Home Sweet Home

On Saturday as I walked through the city with a friend, we passed a little ice cream shop and saw an enormous hairy creature inside the door. It had a leash around its neck with a man standing beside it, probably ordering his ice cream. Then, its head turned – wait, what?! Yes, it was alive. It was a huge brown bear, sitting on its haunches in front of the ice cream counter. That’s not something you see every day. Unfortunately I did not have my camera handy and have no official proof, but apparently this man and his pet are a summertime fixture at the beach. You can ask most anyone in Durres if you don’t believe me! I imagine that he probably makes quite a bit of money by charging tourists a few dollars to get a picture with his giant brown bear. I’m pretty bummed that I don’t have a picture with him myself.

My time in Albania is now over, and I’m back in America again! I said all my goodbyes to the teens on Friday night, to the Bishops on Saturday night, and to my host family Sunday morning. I had printed a large photo of the family and me and put it in a picture frame. I presented it to the family on Sunday morning, and when I did, Arti, the father, fought back tears. Arti’s response moved me… he is a man toughened by a childhood in a closed Communist country, about 35 years of hard work, most of that lived out in a village. But in him I saw a heart softened by God. The family seemed very reluctant to let me go, Mariana especially. I felt like I was breaking her heart by leaving her household. A few nights ago she came into my room and just held me for a while, telling me over and over how much she was going to miss me and that she didn’t want me to leave. Later as I reflected on it, I realized that what she had been holding onto was not really me, but it was Jesus in me. Incarnational ministry like what the Bishops are doing is about taking Jesus into a community and living among the people. That’s what Jesus did, and every single one of us can make a difference in the lives of those with whom we interact on a daily basis. If we have Jesus in us, we have something beautiful that others can see in us. Arti and Mariana now own a Bible for the first time, and I’m praying that the seeds which were planted during my stay will be watered and that others will come into their lives to further bring them to Christ.

When I got off my plane and entered Customs at the airport in Newark, I felt a huge sense of gratefulness for my country. It sounds cheesy, but I have to admit that “Proud to Be An American” rang in my head. I noticed a rainbow of skin colors and ethnicities which the U.S. is known for. As much as I love and miss the culture of Albania, I also love the diversity of cultures and ethnicities in the United States. I am blessed to have tons of opportunities to be involved in Christian churches, to have fair voting procedures, and to have a government that values Christian principles such as justice and equality and seeks to serve its people. It’s by no means a perfect nation, but we surely have a lot to be thankful for.

My mom and I pulled into our driveway just after midnight last night, I with heavy eyelids and Mom with a false sense of alertness from her coffee. My body felt like a rock when my alarm clock went off at 10 a.m. this morning, but I had to get up to pack once again for my family’s camping trip this week. I will be getting over jet lag the next couple of days, but there’s no more perfect way I can think of to spend it than in the great outdoors and the quiet of the woods. It will give me the opportunity to process through my experiences. It’ll also give me the time I need to finish up my internship papers and assignments that I have yet to complete J

Now that I'm on the other side of Albania, thank you so much for keeping up with my activities through the blog. Most of all, thank you for your prayers. I could totally sense the difference they made in my experiences. I would never have made it through as well as I did without your prayers. There were a ton of things that could have really brought me down emotionally and spiritually, mistakes I made that could have plunged me into self-doubt, or sickness I could have easily gotten, but your intercession made all the difference. Thank you for battling with me!

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:1-2