The first week of my 24th year of life has been spent in Albania. PTL. My birthday was a week ago, which is how long we’ve been here, but it already feels hard to capture what all has happened, both in action and thought. And you know the best part? My birthday (which was GREAT) was not even the peak of this week in Albania. So here goes. . .
We had about 3 travels days to get to our site in Durres, Albania, minus half of July 2nd, which we never lived. The 11 hour flight to Istanbul was mostly uneventful, given the amount of time I spent awake. Then there was the 12 hour layover in Istanbul. We mostly don’t talk about that night. . . and then on July 3 we got to Tirana, where our host picked us up to take us to our site in the town of Durres!
Our host is amazing. Her name is Hela and she is thoughtful, patient, passionate, and beautiful, among other things. We are living in an apartment, which is part of a building belonging to the foundation/church we are serving with. The entire leadership team of the foundation is wonderful. They are kind, talented, and genuine. Our accommodations are beyond accommodating, so we are soaking it in while it lasts. I anticipate someday reflecting longing on the “Albania days” of hot water, wifi, and toilets. The daily schedule fluctuates pretty significantly, but looks somewhat like this during the week:
6-6:30 wake up
6:45-exercise with team
7:50- breakfast (usually includes Nutella. These are the golden days)
8:30- morning prayer with staff
9-12:30- ministry
12:30-lunch
2:00- devotion with staff (we lead)
2:30-5/6pm– ministry
6:30—dinner
after dinner: team time, prepare lessons, skype family and friends, journal, etc
Every day is different, but I end most days tired. The first half of the week carried a special lethargy with it as we adjusted to the time zone and heat, but I’m feeling better now! And Albanians do love their coffee, so we enjoy that cultural element to its full potential. We have helped with the Children’s Bible School, led bible studies, prayed for the city and this church, cleaned the foundation’s baby room and some of their rented space, run a youth group, planned a sermon, visited an orphanage that was the site of a national scandal, and prepared devotionals.
Overall, I’d say we are part-time church staff and part-time assistants to church staff. I think our chance to help here is as much in the ministries of the church as to the ministers of the church. The leadership team, mighty as they are, are all very busy and stretched pretty thin. The pastor of the church recently moved back to his home country after 17 years here, so appointing a new one is one of the greatest prayer requests we have for them. They soak up encouragement with no signs of saturation, and depend daily on our Lord. And they bear good fruit as a result.
God is teaching and showing me many things. One of the greatest impressions I’ve gotten about this 11 months is that it will be a season of learning, which is ironic considering it is the one year amidst the surrounding 15 that I won’t be in school. But I think that is one major theme the Lord has for me. It is different for everyone on the team. I love that this new lifestyle incorporates so much prayer, reading of my Bible (I’m trying to memorize a book per continent), and intentional community. I feel like I’m living more in communion with my Creator than ever before, and he has blessed our team with time and circumstances this month to really figure that out, and let it become our MO. While our physical context is relatively tame, I believe God is reminding me that fruit comes not from drama or adventure, but from Him. And that He is why I’ve begun this journey. Spiritually and emotionally, nothing about this week has been tame. PTL for how he grows us.
As my brother pointed out, this is almost the 1/22nd mark of our journey! Ha! I don’t think I will be too big on time-tracking this year, but here’s to week 2 🙂
