God is Sovereign

Bosnia:
A place of beauty.
A place that reminds me to pray for my Muslim brothers and sisters daily.
A place that changed my heart in a BIG way.
A place I will be spending 6 months of 2013 in.

In the end of May/ beginning of June, I plan to leave America to spend 6 months in Bosnia as an internship for my ESL degree. What's crazy about that last sentence is that just 6 months ago, I never thought that I would be saying that. Last summer, I was able to spend an amazing summer there and now that I look back on it, my life was changed. However, while I was actually doing my internship, the only way that I can describe how I felt is to say that I thought I had been dropped on Mars. I was in a place with people that held completely different values and beliefs than other people I had worked with before. The language was much harder for me to pick up than any other one that I had learned before. Finally, I was in a place where I didn't feel my gifts from the Spirit were being used and that feeling alone made me mad, sad, and selfish. Don't get me wrong... I loved the time I had been spending there, but I couldn't help but feel misplaced.

So, why do I desire to go back? Easy. God changed my heart. That may not sound like such an easy process but believe me... it was the easiest transformation I've gone through. I do not have knowledge as to why that is, all I know is that God met me in a very desperate moment. It happened in a time of fasting and prayer on the Muslim calendar near the end of my trip. Our team had committed to fasting for the remainder of the time that we had in Bosnia (10 days) and use the time to grow in discipline and prayer. I had spoken to many people about what I had been feeling all summer and I came to the conclusion to stop whining and start praying. So, I did.

I am constantly amazed by the dimensionless capacity of God's grace. Even when I am nothing but a whiny and pathetic girl, God brings me out of that and sets me back on track. Praying for a heart for Bosnia was one of the strangest experiences I've had. I had never had a prayer answered so quickly and I wasn't sure how to handle the change. Though it was strange, the experience opened my eyes to the power of God and how He grants us the desires of our hearts in His will.

Where am I now? Preparation. The biggest part of preparation, besides praying for God to pave paths for me once I am there, is support raising. As of now, I still have $7763 to raise. For the doubting and human side of me, that number makes my stomach hurt. But for the part of me that holds a lot of faith in the providence of God.

I am so excited for what God has in store for the 6 months that I will be in Bosnia. I will be teaching English while I am there. I ask that you will please pray for God to raise up supporters so that I will be able to go.