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Travel day(s) to Albania started on July 7th. Got to the airport in Atlanta at 12pm and left at 5:30pm. 8 hr flight to Amsterdam. Let the squatty potties begin. Had a 3 hr layover and then we were off to Istanbul. That was only a 3 hr flight. For some reason we all slept better on that flight. I even missed the food because I had finally fell asleep. Arrived in Istanbul and got on the bus from there. Istanbul was very busy. We saw groups of people in burqas, hijabs, abayas, and other Islamic wear. Not in Louisiana no more. However, it is definitely a first world country. Traffic was bumper to bumper. We saw one car getting towed and there was a man in the car being towed. That made me laugh.
The bus we were in was pretty good except the bathroom didn't work. We traveled through Turkey to Greece, then Macedonia, and finally made it to Albania. The scenery was beautiful especially through Macedonia. The bus ride was tolerable, just didn't eat enough and thought I was going to pee myself. In fact, praise Jesus I didn't pee myself because I had a dream I did. That would have just been a terrible way to start out the World Race! All in all we spent a wopping 28 hrs on the bus! We arrived at our contacts place and had to walk down 2 roads to make our way into the camp. He announced that we wouldn't have to stay in tents this month. He had rooms with bunk beds. Only thing was he didn't know that there were married couples coming. So we went our separate ways the first night. The next day he told us our only other option is to tent in a pasture with the sheep. If you know us, you know we like each other a lot!!! Sooo… sleeping with sheep it is! That's love right there 🙂 hehe.
(sheep pen the married couples are sleeping in this month) We are starting our first month off with the entire squad- which means all the teams are together. So we get to bond as a squad before we split off with just our teams next month. That makes it a super unique month. We are going through a proverb a day with our ministry host, George. We also have worship/teachings 3 other nights together, not including church. I know this is such a rare opportunity to spend so much time in the Word and in worship. I'm praising Jesus for the gift to just rest in Him.
Ministry this month is helping with a 5 day over night kids camp. Each week we have over 100 underprivileged kids, mostly Muslim, that we get to share the love of Jesus with. It is a neat opportunity to just be kids. Most of our kids have heavy responsibilities at home. In fact, on day two one week a boy had to leave because his father needed him to help take care of their livestock. The camp is through Lightforce International and coincides with World Vision. It is very organized. All the kids are broken up into teams and our teams are placed with theirs. So we get to bond with the same 15 kids each week. We play random games like, pool table, archery, ropes course that ends with zip-lining, swimming (which is interesting because it is most of the kids first time), soccer, basketball (Drew's favorite), field hockey (my favorite), crafts, rock-climbing, and storytime.
They teach them what to do in abusive situations, about forgiveness, Bible stories, and how to be a good citizen. On two of the nights they watch films. One is called the Jesus film and one is on the story of Moses. These nights the camp counselors For the most parts we just play and love on kids all day. There is usually a huge language barrier, although a man on our team and I are picking up on the language pretty quickly. Although there is usually a barrier I have gotten to share the gospel with
At the end of each week at the end of the week we have a party. We dance Albanian style and have so much fun. Then..we cry. We cry because the kids cry and don't want to leave, and well…as I said before, I'm a sympathy crier! I pray that seeds are planted at camp that will change their lives forever. That they will leave knowing they are loved, not just by us but also by Jesus Christ.
(my little mini me, so sad to go 🙁 (praying for my sweet sister in Christ) The other things that have shockingly been my favorite is doing the dishes. We take turns doing the dishes for all 55 of us. When doing the dishes we get to spend time with the sweetest 3 ladies ever that cook for us every meal. I ADORE THEM!!!!! We
(beautiful ladies who cook for us!) On a funny note- one of the ladies asked us to pray for her to "have kids." So we were praying for her womb to be open and for God to give her kids. I looked up how to say "Do you have kids?" the next day and asked her. Her response was she has 5!!!!!! I encourage you to look around today and see what opportunities God is giving you. You may think you are serving someone and be surprised when in the end you realize that you are the one being blessed! |
(praise and worship)
.( Girl to the left is the girl I was just talking about and the girl to the right is the first Christian girl in the camp I've met who really gets the love of Jesus:) 
