BE WELL

We arrived in Capljina, Monday around 4:30 pm, after an eventful trip! There were several snags and hitches this year, but all were overcome easily and without any angst. Leland's luggage is still somewhere between Atlanta and Bosnia, but we've all pitched in clothes, toiletries, and remained true to our sense of team spirit. This will all become good fodder for gatherings around the dinner table during the week! :)

Just before arriving in Capljina, we witnessed a 4 wheeler ATV careening off the steep embankment that shores up the narrow two lane roads hugging the mountains and hillsides. The vehicle flipped the man and woman off leaving the woman lying relatively immobile and on her back against the rocky terrain so indigenous to this region. While Pastor Bernard talked the couple through the shock and called the police, the man all the while pacing back and forth, I came to the woman's side. I kneeled next to her, taking her hand, praying silently, gently stroking her wrist and forearm, hoping and praying Christ's comfort and healing touch might somehow move through me. The team stood around us in a powerful presence of God's love manifest. Soon, others arrived trying to help. I wished I had words of comfort to express all I felt for her, indeed how God feels for her, but I knew I wouldn't be understood. And, on some level, I wasn't sure how it would be received; well aware of where we are. So much for claiming God boldly! I knew nothing of this women save for the fact that, in this moment, she was in great need for the healing balm of Jesus - for His touch, for His embrace, for His peace which surpasses all understanding, for His love and reassurance.

When the ambulance arrived, we began to make our way back to the cars. I placed her bloodied hand down on her body and brushed her hair from her eyes and forehead, whispering "Be well." With every ounce of strength, she turned her head and looked at me with beautiful, big, brown eyes and mustered a smile. A Connection!

The Bosnia April Connections Trip has arrived. We are safe, we are rested and we are thrilled to be here with our Bosnian family at the Evangelical Church.

Please pray for Andrija, our host, who has taken ill today with congestion in his lungs and weakness in his legs. He and Marica are fearful, but their faith is strong. He will see a doctor today.

Please pray for the family and those who grieve the loss of Peter, a friend of Toni and Matea's who was killed in an auto accident. He was only 21. His funeral is today.

Thank you for your support.

"Be Well"
Kathy

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16