Good morning from Durres, Albania! It’s currently 7:15, but the sun has been up since 5am, along with crowing roosters and neighborhood dogs. It feels like I’ve already been here at least three weeks, and I am glad to finally have gotten some rest.
Our travel days were good overall, but hard. My plan was to stay awake for most of our first (11 hour) flight so that by the time we got to Turkey, I would be very tired and could sleep at the airport, thus acclimating more quickly to the time. The first part of my plan went well: I enjoyed the flight and stayed awake for all but about an hour. The whole “sleeping in the airport” thing didn’t work out as planned. Unfortunately, the adrenaline of the day, the bright airport lights, and the constant paranoia of our belongings being stolen kept me awake throughout the night in the Turkish airport. I cried a little. My body and my mind were already exhausted, and we hadn’t even really “started”.
Upon arriving to Albania, our hosts met us at the airport on Friday morning. Hela, our main contact, and Ungel, the driver, waited patiently for us to get local phones before driving us through the capitol of Tirana to their town of Durres. Durres is the second biggest city in Albania, but it doesn’t feel very big. The building styles, facial expressions, and the food remind me a lot of Greece, which has made the adjustment much easier.
Our first day was a blur. I was thankful that Hela planned time for us to rest on that first day; nonetheless, we were pretty zombie-like. Rest – orientation – rest – leadership devotional – rest – worship night. The worship night was in Shcqip (Albanian) so I couldn’t understand most of what was being sung, but the presence of the holy spirit was thick in that place.
Saturday we took a day to rest and explore the city, as well as prepare for Sunday. We led the Children’s church and shared encouragement with the rest of the body that day. It was surprising to feel so trusted by our hosts so early on.
My schedule looks different day-to-day, but overall, it’s been something like this:
5:30 – Get up. Read bible, worship, and pray
6:45 – Work out with my teammates
7:50 – Breakfast
8:30 – Pray with Staff
9 to 12:30 – Ministry
12:30 – Lunch
2 – Devotionals with Staff (we lead)
2:30 to 6 – Ministry
6:30 – Dinner
In the evenings, we have “team time” and we prepare our lessons and teachings for the next day.
Ministry has been so beautiful. One day we went and made hospital visits, praying for the sick and healing members of the church. We’ve cleaned out and arranged the church’s baby room, led children’s bible studies, gone out with the youth group, prayed for the pastors, led devotionals, led the youth meeting, prayed for the city, played with orphans at the center of a national scandal, taught kid’s classes, and made house visits. Each day has looked a little different. It’s been incredibly full already; I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. I’m hoping to have more time this weekend to rest and to reflect about all the experiences of this week.
Until next time,
Natalie
