The Wonderful Albanian Hospitality!

Turkish Coffee

After spending a 9 days in the small town of Poliçan I was a little reluctant to get back to the fast paced, big city of Tirana. During the time I spent in the village I was able to join with the team there in their outreach and ministry work. We had a busy schedule of visiting families and individuals in order to build relationships with them. The Albanian hospitality is amazing, the culture is strongly rooted in their traditions and they do it well. When you enter a home they greet you, then once you sit they greet you again. After you've sat they offer a drink of juice and a candy. Then you bless each other before you drink. Sometimes they offer you Turkish coffee, which is quite good! Then they also have cakes and sweets that they have prepared for your visit. One family had prepared so much for our visit. The families love to show pictures of weddings and the kids as babies. The Albanians are so interested in our lives and families as well. 

Children of one of ladies in the church

I was able to help the team with the meetings they had throughout the week. A womens group meets every Wednesday, so we were able to visit with some ladies in the morning and invite them to the meeting. Later in the week we chatted with some teenage girls in the street, they were very interested in my life and wanted to talk about boys and make up! Such enthusiasm!! We held a prayer meeting on Friday and then did a prayer walk on Saturday morning around the town and then up on a hill overlooking the whole town. 

Melissa

I was also able to bless the team by helping them bake for the meetings and prepare for them. But also they were hosting a meeting for all the women in Albania who work for their organization so I helped them bake goodies for the retreat. So hopefully that was a help! Its something I love to do so I will always volunteer!! 


I am slowly learning more words and understanding more Shqip, but it is slow. Some of the people I visited with were impressed by how much I could understand, but understanding and being able to speak it is completely different! 

Me, Nicole, and Helio at the Castle

One day the leader of the team in Poliçan and his wife invited me to go to Berat which is the next biggest town to visit the castle ruins there. The castle dates back to the 13th century and was inhabited by Illyrians. The castle is still the home of many citizens, when the castle was originally inhabited it was by Christians so there are many churches and only one mosque. Some of the paintings inside the churches were remarkable and ornate. It was a fun day and we were able to learn a little history in the process of enjoying the views! 

Me with the ruin

Inside of one of the churches

View of the mountains in the background

Now I am back in the big city, hopefully I can meet with some friends this week and get into swing of things here. I am still working in the office at AEP we are preparing for a week long conference at the end of the month so I am gathering supplies and organizing details for that. Hopefully I can get into the school this week and help out there. My birthday is on Sunday, so along with Easter I will be celebrating my birthday! 

Please be in prayer for the me as I work here. Pray that my eyes will be open to needs here and that my heart will be willing to serve. Also that opportunities arise for me to be useful. Pray for the country of Albania, elections are coming up at the beginning of May, pray that there is no chaos involved with it and that the new leadership is the right one for the cities. 

Thank you for reading!! Can't wait to tell you more!