My time in Kosovo flew by. We were there for about a month, but ministry-wise, we only had three weeks. Those three weeks were some of the fastest weeks of my life. I am now sitting in a Dunkin Donuts in Georgia (the country, not the state) reflecting on my time in Kosovo.
Kosovo (also known as Kosova) is a majority Muslim country. We entered Kosova in the middle of Ramadan, a month-long Islamic holiday that is dedicated to fasting and prayer. This means a lot of places (like restaurants and cafes) were mainly empty during the day as people were not eating or drinking. As an ATL month, we wanted to spend time out and try to meet people. But it made it hard when people didn’t really spend time out eating or drinking. However, even though that part was difficult, we still had some crazy adventures. My team and I had so many moments where we looked at each other and started laughing because we couldn’t believe what happened had just happened. There were many times we had no idea where we were staying that night but through some random connections, we were provided a place to stay. There were times when we just wandered down the street and ended up in people’s homes. There have been friends we have made because we were four American girls just wandering around trying to show Jesus to and then we’ve gotten to share the Gospel with!!
Through this last month, God has provided in ways that are crazy. Ways that just make me realize how much God cares for us and wants us to trust Him, even when we think things won’t work out.
One way that God provided for us was a place to stay. He showed up in so many ways that were laugh-worthy. Literally, my team and I laughed almost every single time.
On one of our first nights on our own as a team, we took a bus to a region we felt the Lord calling us to and when we got there we had no plan. No place to stay, unsure of who we were going to encounter, nothing. We had our packs, some sandwiches, and our tents and sleeping bags just in case we couldn’t find a place to stay indoors. We ended up at a little cafe where the waiter and owner of the cafe were trying to help us find a place to stay that was within budget. Working on 25 euros a night is rough, let me tell you that. One of the options we tossed around was camping, we had the stuff to camp and it was the cheapest option at this point. Someone nearby in the cafe heard us (as we were pretty much the only two tables that were filled) and asked if we needed suggestions for places to camp at. We took him up on his offer because we honestly had no idea. He was able to show us and even give us a free ride to the spot! We camped that night and it was incredibly cold, however, we had lots of laughter and bonding moments through it all.
Having just set up our tents!!
Me and Meggo doing a workout in our Carhartts and Birks to keep warm
The next day we went to a restaurant and spent some time there, trying to figure out what was going to be next. We still weren’t sure if we could afford a place, a place nearby that we had messaged wasn’t sure if they could take our price. However, that day, as it was getting to be the afternoon they messaged us and said they could take us for 30 euros a night for 5 nights. That worked out perfectly because we had saved 25 euros the night we camped out. We could use that for 5 extra nights. And even in that, through some complications of an accidental double booking, we were provided with an extra night for free! PLUS the first night we stayed there it snowed!! God provided a warm place for us to stay the night it snowed!!
This was my view the morning that we found a place indoors to sleep!
After that, our next housing options fell through. There was unsettlement among our team about what was coming next for us, so once again, we were left without a place to stay. Well, let’s take a little detour to the day before. It had been a Sunday and through a lot of string of events, even ending up at an abandoned Orthodox Church, we found a church to attend that had two American families there. One of the families had offered their home to us if we ever needed a place to sleep. Going back to that day we had no housing, it was 5 pm, we called and said we knew it was last minute, but we were wondering if we could stay there. They welcomed us with open arms and we were able to stay with them for about 10 nights. Basically, until we went back to Pristina to fly out. Through this, we were able to meet a family of three little girls from Indiana!! It was crazy!! We spent our mornings around the table eating breakfast together, we spent our time before dinner playing either tiger or dentist with the girls (with the latter I often got all of my teeth pulled out), dinners were spent around the table saying what we were grateful for, and after the girls went to bed we played games with the parents (who were just a few years older than us). Overall our time there was refreshing and made it so bittersweet to leave.
The silly gal pals who got to live together for a couple of weeks
These are just a few instances in which God provided for us in Kosova. This last month was one of the sweetest months I’ve had. My team and I grew so much in just a few short months. We grew individually, we grew as a team, and we grew in our trust in God. Grateful to go through a month with so many unknowns and learn more about how the Father provides in ways we least expect.
