A Day in the Life: ATL Albania Edition
Leading my first day of Ask the Lord ministry on International Women’s Day!
On March 8th, I had the privilege to lead our day for ministry. Sounds fun, right?! Well… it was, but it was also kind of daunting! We had only been in Shkoder for less than a week and I had never led a day of ministry. I asked the Lord to lead us in the ministry He wanted us to do. The day before, I had no plan except to meet with a pastor of the church associated with the coffee shop we had gone to almost every day already, as well as I wanted to write notes and pass them out to strangers with flowers. The day came and I realized it was International Women’s Day, (as well as Mother’s Day here in Albania.) The Lord led us on a sweet day filled with so many pleasant surprises! Read about our day below!
7:00 am
Time to wake up and get ready for the day. I showered, read my Bible, and did some stretching and yoga.
9:00 am
My teammate, Mak, and I walked to our FAV coffee shop, UP Social Coffee, where we got a discount on our coffee and breakfast paninis, because of Women’s Day. We had our individual Bible reading and devotionals, then talked about a Bible plan we did on 1 John.
10:00 am
The rest of my team joins us at UP, and we meet with the pastor, Claud, and the youth pastor, his brother, Stefan, who take us on a 15 min walk to the church.
10:30 am
We walked into the church and meet the pastor’s wife, Alketa, who is making flower crowns with bright yellow flowers!
11:00 am
Claud shows us around the small church and upstairs living area, where they have a kitchen, dorm rooms, living spaces, and rooms for their women’s sewing club. During the tour, we are introduced to the events and programs that their church has and their values and missions, including an event for people who have disabilities scheduled for the next week, (which we ended up going to, so fun!)
Soon, our tour is over, and we are invited to stay and help finish the flower crowns that we found out were being made for a Women’s event that evening! My team and I looked at each other and then at me, as it was my day to lead. I think/pray quickly to ask the Lord if that’s what He intended for us to do. I didn’t hear anything specifically, but felt a peace about staying. I say, “Yes, we’d love to stay and help!”
11:30 am
So we head back downstairs, and join Alketa, where she teaches us all to weave the flower stems into the wire crown and tie it off with a green ribbon. At first, we struggle but it doesn’t take long to get in a rhythm of weaving. Suddenly, a Korean man and woman walk in the church doors, and exclaim in much joy at seeing us! The woman (who we learn are missionaries in Albania, and who goes by Mary, and is married to the man, John) is overjoyed to see us and receive the help we gave, continually calling us angels sent by God! They were worried that they wouldn’t be able to finish everything before the event.
12:00 pm
As we’re finishing making the crowns, Claud invites us to stay for lunch, as they are ordering pizza for everyone, and to stay for the event later that evening! Grateful and excited, we accept! Then they also ask if our team is musical at all, HERE’S THE THING… every one of us play an instrument and/or sing! So, my teammates, Travis, Elizabeth and Matthew, practice a few songs to sing while Mak, Paula and I continue to set up tables for refreshments, make more flower bouquets and other decorations.
1:30 pm
LUNCH HAS ARRIVED! The pastor, his wife, their two kids, the two Korean missionaries, and my team of six make our way upstairs with the pizzas and cokes. (SIDE NOTE: I never drink pop in the States, but something about pop in other countries is different: so refreshing, must be the real sugar).
2:00 pm
The pastor then makes us coffee and offers chocolate cake and says he has some things to do before the event at 5pm, so he gives us the keys to the church and invites us to stay if we want to. Some of my teammates go to do some work in town, and Elizabeth and I stay and do some work there, writing blogs and treasury things.
4:45 pm
I get a call from Travis and Matthew to open the door to let them in. I run down and there Travis hands me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Matthew is holding three more for Elizabeth, Mak, and Paula! We are so blessed to have such kind men on our team and as brothers in Christ. They show such a good example of how to treat women well, especially in a country that is highly Islamic populated.
5:00 pm
Women from the church and community start pouring into the church, where they are greeted by a smiling Mary and crowned with the flowers. Mak and I offer refreshments to the women, and we smile and greet them as much as we can with our limited Albanian and their limited English. Most of the event is spoken in Albanian, but they play some games, share a message of being crowned in glory and being a daughter of the King of Kings, my teammates play worship songs, the daughter of the pastor sings a song, and just fellowship together celebrating the women of the community. It was such a sweet evening, filled with so much joy!
6:45 pm
The event is over, Mak, Paula and I play “soccer/volleyball” with a balloon and the pastor’s son, then help clean up the church, but before we say goodbye to our new friends, they insist we take some of the oranges and cookies and chips. Then we all had back to our Airbnb.
8:45 pm
Dinner is cooked by Paula and Matthew, a beautiful spread of a homemade build-your-own ramen! And we end the night with team time and feedback.
10:00 pm
Time for bed, thankful for a day filled with joy and laughter and ready to rest for the next day!
I am constantly being blown away by the way the Lord provides for us, but also SO thankful for the interruptibility and spontaneity that my team does so well. Trusting me in hearing from the Lord what He has for us, and going along with making flower crowns, even the guys, (who did an amazing job!), and also stepping up to sing worship songs just a few hours later. It’s been a sweet journey these past few weeks to learn to rely on and actually ask God daily, even hourly, to reveal what He has for us for the day. Oftentimes I find myself worrying about what the day will hold, if there is going to be “something” to do, and the Lord provides every time. So every day is a continued lesson in learning to completely trust and give control over to Him.
I pray this in an encouragement to you as you go throughout your day, to give control to Him about what your day holds. Even in your plans for the day, ask Him how you can serve through it. 🙂
Much love to you,
Clara Grace
Some photos from our day!
