I am now in the beautiful country of Albania! I have been here for several weeks. The first place my squad stayed at was incredible! After our 14 hour bus ride, we got to the beautiful mountain town of Kruje and stayed in a hotel right next to a castle! The view was spectacular and we could see much of Albania including the Adriatic Sea with snow capped mountains standing tall on the sea. I felt like a king as we stayed there for 2 weeks. The first week we had debrief, where we relaxed after working hard with ministry in Romania. The second week was training to get sent out into Albania! Training week consisted of a lot of great teachings from our mentor Brandon and our other leaders. They were preparing us and teaching us how we can put on the armor of God so we can stand firm in the faith, not let the enemy prevent us from spreading the gospel and how we can tell people about Jesus boldly. Knowing that I am loved by Jesus and can never be snatched away from God was also important to hear.
John 10:27-30
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
It is ATL (ask the Lord) month, which means we do our own ministry wherever we want within our teams and without a host. I am now with my team BANJO in a beach town called Vlore! We have been here for over a week.
The place we stayed for 2 weeks in Kruje!
I did an amazing hike with my amazing friends and we watched the sunset! God be the glory for how beautiful the scenery was! This is my friend and fellow brother in Christ, Travis.
God is the best artist!
My team and I arriving in Vlore!
Vlore is a beautiful beach city and we have enjoyed our time here but ministry has been challenging. We are struggling to make connections but we are still trying to spread the gospel to people all the same. One of the reasons it’s been challenging is because the Albanian culture is predomantly Muslim but it’s only cultural so intermarrying is common with other religions. In other words, the people here are lukewarm.
Though it’s been difficult making connections with people, we made one friend. As my team and I were on a bus on our way to Vlore, my team leader Heidi, sat next to a Muslim man, *Ali, who is 18 years old. She got his contact information and she and Brian(my teammate) hanged out with him a couple of days after our arrival. Then he invited and the whole team and me to his favorite place in all of Vlore which was a beach that was breathtakingly beautiful. We hanged out on the beach eating lunch and admiring the sea and the snow capped mountains in the distance. We talked for a long time going back and forth asking him questions and him asking us questions. His last question was,”When was the moment you decided to follow the Lord and go on this trip? So we all got to tell him about Jesus and give him our testimonies. It was incredible how God swung the door wide open for us to tell him the gospel! After we told him the gospel and said that we couldn’t save ourselves and earn our way to heaven but Jesus saved us, I asked him if he wanted to know Jesus the way we know Jesus. Ali said he was open to know more and that he would remember us for a longtime and tell his grandchildren about us. We had an awesome time with Ali on the beach and even played soccer with him. The Holy Spirit was truly at work and I praise God we got to befriend him!
Prayer requests: Pray for Ali that he would remain open to Jesus and come to salvation. Also, that we can keep in touch with him after he goes back to college in Tirana next week and he would get to know Jesus more and more. Pray that my team would love and serve each other and the unbelievers well. Pray that I would be able to focus on Jesus and not my problems. Pray that I would keep the armor of God on at all times because the enemy has been trying to trip me up. Pray that I would find my rest in God and keep fighting even when some days are tough. Finally, pray that we would keep preaching God’s word boldly and make more connections.
