Albania has been such an amazing time. We live in Elbasan, Albania, in a church in the Roma community, which is a poorer community. We have only been here for two weeks, but have already created friendships and met so many nice people here.
We are here in Albania for 3 months and I am so excited. I love it here. We get to do so many different things and build real relationships with people and teach people about the Jesus that loves them so much and desires to have a relationship with them.
Some of the things we get to do here in Albania are, we get to go to an orphanage on Monday and Wednesday mornings. The kids range from 6 months to 4 years old that we play with and they are the most precious things. They are always happy and love it when you come and play with them and hold them.
On Wednesday nights, we get to go to a youth group and spend time building friendships there, learning Albanian dances, teaching American dances, and playing games.
On Thursday and sometimes Tuesday nights, we get to go on house visits, where we visit one of the Roma houses and get to hear their stories. We get to hear about their life and how they came to know Jesus, or their life and the culture of the Romas, and we get to share our stories and how we came to know Jesus. It has been super interesting going into their house, and their kindness is incredible.
My teammate and I recently started teaching English to one of the boys that go to the youth group and the youth pastor. We teach them two times a week in the afternoons. It has been fun getting to know them better.
On Sunday afternoons, at 3 a clock, there is a kids’ service, where we worship at the start and then go over a bible story by acting it out or reading from a storybook, then we do an activity or game to go along with the story. At 4 a clock, we have adult service, where we worship and then somebody preaches, sometimes it is one of us and other times, it is one of our ministry hosts that preach.
Living in the Roma community has been one of my favorite things. Every time, we leave the church/our home, we are welcomed by at least 2 or 3 or more little kids that live in the neighborhood and come and hug us and say hello, and it is the sweetest thing.
