This week we have been helping with a VBS called Splash! An organization called Spark goes around to different cities in Albania throughout the summer, and helps churches put on a VBS in their community. We were able to be a part of that this last week. We were split up into three teams (I was on team Yeshil which means green team!) and sang songs, played games, and listened to the story with the kids. Some of these kids had never heard any Bible stories before, or had never been in a church so this was their first introduction to Jesus and church. The lesson was on Jonah and the Lord’s forgiveness. On the last day (Friday) we had the program at the church (during the rest of the week it was outside) so that the kids and parents could see where the church was and feel a little more comfortable going into church. One of the ladies who runs the program told all the kids the gospel and asked if any of them believed that Jesus died and rose again to forgive their sins. There were so many hands that went up in the air! I was shocked. As she was giving the message I was praying that the Lord would use this week as a seed for the kids who weren’t quite sure what they believe, as a propeller forward to pursue the Lord even if everything in their life says differently. I’m sure there were kids putting their hand up because others were doing it, or they don’t really understand what it means, but then I’m reminded of how many times I’ve done that. I didn’t know half as much when I first accepted the Lord as I do now, and I probably know less than that of what I will know in the future! That was a confusing way of saying: the Lord uses many ways of drawing his people to him, he plants many seeds and reaps them too, and he is so patient. Pray that the kids will get connected with the church and learn more about the Lord!
In the mornings we went out to the village and painted the room for the new church plant out here. It was one of those last minute, “could we make this work?” painting project, but it came together. It is really exciting that they’re going to have a church in the village because it’s hard for a lot of people to get into town every Saturday. They’ve already started a kids ministry during the week after school, so that will be moved to the church. They’ve also talked about having English classes there, so it’s going to be a wonderful presence in that community. Pray that the church will be able to start soon and be a support and encouragement to the community as well as being supported and encouraged themselves.
It’s hard to believe another month has come and gone, but we are off to Macedonia on Tuesday! This month my team is going to have two Exposure racers. If you don’t know what that means don’t worry, I didn’t either! These are racers that have just graduated high school and they join an 11n11 team for one month. They become a part of the team, they do ministry, team time, feedback, everything with the team. It is a chance for them to be exposed to what the Race is like, a chance to find out if they want to pursue missions etc. I’m excited to have them be a part of our team, so here we go month 7!
Keep the faith,
Malia
