OK, so I know I said I'd try to get another post in before the weekend, but we got really busy for a few days. Sorry about that.
The weekend was hectic. We took a whirlwind tour of the south-east of Serbia, visiting Leskovac and Nis. There is definitely a more Turkish influence in this area. Apparently the largest evangelical church in Serbia is in Leskovac and is made entirely of Gypsies. We didn't get a chance to visit that church.
Saturday night we were in Leskovac for their student meeting and we got to meet a number of new people there again. There's no way I'm going to remember all these names. A highlight from that meeting was getting to sing "Power of Your Love" in Serbian.
In Nis we went to the Sunday worship service of the local Penticostal church. Their pastor is a local who married a British woman and through that started a new church. They asked if any of us could play piano, so I got a crash course on some of their songs and I played along with their songleader. It was great. I just couldn't understand any of the songs I was playing.
Nis was the centre of the most fierce fighting between the Turks and Serbs. In one battle, 10000 Turks and 4000 Serbs died at once. As a result, the Serbs there hang on even stronger to their Orthodox roots. We wish we could have spent more time there, but we had to make our way back to Belgrade.
Our plans have changed somewhat as God has shown us that building relationships is to be our main focus while we're here. We're spending a lot of time going with locals (both believers and not) and simply engaging them in discussions. We have discovered that the level of English spoken here is higher than we thought, so discussions are actually better suited to the country than English classes.
A highlight from this new focus (it was one of our foci before, but it has become even more of a focal point than before) was eating at a restaurant in which one of our friends is a cook. He is not yet a believer, but his brother is and they are very close. This cook has prepared meals for the likes of the Onassis family, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and various Greek and Russian dignitaries... and he was excited to have us visit his restaurant. In fact, he told us that he is considering coming to Winnipeg in order to learn to cook in other ways (Japanese, Indian, etc.). We encouraged him to follow through because we consider Winnipeg a good place to find many different types of cooking.
We only have a few more days left here, so I cannot guarantee anything. If this happens to be the last post, we'll be in London from the 27th to the 30th and we'll be arriving in Winnipeg at 7:49 (or 7:29... I'm not sure) on the 30th.
And in case it happens that way, happy birthday dad.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Serbia Update #2
We got back to Belgrade this morning around 11pm. We found out that God never stops working, even when we're on the bus. Our Belgrade contact, Samuil, gave us a call while we were on the Bus telling us that he would not be able to pick us up at the bus station. This may have caused some serious problems for us since we don't really know how to get from the bus station to our building. However, the bus driver noticed that we were speaking english when we got on the bus. He asked us where we were from and one of us answered, "Canada." Well, apparently he has a cousin that drives a cab in Toronto and he knows French really well. So when we found out that we didn't have anyone picking us up, we asked him how close we were going to the Genex building (where our flat is) and he said we were going right by it. Then he asked us if we'd like to get dropped off there and we accepted the offer immediately.
For the last few days we've been in Novi Sad and Subotica meeting with EUS groups there. We went to a number of church services while we were there and managed to encourage the believers there despite our lack of Serbian language. We really noticed the more laid back lifestyle of those cities. They are also much more evangelical than Belgrade because they were further from the Byzantine Empire (in Subotica, the predominant language is actually Hungarian).
A surprise from today is that around noon we all of a sudden got a call from Nick that we could join their little league teams for practice this afternoon. Well, it wasn't really a practice. They just did running drills and a little infielding. There's only one ball field in Belgrade and there are four teams sharing it, so their practice was actually on the lawn of the basketball stadium. Go figure. Lots of bad bounces. We're trying again tomorrow, but supposedly it's going to rain.
The team is still getting along amazingly well. It was good for us to be able to live under one roof in Novi Sad. The culture there is also much more like North America, so we were able to get a break from the hectic 'no one really knows what's going on' culture of Belgrade. As we get closer to the end of the GP (in ten days we leave for London) please pray that we can keep our focus and finish well. The relationships have definitely been forged in Belgrade, now we need to move forward into helping them grow in their relationships with Jesus.
As for "Kingdom of Heaven," chew on this for a bit: Religion. I've seen religion turn people into fanatics who will use the will of God for whatever they want. -- It's not an exact quote, but that really spoke to me and I hope it will speak to many Serbs as well.
We'll hopefully I'll be able to get here once more before we head to Nis on Saturday.
Until then, God bless and go Moose/Jays/Bombers.
For the last few days we've been in Novi Sad and Subotica meeting with EUS groups there. We went to a number of church services while we were there and managed to encourage the believers there despite our lack of Serbian language. We really noticed the more laid back lifestyle of those cities. They are also much more evangelical than Belgrade because they were further from the Byzantine Empire (in Subotica, the predominant language is actually Hungarian).
A surprise from today is that around noon we all of a sudden got a call from Nick that we could join their little league teams for practice this afternoon. Well, it wasn't really a practice. They just did running drills and a little infielding. There's only one ball field in Belgrade and there are four teams sharing it, so their practice was actually on the lawn of the basketball stadium. Go figure. Lots of bad bounces. We're trying again tomorrow, but supposedly it's going to rain.
The team is still getting along amazingly well. It was good for us to be able to live under one roof in Novi Sad. The culture there is also much more like North America, so we were able to get a break from the hectic 'no one really knows what's going on' culture of Belgrade. As we get closer to the end of the GP (in ten days we leave for London) please pray that we can keep our focus and finish well. The relationships have definitely been forged in Belgrade, now we need to move forward into helping them grow in their relationships with Jesus.
As for "Kingdom of Heaven," chew on this for a bit: Religion. I've seen religion turn people into fanatics who will use the will of God for whatever they want. -- It's not an exact quote, but that really spoke to me and I hope it will speak to many Serbs as well.
We'll hopefully I'll be able to get here once more before we head to Nis on Saturday.
Until then, God bless and go Moose/Jays/Bombers.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Serbia update #1
So we've been here for a few days now and things seem to be running along quite well. The three things we set out to do (teach english, encourage local believers, evangelize to non-believers) have all been accomplished to some extent in the last two days. Our focus for the first week has been to get to know the local believers through various meetings and get-togethers.
We have learned a lot about Serbian culture and history and it really helps explain some of the reasons the Orthodox church has such a hold on the people. The Orthodox religion was brought to Serbia by a prince named Sava when he escaped from the palace to the Byzantine empire. When the Ottomans overran the Byzantines, they went on to take half of Serbia. The other galf was controlled by the Hungarians. During this time, the Serbian people were forced to conform to their rulers' expectations. When they were "freed" by the Soviets, they suddenly had to conform to communism. The only Serbian cultural identity that survived all those years of oppression was the Orthodox Church. So the people are loyal to it for reasons of culture and national pride.
Later today we'll be heading off to Novi Sad to meet with other groups of believers, so please pray for our safety while travelling and willingness to meet new people over the next few days.
I have pictures, but not the time to upload them, so hopefully they will be making an appearance sometime later.
Dovidenje
mvp
ps If you get a chance to see "Kingdom of Heaven" it would create lots of thought and discussion. I recommend it greatly.
We have learned a lot about Serbian culture and history and it really helps explain some of the reasons the Orthodox church has such a hold on the people. The Orthodox religion was brought to Serbia by a prince named Sava when he escaped from the palace to the Byzantine empire. When the Ottomans overran the Byzantines, they went on to take half of Serbia. The other galf was controlled by the Hungarians. During this time, the Serbian people were forced to conform to their rulers' expectations. When they were "freed" by the Soviets, they suddenly had to conform to communism. The only Serbian cultural identity that survived all those years of oppression was the Orthodox Church. So the people are loyal to it for reasons of culture and national pride.
Later today we'll be heading off to Novi Sad to meet with other groups of believers, so please pray for our safety while travelling and willingness to meet new people over the next few days.
I have pictures, but not the time to upload them, so hopefully they will be making an appearance sometime later.
Dovidenje
mvp
ps If you get a chance to see "Kingdom of Heaven" it would create lots of thought and discussion. I recommend it greatly.
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