Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Anita awoke in the middle of the night and had one of those unusual experiences where she thought the Lord had awakened her like He had done with Samuel. She got her bible and writing tablet and sat in the women’s bathroom that is next to our room. For over an hour, scripture passages came to mind and she looked them up and wrote them down. She ended up tying together a wide assortment of passages that all gave insights into the process of restoration. Particularly, she felt this may be a message of hope to be proclaimed over the whole city of Mostar. And she wondered if it contained keys for how to pray while walking their land that had been defiled by bloodshed and other sins from Old Testament passages.
The Croatian cross atop a mountain overlooking Mostar
She shared with me what had happened while we were getting ready in the morning but she didn’t have time to discuss what specifically she had gotten. We gathered with the leadership of the West Mostar Church first thing in the morning. We made coffee and drinks and then Anita started sharing the passages she had gotten and some of the strategies for impacting the spiritual condition of the region.
The base of the Croatian cross atop a mountain overlooking Mostar
One of the key passages she had gotten was Jeremiah 31 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah%2031&version=NIV). All of the Bosnian leaders took turns reading the passages in Bosnian. Anita and I tried to follow along in our English version. Then, Anita asked them to read Micah 4 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=micah%204&version=NIV). After they finished reading the passages, they shared what they got out of the passages. Some of them were shedding tears as they spokes about their need for hope amidst the heaviness of sowing into this dark region for so many years. Karmelo and his wife Ivan had led here in Mostar since the war almost two decades ago. It seemed apparent that these passages had touched on areas of need in their lives. They shared their hearts and spoke of how the messages of hope found in these passages were really needed.
The Croatian cross atop a mountain overlooking Mostar
After an hour or so of reading and sharing, the group decided that they wanted to go up to the top of one of the mountains surround Mostar and worship and make some of the declarations the Lord told the Israelites to make on the mountain top in these passages. So, we gathered everything and loaded 8 of us into a van and drove toward the mountain. They choose the mountain that had the large cross on it as one of the most strategic points in the area.
It was an interesting drive up along the edges of the mountain. Being in the front passenger seat, I got a clear view over the side of the mountain, with no railing. The scenery was breathtaking. We had some good conversations. Karmelo has such a pastor’s heart. He and I spoke about them things on the drive up the mountain. He has a great sense of humor and yet a compassionate, caring heart. I had heard a lot about Karmelo from other Bosnian leaders in past trips, but he quickly won over my heart in our time together.
Jennifer playing her guitar leading worship on the mountain
When we arrived at the foot of the cross, the leadership team had brought along some flags and musical instruments. We sang some songs in Bosnian. I recognized them by their tunes but I couldn’t sing along without the Bosnian words in front of me. They read some from the passages Anita had shared. We worshipped and prayed together for some time. Jennifer played the guitar and everyone sang.
Our group praying, worshipping and making declarations on the mountain overlooking Mostar
After perhaps an hour of prayer and worship, one of the leaders suggested that one of the other leaders, named Peter, and I hold up the pastors hands outstretched over the city. So, we did. It was a profound symbol. Here was this key leader of the believers in this city who was weary from all of the years of battling in this dark region. We were upholding his arms in the same way as Aaron and Hur had upheld Moses arms as the battle raged on below him in the valley. We also thought it was significant that the only 2 men present who were available to hold up his arms were Peter and John.
We stood on the concrete base where the Croatian artillery canons were once mounted and rained down mortars onto the city below day and night for months at a time. Snipers were also stationed at this same location at the foot of the cross. In previous trips, I had heard of Muslim people seeing the symbol of a cross and telling how it reminded them of the place where the snipers fired from the mountaintop at their children.
It was grievous to me to see the cross of Jesus stand as a symbol of division between a city instead of a symbol that unified God and man. As I looked down form the mountain top, it was clear to see the street that divided the Croatian side of the city from the Muslim side. On the Croatian side there were many steeples and crosses and on the Muslim side many mosques.
The pastor's wife Ivon blowing the Shofar or Israelite trumpet
We prayed and worshipped a bit longer. We made a lot of declarations about the Lordship of Jesus and His desire to bring healing, peace and freedom to this land. We declared God’s goodness and His desire to bring restoration to this land and people.
Our group worshiping God over Mostar
Afterwards, Karmelo shared many stories of some of the things that had happened during the war. We found some bullet shells in the gravel and he said there had once been millions of them there but they had brought in bulldozers to try to bury them and cover them up. We loaded up the van and headed back down the mountain. He stopped and let me take a photo of the one of the land mine warning signs on the way down.
Karmelo shared with me how on many occasions during the war when they were helping refugees escape the country into Croatia and other surrounding areas, he found himself in situations where he was certain he was going to die. But, God rescued him time and time again.
Pastor Karmelo praying over the city of Mostar
Everyone was very talkative about everything the Lord had done on the mountaintop. It was clear that they were encouraged by the experience. They took us out to eat at one of their favorite restaurants afterwards. I had an excellent grilled chicken plate with French fries and Anita had a chicken salad. He enjoyed a lot of conversation in the smoke-filled restaurant.
Then, they dropped Anita and me off at the school around 3:30pm. This gave us a little over an hour before they were to pick us back up for the evening session at the c
hurch. We laid down and rest for over half an hour. I think we both dozed off for a little bit. Then, we got up, got back and gear and got ready to be picked up again. Becky came with us for the evening prayer and worship session.
Peter and John upholding the arms of Karmelo as he prays for the city of Mostar
The pastor’s wife Ivan shared with everyone all of the things that had happened during the week with our team. It was clear that she was encouraged and energized. Anita did a little training and then launched worship from the keyboard. We opened up a microphone for people in t
he congregation to come to and join in the prayer. The Bosnians really took off from that point on and we did little more than participate. Virtually all of the singing, prayers and declarations were in Bosnian with no one translating for us. So, it was a little challenging to feel like an active participant. So, I pressed in at a personal level and worshipped and prayed prayers in English to myself.
Many people came from the congregation and sang spontaneous songs, read scriptures and prayed. It was a powerful experience. This went on for a couple of hours. There were perhaps 50 people present for this session. The pastor from another church in the city, Dalibor came and played the guitar as part of the worship team. I recognized several others from that church where we ministered last year too.
The group joining in prayer as Peter and John uphold the arms of Karmelo as he prays for the city of Mostar
I thought it was interesting that several people stood up and prayed for revival to break out among the believers in the region. This was interesting because the night before in our prayer meeting, we had chosen this as the highest priority topic of prayer. We had given half an hour to praying for God to revive His church in Mostar. Then, several people were praying for the same thing (these were mostly English speaking people who were praying in English and hadn’t been a part of the previous nights meeting).
A sign warning of the presence of land mines if you get off of the paved road
I also found it interesting that the topic of guilt and shame came up in several meetings during the week after I had had a whole night of dreams about this topic. Becky and others touched on this topic and I gleaned a lot of revelation about how guilt and shame keeps us from seeing past ourselves and focusing on the goodness of God. I had some interesting ideas about how to explore this topic further in scripture after discussing it with Becky and others.
By the time we finished up, I was exhausted and ready for bed. We stopped by the grocery store and bought another fresh load of bread. Then, we sat in the dining area and ate some sandwiches. We got to chat with some more of the students, particularly Dehanah and Remi. Then, we wrapped it up and headed to bed a little after 10pm.
Anita leading Bosnian worship team
- Some of West Mostar church congregation involved in prayer and worship
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