This blog will be an overview of Team Uplift’s time in Albania! It was such a wonderful month and an awesome way to celebrate being in Europe!
Our team was placed with a woman named Donna, she soon became one of our best friends! She has a great story too! She was born and raised in Ireland, lived in London for 10 years, came to Christ at the age of 20, and has been a missionary in Albania since around 1992! She welcomed us into her home with open arms, literally, hugged all of us at the airport like we were long-lost friends. It was beautiful!
The first week of ministry consisted of going around the village ontop of the hill/mountain whatever you want to call it to hand out New Testaments in Albanian! It is a predominantly Muslim area, so sometimes we were welcomed, other times we were not! We were also there during Ramadan, so it was interesting to learn more about that and see it happen all around us! We also did soccer (futbol) ministry with some of the neighborhood kids at a man named Arif’s house. We got to know his family really well and soon learned that they were going to become part of our ministry, as Donna has been ministering to them for years and she is practically part of their family! We did some coffeeshop ministry and got to meet some of Donna’s English classes that she teaches. We also planned for English Summer Camp that we would help run for the last 2 weeks we were in Albania!
This was the lake we had to pass to climb uphill to pass out New Testaments!
This is the view we had everyday from Donna’s house, so beautiful isn’t it?
Our team did a coffee crawl one day for team time and it was the best!
Week 2 and 3 were very chaotic, in a good way! We did English Camp every morning into early afternoon and then would have sports ministry at night at Arif’s! We were also able to become friends with teachers/workers at the school where we ran English camp! This week, we got to know Arif’s daughter really well, Kela and began hanging out with her and her friends! Kela kind of became a “one,” for me in Albania and I even gave her my book, “Captivating,” for her to read. She is awesome and wants to save the world! I hope one day she gets her dream to come to America, go to school, get her Master’s in social work and change the world! We were so tired everyday, but it was so worth it! I also got my nails done and dyed my hair the closest to black it probably will ever be!
A big change that happened to us in week 2 was that Katie Sparks went home. It was a decision that was prayerfully considered and ultimately decided on by her and our squad/World Race leadership. It was hard to see her leave but know God has big plans for her in Texas! Continue to keep her in your prayers as she figures out what God wants her to do next!
Mikayla, Kela, myself, and Kaiti = fast, new friends! (At Arif’s/Kela’s house)
Kristi, was probably my favorite kid from English Summer Camp! Missing him so much already! I EVEN GOT TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT JESUS ON OUR LAST DAY TOGETHER!
Marko was another cutie who I absolutely loved!
Estelle, one of the sweetest girls ever!
AnnaGrace, Kaiti, Donna, Saraya, Mikayla, me, and Jacob!
Albania, we love and miss you so much, thanks for touching all of our hearts!
