What’s wrong with me???…I’m already missing being in Serbia…! People ask me if I had a "good time" and I tell them I had a rewarding time! A "rewarding time" is a "good time" but also has lasting personal value. A mere good time is Disneyland or Schlitterbahn, after which the souvenir gets lost or packed away and the photos gather dust; it is only a fleeting memory.
God has already given me some time to reflect on my involvement in Serbia and the meaning of it. Being a rookie I needed this to resolve all the misconceptions before the trip and the realities I came back with. The question that kept bugging me on the return flight was…"how did working on construction in a foreign land, for people I don’t even know or can barely talk to glorify God or count toward eternity?" For me personally, God brought to mind in a clear way how Christ crossed the boundary of time, and "went to work" sacrificing himself and subjecting himself to immeasurable suffering on my behalf even to the point of dying. I recognize that as an outpouring of His love and care. In an infinitesimally fractional but similar way, I reckon that our Serbian brothers and sisters recognize us in that light too, and that our crossing geographic boundaries and toiling ("quasi-suffering!") is an extension of Christ’s giving of Himself for them through us. Forgive the rambling, but it helps me ascribe some real joy to my involvement. I hope you can relate.
As a sidebar, look out for National Geographic’s July issue…there is an article on present-day Serbia and the country’s struggle for identity and direction in the world. It is an interesting and touching read.
Chip, Julie, Nate, Angela and John…thank you so much for living leadership. I saw it daily in the way you led.
Brian
Today was a day for focusing on really becoming familiar with the camp property in its entirety. We’re talking metrics! Hectares instead of acres and so forth!
I spent a good part of the day photographing and walking the property, taking notes of the vegetation, landform, access, drainage patterns, and other features as one would with planning any property. At lunch i visited with Branko and talked with him and really "picked his brain" about how he see the camp developing in the future and what he believes is important. It is a beautiful property and has a lot of resources to make a good camp/retreat center from. I’ll fill you in more as time foes on.
God bless you,
Brian
Greetings Family, Friends and Supporters!
We were only one day into our mission and I am overwhelmed at by the hospitality of our hosts. They are extremely gracious and seem very happy we are here, and we too are glad to be here, and back on the ground.
Serbia is the first second-world country I’ve been to. The cities have a charm or character of their own, quite different from what we are accustomed to, and yet so much of it still left in ruins and beaten up by the wars of not too long ago. More impressions on this later.
We attended two church services today, both of which included Chip preaching, and some good rounds of singing in both English and Serbian.
Tomorrow we have a full day of hard labor ahead of us so I’m off to finish catching up on my sleep.
Good night (or day?) to all and I’ll be in touch.
Brian
