Happy Thoughts

I got blessed this morning by an email from a supporter who sent me some pictures of the Albania doily--she got it framed and has it hanging up on the wall :) It was a small thing, but I hope they continue to remind people to pray for Albania, even when I'm not here. It's so easy to live in America and not need God, to not really be thankful with what we've got because we don't know what it's like to have nothing. But, I'd like to encourage you this Thanksgiving time: remember that in the 50 weather there (which seems warm to you all in Michigan now, I'm sure), there are many families with no heat; remember that with all of the water filters there, there are many who have to get their water from a well here; remember the size of your kitchen is the size of a house for a family of five here, thank God for what you've got, and find a way to share some of it! Because He's worth it.

Good day

Spitalle went well yesterday, and I'll be home in two weeks! Yay God.

Speaking, Wrapping Up

Today I'm speaking in Spitalle about God's faithfulness though my time in Albania, and it's just a short thing, but pray that it goes well. Pray for my students and their last week (next week) also, because we've had some problems with attitudes not being right. They've been a tough pair lately, although Christopher has been harder than Kimberley.

Internet is back!

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I have my internet back now, and will be able to start updating again. Currently, I've got a little less than a month, and so am working on preparing for home. Likely I will update once more before I go when I am ready to leave (November 15th, I leave early in the morning). Anyway, things for now are good and pray they continue to be that way.

Third Quarter Update

Dear friends, family, and supporters,

The third quarter is now finished and I am on the final stretch of my time in Albania. June was a month of adjusting and realizing fully that I was here and living in Albania for awhile again. Brent and Carol had left and so I was on my own, but the solitude turned out to be good. July was an eventful month with a trip to Bulgaria for Valbona and I that resulted in us both being prophesied over and having time to relax and learn quite a bit at the women’s conference we attended. My birthday went well and finished off the month.

The church also did some door-to-door evangelism in July that had some success, but was mostly a training experience for all involved. About twenty people came out to evangelize, as well as visiting missionaries, and we all passed out tracts and talked to people in the neighborhood of the church in Spitalle. Despite lack of converts, it was still a good experience and great for all who took part.

In August my small group began growing and has been going well ever since. For those who do not yet know, I am leading a group of girls in their late teens/twenties in studying women of the Bible. I was so glad to be leading a small group again, it’s been a blessing to have the girls around for fellowship, and the girls have thanked me many times for leading the group. No one else was doing something like this, and it seems as if though many of the girls are starved for fellowship. We are reading stories we almost all know (we have one new believer in the group) but are still learning from them every time we read. So, continue to pray for the small group: that the girls will keep coming, that the girls will take home meaningful insights about scripture, and that the girls will have good fellowship while they're here. Things will be difficult for several of them to come very shortly, since colleges and universities are starting up for their fall semesters, so pray for these girls especially.

August ended with a camp for the older youth group (late teens and twenties) in Vlore, a city filled with beaches. Lessons were good but we also had a very relaxing time going to the beach and generally spending time with each other. The week went well, everyone learned something, and we all had a chance to relax. Everyone wondered why I wasn’t getting tan, but I managed to not get burnt badly, so that was a miracle to thank God for!

August was also a very hot month, as was some of September, but the air conditioner got fixed when it really mattered, and thankfully the weather is down to high seventies or low eighties now. Time has gone quite quickly and the change of seasons is a good reminder of that.

September has been quite busy with children’s Bible school expanding upstairs. As a result, we’ve become “shkolla karrige” (chair school) because the chairs from upstairs have moved into our room and we are surrounded by them. We also got a couch in the process, which has been great for reading with the kids. The kids are, however, getting closer to finishing off school—Kimberley has finished first grade math, and Christopher is on his last set of books. He should be done next week, and will be working on third grade math, more of the science books I brought for extra science, and some reading and phonics books I got when the Logos II came into port. It will not be the same type of curriculum, but we should have all of the major subjects covered until I go, and if his parents wish to continue, they will have plenty of material.

Kimberley will be mostly finished by the time I leave. She’s gone a bit slower, but her reading and sounding out of words has improved greatly, which has been wonderful to see. She is only five, but is reading with fluency, adding and subtracting well, and learning to be confident in what she can do. It is difficult for her at times, but please pray that her desire to learn stays high and she stays motivated for us to finish. Her parents would be very glad if we could finish altogether, but I do not think this will happen without pushing her more than she can handle.

Plans for October include a group that has just arrived and will stay for eleven days to do mission work here. They are from a school called Euroclass and were here last year also. Our apartment is a bit cramped and schedules will be getting busy, but pray we will have much fruit from the witnessing that happens in the next two weeks. Pray also for health for the group and for the rest of us, since we will be in close quarters.

Please pray for me as the children and I continue school and as I begin to prepare for returning home. It’s been exciting to see them grow and change and it will be hard to leave them, but it has been wonderful to be here.