Hello again! Today is our last day here in Novi Sad. I can't believe how quickly each phase of our trip this summer is coming and going. I always wonder if the time passes just as quickly for you all in the different places you are at as it does over here for our adventure. We will catch an evening bus ride from Novi Sad, Serbia to Risan, Montenegro which will take roughly 16 hours. However, in European time that can be anywhere from 14-22 hours! So we'll see what happens!
Our time here in Novi Sad has been very encouraging. The past summers that we have spent in Serbia have always been doing ministry in Belgrade. With this being our first time in Novi Sad we have been pleasantly surprised by the difference. The people of Novi Sad are a lot more friendlier than those in Belgrade and definitely more spiritually open to hearing about God. We have spent a few days initiating spiritual conversations with the students here at the University of Novi Sad and last night we had a party with a lot of Serbian students we have met. We had a pleasant surprise and were greatly encouraged to meet a Serbian student, Theophilus, who was a Christian and has been atten
ding the Baptist Church here in Novi Sad that the American students who have been here for the last year have been attending. It was so neat to hear from his perspective what he thinks of us being here ministering to his people. We just love the Serbian people… when we think about them and their unique accent and the special way they emphasis vowels when speaking it just puts a great smile on our faces!
We spent two days doing a service project on the campus. We received permission to pick up the trash among the dorms and different faculties. It was a very humbling experience and very neat to see two Serbian students ask what we were doing and join us along the way. We also made it into the local newspaper… although we're not quite sure what it says but we'll just pretend it was good! I can just imagine… "crazy American students picking up trash today… what were they thinking?" The neat thing about doing ministry in Novi Sad is that
after we leave there will be more American students ministering on this very campus and can follow-up with any questions the Serbs may have such as "why were you picking up trash on our campus?"
We also had a sports day where many of our students taught Serbs how to play ultimate Frisbee and American football. It was quite enjoyable to see them learn and h
ow quickly they picked up on it. And… we made it on the local news! Praise God for spreading the word that we are here among His people of Serbia. All the more publicity for God's name!
We have attached quite a few pictures from this last week here in Novi Sad. The first picture is of the main walking street. The second picture is of Adam and I at the University of Novi Sad.
The third picture is of a wine festival in the "centar" which is the main walking street. The large building in the background is a beautiful catholic church. The fourth picture is a view from our balcony… isn't it incredible how much they can fit in such a small space! The last one is a picture of me on our date night in front of Petrovardia the fortress here in Novi Sad (similar to Kalemegdan for those of you who are reading this and have been to Belgrade). We ate at the restaurant in the bottom right hand corner of the picture where we shared some Shopska Salata (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, feta cheese) and a mixed meat platter (Adam's favorite!) it's basically every meat known to mankind on one huge platter! And the last picture is of the bridge that crosses over the Dunav (or Danube) river and takes you from the main part of Novi Sad over to the fortress. At night it lights up and it is just an incredible sight!
No comments:
Post a Comment