Week Six

It is the beginning of week six! What an amazing week we had last week. The teens said over and over how much they enjoyed it and hated that the week had to end. This was the first time many of these teens had heard the truth of the gospel. Some were curious about it, many came for the social benefits of being there, and two of the boys accepted Christ! It was an energetic, encouraging week for the teens, especially for the two new Christians, but now discipleship is a must.  The long-term team plans to continue meeting with the teens on Friday nights for worship, Bible study, and fellowship so that they can continue learning about scripture and have a positive place to hang out on the weekend.

In addition to the new Christians, it was also very exciting on Thursday evening when the team did cardboard testimonies. (If you’ve never heard of it, you can look it up on YouTube; it’s a powerful way of depicting how God changes individuals by putting their stories into a short phrase.) About five of the teens were already Christians, and we asked them if they would like to participate with us in the cardboard testimony presentation. They wholeheartedly agreed to stand in front of their non-Christian peers and publicly declare how God had changed them! What an awesome step for these five teens, to make a public declaration of faith for the first time. God is definitely moving among these young people, and I can’t stand the thought of leaving them in two weeks and no longer being able to watch it!!

Yesterday morning we met the director of education in Durres. She has a reputation for being extremely corrupt and only fed us information she thought we wanted to hear. Then she set us up to meet with the investor of projects. That man definitely wanted to meet the people’s needs, but we could tell that he was caught up in hopelessness from years of dealing with such corrupt people. After those meetings, I wonder if it’s even possible to build a successful public school through the government. They don’t really care about their people. The project can’t happen and won’t be successful unless it’s done through some other avenue. The engineer investor believes that the only way to build another school in the Kënet is to get it funded by an outside source like Soros did. Ken believes the Soros school project was most successful because of how they engaged the community. The community, parents, and staff have a huge hand in running the school, and in that sense it is a very sustainable school that offers a great education. It’s just that they are incredibly overcrowded with students. So the question is, Should a new school be built? If so, should it be another one like the Soros school, which, while good, is little supported by the local government with little maintenance? This is a big question. I keep vacillating in my answer because there are so many variables! And I’m also trying to figure out what in the world I need to do in this whole process, with less than two weeks left!

It’s HOT. Yesterday was perfectly still with no breeze whatsoever. Our apartment seems to work like an incubator with very poor air circulation, so it wasn’t very comfortable, even this morning. We sweat while sitting still. I went to the office in the morning but soon recognized that feeling of fatigue that comes during these humid, still days. I feel thirsty but no amount of water I drink quenches the thirst, and my body just wants to lie down on the tile floor, where it’s a little cooler (which actually helps a lot!) Part of the problem was that we still hadn’t recovered from all the energy we’d put out during camp last week, so the Bishop family took us interns with them to one of the places they sometimes go for family day. It was a pool situated right on the beach. (Now I can say I’ve swum in the Aegean and the Ionian Seas, where the Apostle Paul once sailed!) It was SO good to get rid of the sweat and rest for the afternoon. We left an hour before sunset, but I got to sit by the water for about half an hour. I watched as the sun neared the edge of the sea, casting a long tail of sunshine from the horizon all the way to the place where the waves broke. I wanted to sit there all night and watch that water! Nature makes me happy.

Today, Nicole Schara and Katie Hawkins will arrive from the States. They have both committed to serve on the Global Partners team for two years in Albania. Our apartment will double its occupants when they get here J Pray for them as they begin to adjust to the culture and way of life here and dive into language learning.