The Bosnian Mark, that is. We are planning a permanent headstone for our dear Asima, who passed away two years ago. We offered to take on this project when we met Igor at Luster who works with stone, and then communicated with Dado, her oldest son, who lives in Canada. He encouraged us to follow through with this while we are here, with his approval for everything. It won't be finished until after we leave October 8th, but would be ordered and in process. If we are able to come again next year, we will get a picture, though we will have one taken by Igor. This one is from last year. The original church planting team, and some others, donated funds. We are still $400 short, but trusting God to meet the need.
The rain settled into Sarajevo and it was cold, too. Summer was suddenly fall. Sundresses were exchanged for pants, socks, and layers. We have a fireplace so that helped immensely, and puffy warm comforters for sleeping.
We decided to head to Ivanica where the sun was shining for the weekend to visit Zlatan and help with his place a little. The mountains as we descend to Mostar and on to the Adriatic Sea are just beautiful as they follow the Neretva River. Those tall cows on the road are downright dangerous as they wander onto the narrow, often shoulder-less, roads. Merle was able to fix the front threshold at the family's home. But we felt like the Bosnians did, especially just after the war, not able to leave their new country as Croatia didn't want to recognize them, because, unfortunately, we FORGOT to bring our passports and couldn't cross the border into Croatia! So close, and yet so far.
We did see a few sights in Trebinje, including looking down on the city from a coffee bar, and seeing the Orthodox Church on site with towering cedars against the beautiful mountains surrounding the city. I find the multitude of icons inside the church very strange in my mind, with the gift shop also offering any number of icons to buy. We had a wonderful dinner of the most delicious garlic trout I have eaten and jagnjetina ispod saca, tender, moist lamb cooked under the cover.
We saw Alan, whom we hadn't seen for perhaps 20 years! He was just a boy of 14 when we met him. It was so encouraging to see him continuing in his faith. Our previous neighbor, Migdad, who as a boy invited Merle to see what was happening on CNN when the Twin Towers were attached back in 2001, is running for office! They grow up!
We went to Piccolo Mondo for a yummy dinner with Ada, Adnan, and Asja. We found this great restaurant about when it opened in 1999! This family's joy is contagious. Seeing Asja and her dad together is so sweet as they radiate love . I noticed someone watching them and probably reflecting on their own family relationships. We had ice cream and saw many foreigners in various type of garments at Sarajevo City Center (SCC), including someone from Saudi and a fully covered woman in black with only eye slits. Sarajevo has a wide variety of dress, from that extreme to short shorts and sundresses.
We had a wonderful time at Samir and Mediha's, along with their girls, to understand the Walk in the Spirit chart and get them started in The Heart of the Problem book. It will be challenging as it is in English, but they seem very interested to pursue it. Sarah is willing to translate and Arnela served us like Martha. We saw Refija walking on the road on the way to their home!
Merle went to paint at Alija and Refika's, to paint their hallway and bath, while I made another batch of jelly. The neighbors were also collecting grapes to make juice. I think someone will come to harvest the crop soon. It smells wonderful!
People want to be where the people are - that's Mladen's place. Friends seeing friends. Luster is a place of light to many. Merle helped to put in an exhaust system, to help improve the air quality.
Walking around downtown gave opportunities for cevapi and more photos. The beautiful carpet tapestry below of an angel was made in Iran.
Dejan came to dinner and we tried our hand at a Bosnian steak on the grill with very poor results. Nothing like a good steak, and that was nothing like a good steak, as Merle says. Merle bought me flowers. 😁 We also spent an evening with Sutka and Zejnil. ❤️
We visited Kosevsk Brdo church, the church our team planted 25 years ago. It is small like all Bosnian fellowships, but we enjoyed the sermon by Dragan. Worship was somewhat familiar. I still find reading words easier to understand than hearing, probably because I read more in studying language than in hearing like Merle, over a million cups of coffee.
Thanks for reading through our journey in pictures. Thank you for praying and giving that we might be the Lord's and your hands in Bosnia.
Jenny and Merle
"From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27
Comments