We then walked over to church. As I walked upstairs it reminded me of the New Testament times like in Acts 1 where they would meet in the upper rooms of the house. As I got to the top of the stairs I saw the room filled from front to back with people ranging from 1-80 years old. There was an excitement in the air, you could just feel it or maybe it was just me... but I don't think so. This particular day they happened to be sending off a couple of families to church plant with other Albanians in Macedonia. One of the men had attended the Masters College and has already been in Albania for 4 years. Some of the men in the church went up front and layed hands on them and prayed for them. Not sure what they said but I prayed alongside them that the gospel would go out and that God would use these families to bring salvation to the people in Macedonia. Worship today was even more exceptional than Friday night, the whole congregation sings and there are small children standing in the aisles watching the young and old worship The Lord. Today we recognized another song... My Redeemer Lives!
After church we met in a room on the side of the main sanctuary to go over camp and to meet the Albanian youth leaders. We are all so excited to serve alongside these fun young men and women.
We then headed to the "bazaar" down the street to purchase any items we needed for our teams. Jeff and I are the red team so we got some Albanian logo shirts, wristbands, bandanas and ribbon to get our team all decked out and excited.
After the "bazaar" we grabed some lunch at a little shop that sold gyros. It's going to be rough coming home after all this great food!
After heading back to Pogradec, we all went down to the water to enjoy some down time. We rented some paddle boats (for $2) and played a little water volleyball until dinner time. While at the Cramer's we have been fed very well because of Kristine's creativity in the kitchen. Tonight was roasted chicken, veggies, roasted potatoes, yogurt dip and bread. Jake said that was the best dinner not including the little Italian restaurant the night before. :)
Jeff and I took a walk to a local coffee shop before dinner. It is so fun to try new things but to order something when no one speaks English is another story. Most of the time we know what we want but we don't know how to order it. It was fun anyway. We got a cappuccino and a frape. And then a lady walks over and points up... to what?, I don't know. We gesture that we are fine but again she try's to ask something and points up. We said it's ok we are fine, still not figuring out what she was talking about. I think she finally gave up.
One of the pastors came over after dinner and we took some time to pray as a group for camp and for the kids that will be coming in the morning.
Jeff headed out for coffee with one of the pastors, Erion. He told us earlier in the day as he introduced one of the other pastors that they don't call any of the men "pastors" that do the work of pastors, to protect them. Not sure what exactly that meant... Pride? Persecution? Either way these men are in the trenches ministering to the people. They are the ones shepherding the flock here in Albania.
The team headed out to watch the soccer game at a near by hotel courtyard where they had a screen set up. They laughed and enjoyed their donuts and coffee. The Albanians were very excited Germany won! People were yelling and horns were honking for hours after the game ended. I think I might have heard several gun shots!
Tomorrow, bright and early we leave for a week of camp... making relationships and sharing the good news of our Savior. We are praying that God would break through the language barrier this week and that He would be glorified in all that we do. Pray with us!
HI YOU GUYS - we love you and miss you - hope it is going great and your learning a lot about the Lord and yourselves
ReplyDeleteThe water almost looked like it was worthy of a SNORKLE but I could not tell
Praying for you
Chris