Today we had worship with the YWAMers and then one more open air in the lager (Gypsy community) at the church. We put all the pews out in the front lawn and then started praying for people to come! :)
They did, of course, and we had some women there this time, too! We did the Redeemer skit, some testimonies, and songs.
Afterwards, one of the Gypsy ladies said she had really been impacted by Redeemer- that she thought she had been a Chrisian before seeing it, but wasn't and that she really saw how much Jesus had done for her- Praise God!!
I think we all walked away with a sense of accomplishment- hmm... I wonder if that sounds bad. It sounds like people are our projects... not my heart though. It's just so good to see very obvious fruit of what God has been doing though us here.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Tirana- A Journal Excerpt
The day started out pretty well- we hurriedly got ready and walked to the Post Office roundabout to get Taxis…. I borrowed Hanna’s boots for the day, but when I got just about to Lio’s Souflagge, I saw that the seam on top was kinda coming undone!! Yikes~ I didn’t have enough time to go back and get different shoes, so I tried to be careful all day :§ oh well… I looked good :)
On the way to T-town, I sat in the back taking pictures and sitting next to an Albanian woman. The 2 1/2 hour drive actually seemed kinda short! We saw some really pretty scenery on the way, too!
First Stop: The Stephen Center- a restaurant started by an American couple. They serve American, Mexican, British, and Chinese food. YES!!! I had a mocha, strawberry pancakes, and an omelette for breakfast. We were all giddy with excitement and anticipation before the food came. Luckily, we were sitting downstairs, so no one saw our ridiculous behavior (other than the waiter) :)
After a scrumptious meal, we walked to the city center (dodging traffic and Mormons on the way). There, we visited a book store where we all found something to see- I bought a magazine to cut up~ hee hee (an addiction whose withdrawals have been especially harsh since coming here).
A HUGE Museum was our next stop- there we learned some “keys” [in Wayne lingo):
- Apostle Paul came to Albania! (It used to be called Illyria)
- The first Albanian translation of any book was the Gospel of John.
Mostly what blew me out of the water was seeing ancient, ancient sculpture, pottery, and jewellery just inches from my fingertips – and knowing that people over 2,000 years ago loved those things. As far as I can remember, no other museum has had such a huge impact on me mentally or emotionally (yeah, okay, so I teared up at the enormity of it all).
Towards the end of our tour, we started majorly rushing – apparently the museum was closing :( Sad Day! But, oh well- I don’t think anyone got terribly bored!
Then our group split up and people went shopping. HARK! A grocery store with 2 levels!! Oh my word, is this still Albania?!?!? :) Unfortunately, I didn’t really find souvenirs I liked, but I did manage to get some sweet presents for family.
Then Sharon [note for those just joining us- Sharon is one of the long-term YWAM team in Elbesan… she’s a lot of fun and from St. Lucia in the Caribbean] and I went shoe shopping. I found some that were quite nice, but didn’t buy any.
Then, back to the Stephen Center for a chocolate milkshake, some fries (still not as good as US or our favourite souflagge guys’) and a snippet of a friend’s Mexican food.
Time to go home! We walked back to where we asked the bus drivers to meet us- to find that one of the drivers didn’t get the message to come back and pick us up, so we got a different dude. Oh well… the trip home was okay.
Then it was Home Sweet Home Elbesan! :)
On the way to T-town, I sat in the back taking pictures and sitting next to an Albanian woman. The 2 1/2 hour drive actually seemed kinda short! We saw some really pretty scenery on the way, too!
First Stop: The Stephen Center- a restaurant started by an American couple. They serve American, Mexican, British, and Chinese food. YES!!! I had a mocha, strawberry pancakes, and an omelette for breakfast. We were all giddy with excitement and anticipation before the food came. Luckily, we were sitting downstairs, so no one saw our ridiculous behavior (other than the waiter) :)
After a scrumptious meal, we walked to the city center (dodging traffic and Mormons on the way). There, we visited a book store where we all found something to see- I bought a magazine to cut up~ hee hee (an addiction whose withdrawals have been especially harsh since coming here).
A HUGE Museum was our next stop- there we learned some “keys” [in Wayne lingo):
- Apostle Paul came to Albania! (It used to be called Illyria)
- The first Albanian translation of any book was the Gospel of John.
Mostly what blew me out of the water was seeing ancient, ancient sculpture, pottery, and jewellery just inches from my fingertips – and knowing that people over 2,000 years ago loved those things. As far as I can remember, no other museum has had such a huge impact on me mentally or emotionally (yeah, okay, so I teared up at the enormity of it all).
Towards the end of our tour, we started majorly rushing – apparently the museum was closing :( Sad Day! But, oh well- I don’t think anyone got terribly bored!
Then our group split up and people went shopping. HARK! A grocery store with 2 levels!! Oh my word, is this still Albania?!?!? :) Unfortunately, I didn’t really find souvenirs I liked, but I did manage to get some sweet presents for family.
Then Sharon [note for those just joining us- Sharon is one of the long-term YWAM team in Elbesan… she’s a lot of fun and from St. Lucia in the Caribbean] and I went shoe shopping. I found some that were quite nice, but didn’t buy any.
Then, back to the Stephen Center for a chocolate milkshake, some fries (still not as good as US or our favourite souflagge guys’) and a snippet of a friend’s Mexican food.
Time to go home! We walked back to where we asked the bus drivers to meet us- to find that one of the drivers didn’t get the message to come back and pick us up, so we got a different dude. Oh well… the trip home was okay.
Then it was Home Sweet Home Elbesan! :)
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wedding Bells from Far Away
DeLynn and Moses got married today. I feel so out of the loop – I’m really sad I couldn’t be there…. and in a really selfish way, I wish they had stuck to the original plan of having a really small officiating service where they exchanged vows, but then had the big shebang when I got home… but I’m really glad they had a beautiful wedding. I still don’t really know how it went though. I’m waiting for anyone at home to email and tell me :( yet another downside of not being home.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Last Night
It's been SUPER stormy here. Thunder and lightning so close it shakes
our house.... last night I was scared for a few minutes, which is
really weird for me; I don't think I've been scared of the weather
since I was literally like 3!! I usually love thunder and
lightning.... So, instead of sleeping, I wrote a nice long letter to
my Mom :)
I haven't been able to sleep the past few nights, but I think part of the problem is I stay up so late :) Last night I watched a ridiculous movie with some friends... called Rebound. We made this little fort out of a table and some blankets- the three of us barely fit underneath, but it was really really funny to try to squish! The copy was a pirated one (which they all are) that we had rented. We put on the English subtitles for the sake of the Spanish girl I was watching it with, but they were completely wrong most of the time, which just made it that much more funny, since pretty much none of it made sense :) Good memory making!! :)
our house.... last night I was scared for a few minutes, which is
really weird for me; I don't think I've been scared of the weather
since I was literally like 3!! I usually love thunder and
lightning.... So, instead of sleeping, I wrote a nice long letter to
my Mom :)
I haven't been able to sleep the past few nights, but I think part of the problem is I stay up so late :) Last night I watched a ridiculous movie with some friends... called Rebound. We made this little fort out of a table and some blankets- the three of us barely fit underneath, but it was really really funny to try to squish! The copy was a pirated one (which they all are) that we had rented. We put on the English subtitles for the sake of the Spanish girl I was watching it with, but they were completely wrong most of the time, which just made it that much more funny, since pretty much none of it made sense :) Good memory making!! :)
Monday, January 22, 2007
Update, anyone?!?
Wow... I am soooo sorry I have been so negligent in updating this blog. It's amazing how fast this time has been going and how much has happened since I've been here. I think I will put snippets of emails I've either recieved or sent out. That will hopefully give you a small idea of what has been happening in my life recently!
So, right now I am in Albania on the 2nd half of DTS - outreach phase :) We've been here for a month and will be here for one more month. When I am done in Albania, we fly back to our base (Holmsted Manor!!!) in the south of England for a debrief week... Also, it will be a reunion with our other 1/2 of the DTS students... they have been on outreach in several locations in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has been hard in some ways that I have been here in Albania instead of there... but God's ways are higher than mine and I have been learning a lot about perseverance and about myself and relationships... Probably a lot more about those things than I would have if I had been on outreach in Indonesia and Malaysia. GOD IS GOOD
Our Beautiful Home City in Albania: ELBASAN!!
So, right now I am in Albania on the 2nd half of DTS - outreach phase :) We've been here for a month and will be here for one more month. When I am done in Albania, we fly back to our base (Holmsted Manor!!!) in the south of England for a debrief week... Also, it will be a reunion with our other 1/2 of the DTS students... they have been on outreach in several locations in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has been hard in some ways that I have been here in Albania instead of there... but God's ways are higher than mine and I have been learning a lot about perseverance and about myself and relationships... Probably a lot more about those things than I would have if I had been on outreach in Indonesia and Malaysia. GOD IS GOOD
Our Beautiful Home City in Albania: ELBASAN!!
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