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Sunday, August 5, 2001
Chris' report to The Church @ The Neighborhood Center
Thank
you for your love and your prayers.
We had a powerful three weeks, interspersed with hardship and joy.
We were tested and stretched, both individually and as a
team.
We met incredible new friends and struggled to leave them.
We gained new perspective: on
ministry; on God's work across the world, and in individual lives;
and on God's work in our own lives.
During our 3 weeks in Bosnia & Croatia, we stayed in 4 cities:
Sarajevo, Mostar, Jajce, and Split.
We stayed in Sarajevo 10 days, helping the Evangelical Church of
Sarajevo minister to its body and perform outreach through organized
work projects, such as painting in houses, staining at the
orphanage, and more; and working and hanging out at their
coffeehouse outreach ministry.
In Sarajevo, we developed strong relationships with the young
Bosnian believers and searchers.
These relationships were the highlight of our trip for many
on our team.
Next we traveled to Mostar, a city still deeply divided.
In our brief stay there, we saw some of the worst war damage,
as well as the hospital, the container village refugee camp, and the
Klub Novi Most outreach center.
Our next stop was Jajce, a place close to my heart.
Though we stayed there only 3 ½ days, we enjoyed our time
with the Bosnian believers, the ministry kids, and a South African
missions team. We
staffed their afternoon kids program and helped set up a new
internet coffeehouse.
Finally, we headed to Split, Croatia, for some down time on the
Adriatic coast before coming home.
Now that we're back, it's fun to reminisce about the lighter
moments:
like listening to the Sarajevo team leader, Lawn Dixon, trying to
practice his Spanish with Nadine, and in the process inventing
BosSpanGlish;
or like predicting when it was going to rain, by waiting for Jessica
to put her hand-washed clothes out to dry;
Please continue to pray for us, that we would know what to do with
this experience now that it's over.
Each member of the team has their own response to this trip, and is
still trying to process before God what this means for their future.
This short-term trip was an incredible opportunity for each of us.
It was God's design to bring each of us to Bosnia, and place us
together as a team.
Now we are back in Phoenix, beginning to resume our normal lives.
What do we do with what we saw and experienced, with those new
Bosnian friendships?
Please pray that we would hear God and what He is saying to us,
individually and as a Church, about this connection with Bosnia.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Through them, God provided for us and protected us.
Thank
you.
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