I was reminded today of just how much thought and planning goes into the ministry we as Christians are called to do. Although we are equipped and empowered by God to bring His message to the World, it is not always clear how He intends for that to happen. Patience has been on the growing edge of my maturity for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted for more of it. Over the last week God has given me a vision for ministry in Mitrovica; ideas, thoughts and inspirations. As I talk to the people here, however, none of them think that healing can really come to that place. No one can agree on when hostilities between these two people groups began. The more I research the subject, the more villains emerge on both sides of the fighting. From what I can tell, however, the strife of Mirovica comes down to a lack of leadership, resolve, and will. I know that healing, true healing, can happen within the span of a single generation. Members of my family put their lives aside for years to defeat the Japanese in the Pacific, and I can name Toshiyuki Ishigaki as a friend and someone I greatly respect. My extended family also sent men to fight in Europe, but one of my uncles comes from Germany and can still recall growing up under the guiding hand of Adolf Hitler. If God can heal the eyes of my family to see that we are enemies with no people group simply because of where they were born, why can He not also accomplish the same miracle in Mitrovica?
I am seeking only the best advisers as I chase down the hows of answering a call to be a source for the healing word of God to a broken place. For all of me I have to believe that the youth, particularly the young men, are the key to a lasting peace in a place that has known too much violence. If we can think of each new friendship, each act of love, each kind word, each expression of respect as a white blood cell racing to counteract the disease of hate, then our work is not so daunting after all. What were we made for if not to love?
albaniacalling 