September 12, 2009
A Sarajevo Story – Part 2
So, we have definitely had our moments of culture shock while being here, right? It just goes with the territory. At the beginning of our time here, it was very easy to find refuge in the other couple from America and the other new team member from Germany. Well, our team leader gave all of us an article regarding bonding to the culture you are entering.
The article stated that the first couple of weeks are crucial to separate yourself from what is comfortable to you, dive into the culture, and make local friends. It spoke very strongly about belonging to the new people so that we can help them see that they belong to God. We laughed to ourselves as we realized that our good friend, Max (a missionary friend), had advised us to not worry about settling into our home when we get here. He said that it is best to go out and meet people and embrace the culture. Well, we had made a good attempt to do this, but the Lord really used that article to refresh our memories and give us a little (okay, BIG) push. So, we prayed.
The result: our next day was absolutely AMAZING!!! Billy went to get his haircut and formed a new friendship with the “frizer” (hair stylist). He said that Billy can come by anytime and try to catch him on breaks to learn the culture, learn the language, and talk about Lost (yes, the American TV show). Jess was able to get more practice on the language and talking to the people on her own.
Then, we went to have lunch at a pizzeria/cafe/coffee shop (that will be the best way to explain it) named Rous. We had prayed for a little coffee shop of something that we could make our own…a place to study, build relationships, relax, etc. Well, shortly after sitting at our table, we had the waitress come and ask what we wanted (in Bosnian). After seeing our faces, she suddenly began to talk English (we will eventually become more comfortable with the language). To make this long story short, we ended up spending at least an hour with her sitting at our table saying that we should come everyday. She wants to take us around Sarajevo and introduce us to all of her friends. We were able to tell her to talk Bosanski to us as much as possible so we can learn the language.
Well, the Lord continued to give us another great day. The next day we were able to meet our next door neighbor. He is 30 years old and lives with his little sister and parents. We got to talk to him for about an hour and really enjoyed our conversation. He said that we can come over anytime and would like to go get coffee sometimes.
One last part of the story, we went back to Rous last night. We sat down and got coffee and a sandwich. Our new friend from there came up and we asked her about some of the words on the menu that we had learned in language class that same day. Well, instead of just translating for us, she brought the actual food out for us to try. It was great. By the end of our time there, we were sitting with six new friends (some spoke English, some did not). They are hilarious, yet a little rough around the edges. It was great.
Point of the story: God is good and He hears our prayers. We are definitely beginning to feel like we belong here. Another huge prayer that was answered in all of this: none of these new friends are Christians. The Lord is definitely leading us into opportunities to do His work. Pray that we can help these people see that they belong to God.
Doviđenja! Prijatno! (Good bye! Have a good day!)
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
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September 6, 2009
A Sarajevo Story (1st edition)
Zdravo!
So, this is the beginning of a new specialized blog we will post for you…”A Sarajevo Story.”
We have had to figure out which mailbox is ours at the apartment by just trying our key on each one. Then, once we found it, we were able to figure out which intercom buzzer is ours. So, we thought we had it all figured out…
A team member came to meet us at our apartment so we could have coffee together. She got to the outside door and buzzed the intercom we told her to buzz. After receiving several unexpected responses, she finally gave us a call and I went downstairs to let her in. Well, someone else went downstairs as well to see who kept buzzing their intercom.
It turns out that when Jess and I were trying our keys in different mailboxes, I was using the wrong key. Our key works on two mailboxes. So, we were unintentionally able to meet a new neighbor which became an incredible experience and what I believe to be a total “God moment.”
Fortunately, our team member has been here for 7 months and can speak a fair amount of Bosnian. Next thing we know, we are being led upstairs to our new friend’s apartment. We catch Jess and another team member on our way up and find ourselves in our neighbor’s apartment not understanding a word being spoken. The woman introduced us to her husband and brought out a platter of fig newton type cookies and some type of orange drink. Here is what our other team member was able to catch through our hour with these new friends…
I reminded the woman of her son. This made her very emotional. She told us a story about watching her son get hit by a grenade during the war. He is still alive, but lost the bone marrow in his leg. The woman was also very excited because our other team member is from Holland and her son is living in Holland right now. She also told us about when a sniper shot into her living room and almost shot her. She took the bullet out of her purse and passed it around the room.
This is just a little bit of what we experienced, and we definitely have not shared everything with you. It was such an incredible experience, though. The Lord definitely wanted us to meet these people. After reading so much about the war and these people, it was finally made so real to us. Plus, we have some new friends to build relationships with already.
Sorry for the long post, but we just really wanted to share that story with you. I wish we had time to write our every story for you, but there is not the time yet. We will try our best, though. Keep praying for these “God moments” for us. We love you all and can’t wait for another Sarajevo Story for you.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.