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.