big life announcement… i’m moving to bosnia to be a missionary!!! some of you reading this may already know about it or have been part of my processing over the past few months, but many of you may be hearing about this for the first time… i figured the best way to make this as informative as can be would be to flush out some of the FAQs i’ve received in reactions from people i’ve been telling since i found out i was accepted to go two weeks ago… you’re going WHERE?? i will be moving to the town of bihac (pronounced “bee-hotch”… ha) bosnia. it is in northwestern bosnia. check the map, and the sites listed below. ◘ Bosnia & Herzegovina Tourism Site (this site can also give insight into questions like “isn’t there some war going on there?” and “are you sure this is safe?”) ◘ CIA World Fact Book (see here for any hard factual information about the country, including climate, unemployment, government, and number of cellular phones in the country as of 2006) wha? how did this happen? brief timeline… 5 years ago i studied abroad in italy. fell in love with europe. one year ago i went on a mission trip to nepal. felt very homesick for europe. prayed and prayed and prayed about why and how God wanted me to respond. found my way to a missions organization whose strategies and heart for europe were things totally aligned with my own. started applying. received confirmation from the Lord that this was what i should be doing. kept applying. initial focus (with quite a bit of hesitancy) to head back to italy. received more confirmation from the Lord to keep pursuing missions. three weeks ago went to atlanta for “outbound” conference as final stage of applying. the Lord showed me bosnia. i got excited about bosnia. the Lord confirmed bosnia. ta da! who are you going with? do you know anyone there? i will be going with an organization called operation mobilization (here on out referred to as OM). i now know some folks that will be there – potentially a married couple who were outbounders with me, and then another married couple named ed and monica who are already on staff with OM in bosnia in the town of mostar (they’re americans. and they’re awesome). what are you going to be doing? with bosnia sitting at an unemployment level around 60% (yikes!), many people there are living in desperate situations and don’t necessarily get to eat on a regular basis. part of OM’s church planting strategy in bosnia is through mercy ministries, such as delivering firewood in the winter. they want to start up a meal program as another way to reach out to people in need an are looking for someone to help coordinate everything (the staff, the planning and organizing of the meal program)… enter me! luckily OM is a place where people with many gifts and experiences are wanted, and they are accepting of my love of planning events, managing projects, and *sometimes* being a little bossy J do they pay you, or do you have to raise money, or what? OM does not pay me from OM funds. like many missions organizations, all missionary positions are unsalaried, which means i have to raise financial support to cover my monthly living expenses (housing, food, insurance, etc.), as well as one-time costs (plane ticket, visa fees, etc.). my support will come from my home churches AND through friends like you!! for me, this is going to be the hardest part of the whole process. it is going to take a lot of patience and reliance on the Lord, knowing that he has already prepared everything for me. note: if you know right off the bat that you want to support me, let me know! i will do a little happy dance J we can get together or talk on the phone more in depth about where i’ll be going, what i’ll be doing, how much i need, how much you can give, and what that will all look like. everyone else… get ready. i’ll be contacting you!! what language do they speak there? bosnian J i have no skills in this language whatsoever. but no worries… part of my time in the country (especially much in the beginning) will be spent in language classes so that i can communicate with the locals. how long will you be gone? two years!!! i am planning on leaving in mid-january of 2009. these are really the only FAQs i really have answers to at this minute (please let me know if you have one that hasn’t been answered)… i would love love LOVE to tell you more about what i’ll be doing, how the Lord brought me to this point, and how you can potentially be involved. but more than anything, i would love your prayers… it’s starting to hit me that i will only be in the country for three more months – that’s not much time! there’s so much to be done, so many people to see in the time that remains, before i head somewhere else where there’s so much to be done and so many people to see (meet)! please let me know how life is with you as well! i am fearing that i will begin to lose touch with people before i even leave (refer to final sentence of previous paragraph for explanation), which i desperately do not want to happen. i have actually reduced my work hours so that i can have a little more time for friendly gatherings, dinners, lunches, and even a breakfast get-together here and there – with you! let’s hang out J one final note… i will do my best to post updates here from time to time before leaving (and definitely after i depart), just so if you’re curious, you can always know what’s going on. and a promise: most posts won’t be this long. kudos to you if you made it all the way to the end!!! the end. | 
