Hello to everyone who comes across this blog post! I am currently sitting on a balcony under the spectacular stars in Lezhë, Albania! Let me just tell you that this last week being in eastern Europe has been full of so much joy, excitement, growth, and change. I want to first thank everyone who prayed for me and my team as we flew miles overseas and to everyone who helped support me financially, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
So my world race started off in Atlanta, Georgia, where my parents could come and meet my team and all the amazing people apart of adventures in missions who are sending thousands of people out into the world! After a few days of training, my parents had to say goodbye and my team and I were headed off to Albania! Don’t get me wrong goodbyes were hard but it was a lot easier because I felt so at peace that I am exactly where God wants me to be! Shortly after there were 52 wonderful people sitting on the plane not knowing what to expect but just living by faith! When we landed we were met by our wonderful missionary contact George! We’ve been working with him at his camp this whole week and learning to serve by doing manual labor! Our first ministry assignment my team was sent to a pig pen to lime wash all the walls and clean it up! To our surprise we discovered ancient cemented pig poop! So that entire day we took shovels and scraped the poop off of the floors! I’ve learned so much already in how to serve with a joyful heart and be excited about it! We are cleaning up this entire camp for the next week and serving our ministry host with things he needs! It’s so crazy because I’ve only been here for a week and I feel so at home here! Most people expect when you do missions you jump right in to holding orphans and healing the sick, which would be so cool, but realistically we are living in Albania on mission to serve wherever needed and ultimately build relationships with people to show the love and forgiveness of Christ to them! So some of the things we do aren’t exactly picture perfect but it’s so worth it in the end because we are serving wherever is needed. Now it’s definitely not all work here in Lezhë… Our motto is work hard, play harder! So on our adventure day we got to explore an ancient castle in Shodër, Albania which is the most beautiful sights from the top ever, walk around the town a little, and swim in a gorgeous lake! I love the people I am serving with so much! We are all able to go through this crazy adventure together and grow in ourselves and relationship with the Lord! I left on this trip not being fully funded yet and I believe that the money will come in! I just want to ask if anyone feels like they would like to give towards my trip I would appreciate it so much! You can do so through my blog which you are currently on:) I would also love your prayers as we are only one week in and have a long way to go! I can’t wait to share with you all the rest of what God does here in Albania!
