An aspect of World Race that is often overlooked is the fact that we are
taking a trip around the world and exploring and discovering is a large part of
the experience. I know, it’s called the World Race, the name implies what
should be an obvious point and not one that I have to emphasize. But once you
are out on the field and in the different countries, it is often easy to
completely focus on your ministry, your contacts, and the one square mile geographic
location where you are living and completely forget about this part of the
experience. We forget that we are in locations we may never be again, and that
we should try and take advantage of opportunities around us to explore and have
adventures as a team. Most months we have one day off a week, and with limited
transportation opportunities we usually just use that day to rest and lay
around doing nothing. Again, this isn’t a bad thing and the day of rest is
usually very much needed. This is our life for a year; we have to be realistic
with ourselves and allow time to get away from ministry, knowing that otherwise
we will burn out. It’s important to recognize this on the race, and to find
that balance of rest and exploration.
This month we are in southeastern Albania, about 25 minutes from the border
to Greece. We also have Friday through Sunday off as we are working with Campus
Crusade all day Monday-Thursday. There is a direct bus from Korce to
Thessaloniki, located on the Greece coast. Conditions for taking a weekend trip
could not have been more perfect, and Family Force 6 decided to take advantage
of this free time to spend a weekend in Greece.
Here are some pictures highlighting the weekend, just for fun. Enjoy!
The girls standing by the bay overlooking the sea.
Nick, Emily, myself, and Jamie relaxing during a full day of exploring the city.
We saw lots of ruins during our day of exploring. We like to think of this one as the Roman Forum, without the tourists.
Nick and I never miss a chance to take an awkward photo. This time we couldn’t keep a straight face.
Me overlooking Thessaloniki from “old town”, where there were a ton of cool ruins. I’m a sucker for ruins.
Emily jumping below some ancient arches.
Myself, Jamie, Ashley and Nicole sitting on the pier right before sunset. Precious.
Me hanging out in the park by the water at sunset.
The sunset over the Mediterranean. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Once a month or so we go out for a nice dinner as a team. We had ours in Greece this month. Witness the priceless look of anticipation on my face over the Salmon Pasta. The food did not disappoint.
Well, there ya go. We all had an incredible time together as a team in Thessaloniki and we were refreshed and ready to return for our last week of ministry in Albania!
