Hello everyone!

Well, we’ve come to the end of my second week here. I’m slowly getting used to my new surroundings and I am having such a good time here. People are gracious and they always find so many things for me to see, to do…

This week was not so busy. We had office staff meeting, worship and music committee meeting, where we talked about the plans and activities we will have in the future.

We are planning to have prayer morning, later this month, so we were discussing where we could do that. Probably, somewhere at the Toledo Botanical Garden.

Also, in agreement with Memorial Lutheran Church and Jewish Federation & Foundation, together we are preparing Burrito Blessings 419. That is Toledo’s newest food assistance for those in need. We will be handing out homemade, warm vegetarian burritos the last Saturday of every month, starting July 29th. So, we had meeting with representatives of these congregations. I think this is awesome way to bring people together and help others.

On Wednesday, pastor Brenda and I went to lunch with pastor Chris at the Art Museum. I saw some exhibitions but not all of them. Thus, I will definitely go there again. I enjoyed walking around the museum and seeing some of the most famous works.

 

In the evening, at the service pastor Brenda talked about how Jesus is light and how we all can be light too. This reminded me of a verse I studied with  youth in my congregation. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” , John 8:12.

In the theology class we continued reading the book “Half Truths”. We discussed some phrases, verses you might find in the Bible which capture some element of truth, yet they miss the point in important ways.

Granddaughter of one of church leaders had an orchestra concert, so we went to support her. She plays violin in the orchestra of University of Toledo. Concert was amazing, they played very nice. I met some students and I had chance to see the whole campus of the university. I can certainly say that the campus is enormous but really well organized.

The most interesting day for me was Friday. I went on a road trip with two kind gentlemen and one lovely lady. We toured small towns in northwest Ohio. I had the opportunity to see what small towns look like and whether there are any similarities between cities in Serbia and cities here. It was fun and I learned a lot about the cultures and traditions of these places. We had lunch at a famous small restaurant Sam’s place. They even gave me a t-shirt with their logo on it. We also visited the Wild Winds Buffalo Preserve. We saw bisons and heard a little more about them and why they are important and famous here.

Today at the service, I presented a book about the life of Slovaks, in Serbia, Vojlovica. The sum up of book is in English, so anyone will be able to read it.

One interesting fact about this congregation is that everyone loves food, so I’m in the right place (I really like to eat all kinds of food).  After every Sunday service, we gather in another room where we have cakes, cookies, salads etc.(everyone brings something) There, we spend some time together talking and laughing.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Thank you for reading!

Next week, I’m going on a trip with pastor and her family, so stay tuned… Have a nice, blessed week!