Tuesday Update - Sarajevo

Hey everyone! Jesse here. Today we finished our second day of English camp. We are all enjoying the work but it makes us tired at the end of the day. The kids are super fun and it’s enjoyable to spend time with them! I sure wish that I could speak in Bosnian. Some of the older kids speak English very well, while some of the younger ones, not so much. But, they all seem to understand some English words and with the help of our translators we can all communicate and have a good time.

In addition to spending time with the kids, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know our translators and looking for ways to be an encouragement to them and build a friendship. I think maybe our conversations with our helpers could be our greatest opportunity for impact. Please, pray for these relationships. There are still many other opportunities to bring light as we go about our days, so please pray for us to recognize them!

We’ve also been given some opportunities to meet with English students one on one, and have conversation guided by a work sheet. Monday, Haley and I had a great discussion with a man who is about my age. Among other things we discussed the value of respecting other people who are different than yourself. Our new friend actually brought this up and talked a bout how important respect is, especially in this area where there are many different religious groups and cultures and a history of war between them. I believe he is correct, if we don’t treat others with respect, even when we disagree, we’ll never be able to share ideas and as Christians we’ll never be able to share the truth with effectiveness. This value of respect is important in missions and in our everyday relationships.

After our camp is done for the day and we finish setting up for the next day, we’ve had more time to sight see and shop. Tuesday, we got to visit the Childhood War Museum. This museum has collected stories from adults who have lived through war as children and items that were connected to the story. We read several short statements about experiences that were had as children during the siege of Sarajevo and looked at various objects like drawings, toys, and candy wrappers which the children had kept or used to get through these difficult times. It was very sad to see and read.

We appreciate your prayers and support!