A Round the World Adventure

You may or may not have been on a missions trip, and if you haven’t, our last post didn’t really describe our trip to Serbia…it only gave a summary of some of our impressions from the trip. So, we thought it would be good to do another post and better describe our visit:

Like many trips, this one involved crossing a border. The Hungary/Serbia border has a double border crossing. It’s fairly strict, with two sets of police and a “no man’s land” in-between the two countries. We left Hungary at about 1 in the afternoon and arrived in Serbia at 5 PM (short bathroom/coffee/chocolate break included).

Once we arrived, most of the team waited at the church while the leaders obtained a card from the police that we would need to safely depart the country at the end of the weekend. We got to see some good friends and visit “the Monkey Place” in Subotica while we waited. They returned with burek - the best way to describe it is a tasty meat or vegetable-filled flaky pizza thing. It tastes fantastic, but it’s as heavy as a load of bricks in your stomach, so we washed it down with yogurt. This might not sound appetizing, and it certainly doesn’t fit in any diet, but it was sheer deliciousness. 

It was almost 9 PM and raining at this point as we drove to a warehouse to collect the mattresses that the boys would be sleeping on. We didn’t have a truck, so 4-5 mattresses were stacked on the top of each car, and we drove to the house/building where we would be sleeping. Our area was spacious, but electricity was spotty and insect friends were also fairly plentiful. We rejoiced over the toilets (just installed last week) and the dry mattresses (which the girls got).

The next morning, a rooster greeted us at 5 AM. We kept trying to figure out whose electronic device it was, until we realized…this is the country. They have real roosters, not just the noise that sounds like one on an iPod. Our team leader prepared a gourmet breakfast for us, which strengthened us for our morning’s task…cleaning out a room piled floor to ceiling with boxes and equipment and rubble. With Sarah’s warehouse experience and Rachel’s clothing experience, we helped organize the room along with about 15 others, and the large area was as tidy as possible within about 4 hours. We won’t tell you all that we discovered in that room, but the cobwebs and dust were abundant.

Lunch was a delicious chicken soup. Any imaginably edible part of a chicken was included in the soup. It was tasty, especially when you didn’t think about which bone was in your mouth, and what part of the chicken it might have come from.

In the afternoon, we split into four groups to visit gypsy villages. As is always the case, those with the least were often filled with the most joy. The children laughed and played and smiled and danced in patched clothes and worn shoes. They hugged with grubby hands and splashed through muddy patches, and their parents invited us into their small houses (really more like sheds with cardboard windows and plastic walls) and offered us tea that they couldn’t afford and showed us pictures, inviting us to take part in their lives.

When you are in a place like that, it’s hard not to be humbled by their joy.

We came back after dark and roasted sausages over an open fire, told stories, and prayed together. On Sunday, we again split up - Sarah visited CC Backa Topola while Rachel prepared for an afternoon outreach with the rest of the team.

In the afternoon, the team performed skits from an amazing curriculum called Simply Jesus, where every story leads back to the Hero, Jesus. This group of kids was larger, rowdier, and perhaps even more energetic than Saturday’s. One group of girls was particularly entranced by Sarah’s eyes. They hadn’t seen blue eyes before!

After the children left, we all took part in an evening church service. There was a small room, lined with benches, with a Calvary Dove cut out of paper and taped to the wall. Everyone in the church knew each other, and the band consisted of 5 young people under the age of 17. After the service, no one wanted to leave! Everyone stayed and wanted to look at us - we didn’t speak any Hungarian and they didn’t speak any English, so unless we had a translator, our conversation was limited to smiles, but no one cared.

After a final goodbye, we began our drive home. They, who had so little, sent us away with handmade farewell packages filled with chocolates and small cards, homemade sandwiches, and tearful hugs. 

It is more blessed to give than to receive!