Summer Events

June 11 -18 marked several remarkable events. One of which being, a series of ladies meetings. The ladies team from The Family Church of Gainesville, FL, planned a study of the book of Ruth to share with the women of Vlashi. Through a drama depicting the relationship of Naomi and Ruth and Boaz the story of redemption was illustrated to the village ladies. The response from the women was awesome. It was met with great enthusiasm.

Easter Celebration in Albania capital city of Tirana

Here are some great pictures of the Easter celebration that was held on Sunday. The evangelical organization sponsored the march with all of the city churches. It is a wonderful display to all of their country to show that Christianity is alive, well, and is here to stay. To put a face or should I say, a thousand faces to the Christian church tells the government that Albania is not only Muslim but Christian as well! Enjoy the story of photos.

It was a village visit day

Mandi and Xhina go to Darshen on Tuesdays. (FYI--a mountain village about an hours drive east of Tirana) Mandi took some great pictures of their home visit. The pictures speak for themselves. These girls do most of the work for the family since their Dad passed away 3 years ago. They are about 19 years old. In the picture of Migena washing clothes notice the pile of sticks behind her. They will be used to warm the pot for her hot water wash cycle. Mandi's wife, Xhina, is the one with the jacket wrapped around her waist.
Don't you just love the picture of the men playing dominos? Notice their glasses are empty.(for now) By the way, the picture was not taken after working hours....try 11:00 a.m.
The picture of the black pot is just what you think it is. They are making the Albanian adult beverage called raki (rocky).
This village is so authentic. The stone house is how they lived many years ago. Not too many things have changed in this village the last hundred years.

Children's Activities

We love to see the ministry center just humming with activity. Arjan sent some pictures of the youth during their special celebration on Friday. The girls and guys discipleship groups combined for a social time playing games and just getting together.

Ladies Night

Friday evening was ladies night in Vlashi. All of the ladies were invited to view the Mary Magdelene movie plus singing and folk dancing. Genti and Shpresa said ladies came for the evening that had never been in the center before. Hearts were encouraged and challenged. May God open these lives that have never understood the message of love for them. Genti and Shpresa were able to also distribute some items from World Vision.

Busy Days

It's been a busy time for us these past two weeks. David was in Albania with Joe Bachman for the first week of February buying cows for the heifer project for the explosion affected farmers in the village of Gerdec. There will be some pictures of this in the near future.
It has been our treat to have Arjan as our guest. This is his first visit to the States. He has been on a whirlwind trip to FL with us in the past 9 days where we were attending a missions conference. Here are some pictures of our work to present our "Albanian home" for the village day at the conference. It was a great day and we lost count of all of the Turkish coffee that Arjan made for our visitors....way over 100 cups!! Shpresa spent most of her time greeting visitors and also demonstrating Albanian folk dancing.

It's a Beauty Shop!!

I love the smile that comes to my mind when things happen that are unexpected! Djusha's beauty shop is one of those events. She just opened a week or so ago. Her shop just happens to be in the old house that we got possession of this fall. Our plans were to simply tear the old house down and start making plans for a new community center. This also happens to be where the kindergarten is meeting. It is wonderful that a greater purpose for something that we considered useless can be of service to others that have need. Djusha knows that it is just a temporary location but wanted to use it to get her business established. Djusha learned hair styling from classes in our girls' training center. We are also thrilled that she has realized her need for a savior. This is what it is all about.