Update #2

So we had another meeting with our team where we learned about each other's strengths and spiritual gifts, along with learning a bit more about our trip. It was a great meeting as we all began to open up more and share more of ourselves and share what God has taught us through our lives. Our retreat will be this next weekend on the 16th where we will watch a movie about some of Bosnia's history and the war. We will also share our "research" with the team and have some Bible study segments. Ryan and I have gotten a little information from my friend about the culture, and will of course gather more before the retreat, and update you all on that. My friend Katie in Sarejevo emailed me some things about Bosnian culture which are below:

Traditional food: Cevapi which is beef and bread, also Another food is Pita stuffed with spinach cheese, potato, and meat. The popular alcohol that they are proud of is Rakia. It is like moonshine. You take a shot of it to confirm a deal (like signing an agreement), and you offer it to guests

They love football/soccer, which is like most of Europe. They drink tons of coffee and smoke a lot. They love relationships with others and like to play card games and ride bikes. They listen to a lot of the same music that we do, but have traditional "folk" music, which includes the accordion and lots of dancing with swaying hips. They also listen to turbo folk, which is the folk made into techno music.

Katie says that ethnicity and religion are the same. If you are Catholic you are Croation (even if you were born in Bosnia) If you are Muslim you are Bosnian. They typically don't actually practice the religion.

Something that has been on my heart lately is a situation with girl who went to my high school. She grew up in Bosnia which meant she grew up in their civil war. She was in my English class and was always such a positive girl, encouraging me and others in our school work. Anyway, she pretty much lived through the war in Bosnia which meant that she had some horrible memories of war. I think she dealt with this personally in dreams and thoughts which led her to take her life in February of 2001. Her name was Azra Jamakovic and we all were deeply saddened by the situation at the time, but her life just comes back to me now that we are going to Bosnia to meet others who were scarred by the war. Her story plays back in my mind and motivates me to work as hard as I can to help restore hope and to introduce Jesus' love to this country by working with Pastor Bernard and his church. Please be praying for Azra's family and her brother, Amel, as I am sure they still think of Azra often.


Thanks again for all of your support and we hope to talk with you soon!

Love,
Erica