Monday Monday.

Today was day one of our three day children's event held at Streha. It was such a great time! Let's start at the very beginning...

First we had breakfast. Who could say no to a waffle? Once we were done we all rode over to Tom's church in taxis and had a short time of worship and prayer. 

It was a great time of encouragement and it was definitely necessary for our next task. As we minister to the people we are learning how important having a heart of worship is. We broke into groups and had our own form of a marketplace ministry and handed out fliers to kids for the coming events. Here some shots of our adventures 

In my group we were able to pray for a woman and her business and she even asked for a flyer of our event to hang in her store. We also got to speak with a Jehovah's Witness woman and share verses with her, and we believe that Gods Word will not return void! In another group a woman accepted Christ into her heart and there was even some Jesus food passed out. 

We spent our afternoon ministering to the neighborhood in this way and at around three in the afternoon we headed back to  the church to get ready for the kids. We had a pretty good turn out and it was so much fun getting to hang out with kids from this city. 

We were able to bless them in worship, and we even learned a couple songs in Albanian! 

"Bej muzike ne zemren time, per M bretin Jezu"- meaning, Sing from your heart for the King Jesus."

We also had games and crafts for them...

As well as a few skits to share 

Then, best of all Jake gave the opportunity to accept Christ in their hearts and many kids did!

Many said they were coming back tomorrow and I know we're all excited to watch God move! 

After the event we went to have dinner and gelato, having slightly skipped lunch we needed a little something extra. 

And lastly we walked back to the Stevens Center and had another worship meeting and thanked The Lord for all He is doing. He is doing mighty things and it'll be great to watch what He's going to do tomorrow! 

Thanks for reading! 

   -Emily

Sunday Best

Today we got the amazing opportunity to attend Pastor Alex's church in the morning and the Grimes church, "Streha"(meaning refuge) in the evening. It was so good to see God working in these congregations and to be able to encourage and uplift our fellow brothers and sisters here in Tirana. 

Starting with Alex's church, we got there and were able to help out in worship.

We sang some songs in English and Tom sang some songs in Albanian. Jason and I even tried our hand at singing them and although it wasn't perfect it was great getting to worship together as one body! 

Then, Alex and a couple of our pastors had the opportunity to share a message.  A few of us got to minister to the children and play with them while they spoke. 

After the message from God's Word we got to pray over the people for healing and restoration. 

The smiles seen on their faces were so worth any hardships we may have or will experience on this trip. God was moving through us and there were even times that the language barrier was broken down through His spirit. Hallelujah! 

After church we stopped for some fellowship and of course some coffee. 

I recommend the cappuccino. Yum. 

After this we took a taxi to a place called the Kristal Center and decided to minister to the groups of people there through music and simple conversations.

We all left the center with hearts full of joy and love for these people and some children agreed to come to the events we have planned for them coming up next week! From there we walked to the Grimes house for a time of rest before the evening service. Emphasis on the rest. 

 

From here came the evening service held at Streha and it was an awesome time delving into God's word. 

We read through 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." We all got fired up for the cities we live in. How crazy the plans our God has for the land we live in and the people he has created! 

Directly following, a few of our guys had an all out nerf war with a junior higher who attended. Jake, Geoff and Rion all fit right in. They were most certainly created for such a time as this. 

We also can all proudly say (well, mostly) we now know how to Albanian line dance! A few women from the congregation along with Claire and Hope Grimes taught us some traditional dances. Although we may not have been graceful we danced with gusto. That was super exciting, at least, I thought so. 

It was such a sweet day of fellowship, rest and rejuvenation by God's Word. I cannot wait to see what work Christ has for our hands, feet and hearts to complete tomorrow!

- Emily 

Here We Are

Well, the day is Saturday and we have been here in Tirana for close to three days. It was definitely a long journey so far, and I'll start from the beginning...

We arrived at our church bright and early in the morning. At half past three we departed on our way to LAX, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well, at least, as bright eyed as you can be at that time. When we arrived at the airport we all checked in, but soon realized there was an issue with Kym's passport. Albania has a newer regulation, stating that you cannot have your passport expiration date be within three month of your stay, and hers expired in January! She just barely missed the window and because of this we were forced to continue on through customs without her.  We fervently prayed for God's provision for Kym throughout all of our travels. He is so faithful! Keep this on mind as I continue. We took off from LAX  and five hours later arrived in New York on time. The layover was smooth, although the take off was slightly rocky due to weather and delayed ascent. 

We got into the air safely though, even if we were slightly late. We got cozy because we wouldn't be reaching Rome for 8 more hours 

By the time we finally landed we were a tad bit later than expected and this then caused us to miss our flight to Tirana, but once again, God is good! Here we discovered that while in the air Kym had gotten a new passport and was en route to Paris! We then had to entertain ourselves for six hours in the airport. We took a few naps and found ways to keep busy though. 

By the time we got on our flight and took off we were all quite ready to land and get going in Albania! Although along the way we definitely got so many amazing reminders of Gods beauty and His creation.

We landed and made our way out of the terminal only to be greeted by The Grimes family, Pastor Alex and several others smiling faces. What a blessing that was! On top of seeing so many dearly missed friends, we received word that Kym had made it to Rome and was only a little over an hour away! 

Once we reached our hotel we all were ready for some much needed rest. 

Once rested the next morning we made our way to breakfast and were all much more chipper and ready to reach the city with Jesus...and Kym!!! She reached the city at around one in the morning. 

After breakfast we walked to a home for the elderly and visited with them and prayed for them. It was so sweet to get to use our smiles, hugs, worship and even a skit to give them joy. 

We even got to pray for a woman with hearing loss and by Gods healing power she had her hearing returned! Also, two of the men there committed their heart to Christ. God is so good! Afterwards we traveled up to the city of Kruje and had lunch. 

We also got to tour the castle at the top of the hill and learn some of the history of this amazing nation we are ministering to.

There were definitely some amazing views!

 By the time we left, it was getting dark so we headed back down the mountain to the city of Tirana and had a great time of worship and prayer to end out our first full day in the country. We prayed for fresh vision and for God's light to shine on Tirana. God met us and really got us fired up for the next day and all He had planned. 

This morning we were excited because we knew we had the opportunity to minister to the children and adults attending Pastor Alex's church. We had a lot of fun getting to know all the kids and doing skits, crafts and games. Seeing the joy on their faces was amazing! 

We had the opportunity to share the gospel with the children and there parents and several people gave their hearts to Christ! We were celebrating with heaven for sure! After this we had lunch and rode the bus down to Toms church. 

It was pretty crowded but we actually got the chance to meet a fellow sister in Christ and encourage her! Once we were off we got to see where the Grimes hold their church services and had a small worship session. After worship we walked throughout the surrounding neighborhoods,annointed the places we walked with oil, praying over the streets and invited the kids to come to our events we'll be holding the next few days.

The last few days have been packed, but they have been amazing. I believe our eyes are being opened and our hearts are being softened for the city. So much has already happened in only three days and we still have so much more in the days to come! 

Be Blessed! 

- Emily