At the beginning of this month, my squad spent a couple days in Skopje, Macedonia for debrief where we got to rest, talk about our past two months, etc. It’s a time for our squad to recharge and see others on our squad. This was also my logistic partner and mine FIRST debrief: We were in charge of finding housing for our squad and squad coaches (i.e. squad parents), are in charge of dispersing the money for the squad so our treasurers can have a break (I realized AIM must trust me if they trust me to handle that much money…), and other things. It was exhausting, but fun. During this debrief I also got to have a lot of “dates” with friends from other teams which did my heart so much good, I got to see Skopje, and God revealed to me the areas that I have in fact grown in, PTL! (Praise the Lord!). I’ll talk more about what He has revealed to me in another blog.
Here are two photos of Skopje.
However, unlike most months my team didn’t stay in Macedonia for ministry because this month is ATL (Ask the Lord) month for 5 teams on my squad. Basically we don’t have any schedule, no ministry host, nothing. We can go (almost) wherever the Lord leads, do anything He asks, etc. So after some prayer we felt the Lord call us to Kosovo. Kosovo has some rough and sad history, but in 2008 they became their own country. This week we are in Boge although we are asking God if He wants to go elsewhere this coming week. Boge is a ski resort area with lots of mountains (and cool air!) so it is very small and there aren’t too many people, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing ministry!
This week we have spent a lot of time as a team eating meals together, spending an hour or two of worship and prayer in the morning together, having fun, etc. Our team has been part of our ministry and God has taught some big lessons to us. We also came into contact with a family who was on vacation and we became friends. They had us over for July 4th (they wanted to celebrate with us and were honored to have us over because America helped them gain independence), we had their three daughters over for some girl time, and then we had them over to dinner. The family is Muslim and it did our hearts so much good spending time with a family. We are also staying in a cute, little cabin that my team has made quite a warm home. Then in a cabin next to ours were a bunch of people our age so last night we spent time with them and got to know them.
Here is the family we got to spend the 4th with.
Otherwise, I’m doing well! My cough is NEARLY gone. I still have lice, but this week I have been bombing them from my head (almost literally). I have my hair checked by two faithful teammates once a day everyday; I boil my brush, headband, and hair tie every other day; I put my sleeping bag and pillow out in the sun everyday; and I do lice treatment (that 1% pesticide) every other day and when I do that, I blow dry my hair. Also, I have finally been making some progress on spending time with God ( “quiet time” is an area I have always struggled with). I have people I am praying for, I have been listening to worship music, I have been reading Acts and journaling. It’s encouraging to see growth!
The Lord is moving in little and big ways and He has provided for us in so many ways! From how we got to Boge, to how we got housing, to all those who have helped us along the way, and more. Be on the look out for the blogs about it, my growth, and my last blogs from Albania.
Here are some photos of Boge:
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