Prayer, Coffee and Cops

Since our planning days in October, our team has decided to come together and pray every morning for our community and other needs. Instead of meeting at the office, we decided to go to different cafes in our area, so that we can meet more people in the community. On Wednesday we walked into a cafe where four police officers were enjoying a coffee before the start of their shift. We sat down next to them and ordered our coffees, but they didn't seem like they wanted to be bothered so we didn't talk to them.
Something you probably don't know about traffic cops in Bosnia is that they can pull you over for any or no reason. Their reasoning behind this is that they want to randomly check people's papers as there is no indication on the license plates that the registration is up-to-date. The lesson that we had learned soon after buying a car here in Bosnia, is that to avoid getting 'randomly checked' you shouldn't drive in the far right lane as that's where the traffic police stand to flag you down. Well I was coming home from an errand that I had to run in town, and I wasn't paying attention and was driving in the right lane. Sure enough, there was a police officer on the side of the road and he flagged me down. He asked for my license and registration, and then starred at me for a second. "Hey" he said, "we had coffee together this morning". I smiled, with some relief, and replied, "oh yeah, I remember". We went on to have a nice conversation and I found out that he has two children, 10 and 14. I told him that I'm planning on starting English classes for school aged children and he gave me his name and phone number, so that I could call him when the classes start up.
We're just excited that God is helping us meet people in the cafes even when we're not bold enough to initiate conversations.

Coffee and a Cigarette

The first snow of the year has fallen here in Sarajevo, which means winter is officially here. This also means the beginning of our indoor ministry, which includes lots of coffee when we go on visits. The coffee really isn't that bad, just a bit thick. The one thing that we always dread a bit though with indoor ministry is cigarette smoke. For most Bosnians, coffee just isn't coffee without a cigarette. Of course people also smoke in the summer, but it's much easier to find ways to meet people outside their homes when the weather is nice. During winter, Stacy will sometimes meet me at the door when I come home with a nice greeting like, "you smell!" For the most part, I'm pretty use to the smoke as long as they smoke the Bosnian cigarettes, but there is a clear difference when someone smokes an American cigarette. They seem to be a lot more potent. If you think about it, we'd appreciate your prayers in this area. We're trusting that the Lord will protect our lungs from the affects of 2nd hand smoke. Tips for getting the smell of cigarette smoke out of clothes would also be appreciated.

The Month of Fasting

Another month of "fasting" has ended here in Bosnia, and for that matter around the world. Most years I have noticed that there seems to be a large focus on food during Ramadan, and I've always wondered how much 'fasting' goes on during this holy month. I'm not really complaining though, some of the nicest breads and deserts come out during this time of year, and the restaurants have really nice deals on iftar meals. (Iftar is the evening meal for breaking the daily fast ). Even the McDonald’s in Turkey gets in on the fasting menu, by offering an iftar soup.



I did about five minutes of research on the internet just to satisfy my curiosity about the statistics during Ramadan.

According to the UK yahoo news, Studies by health experts have shown that many Muslims gain weight during the month of fasting and that average consumption of food soars during the period.

According to Al-Ahram Weekly Online, "While their Ramadan diets diverge, all the countries of the Middle East have one trait in common: the month of fasting is also the month of excessive food consumption".

According to Jordan Times (http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=2216) AMMAN - Consumption of food during the holy month of Ramadan rises by 25-40 per cent due to people’s changed "consumption behaviour”, experts and officials said on Saturday. The demand on essential food items sometimes jump to over 40 per cent during Ramadan.

There you have it. Just be thankful that we don't have to eat a Christmas dinner every night for a whole month. Perhaps the real fasting begins next week they step on their bathroom scales.