Dreams and visions

Kat, Vesna (right) and me chillin' gangsta style at Peppers' Cafe

Vesna, from Sarajevo, is 20 years old and studying journalism at the university here. She hopes to travel the world and one day become a reknowned and influential news reporter. In a nation where many young people have given up hope for the future because of the poor economy, high unemployment rate, and other leftovers from the war of the early nineties, Vesna is one of the rare and few with great hopes and aspirations for a future in Bosnia.

I met Vesna a few months ago--she works part-time at the Videoteka (video store) where I am a member, and from the first time we talked I was impressed by the natural joy and life I saw in her. After several months of exchanging pleasantries when I'd stop in at the videoteka to check out a movie, I asked if she'd like to go for coffee sometime. So a few weeks ago Kathryn and I met with her at a cafe nearby and we spent several hours over coffee, chatting and exchanging life stories.

I was amazed by Vesna's maturity and comprehension of her nation, and of the world around her. Her focus and determination are uncharacteristic of the young Bosnian mind-set; Vesna knows what she wants, and she also cares about her nation and about its improvement. Many young people just can't wait to get out and go west where there is more opportunity for them, and linger in that state of waiting and wishing, pacifying themselves in the long interim with drugs and alcohol.

I admit that after that first get-together over coffee, my thought was, "Oh, if only more Bosnians were like Vesna." Then I realized that her peers were young enough to not be so tainted by the atrocities of the siege from '92-'96, and that there probably are more Bosnians like her--I just haven't met 'em yet. Not to say that there is no hope for the older generations, but the fact is that the young people will be the uprising leaders of this nation; and so, getting to know more people like Vesna gives me great hope for Bosnia and for the whole of the Balkans.

I believe that God will draw people like Vesna into the Kingdom and raise them up as leaders in this region. And I believe that through their influence and leadership, Bosnia and the whole of the Balkans will begin to see much change for the better. One of my jobs here is to really pray for and reach out to the youth--I am excited to see how God has given them a love and passion for life that will inevitably bring restoration and godliness to this wounded place!