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Praying in a mosque, hearing about our Global Partner’s heart and mission first hand, and the third night of our video camp! It’s been a hectic, spiritually filling day abroad!
Every day I start the morning off with a single mile run. Today I ran along one of the largest rivers in the city. This gives me a chance to focus my mind for the day ahead while I get some exercise. I can observe the people around me living out their daily life in this foreign culture and notice all the varied graffiti that marks the mostly concrete landscape with unique pops of color and unrecognizable langauge. The highlight of my run today was finding an abandoned skatepark at the halfway point. Ripped straight out of the 90’s, It was fully covered in all sorts of graffiti. I couldn’t help but stop and catch my breath as I looked at this one-time Mecca for skaters and the bridge that loomed near it.
I’ve been using my time in the morning to pray for my team, those back home, and all the lost souls in this part of Europe. I find the practice has been bolstering my spirit as I’ve never left the United States before, and almost immediately I could feel the change - like a steep drop in pressure - of the spiritual darkness covering this divided city.
The morning run turned out to be a warm up, as the first thing we did as a team was go on two hour trek through different parts of the city to pray. Either out loud or silently, all of us prayed for the different people groups in the city. We walked through the markets, the town square, and over the bridge. I had been thinking about how this bridge was walked across by muslims everyday - from the disabled man who sits in the middle of the bridge sunup to sunset, or the Roma kids blasting islamic music to tourists and locals alike, and everyone else in between - everyday there are hundreds of people that cross that bridge and here we were, a group of Christians praying over it. Probably one of the only groups of Christians to do that ever! Then from behind me, I heard Melea praying - saying the same thing that I was thinking. It caught me by surprise but also affirmed that we are here to support the efforts for spiritual change as a team.
Eventually we stopped at a mosque. We opened the ornate iron gate, walked up to the enterence, took off our shoes, and went to open the door. Only to find out it was locked! Just as we were about to leave, a man who had been sitting on a nearby bench, told us there was a key resting at the top of the door. We went inside - filled with Middle Eastern design and architecture - it struck me how similar the open, vacant space felt to a small church. I had never stepped foot inside a mosque before so I took in the sights as we started praying over this house of worship to hear the voice of God and for Jesus to enter. We ended our time there in a song. Just as we ended the song, the creak of the door opening alerted us that our time of praise in that space had come to an end.
Our time of worship wasn’t over though! At the small local church that meets on a single floor of a building tucked-away in the city, there was a time of worship where Melea and Ben led us in numerous songs and prayers. Again I was affirmed in our mission to be a light to these divided people as I heard a song lyric that spoke about a fortress coming down and light dispersing shadows.
After a devotional/debrief time over lunch (man, I just have to pause and say how awesome all the food has been so far!), Isaiah, Ben, and I ran back to the hotel room across the bridge, grabbed our film gear, and huffed it back to setup a video interview with our Global Partner. As we set the scene, rigged the lights, and rolled the cameras, Melea sat down with our Global Partner. The four of us got to hear her story in a more intimate setting. It was a powerful experience as she talked about her struggles, her mission, and her heart for reaching these lost people.
She not only spoke about the bridge and the division in these two people groups, but how through her mission she is hoping it can connect these people physically to bring them together over the gospel.
I also want to shout out my teammates - they were amazing to work with on this project and I’m so grateful for their help and contributions. Together we are able to serve our Global Partner and her mission in a unique and impactful way. I know without a doubt, God put us together on this trip at this time to help tell His story here.
After our third night of film camp we headed back to the motel. As we crossed the bridge for the final time today, I reflected on Melea’s prayer - and our Global Partner’s mission - our spirits are full of joy in the work we are doing here.
- Justin
Praying in a mosque, hearing about our Global Partner’s heart and mission first hand, and the third night of our video camp! It’s been a hectic, spiritually filling day abroad!
Every day I start the morning off with a single mile run. Today I ran along one of the largest rivers in the city. This gives me a chance to focus my mind for the day ahead while I get some exercise. I can observe the people around me living out their daily life in this foreign culture and notice all the varied graffiti that marks the mostly concrete landscape with unique pops of color and unrecognizable langauge. The highlight of my run today was finding an abandoned skatepark at the halfway point. Ripped straight out of the 90’s, It was fully covered in all sorts of graffiti. I couldn’t help but stop and catch my breath as I looked at this one-time Mecca for skaters and the bridge that loomed near it.
I’ve been using my time in the morning to pray for my team, those back home, and all the lost souls in this part of Europe. I find the practice has been bolstering my spirit as I’ve never left the United States before, and almost immediately I could feel the change - like a steep drop in pressure - of the spiritual darkness covering this divided city.
The morning run turned out to be a warm up, as the first thing we did as a team was go on two hour trek through different parts of the city to pray. Either out loud or silently, all of us prayed for the different people groups in the city. We walked through the markets, the town square, and over the bridge. I had been thinking about how this bridge was walked across by muslims everyday - from the disabled man who sits in the middle of the bridge sunup to sunset, or the Roma kids blasting islamic music to tourists and locals alike, and everyone else in between - everyday there are hundreds of people that cross that bridge and here we were, a group of Christians praying over it. Probably one of the only groups of Christians to do that ever! Then from behind me, I heard Melea praying - saying the same thing that I was thinking. It caught me by surprise but also affirmed that we are here to support the efforts for spiritual change as a team.
Eventually we stopped at a mosque. We opened the ornate iron gate, walked up to the enterence, took off our shoes, and went to open the door. Only to find out it was locked! Just as we were about to leave, a man who had been sitting on a nearby bench, told us there was a key resting at the top of the door. We went inside - filled with Middle Eastern design and architecture - it struck me how similar the open, vacant space felt to a small church. I had never stepped foot inside a mosque before so I took in the sights as we started praying over this house of worship to hear the voice of God and for Jesus to enter. We ended our time there in a song. Just as we ended the song, the creak of the door opening alerted us that our time of praise in that space had come to an end.
Our time of worship wasn’t over though! At the small local church that meets on a single floor of a building tucked-away in the city, there was a time of worship where Melea and Ben led us in numerous songs and prayers. Again I was affirmed in our mission to be a light to these divided people as I heard a song lyric that spoke about a fortress coming down and light dispersing shadows.
After a devotional/debrief time over lunch (man, I just have to pause and say how awesome all the food has been so far!), Isaiah, Ben, and I ran back to the hotel room across the bridge, grabbed our film gear, and huffed it back to setup a video interview with our Global Partner. As we set the scene, rigged the lights, and rolled the cameras, Melea sat down with our Global Partner. The four of us got to hear her story in a more intimate setting. It was a powerful experience as she talked about her struggles, her mission, and her heart for reaching these lost people.
She not only spoke about the bridge and the division in these two people groups, but how through her mission she is hoping it can connect these people physically to bring them together over the gospel.
I also want to shout out my teammates - they were amazing to work with on this project and I’m so grateful for their help and contributions. Together we are able to serve our Global Partner and her mission in a unique and impactful way. I know without a doubt, God put us together on this trip at this time to help tell His story here.
After our third night of film camp we headed back to the motel. As we crossed the bridge for the final time today, I reflected on Melea’s prayer - and our Global Partner’s mission - our spirits are full of joy in the work we are doing here.
- Justin