God’s Journey with Vedat

Hello everyone!

I am home.

I arrived on Tuesday afternoon at 2 pm.The trip was good and everything went well, but it was tiring..

I have to tell you that I had a glorious welcome. On my farewell party in VA someone prayed that I would have a glorious welcome and that prayer was really answered.

My mom and friends where waiting for me and when I arrived they were singing to me and welcoming me with flowers and lots of hugs. After that we all went to my aunt’s house and had some time to fellowship there.

My sisters in Christ made a lot of food (and a special cake). It was great to see my sister, niece and newborn nephew, they are so sweet.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I arrived and I am resting and adjusting to the 6 hour time difference.

I called Vedat at the hospital and he was doing well. I told him that I am home and he was not sad. I am thankful for that.

When we were finishing the conversation, we prayed as I always try to do with him, and I told him to pray for me as I would like to go and visit his mom and brothers, and he did. He prayed that I would go to visit them and talk to his mom and brothers about God.That was very special. It is an honor to hear him say that because that is God’s work in his life and I was allowed to see it.

I also spoke with the nurses there, and they said that he is doing well but that they often need to push  him to do things.  But when they do, he responds.

Some people are planing to make a trip there to see him and I know that he will like that a lot.

My host mom from Chicago is planing to visit him on Monday and she is planning to take the computer with her so that I can see Vedat on the web cam and talk to him over the computer.

I am looking forward to that.

As I already said, I am plugging into life here and trying to rest before I make any decisions about the next step in my life.

I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you and how thankful Iam for the amazing experience that God gave me in the past 14 months. It was amazing to be with you and learn so much from you.

I am very blessed and am sharing that with my family and Church. That is just great. You are close in my heart and I am missing you, but in the same time I am happy that I am home.

 I would like to ask for prayer for Vedat and me, for  I am trying to establish a good way to communicate with him and minister to him and his family over the phone.

We are also continuing to pray for his complete healing, he told me that there are some improvements with his legs and that is great. Praise God!  

And please pray for a new roommate as right now he doesn’t have one.. I think that that is very good for Vedat to have a roommate, his old one just left for home.

Please pray for all the people planning to visit Vedat that they would be a sweet aroma of Jesus to him and that it would be a blessing for both Vedat and them.

And please pray for me as I have a lot of thoughts ahead of me, and as I am praying to see what will my “next mission” be. There are some job offers and I would like to take them, but there are also other options and some of them I still don’t know.  I would like to be flexible so that I can still be in Vedat’s life (especially to be able to visit his family this summer..) and meet with him when he comes back to Croatia, before he goes home..

OK, here are some pictures and I send you lots of love from my country, church and family.

Be blessed!

My dear mom with tears in her eyes when she saw me

Brothers and sisters in Christ, they are holding the balloons with the “We love you” written on them and they had a lot of flowers for me.

As I was coming out of those gates they have started to sing  a song that says: “I am singing all the glory to my God..”  It was beautiful, people where turning to see what is going on..

This is at my aunts house-my sisters singing a song to me that was writen by them  just for my welcome and me - that was very special

Anita, another dear sister

And finally my sweet niece and nephew

Hello,

Here we are at Sunday night, the day before my trip home to Croatia. It was a very busy week with a lot of joy and sorrow. I enjoyed spending my last minutes here with dear friends and people that have really become my family.

I leave tomorrow afternoon and will arrive in Zagreb on Tuesday afternoon after visiting the Frankfort Airport for five hours. My Mom, friends and family are very excited that I am returning home and that day is finally here.

I have talked with Vedat several times this week. He had his halo removed on Tuesday and he got a new brace. The halo procedure was not painful, but he did complain about getting use to the new brace. For the first time since the surgery, his neck muscles have to support his head, and they are a little sore getting used to working again.

Today, my former host family in Chicago visited with Vedat, and he was very happy to see them. They said that he is doing very good. He went out to the playground with them, played ping pong with them, and enjoyed some fellowship as weekends get quiet compared to the week’s daily schedule.

Thank you all who have been faithfully with us through this process of prayer and transition in Vedat’s and my life. The guardianship has been transferred to Pastor Bill Hatcher and the host family in Virginia when Vedat returns from the hospital will be Steven and Susan McCarthy.

God has provided the McCarthy family. They have been praying for us since we met them in January. They have been praying for guidance as to how they may be able to minister to both Vedat and me, and they now know clearly that God is calling them in this direction. I am very thankful for their desire to serve the Lord in this way as I can relate to the big decision that they had to make to accept this calling.

They are praying that they will be able to begin to build a relationship with Vedat before he comes to Virginia to stay with them. They will be traveling to Chicago a few times before the end of July, and they want to learn as much as they can about Vedat and his needs. They pray for God’s wisdom as they make decisions regarding Vedat and the time he will spend with them prior to returning to his home in Serbia. They pray that God will enable them to help Vedat transition from his life here in Virginia and Chicago to life back home.

For all who want to contact Vedat by phone or mail, please contact the McCarthy family and they will provide that information. Their telephone number is in the Church Directory.

Please continue to pray for Vedat’s complete healing from the surgery and for the transition taking place in his life with my physical absence and the entrance of the McCarthy family. Please pray for my trip home and reunion with my family and church.

I have a gift from Vedat for his Mom which I hope to take to her this summer and meet her and his family for the first time. This is a very important opportunity to share first hand with them what Vedat experienced in the past year and to get to know what his situation at home will be like. Please pray for that visit as what I learn there may have major impact on preparations for Vedat to go home and how I might be able to minister to him and to his family once he is back home. I know that my ministry to him is not over. Please pray for wisdom for me as I am making plans for my life and ministry.

It has been a very special blessing to serve Jesus in this way and to be a part of God’s plans for Vedat. Thank you for becoming my extended family and supporting me in this mission of service to the Lord.

Even though I am going far away, I plan to keep you informed of developments through this blog. I will miss you and will pray to be able to see you again.

Many blessings and love.

Finally the halo is gone! This is the new brace with the chin rest.