This is our last week here in Zenica then we go to Boroćko for a week of camp, including morning Bible studies and evening talks and afternoons filled with fun at the lake.
We have had a lot of fun but i cant tell you all about it until later. I have to go teach english class. Just know we are having a great time in class, playing baseball, having bbqs, parties, going to the pool, and just enjoying coffee.
Charlene needs to get her visa for croatia tomorrow morning in sarajevo, pray for save travel and favor with the embassy. Pray she can come with us.
Please pray for Pray for:
• Please pray for students to keep coming to class. We have a consistent 15.
• Praise God for good, non-awkward conversations with new and old friends this last week! Pray that continues!
• Please pray with us for all our students to encounter God in a real way in the next 2 weeks and that they would come to camp with us.
• Pray for camp July 26-30, that 10 students from each city would come. We have a list of 15 students we would love to come from Zenica, pray they would.
• Continue to pray for good communication and energy on our team. Pray for Jenni, Scott, Chris, Charlene, Sean and myself. Charlene as a Kenyan citizen has run into prolems for getting into Croatia for our debrief time. Please pray that God would do something to get her there and affirm that she has been doing a great job so far in Zenica.
• Please keep praying for healing for my spinal cord, strength for my leg, and decreased cerebral spinal fluid pressure to be free from my headaches. Praise God that yesterday when I TOTALLY twisted my ankle it didnt hurt after 10 minutes
God is great! May his name be glorified!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tired but giving our all
This has been an eventful week!
This is long but I have so much to say! Summarized in 6 points for stories and prayer:
English classes lead to deeper friendships!
Our team encourages each other and continues to serve boldly through tiredness!
Students are having spiritual conversations every night!
I’ve reconnected with more old friends!
Ode to David
Walking has been hard and my headache still unceasing
(read below for details on each of these points)
Pray for:
• Please pray for students to keep coming to class and engaging in conversation.
• Pray for good, non-awkward conversations with new and old friends.
• Please pray with us for all our students to encounter God in a real way in the next 2 weeks and that they would come to camp with us.
• Pray for camp July 26-30, that 10 students from each city would come. We have a list of 15 students we would love to come from Zenica, pray they would.
• Continue to pray for good communication and energy on our team. Pray for Jenni, Scott, Chris, Charlene, Sean and myself.
• Praise the Lord with me that we live so close to the city! Please keep praying for healing for my spinal cord, strength for my leg, and decreased cerebral spinal fluid pressure to be free from my headaches.
English classes lead to deeper friendships!
I love teaching! English is not my subject so I’m very thankful this is a conversational class! We have a lot of fun in class and are also able to have deep conversations about life. Last week we talked about family, friends, country and life experiences. For life experiences they drew time lines and shared them with their table group and I heard how the war affected my friend E and how the death of S’s father in 2001 through her into a pit of bad stuff. S thinks that her boyfriend will make everything better, I pray she’ll let Jesus make her well and healed. I’m blessed for these English classes because without them we might not get to know each other so well so quickly.
Our team encourages each other and continues to serve boldly through tiredness!
We are very tired and need prayer for more energy because we’ve spent so much time with our new friends! Friday was a very hard day for me. We had bowling in the morning, coffee to follow, people over for lunch, a staff meeting, class, and a party at our house until after midnight. It was non-stop and non-stop with people. I was very drained by the end of the night and was glad for the weekend to come (though it didn’t slow down much). When I asked the team to pray for me to continue engaging with students and have energy to be around people they also said Friday was a hard day for them, but you never would have known. At the party they were smiling and laughing and talking with their friends. They are great! We haven’t had much conflict, I think because they are so self-aware. We had a small conversation last night about a girl in our class and how one on our team was interacting with her differently than would be acceptable in this culture and that was hard to hear for that one but ended up being a good conversation. They are so teachable and such a blessing to me. Continue to pray for good communication and energy.
Students are having spiritual conversations every night!
Sean and I had a great conversation with two girls from our class E and M. It started in a café called Manuel. There was a Michael Jackson song on and I mentioned he had died. Then E went off about how strange he was but how she thought he was a believer. Sean jumped in and asked if she was a believer in anything. She shared about being atheist, then choosing Islam and hoping that her good out weighs the bad and the Muhammad will stand on her side on judgment day. Sean shared the Gospel and invited her to study the Bible with us. I shared my testimony and how God spoke to me through His Word and through reading and prayer I realized how important Jesus is.
Jenni and Charlene have spiritual conversations every night, sometimes with people they just met! Last night my old friend Sanela brought a friend with her and that girl talked with Jenni for a few hours about God as we walked around the city!
Scott and Chris have been spending their time with very devoted Muslims. Scott has had really great conversations with a girl who is covered! She even teaches at the mosque. We’re praying for her to have a dream that would direct her to Jesus because in Islam dreams are very important. Please pray with us for all our students to encounter God in a real way in the next 2 weeks and that they would come to camp with us.
I’ve reconnected with more old friends!
I saw Sanela and Dzenana last night! They are dear friends and I pray they will spend time with us and grow closer to God! I am awaiting the return of Amela and Senad, they went on vacation and I miss them. Pray for good, non-awkward conversations when they come back.
Ode to David
David is a missionary from Czech and serves in Northern Bosnia in a city called Banja Luka. He would like to have an InterVarsity team come to his city next year so he stayed with us for 10 days to see what it would be like. It was great to have a Bosnian speaker with us and he blessed us with his car as well! He would play games with us, eat meals with us and attend church with us. He is so much fun and we will miss him. He left us Monday afternoon. We will see him again at the Evangelistic camp on the 26th-30th. Pray for him and his ministry.
Walking has been hard and my headache still unceasing
I praise the Lord daily that we live so close to the city! It only takes 10 minutes to walk to the center of the city and 15 minutes to the classroom! From the classroom to the center of the city is 15-20 minutes (depending on how tired my leg is). Thank you God! My right leg has gotten to the point that I can only walk about 7 minutes before getting tired and weak. Then I can go about another 10 before I need to stop and rest. It’s really hard at the end of the day to walk home, even on flat land. I’m afraid of little bumps in the sidewalk and walking up our little hill at the end is very strenuous and takes much effort.
I still have my headache each day but some how I feel like it hasn’t been as bad as it could be. I just asked my students and they said I have a bad headache at least once a day, some times three times a day. It doesn’t often last for long though, I think. I guess I just try not to think about it. But I guess I do sometimes think to myself, “Can I afford to stay home today because my head hurts?” Then the team prays and it feels better by the time I have to leave.
Please keep praying for healing for my spinal cord, strength for my leg, and decreased cerebral spinal fluid pressure to be free from my headaches.
This is long but I have so much to say! Summarized in 6 points for stories and prayer:
English classes lead to deeper friendships!
Our team encourages each other and continues to serve boldly through tiredness!
Students are having spiritual conversations every night!
I’ve reconnected with more old friends!
Ode to David
Walking has been hard and my headache still unceasing
(read below for details on each of these points)
Pray for:
• Please pray for students to keep coming to class and engaging in conversation.
• Pray for good, non-awkward conversations with new and old friends.
• Please pray with us for all our students to encounter God in a real way in the next 2 weeks and that they would come to camp with us.
• Pray for camp July 26-30, that 10 students from each city would come. We have a list of 15 students we would love to come from Zenica, pray they would.
• Continue to pray for good communication and energy on our team. Pray for Jenni, Scott, Chris, Charlene, Sean and myself.
• Praise the Lord with me that we live so close to the city! Please keep praying for healing for my spinal cord, strength for my leg, and decreased cerebral spinal fluid pressure to be free from my headaches.
English classes lead to deeper friendships!
I love teaching! English is not my subject so I’m very thankful this is a conversational class! We have a lot of fun in class and are also able to have deep conversations about life. Last week we talked about family, friends, country and life experiences. For life experiences they drew time lines and shared them with their table group and I heard how the war affected my friend E and how the death of S’s father in 2001 through her into a pit of bad stuff. S thinks that her boyfriend will make everything better, I pray she’ll let Jesus make her well and healed. I’m blessed for these English classes because without them we might not get to know each other so well so quickly.
Our team encourages each other and continues to serve boldly through tiredness!
We are very tired and need prayer for more energy because we’ve spent so much time with our new friends! Friday was a very hard day for me. We had bowling in the morning, coffee to follow, people over for lunch, a staff meeting, class, and a party at our house until after midnight. It was non-stop and non-stop with people. I was very drained by the end of the night and was glad for the weekend to come (though it didn’t slow down much). When I asked the team to pray for me to continue engaging with students and have energy to be around people they also said Friday was a hard day for them, but you never would have known. At the party they were smiling and laughing and talking with their friends. They are great! We haven’t had much conflict, I think because they are so self-aware. We had a small conversation last night about a girl in our class and how one on our team was interacting with her differently than would be acceptable in this culture and that was hard to hear for that one but ended up being a good conversation. They are so teachable and such a blessing to me. Continue to pray for good communication and energy.
Students are having spiritual conversations every night!
Sean and I had a great conversation with two girls from our class E and M. It started in a café called Manuel. There was a Michael Jackson song on and I mentioned he had died. Then E went off about how strange he was but how she thought he was a believer. Sean jumped in and asked if she was a believer in anything. She shared about being atheist, then choosing Islam and hoping that her good out weighs the bad and the Muhammad will stand on her side on judgment day. Sean shared the Gospel and invited her to study the Bible with us. I shared my testimony and how God spoke to me through His Word and through reading and prayer I realized how important Jesus is.
Jenni and Charlene have spiritual conversations every night, sometimes with people they just met! Last night my old friend Sanela brought a friend with her and that girl talked with Jenni for a few hours about God as we walked around the city!
Scott and Chris have been spending their time with very devoted Muslims. Scott has had really great conversations with a girl who is covered! She even teaches at the mosque. We’re praying for her to have a dream that would direct her to Jesus because in Islam dreams are very important. Please pray with us for all our students to encounter God in a real way in the next 2 weeks and that they would come to camp with us.
I’ve reconnected with more old friends!
I saw Sanela and Dzenana last night! They are dear friends and I pray they will spend time with us and grow closer to God! I am awaiting the return of Amela and Senad, they went on vacation and I miss them. Pray for good, non-awkward conversations when they come back.
Ode to David
David is a missionary from Czech and serves in Northern Bosnia in a city called Banja Luka. He would like to have an InterVarsity team come to his city next year so he stayed with us for 10 days to see what it would be like. It was great to have a Bosnian speaker with us and he blessed us with his car as well! He would play games with us, eat meals with us and attend church with us. He is so much fun and we will miss him. He left us Monday afternoon. We will see him again at the Evangelistic camp on the 26th-30th. Pray for him and his ministry.
Walking has been hard and my headache still unceasing
I praise the Lord daily that we live so close to the city! It only takes 10 minutes to walk to the center of the city and 15 minutes to the classroom! From the classroom to the center of the city is 15-20 minutes (depending on how tired my leg is). Thank you God! My right leg has gotten to the point that I can only walk about 7 minutes before getting tired and weak. Then I can go about another 10 before I need to stop and rest. It’s really hard at the end of the day to walk home, even on flat land. I’m afraid of little bumps in the sidewalk and walking up our little hill at the end is very strenuous and takes much effort.
I still have my headache each day but some how I feel like it hasn’t been as bad as it could be. I just asked my students and they said I have a bad headache at least once a day, some times three times a day. It doesn’t often last for long though, I think. I guess I just try not to think about it. But I guess I do sometimes think to myself, “Can I afford to stay home today because my head hurts?” Then the team prays and it feels better by the time I have to leave.
Please keep praying for healing for my spinal cord, strength for my leg, and decreased cerebral spinal fluid pressure to be free from my headaches.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
When God Works, He Works!
God is so great!
I am having a great time and have reconnected with many old friends!
I met with Maja, Amela, Goran, Senad, Medina. Have talked to Amna, Sanela and Anela. I was going to meet with Selma today but she had unexpected company so we rescheduled.
&&& Pray for deep conversations with all of them and that i would see others i havent yet.
My team is great!
Sean is a great coleader! He is insightful and can make quick decisions
Jenni is a great initiator and is full of energy
Scott is so genuine and up for anything
Chris is so easy going and caring
Charlene is so bible based and sweet
It is a true blessing to work with them!
&&&&Pray for continued good times together that we could encourage and uplift each other.
My health as been alright
We have 28 students in class! from 10
Pray for no headaches, better sleep, good weather and deep conversations.
I am having a great time and have reconnected with many old friends!
I met with Maja, Amela, Goran, Senad, Medina. Have talked to Amna, Sanela and Anela. I was going to meet with Selma today but she had unexpected company so we rescheduled.
&&& Pray for deep conversations with all of them and that i would see others i havent yet.
My team is great!
Sean is a great coleader! He is insightful and can make quick decisions
Jenni is a great initiator and is full of energy
Scott is so genuine and up for anything
Chris is so easy going and caring
Charlene is so bible based and sweet
It is a true blessing to work with them!
&&&&Pray for continued good times together that we could encourage and uplift each other.
My health as been alright
We have 28 students in class! from 10
Pray for no headaches, better sleep, good weather and deep conversations.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
We are here!
After a day and a half of travel we are in Zenica!
Yeah God for getting us here safely with all our luggage and with out any problems with Charlene!
Please pray for students to sign up for class which starts on Monday. We passed out fliers today and 2 students already signed up that we just met, i think that makes a total of 15 students. Pray for more.
Pray for rest and no jet lag.
Thank God that we are here and my team is doing great so far!
Thank you for yours prayers! Im so blessed to be back in Zenica, it feels like my second (or third) home!
Pray for my leg to work well, its kind of tired (was when i woke up too) which is difficult when i have so far to walk each day. Also pray for me to not have a headache. This morning was bad but now is not so bad.
Thanks for your prayers!
God bless you!
Melissa
Yeah God for getting us here safely with all our luggage and with out any problems with Charlene!
Please pray for students to sign up for class which starts on Monday. We passed out fliers today and 2 students already signed up that we just met, i think that makes a total of 15 students. Pray for more.
Pray for rest and no jet lag.
Thank God that we are here and my team is doing great so far!
Thank you for yours prayers! Im so blessed to be back in Zenica, it feels like my second (or third) home!
Pray for my leg to work well, its kind of tired (was when i woke up too) which is difficult when i have so far to walk each day. Also pray for me to not have a headache. This morning was bad but now is not so bad.
Thanks for your prayers!
God bless you!
Melissa
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Orientation!
We started orientation with students today!
Praise God that Charlene (UCSB student from Kenya) held her visa in her had 2 days ago! It as cutting it close but it came, she has it and will be serving with us! We were all so excited to greet her today, the first day of orientation.
Please pray for the staff, me, Tina, Adam and Nicole, as we lead these students through cultural & language lessons, history lessons, evangelism training, and team building for the next 4 days. Pray as staff we have energy and the Lord's discernment at all times. Pray also we'll have good communication with each other, our team and the missionaries in Bosnia. Pray the students will be teachable, build good friendships on the team and be fully prepared for what God has for them this summer!
Pray for Bosnian students to sign up for the English classes we'll be hosting.
Pray for all the logistics and flights on June 30th 9pm.
Also pray for my health, that I don't have any really bad headaches and that my right leg gets stronger so I'll have no problems walking.
I'm so excited for how God will move through and in us this summer! I'm also excited to see my old friends and continue taking those relationships deeper.
Praise God that Charlene (UCSB student from Kenya) held her visa in her had 2 days ago! It as cutting it close but it came, she has it and will be serving with us! We were all so excited to greet her today, the first day of orientation.
Please pray for the staff, me, Tina, Adam and Nicole, as we lead these students through cultural & language lessons, history lessons, evangelism training, and team building for the next 4 days. Pray as staff we have energy and the Lord's discernment at all times. Pray also we'll have good communication with each other, our team and the missionaries in Bosnia. Pray the students will be teachable, build good friendships on the team and be fully prepared for what God has for them this summer!
Pray for Bosnian students to sign up for the English classes we'll be hosting.
Pray for all the logistics and flights on June 30th 9pm.
Also pray for my health, that I don't have any really bad headaches and that my right leg gets stronger so I'll have no problems walking.
I'm so excited for how God will move through and in us this summer! I'm also excited to see my old friends and continue taking those relationships deeper.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
One Month to Go!!!
God is so faithful!!!
Our team already has been so blessed in team dynamics, funding, prayer support and logistics!
We only need $4,000 for our UCSB team to be ready to go! Thank you friends who've provided and thank you God for giving the resources for them TO provide :)
Praise God for an apartment in Zenica! Pray it's closer to the city than our last house. And that we can minister to Goran's grandmother and aunt who live on the top floor (we're renting the bottom 2 floors)
My team is the greatest! We had a great time together at STIM and our UCSB team is enjoying being together!
It's a very diverse team. Scott at UNLV is African American, Jenni at UNLV is half Japanese half English, Charlene at UCSB is from Kenya, Chris at UCSB is Latino, Sean at UCSB is half Vietnamese half white and I am all white. We'll have a great time together learning how to work together and how to interact with Bosnians who have little experience with non-whites.
Pray for Charlene's visa to come quickly! we need it before she goes to Bosnia!
Pray for my health and that I do everything for it before I go.
I'm so excited to see Maja, Senad, Sanela, Amela and Amila, Anela, Alexandra, Goran, Medina, Selma, and everyone else!
Thanks for covering Bosnia in your prayers!
Our team already has been so blessed in team dynamics, funding, prayer support and logistics!
We only need $4,000 for our UCSB team to be ready to go! Thank you friends who've provided and thank you God for giving the resources for them TO provide :)
Praise God for an apartment in Zenica! Pray it's closer to the city than our last house. And that we can minister to Goran's grandmother and aunt who live on the top floor (we're renting the bottom 2 floors)
My team is the greatest! We had a great time together at STIM and our UCSB team is enjoying being together!
It's a very diverse team. Scott at UNLV is African American, Jenni at UNLV is half Japanese half English, Charlene at UCSB is from Kenya, Chris at UCSB is Latino, Sean at UCSB is half Vietnamese half white and I am all white. We'll have a great time together learning how to work together and how to interact with Bosnians who have little experience with non-whites.
Pray for Charlene's visa to come quickly! we need it before she goes to Bosnia!
Pray for my health and that I do everything for it before I go.
I'm so excited to see Maja, Senad, Sanela, Amela and Amila, Anela, Alexandra, Goran, Medina, Selma, and everyone else!
Thanks for covering Bosnia in your prayers!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February thoughts...
I get to return to Zenica this summer!
Woohoo!!!!!!!
I have been praying a lot, preparing, doing front end logistical stuff with Tina, Adam and Nicole.
If you read this please pray for us as we select this summer's team of students. I would also love for more students from UCSB to come so please pray that they would sign up by this weekend.
Praise God for the great staff in Bosnia preparing for us to come and for the relationships I've been able to keep up over facebook.
I get to have a second opinion about my health tomorrow at 10am.
I have a great team of leaders this year and I especially enjoy the Vision team of coordinators who basically lead the fellowship.
I received some great training in Manuscript study for Urbana 09 so I can help out and in 2012 perhaps lead a manuscript study for 150-200 students. It was great timing because I get to lead the manuscript study for 2 Timothy this weekend at Winter Conference.
I really like all the freshmen I get to hang out with! And I'm praying for new leaders to step up to lead next year.
I love snowboarding.
The end.
Woohoo!!!!!!!
I have been praying a lot, preparing, doing front end logistical stuff with Tina, Adam and Nicole.
If you read this please pray for us as we select this summer's team of students. I would also love for more students from UCSB to come so please pray that they would sign up by this weekend.
Praise God for the great staff in Bosnia preparing for us to come and for the relationships I've been able to keep up over facebook.
I get to have a second opinion about my health tomorrow at 10am.
I have a great team of leaders this year and I especially enjoy the Vision team of coordinators who basically lead the fellowship.
I received some great training in Manuscript study for Urbana 09 so I can help out and in 2012 perhaps lead a manuscript study for 150-200 students. It was great timing because I get to lead the manuscript study for 2 Timothy this weekend at Winter Conference.
I really like all the freshmen I get to hang out with! And I'm praying for new leaders to step up to lead next year.
I love snowboarding.
The end.
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