Hello everyone!
We have reached the end of Month 1 in Albania and I have too many emotions and thoughts to put into words. So, here’s a bunch of pictures to show how we wrapped up our time here!
We (almost) finished painting the rooftop at the kindergarten, and it looks so cute up there!
The roof is by far my favorite part of the kindergarten. It has a beautiful view and lovely breeze! We had a team sleepover up there one evening, and it was the only time I ever felt cold in Albania – it made the Minnesotan in me so very happy. The sunrise in the morning was the perfect start to the day.
Unfortunately, we ran out of black paint before I could finish the painting of Pooh and Friends and I didn’t have time to get more paint… I was so upset to not finish what I started, but someone else will finish it very soon, no worries! Here’s a kinda creepy, half-finished picture of pooh still looking a bit like poo.
This last week we hosted a VBS at the church for kids in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful time watching these kids get more and more excited about the theme and worshiping all together as each day went on. My dear friend Sisay and I organized the crafts, and we had a blast making salt dough sculptures, painting water-resistant cross pictures, folding origami sheep, and drawing outside the church with chalk!
Our youngest group ranged from 2 years old – 5 years old and they were the absolute cutest. I loved being able to teach little ones again even if we couldn’t understand a single word the other was saying!
During our time here, we became especially good friends with three of the boys who went to the church. We’d see them pretty much every day and play soccer or just sit around laughing and playing with ants. They were definitely my hardest goodbyes!
This is Suljon. He’s incredibly smart and helped us translate all the time. He’s excellent at communicating only through whistling, and you can always count on him to laugh with you.
Then there’s Antonjo. For only being 11, he’s a great artist with impressive attention to details. Not to mention, he’s a great goalie and creative enough to make his own protective gear for soccer.
And my good friend Klajdi! Klajdi gave me my new nickname Jennaa, and could probably be a professional soccer player some day. His whistling skills never fail to make someone jump in a funny way. Not to mention, he’s the best older brother of five that I will ever meet.
My team is off to Serbia to meet up with the rest of our squad tonight, and we’ll be heading off to Romania for Month 2 next week!
Fundraising update: I have less than $2,500 to go until I am FULLY FUNDED! If you haven’t had a chance to give yet, or know someone who would be interested in being a part of a really cool story Jesus is writing, hit the orange Donate button at the top!
Much love to you all!
