Albania: My new happy place

Not gonna lie, I wasn’t really expecting to like Albania. It’s colder and there are fewer hours of sunlight, and I assumed that based on the fact that we’re just after the halfway point, I would probably be hitting a slump right about now. Praise God, because this is actually my favorite country yet!

Feels like home

When we first arrived, we met our new host, Erion. He’s super involved in the evangelical church in Albania. Here “evangelical” is just a catch-all term for gospel people. He’s also a father to two kids, a fun person to be around, and a really great and hospitable host. We have comfy beds, heat, and a hot shower. This is also the first place we’ve had multiple rooms to share! That means that I can be in a room by myself to rest or get stuff done sometimes. It’s a really nice change for an introvert like me. 🙃 Erion gave us plenty of time to settle in and then laid out his two expectations: fulfill my promise to God and fulfill my promise to the people back home. That’s it!

Our ministry involves attending youth group and church in Tiranë every week and visiting other churches in Cërrik and Pogradec (we split up into groups of five) over the weekend. We have the opportunity to give testimonies of how God has worked in our lives at each church service. The rest of our time is devoted to team activities like worship, prayer, and Bible studies, as well as going out and looking for opportunities to connect with women around our age from the city with the hope of hosting a Beauty for Ashes event for them sometime in February.

Pogradec

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to visit Pogradec, which is still in Albania, but it’s very close to the borders of Greece and North Macedonia. It’s on a really big lake, and we got to go see it. We also got to go to church on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. I love when they sing songs that are translated from the songs we sang in church when I was really little. For example, we’ve sung “Come, Now is the Time to Worship” and “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace),” which are both old enough that most of my teammates don’t know them. 😂 Sorry if I just made anyone feel old. 🙃

Perhaps the best part of our visit to Pogradec was that it snowed! It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen snow falling. I also hear most of you back in the states have gotten some snow as well! Good for some of you and not so good for others, I suppose. 😅

The joy of the Lord!

Our team has the opportunity to give each other feedback every couple of weeks. The intent is for us to lift each other up and encourage growth where necessary. This week almost everyone told me that I’m full to the brim with joy. I’m praising God for blessing me with His joy in a time when most of my team is feeling pretty down. There have definitely been good days and bad days, but overall I am doing great! I really do love it here, but I’m also looking forward to Guatemala. I feel more balanced than I have in a while. I’m so thankful!

I preached yesterday

Our host, Erion, is giving some of us the opportunity to do a short, 15 minute sermon at church in Tiranë. My dad is a pastor, so that meant that I was first up! I was definitely nervous because I am much more of a writer than a speaker. Historically when I have to speak in front of people, I write down every single word and just read it. This time I felt that it was time to step out of my comfort zone and just write out bullet points and let the Holy Spirit fill in the rest. I more than once was tempted to scrap it and just write it all out, but I felt that I would be trusting in my own strength over the Lord if I did that, so I didn’t. Good news! It went well! I’m thankful that it’s over, but glad that I had the opportunity to serve and be stretched.

For anyone who’s wondering, I taught on the widow who put the two small coins into the temple offering at the end of Mark 12. I basically said that if you give God your everything (financially or through serving Him), that’s enough for Him even if it doesn’t feel like much to you. He’s not comparing what we have to offer to what others have, He’s looking for a heart of sacrifice. That’s such wonderful news to me!

I’m learning adulting!

Some of you know that I have basically zero experience in the kitchen. In this country, we are cooking all of our own meals. That’s an opportunity for me to learn! This week I’m on meal planning along with two other girls. Yesterday we planned some meals and went on a huge shopping trip for the rest of the week. My friend Aliya has been super super helpful in both teaching me to cook and in helping me figure out how to meal plan. She’s been cooking full meals since she was six, so she’s pretty good at it by now. Love her. 😁 I’m an adult now, so I guess it’s time I learned how to actually support myself. 😅

Prayer requests

• Pray for my team as many of them are struggling mentally and emotionally in this country. Pray for them to find joy and choose contentedness.
• Pray for us to build good connections with people from the city as we’re looking for people for this women’s event.
• Pray for us to have the endurance to finish this race, fixing our eyes on Jesus and growing along the way.
• Pray for me to have clarity and discernment as I’m processing everything God is doing in my life.

Thank you all for your continued support through prayer! It means a lot to me. I also love hearing from some of you in the comments! You are all such a blessing and encouragement to me.