Movie Time

It was movie time in the village last Friday evening. The outdoor screen was set up,chairs placed in the front court of the ministry center and everyone was invited to watch "The Chronicles of Narnia" in Albanian. It was a good crowd and there was great weather for all to enjoy themselves.

Getting Together

This past week there was a "football" competition between the village guys and the city guys. There is nothing better an Albanian boy enjoys more than a football match. So you can imagine that no one had to twist the arms of these players into getting together. Genti has been telling us how warm the weather has been this past month and therefore evenings of playing around would be great. For the record, the city boys beat the village boys by just a point or two. I don't think this will be the last time they have a match. Just as a note: for those of you who have never been to Albania, playing fields like the one in the picture are very popular. They are privately operated and teams rent them to play their games.

"Goodwill" village style

We received a shipment of clothes from the humanitarian aid center for the Albanian Christian churches. This doesn't happen very often because it is difficult to keep everyone satisfied and to hand out the goods fairly and also it takes a lot of time and work to put everything together. Shpresa, Fatmira and Lela bagged around 90 bags of clothing to hand out to the families in Vlashi. When the families came to receive their bag, they also were given a Bible. Our prayer is that the Bibles will be the treasure for the family and not the bag of clothes. May there be much fruit produced from this outreach to the village.

Three Days Left

It doesn't take many Americans to guess what happens in three days from now. Yes, Uncle Sam comes calling for his annual paycheck. Even though Planters is a non-for-profit organization, it must still file a government form-990. And so yesterday, we were at the bookkeepers getting the paperwork in order and making sure everything was in order for our report to be submitted. It is always such a relief to complete this project and to know that it is behind you for another year. Working with two and in some cases three currencies sometimes becomes a nightmare and trying to keep track of exchange rates through it all is a challenge. As Planters continues to grow and acquires more property overseas, this process is more and more valuable and the responsiblity becomes more grave. Being good stewards of what God has given to Planters is something we don't take lightly. Nevertheless, we continue to marvel at God's goodness and faithfulness to the ministry and for this we are so ever grateful and full of praise!

Easter Story

Genti and Shpresa, the directors of the girl's center in Vlashi, just sent us an email giving us an update of the events of Easter in Albania. There were 7 young teens from Vlashi that attended Easter services at Genti's church in Tirana. Mandi took them and brought them back to the village. Many thanks to Mandi for taking his time to serve in this way. Genti also mentioned that Olti is trying to find a teacher from the University that will be able to give him some additional English lessons to help him in preparing for his entrance exam that he will be taking this summer for the University. Pray for finding the right teacher and also for financing. Shpresa is preparing lessons for some Bible topics for the girls. Pray she will find guidance in using topics that are of great interest and that will meet the needs for the girls. The last weeks' lessons in English have been learning body parts. Notice the picture that illustrates their practicing.

What Happens Next

In case some of you were wondering, what do we do when we are not in Albania, here will be some news of what is done on a continual basis that is necessary for the work of Planters. One of the first things we really enjoy is putting all of our pictures in a useful format. That means to copy about 500 pictures on a DVD and have them ready to use for a future power point, newsletter, or any other media presentation. Besides, David needs to get his memory sticks cleaned off now that he is confident that his pictures are safely preserved.

Saying Goodbye

All of us have now packed our bags, made the journey over the blue sea of the Atlantic, and returned back to the schedule of normal life duties. We have so much to praise the Lord for all of his abundant blessings and answers to prayer. Although some of us have brought more back with us than we would have liked, namely coughs and running noses, our health was flawless and schedules were not interrupted. The planned events were more than successful with results exceeding our expectations. The time we spent with the workers, Mandi and Xhina, Genti and Shpresa, Arjan, Eldina, Klara, Mersin, Nori, and Lela was extremely rewarding. As usual, words can seldom express the feelings of leaving these dear ones behind to be on the front line of the dark battle. But now our role takes a course that stands invisible-- alongside. Through our prayers we join in with this dark battle supporting our commrades, lifting up their efforts. We must never forget the people whose souls depend on our prayers.