That Time Of Year

Christmas was definitely a new experience this year. My first year without my family passed by without a mental breakdown, on my part or theirs. Haha. Instead of a traditional Christmas with my biological family, I spent the holiday in London with some of my YWAM family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with a massive dinner and games and presents at midnight. Christmas day was very laid-back with many naps and lots of movies. It was very enjoyable. Then Boxing day, Romy and I ventured out to Oxford Streets, braved the crowds and shopped! We managed to find some good deals and the day was probably just as crazy as a day-after-thanksgiving shopping. Getting home was rather interesting as the tube was down due to strike. Romy and I spent 2 hours trying to get home. Finally, we made it onto the Bakerloo line, which was back up and running again. Arriving home that night was so good.

This week is jammed-pack with outreach preparation. We've spent yesterday and today, at the church. The Romania team is practicing dramas, while my team (Serbia!) is practicing music. While we're in Uzice, we'll be playing in a cafe twice a week every week. We won't be playing Christian songs, but we'll be letting the Serbian people see we're Christians and what Christianity is about, that it's not the orthodox religion they're used to. We've also been preparing various workshops and doing research on the Serbian people. I've found out that 85% of the people at Serbian Orthodox: "To be a Serb is to be Orthodox." Only 2% of the population in Uzice claim to be Evangelical Christians! That's about 1,100 people that know Jesus as savior and have a personal relationship with Him. In a city full of people! It's so crazy to me. In a city of 55,000-60,000 people, there are only two church buildings. The website I found said they couldn't find a single group of New Testament believers who meet together. This is insane to me, coming from the States, where, in any city, big or small, you open up a phone book and there's an entire list of churches. We live in this society where we "shop" for a church and in Serbia, this is not the case at all. It really excites me that God is going to use us in this country! I'm also rather excited for the Turkish coffee. hehe.

Well, my lunch break is nearly over. Please be praying for both the Serbia and Romania teams. Specific prayer needs are:

-The countries we're going to
-Some funds that still need to come in
-Preparation (dramas and such for the Romania team. Music, photography, English lessons, kids crafts, a signing for worship class, facepainting and a carol service at a local orphanage)
-Unity
-Endurance
-Joy

Your prayers are vital to this. Join us in impacting these two countries!