Travel to Polican

 This past week has been eventful and exciting!

I have been staying with a family in Tirana, and they are wonderful! Matt and Cindy have been in Albania for about 8 years. Cindy has been teaching me essential techniques for on field cooking when items that are available in the U.S. aren't available on field, such as tortillas, certain mixes, bottled things like spaghetti, dressings and such, and much more! I have also been studying and reading in my spare time.

Homemade tortillas!

I also had a chance to meet and talk with many missionary families and single girls who are working in Tirana. It is so neat to hear the unique stories about their ministries and how they came to work in Albania. A few of the girls are teachers at the missionary kids school called GDQ and the school is in need of teachers (so if you know of anyone who needs a job or wants to teach in another country.. heres a chance!!). 

Lynnette and I (team member from Canada)

On Friday I traveled with the AEP staff to a regional meeting in Lushnje and met with the missionaries in the area and from there I traveled to Poliçan to stay with a team of Operation Mobilization missionaries who are working here to revamp a church that was once thriving but since missionaries and local pastors left the church a number of years ago the numbers had died down to only a few dedicated believers. The team is made up of a young married couple and two single girls, their nationalities are Brazilian, Scottish, Canadian and Ecuadorian. They are a great team and I am enjoying working with them so far! Poliçan is a small town that is surrounded by mountains. The city grew around a large arms factory that was built here in the 1960's by the communist government, there is also a number of tunnels that are built into the sides of mountains that were used as food storage and would be used in case of an attack on Albania. Since the fall of Communism the city has declined because there is no longer a need for the factory and many jobs were lost. But the people today are happy and content in their little town. When we walk in the streets they greet us with smiling faces, handshakes and often kisses! 

Ammunition and guns factory

A lot of the work the OM team is doing right now in Poliçan is relationship building in order to strengthen the church. So much of the work is visiting with families or individuals in the town and simply talking with them and making friendships, there is also a womens group, a youth girls group and they are trying to get a solid mens group going. So I will tag along with them as they make visits and meet with people in town. Yesterday at the morning service there were about 8 people in attendance, and that is a large group compared to the normal group they told me!! 

I've also been on a few walks with Lynnette because her teammates don't enjoy walking as much as she does, so we've been going out and enjoying the weather and the views! I'm looking forward to opportunities this week to practice my Shqip, learn about the culture, meet new people, and encourage the OM team here and the work they are doing. 

Lynnette making peanut butter

I am lucky to be staying with the two single girls on the OM team, Lynnette and Liliana. They have opened their home to me and I feel very welcome! They are great girls and they have great wisdom to impart! Upon my arrival they offered me some food and I remember them saying they had just ran out of peanut butter and wouldn't be able to get any for awhile because they don't sell it in local stores. So a day later I heard Lynnette talk about how much she loved peanut butter so I said "You should try to make your own!" and that she did. She had never thought about making her own, so we went to the store and bought some roasted peanuts and made peanut butter! She was so excited!!

Random fact: In an Albanian home you always take off your shoes when you enter and they have a number of slippers for you to wear in their house. I have worn more slippers these past couple weeks than I ever have before! I never wear slippers at home!! 

I am becoming a little more confident with the little bit of language I have learned and I am learning a bit more each day! 

Thanks for reading this blog and thank you for your continued prayers. This week I'm praying for Poliçan and for the OM team here. Pray with me that the residents of Poliçan will be open to the church and that the team can make good contacts and that doors will be opened to revive the local church.