So about a week and a half ago, we got together, just the two of us.  It didn’t take long until she asked the question I was waiting for, and yet not exactly sure how I would answer it.  That question was, “So, why are you here again? And how does it all work with your organization and everything?” So I started explaining a little bit about OM and our partnership with the Evangelical churches in Sarajevo.  But about halfway into my explanation, I felt a little prodding in my spirit that said, “Jess! You’ve been waiting for this question…use it! Tell her what you believe.” So I did.  I can’t say that it was the best explanation of what it means to be saved by grace.  But she didn’t stop me before I finished, and she followed up with some great questions, trying to figure out what the difference is between what we believe and what the Catholic Church believes.

Our coffee lasted two and half hours.  We discovered we definitely have some things in common, and I’m looking forward to many more coffee dates.  I’m not sure how the Lord might use this conversation in the future, but I know it was no accident.

Please continue to pray for our boldness in sharing the Good News!  There is so much hope wrapped up in the story of Jesus Christ, and hope can hard to find here.  Pray for Ljilijana too: that her curiosity will increase and her heart will soften at the same time.

In His Grace,

Jess

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.

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 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.

Another praise is that they shared this moment with a local believer and not with any of us (foreigners).  This is a huge answer to prayer in many ways!

Please continue to pray for “Betsy” and “Dave.”  Pray that they encourage their children in Christ.  Pray that they encourage each other in their marriage.  Pray that they persevere through any persecution they face from family and friends.  Pray that the believers here depend on Christ and each other…not on foreigners.

Thank you all for your prayers!!!  We just had to share this with you real quick.  More stories to come…

So that all may know,

Billy and Jess.

Sorry that it has taken so long to get another story up on the website, but we have been busy.  Also, Billy got a cold or something for a couple of days.  So, a couple of things have slowed us down from posting.  Anyway, we have another encouraging story for you.

We have told you about our new friends Betsy and Dave.  Well, we got the chance to go over to their home again.  This time, though, Dave was not there.  When we first got there we noticed that Betsy seemed down, and we started our time with small talk and learning some more language.  What I have not told you yet, is that I brought my guitar and Bosnian worship book with us as well.

Eventually, Betsy asked about me playing the guitar.  So, Jess and I attempted to sing a worship song in Bosnian.  Before we knew it, Betsy and Dave’s kids (we will call them Nate and Samantha) were drawn into the room by the guitar and Betsy was singing along with us.  We asked Betsy to help us translate the songs.  Through doing this, we were able to talk to her about what the songs mean.

Soon enough, our time there took a divine turn into a conversation about Christianity and the Gospel.  We have had some other friends here that have shared with Betsy and Dave before.  She told us that she really likes what we say and how we live.  However, she is afraid to add more commitments to her life.  We were able to share with her that following Christ is not about giving more and more time, but about beginning to do and see everything differently (through the eyes of Christ).

We also got to present the Gospel to her again, sharing with her what it is like to be in relationship with Christ.  I asked her if she believed that Christ died on the cross for her sins.  It was hard to go much further due to language barriers.  So, she eventually asked for us to find her a book in Bosnian that can help explain everything for her.  At this point, I remembered that I had a New Testament in Bosnian in my backpack.  We were able to give this to her and tell her that we would find her another book to help her understand more.

We were very encouraged through this time.  Like I told you before, we noticed at the beginning that Betsy seemed down.  Well, throughout our time there, we could definitely see a difference in her demeanor and tone of voice.  Our time ended with her telling us that she hopes we can come back often.  She also had Nate tell us to come back.  Praise God for moments like this.

We feel that Betsy is on the verge and very close to trusting in Christ with her life.  Hopefully, we will get opportunities to talk to Dave as well.  Please pray for Betsy and her family.  Pray that God puts a delight for Christ within their hearts and salvation to their home.

We love you all and are always thankful for your support.

So that all may know,

Billy and Jess.

Sorry it has been a little while since our last Sarajevo Story.  We try to be very intentional about keeping all of you as updated as possible, however times occasionally get very busy.  So, we have some catching up to do.

This edition of “Sarajevo Stories” is going to contain several small stories for you.  We are about to leave for a team retreat for the next 5 days.  Therefore, you need an update before we leave.

First, we have been able to begin a relationship with our “Bosnian care family.”  We will call them Dave and Betsy for you (we will be changing names in these stories, but want to give you some kind of names because it makes things more “real”).  Some of you might remember us explaining being put together with a “Bosnian care family” during our first three months here.  The purpose of this family is to have someone to help us practice language and learn the culture.  We have been able to meet with Dave and Betsy a couple of times now, and they are definitely a blessing.  A friendship has definitely begun here.  Betsy taught us how to make Bosnian coffee.  She also speaks a little bit of English and does a good job to teach us the language more.  We are planning on going to barbeque with them before too long so that Dave can teach us to do some Bosnian cooking.  They have a second home off of the Drina River here in Bosnia and we might get to even go with them some weekend.  Dave is an avid fisherman and I am working on making some stuff happen with this.

There was a God moment that we talked about in our first Sarajevo Story about a couple that we got to meet.  Well, we got the opportunity to go visit them again one night last week…and we will call them Richard and Sandy.  An average visit in Bosnia is about 2 hours.  That is how long we spent at their apartment…and neither one of them speak any English!  Needless to say, the first hour was very awkward.  Then, praise the Lord, something happened over the course of the second hour and a great relationship has begun to be formed.  As we were leaving their apartment they were telling us that we must come back (at least we think we interpreted this correctly, thanks to our trusty dictionary that fits in Billy’s back pocket…he carries it around everywhere).  Sandy gave Jess a hug and a kiss on both cheeks…giving us confirmation that we are welcome.

Recently in our September newsletter, we told you about our friend from the pizzeria (who we will call Didi).  This friendship has continued to grow for Jess.  They have started to run together.  We actually stayed with Didi the other night until she closed the pizzeria and walked her home.

For Billy, he has been able to build a friendship with Amos, our next door neighbor.  We have already given details of their first encounter in the September newsletter.  He and Billy swapped phone numbers the other day and talked about a double date in coming days.  This is exciting!

Lastly, this past week we have had a short-term team from Atlanta here.  They gave a few programs to the children in the neighborhood.  We believe that 8 kids made a decision for Christ over their time here.  Jess and I were blown away being on the side of the long-term missionaries this time.  We reminisced about our times on short-term mission trips and remembered how amazing there were in our lives.  However, you have to go back home at the end of the week.  This time, we realized that we get to stay here and continue following up with these kids that were reached out to over this past week.  We are so blessed and want you to know that this is what you are getting to be a part of as well.  Thank you for you support and love.

Well, that definitely gives you an idea in a nutshell of how God continues to provide for us in this place.  Continue to pray that the Lord gives us boldness in ministry and more open doors for relationships.  We love you all.

So that all may know,

Billy and Jess.

We came back to our apartment a couple of days ago and Jess discovered that our refrigerated products were not as cold as before.  Also, the light was no longer coming on inside the door.  So, we told our team leader and he said that we would call our landlord the next day.  In the meantime, we put all of the products that could spoil into the freezer overnight.  Yeah, that’s right…the freezer was still working.

Yesterday, after several phone calls (it always takes more than one), our team leader was able to make a plan with our landlord.  He called an appliance store to send a serviceman.  The bad news was that they wouldn’t make it until at least a couple of days later.  So, Jess made cauliflower and rice to go with our leftover chicken…dinner of champions (we had to make use of the food that did not have much longer to live).

Okay…before we tell you the rest of the story, let us rest our case.  We may not be super handyman and handywoman, but we knew a couple of things to try.  We had pulled the fridge out, taken the plug out and put it back in.  We had turned the dial on the inside and underneath.  So, please give us a break…we made a couple of attempts of troubleshooting.  Now, we can finish the story.

When Jess put dinner on the table, Billy was finishing a conversation with someone on facebook, and she had to sit and wait a little bit.  As she was waiting, she looked over at the stove and had a revelation!  A miracle had happened (or not).  The stove had worked without being plugged in!  She ran over and turned the oven dial!  The light came on!  It was a Sarajevo miracle!!!  Or, the plug that we thought was for the oven was in fact for our beloved refrigerator.

The only plug in our kitchen has a place for only one plug.  So, when we wanted to use the electric tea kettle we have, we would unplug the oven (we thought) and plug it in.  Well, we got a microwave and got a y-plug so we could plug in more than one thing.  However, we figured that we did not need the oven for a little while, so we unplugged it (we thought).  When we had checked the plug behind the refrigerator and saw that it was fine, we left it at that.

What American would have thought that the freezer AND the refrigerator had separate plugs?!  It is one unit.  Sure, it’s easy for you to think that you would have thought of that, but you never know.  Haha.  We hope that this Sarajevo Story gave you a smile and a laugh today.

The Lord had in fact provided for us in the situation.  We found this out in time to call our team leader so he could stop the serviceman from coming.  How terrible it would have been to have our landlord get the bill from the serviceman and find out that he only had to plug the refrigerator in?  Praise the Lord!

The moral of the story:  Good things come to those who wait.  Just think, Jess…if I wasn’t keeping you waiting like I do so often, you would have never made the discovery.  Just kidding (I had to put this in).

Ćao!