Waterfalls, Boat rides and Tractors

We’ve been living in Bosnia for over six months now, and there are still so many beautiful places we haven’t explored yet.

 Recently, we had the chance to visit the stunning Kravica Waterfalls, which happen to be near a Red Cross Center we were planning to visit, so we left a little earlier so we could stop by and check them out. 

We had the privilege of playing tour guide for our dear friends, the Ballou's, who are serving their mission in Varaždin, Croatia. Due to a visa mix-up, they’ll be living in Bosnia for a few weeks. We have loved getting to know them better. 

Our next stops were to two Red Cross soup kitchens. Both kitchens had received equipment donated by the Church, and part of our job is to inspect these donations to ensure everything is properly installed and working.

The first Red Cross kitchen was a smaller one, serving approximately 120 meals per day. We were there to see an industrial vegetable peeler that was donated to help make their work a little easier. They gave us a demonstration. 

Our next stop was a larger Red Cross soup kitchen in Mostar that provides meals for 350 every day. This facility had recently received several new appliances through the Church’s donation, including ovens, shelving, slicers, a juicer, carts, and much more. It was wonderful to see how these upgrades are helping them better serve those in need.

They showed their appreciation by treating us to a delicious lunch and giving us a wonderful tour of the city. It was so nice of them. And it was so nice to share it all with the Ballou's

 

They gave us the best tour by taking us on a boat ride! It was so much fun to see Mostar from the water and enjoy the beautiful views of the city. Definitely a highlight of the day!

We wrapped up the day perfectly by visiting our dear Sister Ljubica in Mostar. While we were there, her daughter called all the way from Utah. Before leaving, we followed our tradition of taking a group selfie, so of course we had to include her too!

 

The next day, we took the two-and-a-half-hour drive to visit one of my favorite Humanitarian projects we get to work on,  the Duje Center, where we met the Turners. They oversee communications and will be writing an article for the church about this incredible place, which provides care for up to 500 elderly, disabled or displaced people.  We brought the Ballou's and the Turner's brought some family who was visiting so we were quite the group.

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I love visiting the Duje Center and meeting the beneficiaries, seeing how well they are cared for and loved. The man in white on the right is the community medical director. The center has a small hospital, dentist’s office, and pharmacy.  

 

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The church donated a new kitchen and dining room with all new equipment and new tile floors and windows. Besides feeding the 500 residents they also feed 2500 needy in the community. 

The community has several activities available to the residents including art classes. 

It’s a community where residents have everything they need. Some come for rehabilitation after a hospital stay, while others have lived at the Duje Center for years and consider it home.

The Duje Center is able grow their own food with greenhouses Plus they have a dairy 

For P-Day, we took our junior missionaries to the Sarajevo Tunnel of Salvation. Walking through the tunnel and learning about its role during the siege was sobering, showing how people survived during the war in Sarajevo.

This is the Kolar'ss standing in front of family  home. In their backyard, a secret tunnel, later called the “Tunnel of Salvation” was dug beneath the airport runway. For 800 meters (about half a mile), it carried food, medicine, and people in and out of Sarajevo, becoming a lifeline during the war. One photo shows the tunnel marked in yellow on a map, while another map illustrates how the city was completely surrounded during the siege, with only this small opening providing a way out.

Sunday church was quiet, all our local members were all on holiday! Five members joined on Zoom, plus seven visitors, including Sister Robinson’s grandparents and aunt. I invited them to join us for Sunday dinner where I made a Café Rio style dinner. Not the easiest thing to do in a country with no cilantro or salsa, but it turned out great!