” They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the good news of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”- Romans 15:19
This month here in Albania has just been so amazing awesome for me! I have had such an amazing time here, and I also grew so much more in my faith this month, and not to mention this month being the first month that my team and I were “alone” together which was good for it gave us a chance to better bond with one another, and I have come to realize as well the reasons that the spirit moved to put us together. Also this month marked the halfway point of the race for me.
As I mentioned in the first blog this month, I felt so blessed to have been given this opportunity to serve here for I was able to rekindle that passion I had for being on the World Race as that passion was running fumes during my service in southeast Asia. Being here has not only refreshed me, but has also given me a new perspective about the second half of my race, and I am ready to attack it with an enthuasium unknown to mankind!
Being in Albania has given me a taste of home, which for me is both good and bad as I have reached the point of the race where I am starting to miss home, and being here as helped me in that way as I feel like I am in my element, and when I am in that state then I feel relaxed and I can be more focused on my tasks. The big thing here that reminds me of home is the climate for the weather here in March is very similar to the weather this month in Michigan, but I feel like I am able to experience more of a spring then I would at home. Another thing here that reminds me of home is that we are so close to a lake, and if you know me then being near water is my happy place, and I thrive being around it as it just gives me a sense of peace & calmness. The mountains are an added bonus for me as well. The third thing that makes this month feel like home is that we have SNOW! I never thought that I would be excited to see snow, but nothing like being away from it for a time makes me like it again. I even went skiing (even tho I was more of a snowboarder) with my team during one of our adventure days, and had a blast plus one of my teammates and I even had a mini snowball fight. The only downside to this weather/climate for me is how my body reacts to the cold/dampness as those quirks that I have happen to me in the past showed up this month, but in a strange way having those things show up have also confirmed my thoughts in the first place, so it is a relief to know that now. As much as I love all of this, it has made me a little homesick as it is rare for me to feel homesick, but God has taught me lessons through that, and some of them are not fun like the realization of life goes on back home, whether or not I’m there, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it which as a result I am conflicted about going home at the end of the race.
One of the things that I was excited about when coming to Eastern Europe in general was the fact that I was finally going to be back around people that were similar to the way I looked, and be able to actually blend in with the locals as before this region, and even in my next region I stood out because of my lighter skin, and to be honest I was getting tired of getting looks from the locals, so I was happy to finally be in a country where people in a way looked like me.
Nope. Even here in Albania I stand out to an extent, and people instantly know that we are Americans (I was hoping that people would think that we were at least from Western Europe, but no.)
Despite this I absolutely fell in the love with the people here, and especially the students and staff at the Bible school that we have lived at and served with all month. All the people here were super welcoming, and are so much fun to be around as they like to joke around with us and sometimes tense us. I has been so fun trying to learn to speak Albanian, and besides Central America I have actually made a attempt to learn another language as I have more then just the basics. All of the students here just have a hunger to learn about the Lord, and to serve him, and to grow in their own walk with him. Many of them have such awesome stories about how they came to the know the Lord, and it has been a joy to hear those stories.
As far as our ministry this month, I have finally gotten to serve God using some of the gifts that he has given by means of leading things like morning prayer, and preaching a message as I have the spiritual gift of teaching. My team and I have been in charge of leading not only taking turns with morning prayer and giving the message during morning worship, but we were given the duty of leading the various small groups in the afternoons during the week along with the help of the students. These included children & youth/women small groups, sports ministry where we played games with the students. We took part in sports such as volleyball/soccer & I got to teach them the basics of American football. Playing sports with the students and staff are def some of my favorite ministry memories from this month. We as a team also did alot of random work/service that included tasks such as practical work like cleaning (I swear God is trying to teach me something through cleaning bathrooms), outdoor work like pulling weeds & planting potatoes (check out my blog- Is this Idaho or Albania for that story), making house visits to deliver food & other basic items, cooked American meals for lunch for 3 days, and many other tasks to help out the staff at the school. Our last Sunday in church we were in charge of leading the whole service minus the direction & worship, and it was so cool as it gave me a chance use my theater background as we performed a drama called “Everything” (the video is at the bottom of the blog).
As I mentioned above, one of the things we did on our off day was going skiing one of the off days, and some of us also spent another off day in a nearby town called Korce. My last off day our hosts offered to take us to Macedonia for the day if any of us wanted to go, and one other of my teammates and I jumped at the chance to go. I had a awesome time in the town called Ohrid as it is historical town with a ancient amphitheater and fortress. We also climbed the mountain of a national park, and went to an old monastary. It was such an awesome day (Thank you Madie for the approval as I really appreicated it!)
So all in all this month was a very needed positive month after an extremely hard month that was Cambodia. I was able to refocus, and renergize myself for the final 5 months of the race. I have grown in so much more this month as compared to last month, and in the ways of being able to handle feedback better as time goes on especially from new people. I have also become more bold in the way I pray as I never prayed out loud in front of people as that has been a area of my faith that I have been self conscious of as I just have always hated praying out loud so I have always prayed sliently cause I was always worried about how I sounded when I prayed, but I am gaining more confidence in that area lately. I have also getting more of sense of what God has planned for me after the race as far as an advancement in my education, so I am excited to pursue more of that with him.
All in all, this month as been just so awesome, and for the first time this year I am really sad to be leaving a country. I love everything about Albania, and I know that I will return here one day, Lord willing.
Prayer Points:
1. For safe travel for my squad as we head to Serbia on Friday
2. My team got assigned ATL in Serbia in a town called Novi Pazar, so please pray for us as we pursue whatever it is that God may call us to do there.
3. Pray for peace for me personally in regards to ATL as I am still freaking out over it cause I do not want to have to go through ATL again because of my experience in Vietnam with ATL. Another thing is that I am extremely freaked out about being called to Novi Pazar as I have convictions about being sent there. I have been praying about these things in my quiet time as well.
Til next time your fellow sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Team SC
P Squad
Psalms 18:2
YOLO
