Hello, hey, hi! It feels so good to be back here and I think it's about time I gave a little update.
The summer has flown right by and it's pretty unusual that I've not done any baking or blogging the whole season. In actual fact, I haven't been sitting myself in front of the tv the whole time but was involved in a short term mission trip to Croatia to spread some love to children living in some not so well-off villages.
I flew with another 18 people and together, we learnt how to communicate with the Roma people living there, sharing our Christian faith through singing, dancing, drama, arts and crafts and stories.
For me personally, I have learnt so so much from the trip and believe it is a blessing that God has given me this opportunity to reach out and love many more people. It was difficult in the beginning - I did not know the language and it was proving to be an obstacle for me to connect with the children. However, God used me well and I learnt how to communicate through actions such as holding hands, spinning in circles and of course through some what-turned-out infectious smiles.
It's has been an eye-opener to see that simplicities such as a football could bring joy and happiness to the children. In our daily lives, we don't appreciate the beauty of this world often because we are so consumed by luxuries such as our phones, and I am guilty of this too - but if you take a step back, you can see that happiness doesn't necessarily come from our riches, but from the people around us who bring us joy.
I think I will remember a little girl called Mirella forever. She's this playful girl who at first wasn't so sure about me like the other children, but came next to me and held my hand. When I looked at her, she would just look back and giggle. She made efforts in talking to me but I couldn't understand her at all so all we could do was effectively "communicate" through actions. There was an extremely hot day whereby it got to nearly 40C and she still wouldn't let go of my hand even though they were sticky from the sun. Wow, I've never had a child so eager to hold my hand! But I didn't mind, all I wanted was to let her know I loved her and she could hold my hand as long as she wishes.
By the end of this trip I still could not speak Croatian fluently but miraculously, I managed to form a lot of well-cherished friendships with some extremely cute and beautiful children and found that my developed bonds with them made it so hard to say goodbye.
The village will remain in my heart forever and I am so thankful for this experience.
