Somewhere in the chaos of the week that i have just lived through i have found that i have forgotten all about this link back to the real world, this lifeline of information to some and a girls mind wanderings to others. It’s been an amazing week, a week where the detaching project turned from a single event to a shared experience, a shared passion, and a shared memory. I’m so excited about the remaining two sessions, the possibilities they hold and the people i have found who just wandered into my life through this experience. I’ll not relay all the stories here at the moment, but it shall be sufficient to say that Tuesdays event was a little subdued but worth the effort, and Thursdays event surpassed all expectations. For all those in England who are praying for the two days that remain i thank you, for all those in Serbia who are turning up to hug the volunteers and be a friendly face in amongst the crowd i salute you, to the new friends i have made i welcome you with wide arms to the story that we share and the weaving we are making together. On a more personal note i have also gained a boyfriend in the last two weeks, a relationship not looked for but welcomed all the same. The girl who left Sunnyside with fearless apprehension will return a very different individual in a little over 20 days, but she is so excited about what the remaining time in Serbia and time in the UK holds for her, about sharing the journey God has led her on, and about the hopeful journey back to Serbia at the end of September.
Thursday night I sat on the fountain in Porta square next to friends looking at the activities as they spread before me. Groups of people were gathered around various questions on the floor as they tried to decide upon their own answers or decipherer the scrawls left by others. To one side a group of youngsters stood waiting patiently for their turn on the wii, to miss the tennis ball as it was hit towards them. Between them, talking, instructing and enjoying the positive atmosphere green t-shirt clad volunteers complete with smiles tried to engage the bemused passers by. 'Detaching' as a project is bemused, it confuses people more than it is understood, and yet in the unease there is a sense of curiosity. Everything that could have stopped us tried, hurdles presented themselves and then melted like sugar in the rain. God's whisper is loud and clear throughout, unashamedly so, and yet somehow the hostility and distrust that often is placed with Christian action is almost totally absent. The stories of what happened that night will be told as I slowly talk to each volunteer over the coming days and weeks; the electricity supply solution that was uncannily perfect, parents outright request for prayer for their daughter, children being trusted with volunteers with not so much as a question, Roma children's amazement at their inclusion, the unending questions about God, though other reasons could be grasped upon, the faces of the people when they realised the food was free, the hug of a volunteer as thanks for being part of this.... I could list on but I do not wish to steal stories from their rightful tellers. That night as I sat and watched the events unfurl, as I ran round people checking they were fine and sorting technical s and monetary needs I realised fully what an insane and perfect idea this was, how the skills I knew and the skills I found fitted like jigsaw puzzle pieces, and the tales I would tell about this event in the years to come. Last night I met two new friends, they asked what I was doing in Serbia and then said... that was you last night wasn't it! I woke this morning fully aware of the lack of church in todays program. it was just short of 10am, and around the city churches would be ringing out their bells and handing out the hymnbooks. As I write this 11am (10am UK) has appeared in the bottom corner of my screen, Sunnyside will be full of hugs and music like all the churches i have been blessed to be part of. I'm sitting listening to sunnysides centenary service via the web and i can hear the community feel in the hum in the background. being far from such the community right now i could be feeling sorry for myself, proud at my adventurous mission, or bereft by the isolation from such a support, but i feel none of the above. I'm in the world of the exit music festival, dancing the night into the early hours of the next day, finding the world that the youthworkers both secretly wish they were part of as they warn you of the evils of the substance fulled crowd. though i don't see it like that. i watch the people dance, i hear the beat move through the floor and jangle my skeleton, the crowd rises and falls and i see a sea of souls. i see a yearning and a belonging, a makeshift church worshiping the music but not in any blasphemous nature. the thousands move like ant swarms up and round and over the stones of the fortress. i sat upon the edge last night, sunk into a banana beanbag, the wind chilling from the side, the lights of the city spread out besides me, the multiple blurred beats of the stages behind and below me. in that place of chill and pause i realised that this trip has and will continue to change me, to throw me from the Christian bubble to bear witness both to those outside and those inside the world i left. I doubt the youthworker of Lymington days will return, it's a sad departure but an opening challenge that will lead me onwards. Some decisions are easy. Six weeks from today i will climb aboard a British Airways flight and watch the city of Belgrade shrink to matchbox proportions as i ascend. i will arrive home full of expectations and stories. wanting to see so many people i have missed and eager to share so much of what i have learnt and been changed by. At the same time i will be sad to see my trip end and part of my heart will be left behind in this flat land. Many eep placement people extend and extend their trip and so I'm hoping that if i can support the trip then i will return before 2009 is packed away in dust gathering files. Six months is such a short time, such a drop in the ocean and now i have discovered so much i could do if only i had more time my heart longs to stay a little longer. However, my flight is booked and with the humidity causing almost daily migraines, i feel a trip back to England is called for. This battle between options and possibilities finally subdued with a plan to be in England for the dawn of September and Serbia for October and November, logistics allowing. The reluctant missionary finally finds her place at the 11th hour! My God's sense of humor is a beautiful thing! |
The other siteWho is GfeefGfeef is the name that my writings have been under for some years. As far as I know it's unique to me. Originally from the UK, I now live in Serbia but continue to have a passion for childrens and youth ministry. Archives
October 2014
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