Bosnia...

Bosnia is split into two different parts - one being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is made up of mainly Bosniaks and the other being Republika Srpska, which is made up of mainly Serbians. The border of these two parts runs through Sarajevo. During one of our prayer walks we were able to walk from the Federation of Bosnia into the Republika Srpska. There is still lots of division between these two parts and we were able to spend time praying for reconciliation.

One of our activities during our time in Bosnia was 'Community Time' on an open grass area near to the high street. Each day we went down to this field and did a programme for the local children - Bible stories, drama, games, craft, face painting and balloon modelling. We loved going down and just spending time with the children - especially the gypsy children that came along as we would often see them in the town during the week.

The kids especially liked being face painted as tigers!

As well as the community time on the field, our other main area of ministry was to meet people and talk to them. This could be done quite easily on the street or in one of the many coffee shops.

The World Cup was a great conversation starter! Here is Hannah and Lisa with one of the girls they met on the street...

Fancy a cuppa?

We heard from many people that Bosnia is a coffee drinking culture, and the team wasted no time in introducing us to Bosnian coffee - This wasn't even the full strength drink - I just hope that they like their tea too!!

We will be in Bosnia until 27th June...

Climb every mountain...

Journeys in Wanda have become one of the highlights of Transit Challenge! Just before this journey from Kosovo to Bosnia Wanda was a little sick...not knowing that much about car mechanics, all I know is that the bit that holds the front wheels together wasn't in a good condition! Thankfully, there was a garage in Peja we could take it to and so Toni and Adam spent the whole of their day off fixing her up, ready to drive to Bosnia the following day! (I'm pleased to report that Wanda is now in perfectly good health!!)


So, we began our journey, back through the mountains from Peja to Sarajevo -about a ten hour journey - up and down mountains, reaching over 1800m high (5900ft) and higher in some places. Even though the road was so windy, the scenery was absolutely beautiful...




This is where we stopped for lunch...

Some of the scenery along the way...

This photo is taken from a bridge over this river...

Finally, we crossed the border....We were a little worried when we saw this sign - thought we had driven to the wrong country by mistake...but we were in the right place!

We even found our meeting place straight away, without getting lost!...

Between two fires...

So, this is one of our favourite games at the moment....We learned how to play it in Moldova and it has been called many things, but 'Between two fires' is my favourite! It's kind of like dodgeball...we get all the kids in the middle and then throw a football at them! Great fun!!

This game we played in a village when we went to work with some Roma children. These were probably some of the nicest kids we have worked with in Kosovo...

We also attempted some face painting (on some very sweaty faces...) and balloon modelling with the kids...

As pretty much always, the kids sang with all their hearts - songs about Jesus...they learned a memory verse from the Bible and heard stories about how God loves them and made them special. These children also heard how God has invited them to be a part of his kingdom and the consequence of not accepting His invitation.

Many times I sit and watch the children as they sing and listen, and I wonder how much of what they are hearing and doing really impacts them...how many of them go home after the programme and think about what they just heard? These kids, who are so often rejected by society, really need people who will invest in their lives and encourage them to be more than what other people tell them they can be. Most of all, they need to know with their hearts the never-changing, never-ending love and grace of their saviour...

Uprooted...

For three days we worked up at a camp, about 1200m high in the mountains. The owners have a big vision for what they want the camp to look like and hopefully aim to hand it over to local believers to run it in the years to come. We were there to help with some construction so, for three days, we dug and moved dirt, chopped firewood, moved trees from the forest, put up another tent for sleeping, made a new parking space, shovelled more dirt and moved a tree!

Here are the team attempting to move the tree...the first time it was put in wheelbarrows...that didn't work so well...!

Here is how it eventually worked!! Rolling it on pipes and wood! A long, slow process...

Success....the tree was finally replanted....Here's an interview with some of the tree movers!

Mountains...mountains and yet more mountains...

To get from Montenegro to Kosova you basically drive up and up and up a huge mountain...go through some tunnels of rock...drive down a mountain, only to drive back up a huge mountain again! The highest we got was around 1800m where we were met by the friendliest border guards we have come across so far - (I guess there's not that much to do at the top of a mountain except talk to a lovely group of foreigners when they come your way!!)

Stopping for lunch on the side of the road!

This was the highest point of our journey...

The mountains are stunning! The driving is fun! Kosova is beautiful! This is where we will be for the next two weeks...

Montenegro...

The journey from Albania to Montenegro was probably one of the shortest journeys that we have done in a while – just seven hours! But it went through some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen! Right through the mountains the whole time until we arrived in a city by the sea in Montenegro.

We would only be in Montenegro for ten days but the time that we spent here was full of new experiences – especially being in a city where there is not yet a church and only one local believer! A lot of time is spent here on building relationships with the local people through activities like an English and German café, football, girl’s club, kids club and of course, going out for coffee and walking by the sea front!

One of the first things we were involved in was a club with some Roma children on the outskirts of the city and a kids club in the old part of the city. By now, we’ve done many many children’s programmes on Transit, but I never get bored of teaching the children how to play British Bulldog, showing dramas, singing songs and teaching Bible stories. Each time is totally different and it is so rewarding to be able to spend time with these children…






For the second half of our time in Montenegro we spent each morning at a Roma family’s home – fixing their roof, painting the bathroom and cleaning…The guy in charge of the household is just 18 years old and has a 15 year old wife and a gorgeous 10 month old baby. He looks after his own family plus his five younger siblings. He faces a tough job looking after everyone, so it was great to be able to help them out in the small way that we could.

Apart from the practical work we also spent time with the children. One of the activities we did with them was to have them decorate some wooden photo frames in which we put pictures of their family. They were so creative, and proud of their work when they had finished!

The second time we did the Roma kids club we taught them the story of the Enormous Turnip and how each person, no matter how small or how big is important to God and that we can all work together as a team. Shortly afterwards, the football disappeared down the hill and into the stream and we watched as the kids formed a human chain to rescue their ball! What great team work!!




Whilst in Montenegro we got to do a couple of things that were a little unexpected! The first was going to watch a volleyball match with some guys from the English café – Germany against Estonia and then Germany against Croatia…(Germany won both times…)

The second thing was climb a mountain – 1600m high (pretty high by British standards!)…The view wasn’t that great from the top but from time to time we were able to see through the cloud to Albania!

The third thing was watching the moon rise…I have never seen this happen – it was beautiful!