This last two weeks have really been ones of closure and goodbyes. I've already had to say goodbye to two American families from the church. One family has moved back to the US permanently whilst the other is just there over the summer but they will return to Slovenia after I've already (hopefully!) returned to the UK. Many weekly meetings have also finished for the summer. These included the weekly Bible study, my ministry training sessions and the youth group. For our last youth group of the school year we had a Masterchef competition. We split them into three groups, older girls, older boys and a younger group. Each group had to make chocolate mousse and then the hard task of judging them fell to the leaders. Surprisingly, and with no favouritism or biased voting, the younger group won. They had expected to be in last place so it was very gratifying to see the excitement on their faces when they realised that they had won! We had great fun together but it was a bit bittersweet for me as this was the last one I will attend and be a leader of.
That being said, I am in full planning mode for our youth camp which starts on 14th July and lasts until 17th (I will probably be late with my next blog post due to exhaustion!). We will be studying the book of Colossians and looking at how we stay rooted in Christ, grow and show fruit in our lives. I have been working with two of the teenagers who will be leading the groups to help them prepare and write studies on each section we will be studying. Please be praying for this time together, that we will have fun and safety on camp but mostly that each young person would learn more about God and grow in their relationship with him.
Here I need to put in a warning that I am about to have a mini rant against the British Foreign Office. I try very hard to keep my posts on social media politically neutral but since this decision affects me personally and makes very little sense I am sharing it so you can continue to pray for me and for the situation. As I'm sure you're all aware I am moving back to the UK at the end of August. This has meant that I've had to follow the news very carefully to work out my travel plans and what will be required of me. Last week I had to deal with the news that my flight on 26th August from Ljubljana had been cancelled. I've managed to book a new flight with a different airline on 28th August so I'm praying that this one doesn't get cancelled as well.
Today the government published the list of countries that are exempt from quarantine from 10th July. Slovenia is not on it! This is despite the fact that we have lower rates of infections than our neighbours and they are all on the exempt list. Serbia and Croatia are currently the countries from which we are getting most of our imported cases. Yesterday Slovenia added more restrictions to non Slovenes crossing the border from Croatia. Yet both countries are on the list. I just don't understand! I can understand the need to be in quarantine especially if I was coming from a country with a high rate, but I'm not. If anyone has any ideas then please send all answers on a postcard. I'm genuinely confused and obviously a little bit upset with the situation. Please be praying for this situation. I will quarantine, obviously, if it's required but I'm hoping that it will change before the end of August. If I need to quarantine, then this will also restrict my parents to the house as well. It just adds another level of difficulty to my move from Slovenia to St. Albans and then on to Swindon. I just need to keep reminding myself that God has it all in hand and he knows exactly what is the best thing for me. If this means quarantine, then into quarantine I will go...
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