to watch a little bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade…technology is crazy.

We are so very blessed and thankful for so many things…especially each and every one of you.  We love you all and miss you very much…especially on the holidays.

Blessings,

Billy and Jess.

We are just hanging out for the weekend here and on Monday we will begin a week on studying the New Testament (from Hebrews through Revelation).  It is fun to be back in school.  And, it is really school…we have exams and everything.  It is great!

So, you are waiting for a story.  Someone from our team was showing the weight room that they have here at the school.  There was a scale to weigh yourself in the room.  Well, we have made grown pretty close to a new Bosnian friend here…whom we will call “Anes.”  Anes got on the scale first, and no one thought anything of it…he is really skinny.  Then, I got onto the scale…

Before I finish the story, let me tell you a little about Anes.  I have never met anyone with as much of a heart for serving people.  This guy blows us away.  He is constantly talking about loving Jesus.  He is actually in the room right now singing a psalm…literally.  He is reading the psalm and just singing it out loud (he doesn’t care how his voice sounds or anything…he is just worshiping the Lord).  Well, besides all of that, Anes speaks just a little English.  Therefore, he tends to speak one word or phrase at a time (I can relate right now…haha).  This cracks us up because the timing of his English words when he thinks of something is perfect.

So, I got on the scale.  Anes looked at the scale and said, “Whoa…King Kong!”  As if I didn’t already have enough nicknames.

Volimo te (We love you),

Billy and Jess.