Bible Blast Albania-day one

Today was the first day of our Bible Blast! 

 The SOS (summer of service) went out earlier in the morning to hand out fliers to the children in the neighborhood during the cool of the morning. After we had made our rounds the team arrived at the church and the SOS team joined them. We took an hour or so going through the Bible together and worshipping. It was a very special time of lifting each other up and getting encouraged for the day.  After we were all fired up for what God had for today we began to set up for the evening. It was a fun time of planning and discussing the lay out of the evening. Then we decided to go out for coffee to gain a bit more energy.  We walked to a cafe and spent an hour or two fellow shipping.

The owner was very excited to have so many Americans in the cafe and we all made friends quickly. To bless us he brought out a platter of fruit for us. He also wanted to know why we were here. This opened an opportunity to share our mission. Praise the Lord! Once we were caffeinated we left to order pizzas for dinner. We ate at the church and then cleaned up the mess because the children would be arriving soon. It wasn't long before a few kids trickled in through the doors. We had only to wait a few more minutes before we surprisingly had 14 children in the building!

This is huge for the culture here. They played games and mingled with the mission team before Tom called the night to order. Gerald led them through a game of Simon says and then we played trough worship. Over the past few weeks we have been learning how to sing children's songs in Albanian. Tonight the work payed off and all of the kids loved singing along and dancing. After the music we held a skit and it was awesome! It was apparent that the team has been diligent in putting it together and the children we very engaged. Here we see Captain Good guy, his sidekick Smiles, Doctor Bad Guy and his sidekick Tornado 

Once the skit was over we did a craft together. Then came games. Everyone was interacting together and it was obvious God was working. Following the games Gerald gave the gospel and best of all several children raised their hands! We're hoping to see them tomorrow  and share the love of Jesus with them again. At the end of the event and after the children had left we all walked to the Kristal Center for coffee and gelato. This concluded the happenings of the day and I would say it was very productive. Children came to a saving knowledge of Christ and we pray that in turn they will bring this into their homes! Tomorrow is day two and I know we're all excited to see what God will do. 

They're here!

The Summer team has arrived and it looks to be a very busy week! 

Today was our first full day with the team. We met them after breakfast at Streha and had a time of prayer and worship. Then we split off into groups to begin preparations for the Bible Blast we will be hosting tomorrow night. We taught them the songs we've learned in Albanian and they practiced the skits. After this Rudina, our amazing translator arrived to teach the summer team a few greetings.

She also gave us a lesson on culture. It was an awesome presentation. After the team had all learned how to say their names and where they are from we headed out to dinner. Once again it took a very large table to seat us all.  

We spent a few hours fellow shopping before regrouping at the church. Although some of us stopped for coffee first.

Then, from there we split into two groups and went to lead worship in the city. Half of us went to the Kristal center and the other half went to a neighborhood park. All of us had fliers to hand out to the children for the Bible Blast were hosting.

However, those that went to the park were able to mister mostly to an older generation. They had the opportunity to pray for several people and invited many people to Streha .

Those that went to the Kristal center ministered mostly to children. There is always a rather large group of kids located here and they always enjoy the music when we're there.

Hopefully we will see a few of their faces tomorrow night so we can share the love of Jesus with them! After this we all met back at the church to encourage one another  and give praise reports of what God had done. We prayed to end out the night and then the team headed back to their hotel.

We ask for those you reading to pray for health and strength. The enemy is hitting hard with sicknesses and exhaustion in attempts to prohibit the Lord's work. We know though, that our God is stronger and greater! 

Today was a great first day and were only on day one! 

Thank you for reading! 

-Emily 

Summer-ize

I've struggled over the past few weeks, wondering on how to put into the words the work that God has been doing this Summer. I think the problem was that I was too concerned of writing interesting, fantastic and supernatural happenings. Really though, what has occurred over the duration of these weeks is something much more special. We have formed relationships. We have grown to know the neighborhood and see how God can use the smallest of gestures to make a difference. We weren't out street witnessing everyday. We didn't stand on the street corners and hand out fliers for the church every evening. We were living day to day life in Tirana and with this comes a slower pace. So yes, God has been working, although it hasn't been in exactly the way I had thought it would be. It has indeed been different but seeing life in this country through the eyes of the people has been an experience I believe we will all treasure. We can relate with the woman who carries her groceries uphill everyday. We can relate to the children that are sitting out in the shade to escape the crazy summer sun. We can somewhat understand what they go through to an extent now. This then opens the doors to make friends, build bonds and minister in a new way. 

We go out every Friday morning to pick up trash in the neighbor hood and the people in our community have watched curiously and questioned our intentions. Then they talk with us, a few have joined in and eventually we become known as the crazy Americans who run a church and pick up our trash. Although, they also know they can talk to us and expect a smile and kind word. We also do worship in our community every week. Our neighbors now look forward to this and when we miss a day at least one will question if it will continue. Over time we have established a children's outreach that we hold every Saturday morning. Not very many children come but there are a few that steadily have been attending and they in turn are sharing with their friends what they have learned. On Tuesday nights we began a School of Worship so the kids here could learn guitar, drumming, and what worship is really about. The kids that the Lord has brought to us to teach are a generation, albeit small, of worshipers that are curious and hungry to learn more. Thursday afternoons we hold an English Club at the church for the kids in our neighborhood, just so we can get to know them better. We hope to eventually turn this into a youth group and it is obvious that God has great plans for these youth that have attended regularly. 

There is so much more I could list as to the days we have spent here. In a whole though,my point is this. What we have really been sent here for is to let the people of this community, the Grimes and those we've met along the way, know that we came to encourage them, grow relationships and lovingly share Christ with them. It has also been showing us how simply we can do this. It doesn't take miraculous healings, large crowds, or flashy events. Rather it has simply taken the ability to listen, uplift, and see others as Christ would. As we have been walking in Christ, He has over time walked others into ours lives to minister to. Each smile, hello, invitation and inquiry has had an effect and I think this can be an important principle to hold to as we leave in two weeks. No matter where we are, whether home in California or here in our new home, Tirana, we must be mindful of the effects we are having. God has been causing Streha to flourish. We have been privileged to experience and meet these people along the way.

 The team arrives on Tuesday and I know the Lord has great plans for that week. Our time here though, of learning how to be an Albanian and relate to the people has been precious. Thank you for being patient for this post as I was gathering my thoughts. I hope to write more as the team arrives. 

Shume Bekime!

(Many blessings!)
-Emily Maloney 

A Third of the Way Through

We have missed the Grimes these past few days, and it is great to have them home! They had a great time relaxing as a family together and we had a great time here in fellowship, praying and serving together. Here is just a quick follow up on what we have been doing this week. 

On Wednesday we had our third language lesson with our wonderful translator Rudina. We now know a few phrases in Albanian, and the alphabet. The Albanian alphabet has 10 more letters than the English one! Rudina is a great teacher though, so I'm sure we'll catch on quickly. 

On Thursday, Courtney and I had the privilege of visiting an orphanage in a city called Elbasan, about an hour away from Tirana. Kathy works there doing physical therapy and offered to take us along to help. We readily agreed and spent our morning giving love to the babies there. They had a case of chicken pox throughout the nursery, so many of the little ones weren't feeling well. However, we were able to be somewhat of a comfort to them. I know that we will miss those sweet faces but how wonderful it is that God gave us that morning with them. We pray that someday they will grow to know how much they are loved and treasured by Christ. 
Once we got home we began setting up for the English Club that we host on Thursday afternoons. Not very many children showed up but that did not deter us. We played games, and helped the children with their pronunciation. One specific little boy has repeatedly come to all of our events these past few weeks and it's amazing to see God taking a hold of his heart as Gerald, Joel, and Jake are ministering to him each time. 

On Friday we again went out into the city to lead worship and we handed out fliers for the children's event on Saturday. There was a woman that Courtney met during all of this who spoke English. Courtney was able to share with her about the church and she even helped Courtney translate at times. After all of the fliers were handed out we took some time to talk to the kids who were listening and personally invite them to the next days event. 

Today we had our second children's outreach and it went great. Less children showed up but it was good because we had more attention to give to the few who came. They even had their Bible verse memorized from the week before! Hopefully we will see them again next week and we can continue to share the love of Christ with them. 
Today also marks our third week here and we are just about one third of the way through our trip. It's crazy how fast time is going. It's even crazier to think that we still have six weeks left to watch God move in this city! 

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, they are highly appreciated! 
 -Emily

This Week's Highlights

This week has gone quickly but that is simply because we are kept so busy. We have been roughly following the schedule that was posted previously so I will share with you some of the main highlights from these past few days. 

Last Friday we went out into the neighborhood to play worship and a small crowd gathered to hear us play. This then gave us the opportunity to hand out fliers for the various events we host each week. It was an honor to bless this community and give them reason to smile as they clapped along to the worship songs. Some of us talked with the children who came out to listen while some talked to the adults and invited them to this weekends church services.

After some time we walked on to a center in the area and played music here. There were far more people gathered in this place and as such the crowd was larger. This crowd was composed of mostly children. We did not talk to them as much but it was fun to simply bless them and be a light for Christ in the area. These are faces that we all see daily and now they know who we are and what we stand for. After doing these types of outreaches it becomes natural to smile, wave and greet those we are meeting within this region of Tirana. 

The next morning we hosted our first weekly children's event. We had games, worship, teaching, crafts, and snacks ready for those who would attend. It went over great and many of the children who attended were those invited the night before! Praise God for his sovereignty in putting us into their path. I say this because later at the end, when we gave an opportunity to accept Christ many of the kids accepted Jesus into their heart. It is always so exhilarating to watch someone become a child of God. This is exactly what we had the privilege of witnessing this day and we hope to see them many more times whilst we are here. We are now busily preparing for next week's event and several of the children promised their faithful attendance for this Summer. 
Here are a few pictures from the day. 

Today we joined Pastor Aleksi in going to a home for the elderly and we got to have lunch with them and play music for them. Many remembered us from the last trips and asked us to wish friends from past teams hello. It's crazy to think what a lasting impact you can have!

We prayed for them as well and then Aleks bought us pizzas for dinner. He ordered too much though and we walked away puzzled by the large number of pizzas we held in our hands. However as we walked home there was a woman sitting on the side walk in the shade. I noticed that she seemed to be praying and upon further inspection she was weeping. We stopped and realized that this extra pizza we carried was for her! Again, praise the Lord for His sovereignty! We handed it to her and knelt down with her and she then kissed each of our hands and began to weep harder so we prayed for her and I believe that God supernaturally showed His love through us, to her. By the time we left she no longer wept but smiled and held our hands close while saying goodbye. 

God has already done so many good things in these two and half weeks. I heartily anticipate what else we will see and do in the remaining six before us. Stay tuned for more updates and I will write as often as possible. 
Shume Bekime! (Many Blessings!)
-Emily

Summer Of Service

During the Summer months there will be four people stationed in Tirana Albania alongside the Grimes and Gerald, who has been here since March. The four include Courtney Pinedo, Joel Ryan, Jake Hafner and myself, Emily. 

We have been here for a little over a week and we are all so excited that this is only the beginning as we have seven weeks remaining. Our goal is to support, encourage and help the Grimes in the ministries they have in place. Also to help them start a few new ones, such as a weekly children's outreach. 
The past week we have been adjusting and learning what it takes to live in Tirana. The coming weeks will be much more eventful and I will attempt to keep you all semi up to date on the happenings of our eventful days. 

Our week schedules go something like this... Sunday's we have church across town with Pastor Aleksi, in the mornings and then church at Streha in the evenings. On Monday we will be taking this time to rest and see a few different things. Tuesday's are also a little more relaxed but we will be helping another missionary in her ministry. She works with some of the Roma children and we will be assisting her. On Wednesday we will be taking Albanian lessons from our awesome translator Rudina and then we spend the evenings listening to the message from our church back home. Thursdays are rather full. In the morning we are all a part of school of ministry with Tom, then we have an English club for the kids in the neighborhood. In the evening we will be visiting another church to observe. Then, on Fridays we will be helping Gerald clean the church and in the evening we are leading worship in the city. Lastly, on Saturdays we will be hosting the children's event.
 This all kicks in this week and it's going to be amazing to watch God work in all of us, both separately and in working together. 

Would you please keep us all in your prayers for fresh vision and guidance as we walk in this adventure! 
I plan to write soon with all of the good things the Lord has done!

Sayonara Saturday

The Today was our last day in Tirana Albania. Although it may have been slightly sad, it was once again led and blessed by the Lord. We did less today so we could get to bed sooner because we have to rise very early in the morning tomorrow. The Albanian time change is tomorrow so we lose an hour of sleep as well! That's ok though because we have a long flight ahead of us that we can sleep through. (Hopefully) 

The day started out with breakfast at the Stevens center. After, we split in half for our children's events. Half of us went to Streha and the other half went to Pastor Alex's church. We had crafts, games, skits and music ready for the kids at each group and the gospel was shared at each as well. 

Matt and Gerald gave an opportunity to share Christ at each event and many children raised their hands to asking Jesus into their hearts. 

Some got tuckered out from all the fun. 

After the events were over we all met up back together for one last meeting of prayer and worship. Half way through Jeremy felt we should take worship to the roof and then we all prayed over the city. 

Afterwards some of us took a walk to see the city one last time before leaving 

We were able to minister to a girl we passed by. Even though we didn't plan on it God put her in our path. Then we made our way to dinner. It was so good and we had the largest table yet. 

Afterwards we went to the skytower for a view of the city lights. 

Then we had to say our goodbyes to Sadi and Rudina. They have blessed us so much on this trip. All of our translators did! Thank you all! You did an amazing job and God completely used you. Both for the people in Tirana and for us. 

And we just had to group hug little Hopie 

We will miss everyone that we've met here dearly. What an awesome work our God has done! Tomorrow we have a long day of travel but what great memories we have to reflect on from these past 9 days. Thank you Lord for all you've done!! Goodnight and prayers for our safe travels would be appreciated! 

-Emily