Dubrovnik this weekend

Outside a little family-owned wine shop

Beautiful villa we called home for 3 days

We are finally here and very pleased with ourselves!

It would be amazing to live in a place like this

I love this city

Enjoying a cappucino on the wall

Heavenly

Above the ruins

Nearly November on the Mediterranean

This would be loud if indeed it went off!

Fall flowers


Cruise ship from England that landed in Dubrovnik for the afternoon

"Nines" became my favorite card game this weekend--we hit the Mexican restaurant 2 out of the 3 nights we were in Dubrovnik

...even though both nights we ordered the cheapest thing on the menu!

Sunset

Another Jesus Film town

Last week we hit Kresevo (Kresh-o-vo), in central Bosnia, to distribute Jesus Film invitations. I was thunderstruck by the natural beauty of the pyramidal-shaped mountains that surrounded us, and by the Bavarian-looking homes along the narrow streets of the tiny downtown district. I found later, as you will see if you click on the above link, that in medieval days there was an influx of German blacksmiths to Kresevo, where an abundance of precious metals attracted miners and smithies.

The 8 of us who volunteered for the distribution split up into 3 groups and were able to cover the entire town in less than 3 hours. We immensely enjoyed the scenery as we walked along the streets and up hills, greeting residents who happened to be outside as we passed. The majority of Kresevo's population is Catholic, so for the most part we were greeted with cordiality at worst, and enthusiastic invitations for coffee at best. Because of the nature of our invitations, the way we were received clearly showed us who was Catholic and who was Muslim.

The film was shown twice on Friday and Saturday evenings of last week, and the turnout was phenomenal. 18% of the tiny town (182 people total) attended the showings, making it the largest turnout by far. Many people also requested Bibles, and desired to be contacted and visited in the future. Our prayer is that eventually an Evangelical church will be planted there--we are trusting that the seeds sown last week will bear eternal fruit!

Below are some pictures of our day in Kresevo:

Downtown Kresevo, large Catholic church, center

Cross on a hill overlooking the Catholic side

One of the steep roads just outside of downtown--this particular road was at the threshold of the tiny Muslim subsection on the outskirts of town, and at the top of the hill I saw a small Muslim graveyard--the majority of deaths on the headstones read between 1992-1996 (or during the Serb siege)

Mosque in the Muslim district

Zeljko (pron. Jel-ko) pictured center, the head of the Sarajevo chapter of Campus Crusade's Jesus Film organization), briefing us on what to say to the villagers as we pass out invitations

'Baby Got Book'

Hilarious. Thanks, Matt!

Sick days reading

I'm in a quasi-forced time of rest from my usual activities in Sarajevo because of a bad cough I haven't been able to shake for the last 2 weeks. Family and friends who don't want the cough turning to bronchitis any more than I do have told me to take it easy and take time off. I've reluctantly agreed.

I admit that while the sabbatical time is nice, I feel a little stir crazy and sorry for myself at the moment. The pull of the beautiful outdoors today is horribly tempting, and there's always the temptation of the many cafes. But I will heed wise council nonetheless. So I decided it's a good time to catch up on some reading, and will start with one of Kathryn's: The Balkans, A Short History

On Thursday Kathryn and I drive to Dubrovnik, Croatia to enjoy more R&R and take in some of the sights before snow and subzero temperatures settle in. I think on our excursion I'm going to attack the rest of the Balkans book and then bring some eye, ahem, brain, candy along to purge the heaviness of the Balkan saga from my soul. My office here at the English school has quite a little library, and I'm thinking of finally returning the 2 total books I ever checked out there: the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (that I did not read) and the biography of Cary Grant (that I read with a vengeance), and replacing them with a good Jane Austen. Or whatever.

Being sick brings me to a sharp awareness of how pitifully ill-read I've become since college. I have tried and tried, but I haven't been successfully self-motivational in this area. Especially since obtaining my laptop has enabled me to read little snippets of this and that, somewhat fulfilling my intellectual senses, and definitely complementing my A.D.D.-like tendency to not sit still long enough to read an actual book.

So I launch in. I will probably be kicking myself in 2 weeks when I'm healthy again, and my good intentions have produced the fruit of one half-read book.

“Gun control is for wimps and commies.”

Folks here are celebrating Bayram (the 4 day festal celebration at the end of Ramadan) by clogging up the grocery stores, feasting 24/7, and firing their guns into the air. The firing starts at about 8 in the morning and is loudest at night when more people are out celebrating. I don't know, I suppose that guns are sort of their substitute for fireworks?

This morning the apartment building literally shook once from one that was fired almost under our window, it seems. We debated on whether or not going outside would be wise, so we faced the mobbed supermarket and stocked up on groceries yesterday.

Everytime a gun fires it's hard not to be amused. Kat and I have been giggling all day. I think I find it so funny because America is so anti-gun as a whole, and I'm almost refreshed to be living in a culture where shooting guns is associated with celebration and feasting. It's also sort of redemptive, if you really think about it, for such a war-ridden culture. Or maybe because of all the wars, they just have the gun itch?

Hvala ti za krv!

Sharing the Lord's Supper

Thursday night our church gave a love feast, hosted by Pastor Sasa, who with his family prepared a beautiful meal (and an amazing homemade baklava that followed). We sat together around the decorous table, candles cheerfully burning as a centerpiece. Close friends and family talked and laughed and loved one another. What a wonderful scene.

Before we ate we shared in The Lord's Supper, served by the pastors: bread, broken and passed around the table, red wine served from a silver cup. As we shared, there was a sense of true thanksgiving for the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. I can't remember such a joyful, jubilant sharing of communion. Gathering together to fellowship and feast and celebrate Christ's sacrifice in this way was a foretaste of Heaven and the marriage supper of the Lamb.

I loved the fact that as the bread and wine was passed out we talked and laughed together--we were not forgetting the seriousness of what we were doing, but we took genuine pleasure in it. While it is true that mere enjoyment is not the point of communion, I believe that the church today has forgotten the joy and beauty of celebrating. I am used to cracker pellets and lukewarm grape juice in plastic vials, administered in somber silence. Sobriety is important, as is reverence. But I then think of the first communion, and I wonder if the feast in the upper room was much more like this feast I shared with the Bosnians on Thursday night?

Anyway my prayer is that, in all times to come, I will be able to remember with genuine thankfulness and humility Christ's sacrifice, and that remembering the blood that was spilled for my salvation truly is a time for celebration!

Hvala ti za krv (thank You for the blood)!

"He brought me to his banqueting table, and his banner over me is love." (S.S. 2:4)

The last few weeks at a glance

The crew, out for dinner at Hot Wok Cafe--amazingly good Thai food. I don't think Bosnians like it much though, because the majority of guests every time I've eaten there have been Americans.

Downtown on the outskirts of Bascarsija

Fall in Sarajevo. Beautiful, but the leaves tend more to just fall off and skip the coloring process--boo!

Sanski Most, Bosnia--a very rural village northwest of Sarajevo. A few of us spent the weekend with the church there, and a Saturday afternoon at a farm helping some locals load firewood onto a wagon for delivery. Wood is how many people make their living in Sanski Most

This contraption sputtered and clanged along the street about every hour while we were in Sanski Most. No idea what is (any guesses?), but it looks like a medieval form of torture

Typical Sanski Most scene

Back in Sarajevo--SURPRISE! The pigeons decided my balcony was a great place to lay their spawn. I quickly retaliated...let's just say the egg isn't on my balcony anymore

Kathryn reading in one of our favorite cafes

Enjoying the local brew in Bascarsija (Old Town)

Youth conference--early October. GREAT turnout--this is the first time ECS (Evangelical Church Sarajevo) has hosted it

Kathryn--yay, I'm so glad to have a roommate! :)

Taxis and Jesus

I have a "taxicab ministry." I ride the city taxis a lot here, usually when it's icily raining or I haven't gotten up early enough to get to my morning commitment on time. The other night, Kathryn and I decided to take a cab up one of the mountains to Parke Princiva (Parkay Prin-cheeva), a lovely restaurant/cafe overlooking the city. We enjoyed the wonderful cheese platter and Stella Artois in gold-rimmed goblets and watched the sun set over the many minarets and cozily lit village homes below.

On our way down we hailed another cab, and were delighted to meet Iso, our refreshingly kind taxi driver, with whom I fell immediately into conversation. Many of the cab drivers I meet are macho men who spend more time checking their reflections in the mirror than checking their blind spots, or know-it-alls who consider me priveleged to be in their car. But Iso had that rare open, gentle spirit about him, and I was thankful that between us, we knew enough of one another's languages to communicate.

As we talked, the opportunity naturally opened up for me to witness to him. Using "Bosglish," I asked him what religion he was. I found out he believed in God but in a deistic way--and didn't attend any sort of church. He believed in reincarnation ("I believe when I die I could come back as mouse."), and absolutely did not believe in heaven or hell.

I asked him if he had a Bible. "Yes, but I don't read it." So I asked him to read John 3:16, and I told him that my Christianity was not a "religion," but a relationship. I was basically able to share my testimony in a nutshell, and he listened with eager interest. He promised me that he would read his Bible.

Taking the taxis has been my greatest outlet for sharing the gospel here. I'm praying for Iso and his family, and trusting for other such opportunities to be salt and light to these people. I love this kind of ministry--it's not compartmentalized Christianity--it's being Christ to people in the mundane moments of life. I desire that my faith increases so that I can do this everywhere I go.

Tuesday evening

Who woulda thunk it--excellent Thai restaurant smack dab in downtown Sarajevo. A delightful evening in the company of lovely friends, enjoying excellent (authentic--the restaurant owner is Thai) cuisine, and excellent conversation.

While we dined I almost forgot what city I was in--Hot Wok Cafe is in stark contrast to the usual hamburger and cevapi joints here; though after dinner I was refreshed to step back out into the Sarajevo night. The air is smoggy as usual, but tonight cool and full of fall smells; the familiar clear view of the mountains specked with lights from village homes...

Vendors actually roast chestnuts here on open fires at about every street corner from October to January. I try not to sing out the obligatory "Chestnuts roasting on an open fiiiiire.." theme every time I pass them. That is almost as American as bright yellow polar fleeces and very large and visible digital cameras.

Tonight the chestnuts looked very suspect--I am wary since I made purchase of a bag of them last week and they turned out to be a soggy disappointment. But I think, given what a beautiful night tonight was, they would have had to be crispy and delicious.