From Montenegro...

As I write, I am sitting on the little deck of the apartment we are
staying at near downtown Podgorica in Montenegro listening to the
gusts of mighty rushing wind come pounding through-singing and
whistling and rustling. Where to begin? After spending the night in
Poland, we woke up, had a wonderful european breakfast, and begun to
drive and drive. We drove through Poland, then Slovakia, then Hungary
and spent the night at "Hotel Sunshine." We woke up early in order to
go into Budapest, perhaps the most beautiful city I have ever seen.
What a gift it was to walk around a central square then drive up and
see the Citadella which overlooks the whole city and the Danube river
which goes right through the city. After the sunrise in Budapest we
hit the road again made it through Hungary into Serbia and finally
into Montenegro. We drove through an incredibly diverse landscape from
plains to rolling hills of farmland to absolutely gorgeous mountains
in Serbia and Montenegro and got to see a major culture shift as the
homes went from farm homes to stucco houses with orange terra cotta
roofs that looked far more like what you would imagine in Italy-it was
an incredible progression from the Baltics to the Balkans. We did
manage to make it all the way to Podgorica to the home of Vladimir and
Marianna-the couple who leads a small Brethren church here that we
have already grown to love. They have taken great care of us and are
full of wisdom and godliness. We also met Violetta, our hostess, in
whose apartment we are now staying. We stayed the night with her and 3
girls from Denmark, all of whom left this afternoon to lead a camp for
Roma youth. We were able to see them off, and I immediately fell in
love with the Roma (or Gypsy) community. They are a beautiful and
fascinating people, but a very hard, hard group to love or do ministry
with because of the centuries of distrust of other cultures and the
lifestyle that is based on stealing and deception. Their community
reminded me of the tent cities in Haiti. Its hard to describe the
feeling when I go into an impoverished community-an outcast people
living basically in slums-but I know that I am never ready to leave-I
long to stay with them and know them and listen to them and respect
them and introduce them to Christ. But for today, just to meet them,
two absolutely gorgeous little girls in particular, two laugh with
them and bridge the language barrier together and listen to them say
my name-that was enough for today. Today was day of learning to
embrace the hardship of being in a culture that is not your own-not
just today but the entirety of the trip thus far. There are timeless
lessons that I'm in the process of relearning-die to yourself, live to
Christ. Not my will but His. He is made perfect in our weakness. Its
not about me. Its not about feeling useful or important. Its about
being His. Always and only and fully His. Its about the joy of the
lord is my strength when I am sitting in the car for 14 hours. Its
about serving the locals even if its not what or how I expect. Its
always about the relationships. Always, always. Tomorrow the team from
Georgia arrives. We head to Croatia to pick them up. Pray for clarity,
discernment and joy. Pray for the youth and the church members we will
get to serve this week and next. Pray for Vladimir and Marianna as
they lead the church here. Pray for the country of Montenegro that has
less than a hundred believers. IN THE COUNTRY. Pray for me, that I may
know the love of Christ more, that I may be poured out as an offering,
that my focus and my heart may be on Christ alone. Thank you and I
love you. Thank you for your wonderful responses-what an encouragement
to me. And know, as I am learning, that the Lord has always called us
to EXACTLY where we are. He shows no favoritism with people or with
places. He loves the people that you are with today and tomorrow and
this week deeply. Enough to die for them. And wants you to die to
yourself on their behalf, ushering them into the Kingdom with the
fragrance of Christ and the light that allows you to shine like stars.
He has given us each so, so much purpose. And we can do the most right
in our hometowns and home cultures with the people we know and are in
deep rela