Just a quick update about my team and what we were up too last Wednesday!
There is a program within the World Race called Unsung Heroes. Maggie and Drew (the couple on my team) are in charge of this program for ouR Squad. It is where every month a team on our squad is in charge of searching for new contacts of Christians that are making a difference in whatever country we are in, who should be recognized and possibly helped by the World Race.
We are supposed to start this next month and our team will be the first to fully do it on ouR Squad. But Maggie and Drew are just so awesome that they went ahead and gathered contacts for Albania as well! So I went with Jody and them to the capitol to meet some contacts and see what they do and how we could help in the future. We met some amazing people and got to listen to many encouraging stories.
The first ministry we visited was an Albanian English school that was created by a husband and wife, Klementina and Dini. We had the opportunity to meet with Klementina. She loves the Lord and on top of running a school, is having a summer camp for the students, wanting them to learn more about Jesus. It’s a very similar concept to what we are working with now, but she does not have a hired staff. She is in hopes that we can send teams to help her with the camps in the future! It was really neat seeing how much she cared for her students not only to excel in their education, but also in growing in the Lord. Their website is http://albanianchristianschool.org/node/1 to read more about their school.
We then took a two hour bus ride to Tirana, the capitol of Albania. We went to the Campus Crusades building and met the sweet staff there. It was so neat, because within minutes a guy with a maroon shirt walked in and we quickly figured out that we were both fellow Aggies (WHOOP) haha Campus Crusades also has a summer camp that they would love teams to come help out with, along with a spring break trip in March. While we were there, I made another connection with the man head of Campus Crusades, Aldo Rustemi. He found out that I was from San Antonio and told me how he had visited my city and we figured out that he worked with my church, CBC! He had talked to the missions contact and asked for them to send some people over to help with their summer camps as well. We also met another staff member that is planting a church and would love a team to come at some point to help plant the church. Just one stop at Campus Crusades and we found many avenues they could take for future racers. If you want to look further into all that they are doing in Albania you can visit, http://www.albaniaccc.org/ to learn more.
While we were taking a wifi break and looking up more contacts we could meet with, Maggie received an email from a man who works for the Hope Center. We had heard of this organization from a camper who came to know Jesus through this organization. It is a great organization that helps orphans and widows in Albania, while sharing the love of Christ. Their website is http://www.hopefortheworldalbania.com/ and we definitely suggest reading more about all the incredible things they do.
We had one more meeting with a sweet lady named Féy who is head of AEP (Albanian Encouragement Program). They orchestrate, facilitate and encourage various evangelical Christian organizations throughout Albania. She was very sweet and told us she would send us any contacts that come to mind who are in need of support, help or recognition. Their website is http://www.aepfoundation.org/staff.php.
After Féy left we hung out at the restaurant to have dinner. The restaurant was really cool. It’s called the Stephen Center and it was created by missionaries as a place to meet for local Albanian missionaries! We were privileged enough to meet a girl, Emily, who worked for World Vision and had been in Albania for 14 months. I loved hearing her passion for trafficking and her desire to conquer it not only in Albania, but various other places.
I know that this is more of an informative blog than usual, but even with this day, I learned so much. I was reminded how small our world truly is. I was reminded that Christians are truly on all ends of the earth. I was reminded that God will send you encouragement through His vessels. I was reminded that the Lord wants you to know that wherever you go He’s right beside you in some way, shape or form.
