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
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
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
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!
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
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)