And through all of that...
A little less than a year ago Jeff was asked to start praying about leading a team on a missions trip to Albania. I thought for sure we would not be going all the way across the world to a small little country called Albania. Where in the world was Albania anyway? i.e. Albania is a small country behind the heal of the boot of Italy.
As we began to pray that God would show us if we were to go, every obstacle was moved out of the way so we said "Yes we will go!".
Let me take you back... It all started with a family that decided to have a new couple to our church over for dinner one night. Cory and Kristine Cramer were not exactly "new" to our church, they have many connections to the people in our body. But they were new to us! Cory started attending the Training Center Jeff was involved in and we decided to have them over for dinner to get to know them. We talked about how we came to know Christ and the passion that God has given us for different things. Something must have happened that night because shortly after that Cory asked Jeff if he would pray about leading the missions trip to Albania. This past June 2014 Cory and Kristine became permanent missionaries to the Albanian people through an organization called Josiah Venture and we are so excited for the great things God is going to do through their obedience to His call.
It has been many months since that dinner and in 2 days we leave for Albania! Something you may not know about me is that I have been wanting to take a missions trip like this since I became a follower of Jesus Christ at 19 years old. As a young zealous Christian my favorite book of the Bible was Isaiah and my favorite verse was Isaiah 6:8 "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." My favorite book is still Isaiah! But as the years past my heart must had settled here in Murrieta. Because after finding out we were definitely going I became very anxious about basically everything. Every question I could think of became a question I must have an answer to. And as you might guess, I can look back on this year and see that God was and still is teaching me to trust Him. When I don't have all the details of life and what will happen tomorrow, He calls me to trust Him. Matthew 28:19-20 says "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." That verse would not be the same without the ending. I can trust Him!... for all the details as they are made known to me because He is with me always, till the end. As I stay close to His Word my heart is steadfast and unmovable! I don't know what we will encounter as we go but I do know that "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." -1Cor. 1:9
So pray for us! That we would go with expectant hearts, excited about sharing the gospel with the young people in Albania and looking forward to all the ways the Lord will grow us through this time. And that our children will gain a broader world view and grow to love the Lord and His church.
And pray for the Cramer's and baby Shiloh!... that they would have many opportunities to share the gospel with the people around them. And that there would be a generation of Albanians that know Christ as their Savior!
P.S. This page is where I will plan to update each day of our trip, there are no guarantees of wifi so I will do my best. Below is the support letter with a map we sent out for more info.
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