September 1, 2009
We’re Here!!!
Cao, friends!!!
So, we made it!!! We are sitting safely in the OM Bosnia office right now finally getting some time to let you know how we are doing.
We have met almost everyone on the team, and they are amazing. It is so good to already have a “family” in this place. Everyone is so welcoming. Much thanks to Trev and Leah for giving us their room for a couple of evenings (and thank you, Trev, for answering so many questions). We already have an apartment waiting for us in which we will move into very soon. It overlooks a market street. We also made our first grocery trip with Trev today. So different, but what an amazing opportunity.
We met with members of the team this morning for a time of prayer and worship. It was fun trying to sing worship songs in Bosnian. I (Billy) actually got to lead a couple of songs as well…which was very refreshing. It was great.
Here is a little culture plug for you. We learned a word today that I love…polako. It means “easy,” but it is one of those loaded expressions (like Americans saying “word”…it sometimes means so much more than just the word). It is an expression meaning to “take it easy,” “relax,” “don’t sweat it,” etc. It supposedly represents the culture pretty well. I love that! Good word to know as we move into this new territory.
Well, we love you and miss you, but we are excited to be here and begin our new journey. We are going to lunch now to try out the cuisine for the first time. Hopefully, we will be telling you ministry stories very soon.
So that I may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
August 26, 2009
Is it real yet???
Hi everybody,
Honestly, I cannot say that it feels real just yet. Right now I just feel like I am at a camp/conference center with a bunch of other believers. It feels entirely possible that we could be going home (to the US) at the end of the conference. In reality – we’re not going home, we’re going to our new home in Bosnia. 
Our experiences over the past week have been wonderful and exhausting and challenging all at once. The people we have met, their passion for the gospel, their knowledge of the Word, and their desire to share it with others is astounding!! Our speaker last night, Chip Kirk, truly challenged me to read more. I must ask the Lord for discipline in this area and that He would give me a new passion for His Word. Here are just a few of the thoughts that have convinced me I must be more diligent in reading:
- How can we share the Good News if we do not know what it says for ourselves?
- How can we communicate the entire story if we have not read ENTIRELY through from Genesis to Revelation?
- How can we share with anyone at any moment if we do not write the Word of the Lord in our HEARTS?
I am convinced. I want to read through from Gen. to Rev. in the next 3 months. Please feel free to ask me about this in the future, so I can tell you how it is going. You can also ask that the Lord would give me the perseverance and diligence I need to accomplish my goal! Actually – WPC – I may just join in w/ you on the 90 days… 
On a totally different subject, I have been trying to practice my Deutsch (German) a bit, but my most frequent phrase is “Wie sagt Mann..?” which is, “How do you say…?” Sometimes I get a surprised reaction that I am even trying, and sometimes I get a “That was terrible” look. You never know. I am hoping that practicing my German here will give me more courage to practice my Bosnian over the next several months.
OK, I need to go. Love you all and thanks so much for your love and support!!!
Mach’s Gut!!
Jess
No Comments »
August 23, 2009
An Amazing Picture of the Body of Christ!!!
Sweet Dreams.
I thought I would start out with that since most of you are sound asleep in bed right now (unless you are currently in this part of the world with us). Jess and I just got done eating breakfast.
So, I think we are coming up on the final stages of our jet lag. It finally feels like we are getting adjusted to the new time and place. I finally slept all the way through the night, and Jess (while still somewhat restless) had her best night of sleep as well. Please continue to pray for rest and adjustment for us.
If you ever got to listen to Jess and I give our presentation, you might remember us talking about our excitement for this conference we are at now. We talked about how we were excited to see a different picture of the Body of Christ (the church). Let me tell you what…it is amazing!!! The praise and worship band includes 3 people from Holland, 2 from New Zealand, one from Germany, and one from Switzerland. They had never played together before this week…yet, they are amazing. It has been an incredible picture to see all of those parts of the “body” fitting together and making beautiful music.
We are staying in a cabin right now with a couple from Holland and a couple from South Africa. We had a good conversation with a man from Ireland last night. One of the missionaries here is a former Muslim from Albania going to Kosovo (check out the current history of Kosovo right now and you will see how amazing this is). We have become good friends with a couple from Singapore who have lived in Australia for the last 14 years. We have also become good friends with an American couple who travel the country doing a unicycle show to present the Gospel. He believe he was once the Unicycling World Champion. Sorry for that stream of consciousness, but I am in a hurry. Those are just a few of our experiences.
And even better, God is truly preparing our hearts for Bosnia. Keep us in our prayers that God would truly fill our hearts with zeal and fervor for ministry. We love you all and will talk again soon.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
P.S. I received my bag (woohoo)!!! Also, I will post a couple of pictures soon from one of our worship services and tell you the story of it.
No Comments »
August 20, 2009
We’re here!!!
Hey friends!!!
Jess and I just wanted to let you know that we have officially made it. I am making this post in the dining hall at the conference center outside of Amsterdam. It is all very exciting. However, jet lag is real! We are currently working on staying awake right now so that we can get normal as soon as possible.
Also, you may have already read, but my checked bag has not made it to me yet. When I talked to the guy at the airport, he said that my bag hadn’t left Washington D.C. yet. As of now, it is supposed to be delivered to me tomorrow morning.
Well, here are a couple of pictures to show you that things are for real. These are pictures of us with the Field Leader of OM Bosnia and another couple that is joining the team along with us.
Okay, we will leave it at that right now. We love you all and look forward to sending you updates.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
August 18, 2009
Right Here, Right Now!
I have totally had that old Jesus Jones’ song stuck in my head this morning. Do you remember how it goes? “Right here, right now, there is no other place I’d rather be.” We can’t believe that the time is finally here.
So, we have had some big final moments over the past couple of weeks. Like one last Wal-mart run…haha…we actually weren’t too sad about that one. However, there were some other sad ones. Jess said goodbye to her family. I am about to say goodbye to mine. It is such an incredible blessing, though, to know that they are supporting us and backing us up all the way.
Please be praying for our hearts. Pray that the Lord continues to break our hearts for the Bosnians and continues to prepare us for effective ministry. Pray for safe travels. This one is kind of trivial (but, kind of not)…please pray that my guitar makes it all the way to Sarajevo. Also, keep praying for whatever the Spirit lays on your hearts.
Well, let the real updates begin. We will post as often as we can and hopefully we will be able to get a newsletter out this month. We lost some data when our hard drive crashed, and that has slowed us way down on the newsletter.
We love you all very much and couldn’t ask for better blessings and support. Please continue to trust in God’s promises and believe that He is reviving hearts to Himself everyday for His glory.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
July 29, 2009
In the air again…
Zdravo friends!
Sorry it has been so long for us to update the website. Life has definitely been crazy! We are currently stuck in the Lubbock Airport right now trying to get to New Orleans to see Jess’ parents. We have already not made two flights, but the rest of them are looking a lot better. I’ll tell you what…we are beginning to know the LBB and DFW airports very well. They almost feel like home. But, it is worth it.
We were able to make it to Portland to see my sister, Kristi, and her kids, Zoe and Fox. It was such a blessing to see them before we go. It would have been terrible to come back and have Fox not even remember who we are.
The northwest is also one of my favorite places on earth now. Kristi took us to Seattle one of the days that we were there, and we had my good friends, Kara and Andrew Schein, show us around their ‘hood. Also, while we were there we ran into Josh Cleveland and his new wife the day after their wedding as well as my cousin, April West, and her husband, Ed, in which we have not seen in about 10 years. Talk about freaky, but it was awesome.
Finally, we are officially out of our apartment. This was a gruesome task, but it is very refreshing to have it done. We still have plenty of stuff to get done before we go, but we think things will be more relaxing now and should be able to get some more rest.
Please pray that we continue to keep our eyes on Christ and the work that He is leading us into. It is very easy to get distracted by all of these details (apartment, packing, airplane tickets, saying goodbye to family and friends, etc, etc, etc…). We can see the enemy trying to take our eyes off of our passion and joy in working for Christ. Also, continue to pray that the Lord prepares us for ministry, compassion, new culture, new language, and unity with the team we are joining with.
We love you all and we will continue to try our best to keep you posted on our journey. Please feel free to communicate with us through Skype, Facebook, or worldstreus@gmail.com.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
June 26, 2009
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…
Okay…so no trains, but I couldn’t resist the movie plug. We wanted to give a quick update of our current developments.
As of planes, we have officially booked our flight to Amsterdam. This was very exciting for us and just continues to make everything a reality. I just have to dote on my wife for a little bit here. She did a lot of research on plane tickets and found a fantastic deal. I am really proud of her. Now, just continue to pray for all the rest of the details we have to get done (i.e. selling cars, finding a place for all our stuff, etc).
As of automobiles, we just completed our final road trip last weekend. We got to speak at The Vine in Oklahoma City at their Sunday morning service to tell them about what God has laid on our hearts regarding missions and ministry. It was a great blessing and we were very encouraged by the response of that church. God is doing great work through that congregation and it was great to hear Treb Praytor preach again. It definitely felt like old times in some ways. Thank you, Treb and the Vine, for inviting us to share with all of you. It was great to see you, Praytors!
Also, we got to make a stop in Spearman, TX on our way to Oklahoma City to spend time with one of our favorite families, the Schoenhals. Just in case you know Mickey and Reagan and didn’t know their newest news, they have a beautiful baby boy, Beckett (whew, that was a lot of “B” words). He is smiling, cooing, and mastering the art of being cute. It was so much fun to see our great friends being parents. Beckett is truly blessed to have such a great mom and dad. Mickey can definitely do some dead on impressions of his son (hilarious).
I can’t forget to mention how wonderful it was to see my other set of “parents” one more time before we go. We love you, Mark and Margy!
Finally, I am writing this post in Fargo, ND right now. We are getting some wonderful time with Jess’ family. Just one more of a few more trips we plan to make before heading out (did that sentence make sense…oh well).
Okay, that’s all for now. Love you guys!
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
June 25, 2009
Goodbye, Duncan…old friend.
So, this is my tribute to Duncan…my trustee 2005 Nissan Altima. I will be selling this car soon and just completed my final road trip in this old friend of mine. Well, this is what I would like to call, “Ode to Duncan”:
Duncan, O Duncan, tried and true,
A better car, I never knew,
Through rain and snow and hail and sleet,
Driving you was always a treat,
Even though we have to part ways,
You will have a place in my heart always,
Thank you for the good times, old friend,
I hope for you the road never ends.
All I have to say in closing is, “Don’t judge me.” More important things in life, but you find time for all kinds of stuff to do when you are delayed in an airport. Here are some more photos for you.
No Comments »
June 4, 2009
And reality sets in…and it is sweet!
Hey everyone!!!
It has been awhile since our last post on the website. Our main point now has been to keep you updated on where we our in our support raising. So, keep coming back to see our donation meter. We are currently at 82% right now!!! God has been so incredibly faithful to us.
We received an email the other day from our field leader in Bosnia. It contained the OM Bosnia policy. It clarified a lot of questions that we have had about what to expect, but also brought us so much deeper into the reality of going. Okay, I will not lie. As all of you know, a lot of times reality has some fear that comes a long with it, and we are no exception there in some regard. However, the bigger truth is that we find ourselves getting even more excited about what is to come.
The Lord continues to ignite our hearts for the necessity of the Gospel preached to the nations. He is worthy of all that we have. Please continue to pray that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened to His true purpose for missions.
We love you all and stay connected with us. We pray that God also enlightens the eyes of your hearts as well. Don’t forget that you are serving alongside us in this work.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
No Comments »
May 9, 2009
50% and beyond!!!
Hey partners in ministry!!!
We just wanted to give a quick update for you. As you may have noticed, we have officially broken the 50% point on our monthly pledges. Actually, we may now be up to something like 66% now. God continues to blow us away and encourage us greatly as we continue to prepare for His work in Bosnia.
Most importantly, the Lord continues to ignite our hearts more and more for missions. We believe more than ever that international missions is so necessary. Please pray that God continues to encourage and burden our hearts with this work.
We love you all and keep an eye out for our May newsletter that should be coming soon. If you did not receive our April newsletter, then you may not be on our email list. Let us know and we will make sure to send them to you. We’ll talk to you again soon.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.