will be shouted out from the top of every mountain! (insert confident laughter here) In fact “Go tell it on the mountains” was the the slogan of the ministry that we partnered with last month. The message that they share is quite simple really, and that is that we are a broken people befriended by a whole God who makes us new through the death and Resurrection of His son Jesus!
Below is a word-per-word copy of what I wrote in my hand-written journal on July 21, 2017. Bear with my corniness if you dare… 
I haven’t really journaled much on this continent the last leg of the race in Europe. So instead of recounting the last 3 and a half weeks in Albania, I’ll describe in detail what happened today. It was an early start. I woke up around 6:30 AM. I went to the kithcen to fill my new water bottle. Bottle number 3 or 4 I believe…hehh hehh hehh. It was free so I’m not complaining. Someone left it in the hostel that we stay in every weekend down in the city of Tirana. The hostel owner gave it to Walker my friend and teammate, thinking it was his, but it wasn’t…however he/she insisted that she keep it and then he gave it to me knowing that I had recently left mine on the bus! It’s white, tin and kinda says LOL on it…LOL!
OK…back to the morning. It’s our last full day of ministry up in teh mountains. Every morning I start my day off by hiking up a mountain to be with the Lord in private. I read my Bible, pray and just sit with Him in the midst of his majesty in awestruck wonder. I look out at the grandiose mountains, I fight off insects, I find many beautiful violet, blue and bright yellow wildflowers, I pray for Shëngjergj (the name of the small village we stay in during the week) my family, team, friends. I relax, I admire my Father’s creation and feel loved and adored by Him! Today I recorded myself sharing with future Blizzy what I’ve learned so far from the Lord being up there in the mountains. Today I poured out my heart asking for a new one to be able to love unconditionally like Jesus did…does! It was a great start! 
Then I met up with the rest of my team to have coffee with them in the “learning” center that they plan on starting a church in where we’ve been teaching English in. Not all of us have coffee, but it’s the Albanian way to start your day! A tiny cup of espresso that get’s your noggin brewin’.. “hah hahh (the way that my lovely teammate and friend Kay laughs…lol). I was being my goofy self to the point where Elvis, our amazing host was laughing at me…lol. He caught me talking to myself, “Bliz, you’re an adult, you’re in public…behave“…something like that…hahh. Some of the young men that Elvis disciples also came up to have coffee with us. I took a couple of sneaky candid pictures of Beta (the lovely wife of our host) and Daiva, Walker and Elvis enjoying each other’s company at the tables that we put together to fit everyone. I know that may seem a little creepy, but I hope they appreciate those special moments captured!
Off to English class which was actually a Bible lessons and songs day! “The Moose”, “God is SO BIG”, “Potato Chips”, “The Banana Song”, “Little Red Wagon”, pretty much every song we ever used in children’s ministry the past 10 months was used that day. Kayla told the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, while the rest of our team acted her interpretation from the Bible. I shared a little interactive story-telling Bible memory verse from Psalm 25:4, “Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your path!”. We prayed and worshipped our wonderful Papa afterwards and then all went “home”.
Today, I also joined most of my team for lunch down at the cafe spot. I stopped eating with them for awhile to save some money, so it was a nice little end of month treat! Fresh goat cheese I believe (something pretty salty), sliced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and a grilled sausage. they also served a type of noodle soup which tasted like lipton soup along with fresh white bread! I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t any dessert, but that’s okay, still very satisfied and grateful! That afternoon I hung out with Daiva, Beta and Rashidat talking about women’s rights in Albania and our future Mr. Rights. (Confession, I’m currently in Spain right now ’cause there are times that I suck at being still and finishing what I tarted/FOMO-“Fear Of Missing Out”…so NOW I’m going to recount that evening).
Ok I also forgot to mention that the 21st is Vero’s Bday! I also spent that morning declaring truth over her life, blessing her and just praising God for her in my life. So later that evening we played out lat game of volleyball. MAN, we have grown sooo much as a team because of this ministry. Physically,spiritually…hehh… At first, I would be such a sore loser. I felt like a burden because of my lack of skills for this sport. But eventually after a lot of prayer, faith and support, I learned to love the people more than the game!! BARS…LOL.
After that we had snacks and drinks at the cafe where we usually meet in the morning and evening with the young men and children that we play and do life with. Kayla shared about what God has been teaching her this past month about focusing on Him, the bigger picture and not on the little things or what’s directly in front of you (based off of Matthew 6:25-36). Then the rest of my team just shared about how grateful we are for them and that the reason we are here is to love on them via Jesus! 
Then the power went out per usual and we got to gaze into God’s glory via the starry night sky. Glorious! God is the maker of heaven and earth. Jesus is Lord of all creation and lover of my soul! I never want to wonder from your wonder! Thank you Holy Spirit for always keeping me on check!
I know this was kind of long. If you decided to read through the whole thing…cool! If not…that’s cool too, I just wanted you to taste and see the goodness of the Lord from this past month! Albania is one of my faves and I have to go back because I left a book there right Beta?? Some prayer requests for Shëngjergj:
for sustainable opportunity to arise in the surrounding villages of Tirana
for young women and men to have the freedom to dream big
for the gospel to stir people to want to do great things for Kingdom
for Elvis and Beta (our hosts) to be continually filled with grace and compassion for their community and family
Less than a month before coming home!
<3,
Bliz
