Three Facts About Albania:
-It was freed from communist rule just over 20 years ago (1991.)
-The dominant religion is Islam.
-Burek is a delicious and popular Albanian dish. When I get home, I’m going to learn how to make it!
Last month in Albania, I had one of the hardest days of working manual labor in my life.
And it was one of my favorite days on the Race so far.
We had been working hard all month preparing a campground ministry for kids called Lightforce International, which exists to provide basic needs to the community. At this particular camp, the kids are taught basic hygiene skills and how to live in community, along with teaching about Christ.
Several hundred Albanian kids go to this camp each summer, so we had a lot of work cut out for us to prepare the camp for them. This included a lot of whitewashing, painting, and general maintenance. One of my favorite things I got to do was lead a team to finish the plastering in various areas of camp. It’s not common for women in Albania to do construction, and when one of the Albanian women working in the kitchen saw me doing the plastering, she flexed her muscles and said, “Shu meer, shu meer!” which means, “Very good!” in Albanian. 🙂 I was thankful for the challenge of leading a team.
Did I mention they raise pigs to raise funds for the camp? Literally THOUSANDS of pigs. Right there on the camp site.
During my first week at the camp, I volunteered to whitewash multiple pig stalls. Some of the stalls still had pigs IN them, which wasn’t so bad; I did get to meet some piglets.
All of this was challenging and rewarding at the same time, but my biggest challenge for myself and my squad happened on our very last ministry day in Albania.
We literally spent 8 hours moving pig and chicken poop. Literally thousands of pounds of poop. Five trailers. This process included: using pitch forks to shovel up what we could, taking full wheelbarrels and dumping them into a huge mound, then transferring the mound onto a trailer to be taken to a dump. Not only this, but we also had a team to manually mix concrete before it was ready to be used in some of the pig stalls. I have never spent so many hours shoveling in my entire life.
Needless to say, this was all backbreaking work. And nauseating. I didn’t know an animal could excrete something that could smell that bad.
Was I tired? Yes.
Was I nauseous the entire day? Yes.
Have I given up on my dream of being a farmer’s wife? Most likely.
Was my patience tried at every moment? Oh Yes.
Is serving Jesus worth it? Absolutely.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
Who knew shoveling poo could be worship?
I have grown to understand that it’s always about the bigger picture. Even though in the moment it was insanely challenging, I kept thinking of how shoveling the most disgusting mounds of animal excrement imaginable was serving our host and helping to make money to support this camp which would teach hundreds of children about the love of Christ.
I am so glad I had the opportunity to honor Christ in this way. What a disgusting, back-breaking, wonderful, and fun day!
Currently, we are in Lusaka, Zambia. I am loving Africa! The people here are so friendly and helpful. We’ve spent the past week leading some devotions in a local school for children in the slum and evangelizing in another local slum. Yesterday, I got to experience my first African church service. I had so much fun and got a work out.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE:
Our final deadline is JULY 1st!
All my funds ($16,250) must be raised by then and currently I am $4,679 away!
In order to stay on the Race, all fund must be in by then. Please prayerfully consider sending me a donation to keep me on the missions field!
