Mission Possible Week 1 Korca

Mission Possible Week 1

Ministry in Korca, Albania

Along our 15 hour travel time to Albania, it was not without hurdles to overcome and sometimes we felt as though we were being bombarded with darts that hurt, but never penetrated. We flew from the U.S. to Germany, then from Germany to Thessalonica, Greece and then took a three-hour car ride to Korce, Albania.

We arrived safely, in Korce, Albania to the Muslim call for worship echoing the streets, and we realized that we weren't in Kansas anymore, and definitely in foreign lands. Although things may appear different to our virgin eyes, the people have been so welcoming. This past week we made many new friends, small and tall, that will remain in our hearts for a lifetime. It has been full-speed ahead with ministry in Korce. Our puppet shows have been high in demand, but we have also done anything from messages, testimonies, gospel illusion tricks, drama/mime, and sketch-board messages at several kids clubs, a youth rally, and a middle school program. We even had the wonderful opportunity to do a kids program at the Street Kids Shelter to gypsy kids. These kids are precious, some of which come from homes where they don't even know their birthdays. - CA

We are so thankful to each and everyone of our supporters that have help make this mission possible.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,”

‭‭Phil.‬ ‭1:3-5‬

Don't Travel With Teens

With seven teens a lot can happen within the first few hours of international travel. This time crazy things started happening after a number of minutes of reaching the airport. When they gave us our boarding passes Christian and Garrett had name mix ups. Shortly after, I lost my passport for a couple of minuets, and Meredith lost her phone. God has continued to be faithful and we were able to make our flight time and we're trusting Him to lead us throughout the rest of the trip.

Mrs. Adams also wanted me to share my application after our Philippians 2:6-8 group devotion. In verse 7, Paul talks about his chains and sharing the Gospel which reminded me of Philippians 4:11-12 where Paul talks about the circumstances he’s been in throughout his life. This reminded me of how we’re in a place where we don’t sleep in our normal bed and we’re constantly busy, but it’s worth it to share the Gospel no matter where we are. - Max

Beyond Words

It was our second day of Ministry and I didn’t expect too much to happen at the Kids Club. There is a language barrier that is hard to get around so communication is limited. I figured that we would do puppets, sit with the kids, and probably play some games. Boy was I wrong, well not completely. We did do puppets, sit with the kids, and play games, but in a way I didn’t expect. While I was helping to put up the puppet stage these little girls kept staring at me and smiling. Whenever I would smile back their smiles would just get bigger. A lady who spoke English came over to me to say hello and one of the girls said something to her. Apparently the girl said I was pretty and that I looked like a pop singer named “Dua Lipa”. After puppets were over I went to go sit down with girls and they immediately started staring at me. They all wanted to hold my hands, sit next to me, play with my hair, and my jewelry. It got so crazy that at one point they started fighting for me and the teacher came over to separate them. I don’t think I have gotten so much attention in my life. One of the little girls, Romina, got very attached to me. Even though we couldn’t speak to each other we just had this mental communication. We played some hand games that I hadn’t played since I was a child. I taught her some American games and she taught me some Albanian games. When we had to leave she kept hugging me and hugging me, she didn’t want to let me go. When we went to church the next day I walk up the stairs and the first person I see is Romina. As soon as she spots me her face lights up and she runs over to me yelling “Katie! Katie! Katie!” She hugged me so tight I thought she was going to stop my breathing. We got to sit next to each other during the service and when we were singing, she held my hands the entire time and she danced with me during the singing. She even started to imitate things I do like pushing up my glasses or running my hand through my hair. Even though it’s only during the first week I already feel like God was working in both my life and the children I’ve been working with. - Katie

Wonders of Unity

On Saturday, June 16th, we attended an Albanian youth group at the church we are partnering with. Before the program started it hit me that they would definitely not sing their songs in English. When this thought entered my mind I pictured myself sitting there awkwardly not singing and looking like I didn't want to participate. However, the first song they played was "This is Amazing Grace" by Phil Wickham. I know this song by heart so while they were singing in Albanian I jumped in with English. The result of this cross-lingual action was a harmonization between two completely different cultures and languages connecting in the Lord Jesus Christ through music. The atmosphere was incredible as I realized that even though our ability to communicate is very limited, we are all connected through Christ. My eyes are truly being opened on this trip to the diverseness of God's glorious church. All Christians everywhere, whether American or Albanian, whether Chinese or Latino, we are all ONE in Christ. Words cannot explain the feeling I get when I think about the kind of unity we will have in heaven!!! - Jonathan