Catching Up...

They say the first sentence of a blog post is always the hardest. Well, that wasn't so hard after all...ha! Good evening, or as we say here in Kosova,"Mirëmbrëma". It's been a little while since our last update so allow us to bring you up to speed...


Spring!!

While only being here for a month of the winter season, it was more than enough. Spring has finally sprung. While winter still claims the mountain peaks, down below the cherry trees are in full bloom.

     

Countless window boxes that for months had served as graves for flowers past are once again alive with the beautiful colors of pansies and other vibrant lule (flowers). Spring is drawing people out of their homes the same way the sun is drawing grass from the ground.

One area of the city that is a thermametor of sorts is the corza.

Restaurants, cafes and small shops flank both sides of what at times is a long outdoor fashion runway crowded with youth slowly making their way down and back again...and again.

Language

Learning the language has been our primary focus of preparation for what we will be doing here. To say that it's been challenging would be an accurate assessment, but we know that with hard work and much study and practice it will come. We can communicate well enough that shopping in the markets and stores is not a problem, but conversations still don't go much farther than a greeting before we have to admit we're Americans.

Our language teacher has been sick for sometime, but that has given us  plenty of time to review and study the mountain of material we at times feel we get buried under.


There's a first time for everything...

I've (Jason here) wondered if the person that first uttered these words did so after something bad happened.  With all the firsts that we've had in the past two months the following is one I could have definitely done without.    Peje, Kosovo now holds the dubious distinction as the place where I had my first car accident.  The combination of an American having never driven a manual being dropped into a country who's inhabitants have unique driving methods, to say it kindly, was bound to yield some smashing results.  A couple of tail lights, bumpers and some fragile confidence were the only victims.

Immediately after the man I rear ended discovered I was American, he gave me the biggest hug I've received to date.  Guys from the cafe across the street came out bringing me water and offers to sit with them to have coffee while we waited for the police.  If I hadn't been so taken aback by it all I would have been laughing.

My sense of relief quickly dissipated when I realized I was without both my license and registration documents for the vehicle I was driving.  My being American wasn't helping me at this point.  Enter a divinely placed angel.  An older woman, who is a believer that I had met happened on the scene.  She put her hand on my arm, smiled at me and proceeded to untangle the mess I made.  The officer at first wanted nothing to do with her, but within seconds his facial expression turned to that of a little boy being scolded by his grandmother.  The officer looked at me and said, "No problem.  Get your documents and meet us at the station when you can."  The old woman spoke in English for the first time to me saying, "God bless you." and walked on.

Two days later at my court date in a room no larger than a kitchen a judge looked at me and said, "You're American...no punishment for you."

I shook hands with the judge and the man I hit and that was the end of that.  Now every time I walk by that coffee shop the guys inside yell out to me and wave.  Everything truly happens with a purpose and for a reason greater than we can at the time perceive.  I know this will bear fruit in some wonderful way.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first... John 15:18

If you received our last newsletter you read briefly about the story of a dear young man who I share a birthday with.  As we I arrived I celebrated my 28th birthday as he celebrated his 18th.  He had become a believer last summer, and was baptized not long after we arrived.  The only believer in his family, his school and his village of about 200 people, he immediately began facing heat for converting.  He endured both verbal and physical abuse, and his Bible was also burned by his mother.

A few days ago Steve found him sitting on the side of the road praying that he could somehow get to their house.  He had been kicked out of his home.  That night he stayed with us.  This had not happened to a believer in our church before, so this was new territory for all of us.  The next 24 hours was, in a word, dramatic.

The young man's mother began texting and calling him incessantly.  When it appeared to her that he wasn't going to ever come back she threatened to have Steve and Lisa charged with kidnapping and threatened their lives as well.  At that point it was time to make a visit to the police.  Steve, I, the young man and a friend of his all went to the police station to report the incident.  They were taking the situation quite seriously given the fact that Americans were the ones being threatened.

The young man spent a second night in our home.  That morning we received a call that his mother and some relatives were looking for him, but ended up at the wrong house.  Wanting to have this issue done with Steve and Lisa, the young man and his family all met at the police station to talk this through.

Steve and Lisa were interrogated more so than interviewed.  They were being accused of running cult, in spite of repeated attempts to explain how someone becomes a believer.  The young boy was harshly treated as well.  He was threatened with jail time if he did not return home, and had officers tell him that if he was their son that they would beat him.

In the end, he came back to our house to retrieve his things and return home with his family.  We've had contact with him since he returned and he appears to be doing okay for the moment.  Currently we know that there are more than a thousand people praying for this young man and his family.  Please join us.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our work here.  We love all of you very much and will keep you updated.

God bless you.