Day 8 in Albania

Today breakfast was on everyone's own. We just had to be at the church at the same time. So the girls slept in. 

At the church we did a wrap up meeting with the team here in Albania. We gave them feedback and discussed some high points of our experience. We also prayed for each other before closing out the meeting. 

After the meeting we made our back to the hotel. On the back we stopped at a restaurant and got some lunch. From there we made it to the hotel and everyone was a loved to rest. Some took naps and others enjoyed having time to themselves. Some of the youth had a coffee meeting after dinner so they went to dinner a little early. Don't worry they didn't have coffee at this meeting, they had dessert instead. They had a great time.

Please continue to pray for health, and safe travels as we get ready for our tourist day and start making our way back home. 

Day 7 in Albania

Our nails!

I bet you can guess how our day started. That's right, with breakfast. After breakfast was coffee meetings. Then we split up. The boys ended up coming to the girl's room to shower as the shower in their room was not the greatest. Some of the girls got their nails done. 

You want me to eat this whole thing?!

In the evening, it was time to go to the church for another meeting. But before making our way over there we made sure to do a quick team devotional.  We started the meeting at the church with a pie-eating contest and then a worship song. Then we sat down at tables to listen to Josh give his testimony. After hearing his, we turned to our tables for some small group time that allowed us to also share some of our testimonies. We kind of wished that we had more of this time as we were able to really connect with some of them. But it was time for some fun. 

Listening to testimonies.

We all went around the block to play some volleyball games. Everyone was having such a great time that we ended up staying till late.

On our way back to the hotel, we tried to stop and get food at a restaurant but the kitchen was closed, so we returned to the hotel and ended up splitting up into two groups as not everyone wanted the same thing.

Please continue to pray for good health, restful sleep, and that as we start warping things up that we are able to keep seeing God work here.

Day 6 in Albania

Worship

Today was a day of rest. We slept in a little today as we didn't need to be at church till late morning. Some of the group had to be there a little early to practice as they were joining in leading worship. Pastor Josh was asked to give a message, and he delivered a great one.

Josh Preaching

After church, we went to lunch and then went back to the hotel to relax. On the way back to the hotel, a car had stalled and needed a little push to help get going again, so some of the guys quickly got went into action to help. The driver was very thankful for the help.

Helping the driver.

At the hotel, some of us took naps while others just enjoyed not having to do anything. Around dinner time, we all got together and went out to have dinner. When we returned, there was still time to relax and enjoy the evening. We would have loved to spend it outside but the mosquitos make it hard to enjoy. So we enjoyed hanging out inside instead. The girls especially enjoyed torturing the boys when they agreed to let them pluck their eyebrows.

Making them eyebrows
look gorgeous

Please pray that we get no more bug bites and that the ones we do have stop itching! Also, please pray that we continue to have good health, the students have open hearts as we talk with them about our stories, and that there are no injuries as we play volleyball tomorrow.

Day 5 in Albania

America Night!

We had a slower day. We slept in a little bit, but our day started with breakfast, and then the girls were tired, so we came back to the room to nap till we met with our Albanian partners. In the hotel cafe, we discussed our plan for the evening before returning to the room to do our devotional for the day. The boys went and had fun in the city while the girls went and did their laundry at a laundry mat. When the girls came back there was time to rest before we had to go to the church, so that is what we did. The boys came over to our room to hang out till then as well. 

Games!

Before long, it was time to go so we could help set everything up for tonight. Tonight was American night, but it turned into kind of another game night due to the numbers that showed up. Even though we had to change plans last minute everyone had a blast playing the games. While waiting for everyone we played ping pong and card games. Once we got going we played three different "American" games. The Albanians loved the three-legged race as they had never done anything like it before. We ended the night by singing karaoke! 

Karaoke!

We went longer than we had thought we would but that was partly due to the fact that we started so late. After helping clean up the church and setting up for tomorrow we went to dinner before returning to the hotel.

Please continue to pray for good health, a restful night's sleep, and good conversations continue. 

Day 4

Morning Devo

Today was filled with so much fun and laughter. It started with our team devotion after breakfast. Then most of us had a coffee meetup to go to, which was filled with good conversations. After coffee, it was time to get ready for the beach and head over to the vans that were rented for us to take. We had two vans as some of the teenagers and students went with us.

It took about an hour and a half to get to the beach, and the fun time in the sun started immediately. It was so hot that most people went into the water right away to cool off. The water wasn't freezing but the perfect temperature. When getting out of the water, you had to be careful and quick as it was hard to walk on the sand because it was so hot that it felt like it was burning your feet. Even though the sand was hot we still enjoyed our time.

BEACH!

Volleyball Fun

Later in the day, we were about to start a volleyball game when the sand had cooled off. The Albanians can really get into the game and were good players. It was great getting to play several games with them.

Dancing!

As the sun went down and the games wound down, we made our way over to a camp facility nearby and got cleaned up for dinner. After dinner, we started a fire and turned on some music. There was a lot of dancing, and they had everything to roast some marshmallows and make smores.

Before long, it was time to clean up and get back in the vans to go home. There was less traffic, so it only took about an hour to return. The vans took us back to the depo, and from there, we had a short walk back to the hotel. On that short walk, we found a bakery that was still open, and some of our group decided to get one last treat before getting back. We were all pretty tired, so we got ready for bed and went to sleep shortly after returning.

Thanks for all the prayers. Please continue praying for good health, open hearts, boldness, and great conversations as we enter American night and share some testimonies.

 

Late Night

It has been a long day and I have a lot of pictures from beach day to go through. Know that we had a great time and we went there and back safely. I will post a full breakdown with pictures tomorrow. Goodnight.

Day 3 in Albania

UNO!

It was another hot day here in Albania. We could get used to the heat, but when you add the humidity, it takes the heat to a new level that we have not had much experience with. But with that said, it was still a good day.

Sequence

Just like our other mornings, we started with breakfast and a team devotion. From there, we split up. The girls went to the Social Science University while the boys went to the café with some guys. We handed out more flyers at the university before going to the café. Two of us sat with a girl from the university and had a wonderful conversation. 

Having Fun!

Why are we going to the café so much? This trip is all about relationships. We came and gave the church a bigger reason to encourage teenagers and students to come and hang out. From there, they are able to meet with them and start sharing the Gospel with them. In other words, we are here to help make the connections. They can and have been made some without us, but they find that it can help bring in some of the ones that would not have come any other time. 

After our café time, the girls returned to the hotel for a short rest as we waited for the boys to get back. Once everyone was back, we went to lunch, and we all got a local favorite, souvlaki, which to us Americans, is like a gyro. It was crazy good. Once we were done eating, we had some free time. Some of us decided to just relax in the rooms while others went to explore and get more treats. One of the boys also decided it was time for a haircut. 

Just messing around.

Two of the girls left to go to the church early as they had a café meet-up beforehand. The rest of us went to the church about an hour later. Tonight was the 2nd big event. We had a great time playing table games with everyone. There was UNO, Sequence, and other card games going on. There was even a moment when our group tried to teach the students here how to play a UTURN (the youth group at home) fav, Potato. Time went by so fast while we were having fun playing the games that we ended up staying at the church longer than any of us had planned.  After we realized the time, we made our way out and over to dinner. Pizza was on the menu tonight.

All Smiles!

Please keep praying for safe travels as we go to the beach tomorrow. As well as good fun, no sunburns, no mosquitos, health, and great conversations and connections.

Day 2 in Albania

The boys talking to students

Playing round robin with some youth

We had a great 2nd day! The day started with the group gathering after breakfast to do a short devotion. Then we moved on to meet our in-country church partner at the church before going out to the universities in the area to invite people to hang out later. It was a very hot day, so we only did that until lunch.

Playing Cups

We ended up walking around a little before deciding on a place to eat, but it was a good choice in the end. After eating we came back to the hotel to rest. Some decided it would be a great time to explore a little. 

The guys playing can-can

Tonight was our first big event at the church. We got together and enjoyed playing games with the teenagers and students. It was a lot of fun teaching the games and playing them with the youth. After the games, some music was put on so everyone could dance. The Albanian people enjoyed teaching us some of their dances, and we did a few line dances that we knew.  It was a fun night with lots of laughs and smiles. 

Dancing an Albanian Dance

Once the event was over, our group split up. The girls were hungry, so we went to dinner while the boys went to the cafe. We girls were thankful to have some of the youth show us to a great restaurant. The food here is SO YUMMY!

Dancing an Albanian Line Dance

Please continue to pray for health, open hearts, and that we continue to be God's hand and feet here in Albania.

Day 1 in Albania

Today has been great even though we didn't get much sleep. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel before we headed over to the church that we are partnering with. The church is close enough to walk to so there was no need to get a taxi or even take a bus. At the church we meet the team of people that we will be working with and they had us go through a quick orientation. During the orientation they talked about the history and Christianity within the country. We talked about the big culture differences, which helps us know some of the things not to do so we don't have any big misunderstandings. 

After orientation we all walked over to a restaurant and had lunch as one very large group. The food was wonderful. Once we were all done we walked back to the hotel for some rest. The boys did less rest than the girls as they went out and explored a little while the girls stayed back and took some naps. 

Once the naps were over we went back out for a quick dinner before heading back to the church. Once at the church we split up into 2 groups and went separate ways. Our task was to go out and find young people to talk to and invite to activities that will be happening while we are in country at the church. It was a little intimidating for some of us due to the fact that most of the team is introverted. But we did not let that stop us from going and talking to people. 

After about an hour we went back to the hotel and said goodnight to our guides. We then went out without them for a well deserved dessert of ice cream and pastries. With our sweets in hand, we came back to the hotel. It wasn't quite time to say goodnight so we hung out a little before starting to wind down.

I am looking forward to tomorrow evening as this will be our first event with the youth here. Please continue to pray for good health, open hearts, and good conversations.

We made it!

We have landed, gone through customs and are now at the hotel. As of writing this post it is almost 2am so we are going to go to bed. Nighty night.

Layover

We had some troubles leaving Denver, which meant that we were late leaving. Thankfully that just meant that our layover will be a little shorter. We have landed here and we just get to hangout for several hours in the airport. It will be a shorter flight to Albania, but as I said before it will be very late when we arrive and thus will be going to where we are staying and falling asleep. 

Here we go!

Today is the day! This morning before church, we had our last prep meeting, and during service, the church prayed over us. We are all packed. As this is being posted, we are being dropped off at the airport. It will take two planes to get to Albania with an 8-hour layover. The plane rides plus the layover will take a total of about 19.5 hours. We land in Albania very late at night, so after we land, we will head to the hotel to sleep.

We do have some sad news. One of the youths that was going to go was unable to get his passport in time. The church will be holding what he fundraised so that once he gets his passport, he will be able to go on the next trip. So our group of 9 is now 8, 3 adult leaders and 5 youth. 

Please pray for safe travels and good health, that we can connect with the locals, and that God will use us in mighty ways!

The Group