Lowrance's trip to Serbia reinforces faith in God

by Isa Torres, staff writer

Experiences are the best way to learn about something.

To learn about culture, people and even God, experiencing those things can teach us so much more than just hearing about them.

Katelin Lowrance, a 19-year-old biology major at South Plains College, spent some of her Christmas break doing missionary work in the Eastern Europe country of Serbia.

From the moment Lowrance was leaving the country, the experience was just overwhelming for her.

“It was almost something I couldn’t comprehend,” said Lowrance. “I never thought I would ever go to a place like that.”

Lowrance had plans of becoming a missionary even before she went to Serbia, and now after having been there and returning to Levelland, she says God confirmed that idea.

“In a way, it really confirmed my faith in myself,” Lowrance said. “I know what I can do, and I know I can do that because of God.”

This experience showed Lowrance that she can do many things she thought she couldn’t do.
 Lowrance said that even a year ago she would have never gone to another country by herself or with people she didn’t know.

Lowrance, a sophomore, went to a city named Cacak. The population of Cacak is over 100,000 people.
Lowrance says that the people in Serbia have a lot of similarities with people in the United States.

“They are just like you and I,” said Lowrance. “They have the same struggles.”

The description of the mission trip said that those who were going to Serbia were going to distribute Bibles to the people. But Lowrance says that was not exactly what they did.

“The first night was really hard for me,” said Lowrance.

Lowrance’s team only distributed Bibles one day. The rest of the 10-day mission trip was spent going to the houses of Serbs who were part of the work from missionaries who were already there. Lowrance felt that they were not accomplishing anything, and she says that made her a little frustrated. But she says that God was with her the whole time.

“God is in control,” Lowrance said. “I definitely learned how much I really need to rely on God in everything.”

Experiencing God in action was a way for Lowrance to know God even more.

“God is going to provide everything I need, ” said Lowrance. “ If He is going to call me to do something, he is not just going to say, ‘OK, go and figure the rest out.’ He is going to be there every single step of the way.”

Now that Lowrance, is back she says she understands why they didn’t spend the whole time just passing out Bibles.

“I know that we were able to make more of a difference by the few people that we really got to know,” said Lowrance.

The experience was something that helped Lowrance to gain so many things. She says that she gained experience, knowledge and friends.

One of the closest friends Lowrance got to meet was Marela, a girl who became a Christian not too long ago and who has gone through so many things, such as the wars in 1991-1992, when the Republic of Yugoslavia broke up. But for Lowrance, hearing about that was incredible.

“When I hear people talking about God or worshipping God in another language just blows me away,” says Lowrance.
Thanks to this mission trip to Serbia, Lowrance now feels even more open to the call that God has given her.

“If what I am doing is God’s will, then I will be happy,” said Lowrance, “even if it means me being a missionary for the rest of my life.”

She also feels ready to go wherever God wants her to go.

“I can have a home in another country,” said Lowrance, “because really this whole earth is not my home. So I can be at home wherever in this world, if that is where God wants me to be.”

Lowrance had the opportunity to experience her faith. She had the chance to experience her God.

 

Photo by Kat Irwin/Plainsman Press