Today I have been in Albania for exactly four weeks. My time has been so full and gone by very fast. I have learned a lot in this time and am enjoying understanding the Albanian culture, a little bit deeper every day.
~View of Tirana from Sky Tower~
What have I been doing...
The first week that I spent in Albania was filled with an assortment of meetings. I met the high school team that I will be ministering with and attended their last meeting for the school year and got to meet some of the students who had been coming to bible studies and meetings. I also went out for coffee with several different women in ministry to help me get oriented in Tirana, learn about the culture, build friendships and pray together, and hear about ministries I would be helping with. In the mornings of the first week, my main activity was going with Yola, a Christian social worker, to join her ministry to women prisoners by doing a basic English course. I had the opportunity one day to share my testimony with two women, who were not believers. I was able to really begin a friendship with of them, Violeta, and shared more with her about God and listened to her story. I also visited a Catholic widow one afternoon, with another Campus Crusade missionary who was trying to reconnect with this women from her hometown. This was my first experience of traditional customs of Albanian hospitality.
The next week I joined all the Campus Crusade staff from Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia for a weeklong conference here in Tirana. I was able to get a glimpse of what each ministry is doing throughout the year. I was really blessed by the teaching and fellowship during this week as well. It is a wonderful experience to realize you are part of the family of the body of Christ in a foreign country. One morning that week I joined a small outreach to some youth in Bethora, a smaller community just outside of Tirana.
Last week, I joined Sotmeria, reaching the leaders of today, today. A group of professionals from Hope Church, in Fortworth came to do outreach to local businessmen. I was able to attend a great seminar on Church Planting by Dan Morgan, a professor at Southwestern Theological Seminary, who taught us a simple and helpful networking model called “3-2-1-K-I-S-S” for growing the church by winning converts. I was responsible for helping prepare for some of the seminars and social events organized for the evenings and attended a social dinner for businessmen and their wives. This week was a good look into a type of ministry I was not very familiar with. During this project two leaders accepted Christ as their Savior. I was also able to begin a friendship with Silvie, who came with her parents to one of the events. She will be attending the three week program for high school students that begins next week. Even in our brief conversations last weekend I was able to discuss some spiritual things with her.
~My new friend Silvie~
This week I have been preparing for the three week program, “Ice and Spice 4” with the High School ministry and getting ready to go do the Balkans English Camp in Ulcinj, Montenegro. I will be gone for 10 days. The camp is one week and then I will spend the weekend after it in Montenegro resting and debriefing with the team that has come from the States. When I get back I will jump into ministry with the high school project for the last two weeks of my time in Albania.
How to be praying...
For Albania
Pray for hearts and minds to be open and souls to be won this month with the High school students in Tirana, in this CC project, and in various English camps going on around the country.
Pray that the two businessmen who accepted Christ last week will join Bible Studies and learn how to share with their families and friends about Jesus.
Pray for Silvie and Violeta, they believe in God but still need help realizing that Jesus can come into their life and abide in them. Pray that they would be open to the Spirit’s revelation in their lives.
For Me
Please pray for good health, and lots of energy for July which will be even busier than June.
Pray for my heart to be fully open to the Lord and all that He wants to teach me and do through me.
Pray that I would love boldly and have wisdom in reaching the hearts of these teens.
Pray that I would sensitive and obedient to the Spirit’s guidance in how to bless and encourage the staff and missionaries I work with here.
I am learning so much, pray that I will be able to be processing this throughout my time here and when I return to the states.Pray that I would continue to surrender my family and loved ones to Jesus and not be anxious or worried about anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment