The beach here in Durrës
Four more weeks in Albania! Our time flies
so fast…
We had some time after church last Sunday to walk around Tirana - that's when I found this bridge!
This past week has been very busy, we have
had quite a few visitors on the base – firstly, the DTS from Durrës returned
for a night (they had been on the local portion of their DTS, and now they are
doing the “out of country” portion). Our
DTS leader, Andrew, also came for a pastoral visit for the week to see how we
were doing. His visit was really a
blessing to each of us, as we all got a chance to speak to him, and spend time
with him! And finally, we had a team
from a church in Amsterdam come spend the week in Albania taking part in
different ministries.
The team from Holland with one of the YWAM Durrës staff
Monday was spent together as a group,
singing some worship songs, having a time of short accounts, and basically just
getting ourselves right with God. We
went down to the beach for the afternoon and spent time together playing
volleyball, some people swam, and we just had a fun afternoon!
Having fun isn't hard when you have bumper cars!
On Tuesday, the trainees went into the
downtown part of Durrës to evangelize and prayer walk – no translators, no
staff! We had some meaningful conversations with some people, and had the
opportunity to pray over others!
There are many vendors all over the city, selling clothes, produce and even livestock!
Wednesday, we went to the local public
school, and told the “You Are Special” story by Max Lucado to two classes. We made crafts with them, and just spent some
time with the kids. Wednesday afternoon,
another trainee and I led the intercession time slot with the base, we felt led
to intercede for the Christian Day Centre we were at the previous two weeks,
turns out the team from The Netherlands were going there the following day, so
they were able to give the school the words we received! That was pretty sweet. Wednesday evening, our DTS had a fun evening
doing a team battle! We were split into two groups, and had to do a variety of
events, one involving smashing eggs on your forehead without knowing if it was
raw or boiled! Lots of fun!
Explaining the crafts to the students
Helping the kids with their crafts
Helping the kids with their crafts
Some of the girls showing off their play-dough "Wemmick"
Thursday was a busy day! In the morning, the DTS went to the local
school again to practice English with the teenagers, playing guessing games trying
to get them to use their current English vocabulary. Team meeting in the afternoon, and we
celebrated one of our trainees’ birthday! Andrew shared some words with us
about what he’s heard and observed over the week, as well as encouraged us and
gave some challenges to keep pressing on!
Thursday evening, we had a Community night, which was spent in a time of
worship, followed by a time of prophesying over one another! It was a great evening, and went on for quite
some time – if anyone is interested in more details, I can explain it to you
more.
Spending time together as a team
The roller coaster looked super sketchy, but only 100 leke! (Approximately $1 CDN - cheap and fun!)
Friday morning was spent on the base doing
practical work, cutting grass, cleaning parts of the building, working on a
gazebo, etc. In the afternoon, we had some people come for the weekly English
chats, then at 4:30, we partnered with the Dutch team and led a program that we
invited people to attend – we had about 40 odd kids show up! We sang some
songs, shared some testimonies, and spent time with them – it wasn’t a time of “shoving
Jesus down their throats”, because that isn’t what we’re called to do. Rather, we just wanted to love on the people,
and build relationships with them!
Prayer Requests:
- Health – many people have been ill over the past few weeks, pray that it clears up sooner rather than later!
- Team Unity – We have been on outreach together for 5 weeks, and some relationships are starting to get a bit strained! Pray that God will continue giving us grace with one another, and we would all strive for unity
- Our Mission – we are in Durrës until Saturday, and then we head to Elbasan for 2 weeks to work with the Roma! Pray that we will have a clear vision of what God is calling us to do with the Roma people
Boy band photo on the beach!
“For the word of the LORD is right and
true; he is faithful in all he does.”
Psalm 33:4
Someone left the gate open, and a gaggle of ducks found their way on the property, so they had to be shooed off!
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