Ministry in Shkoder, Albania!
Many of our Albanian friends we enjoyed getting to know and joined us at the youth events!
The past three weeks, my team and I partnered with Cornerstone Church in Shkoder, Albania. We were hosted by their pastor, Gusti and his wife, Ervisa, as well as two other couples that co-pastored with Gusti. The first day we arrived at their church for a prayer meeting, we were welcomed with open arms, many handshakes, and warm smiles. (It’s Albanian cultural etiquette to greet everyone when you enter a room and say goodbye when you leave, with hugs from female to female and handshakes from male to female.)
While we were partnering with the church, we attended and helped host many events and activities, including youth outreach, prayer meetings, children’s ministry, a picnic to the sea with the youth group, church services, and having coffee dates with youth, the pastor and his wife, and other members of the church.
But our main ministry was helping with a youth outreach program, around ages 14-22. We were asked to help with the youth outreach program that they had for two weeks, three days each week. The goal of the program was to bring more youth to their church, but they also wanted to invite the youth to an English camp during the summer, where they teach them English through sharing the gospel. The youth that came were split into three teams from the first night to “compete” against each other with a prize to win a free admission to the English camp. My team split to have two of us on each of the three Albanian teams. Each event was different with different activities and games to earn points for their teams. Our first event was an American themed night, hosted by my team. We played games (like Ninja, Jungle Speed, etc.), competed in a U.S. trivia Kahoot, taught the youth the Footloose line dance, and had s’mores over a bonfire. The rest of the events were playing soccer, playing ultimate frisbee, doing an around the city scavenger hunt, playing more games with a YWAM team, listening to testimonies from my team, competing the dance and taking an “exam” about what they learned about the Gospel.
It was an incredibly sweet time spending so much time with the same 20 or so youth. I got really close to several of them. Even though most of my new friends didn’t speak a lot of English, we could always talk through Google translate. One evening, while one of my teammates was giving his testimony, one of the Albanian boys, about 15 years old, wasn’t paying attention and was on his phone. (We already had a sweet bond from playing soccer and other games together and his girlfriend’s name was Klara). So, I pulled up Google translate on my own phone and asked him if he knew what was being said. He told me he didn’t understand, so I asked if He believed God was real. He looked at me and nodded. We proceeded to talk over Google translate. I shared parts of my testimony and the Gospel with him as he told me about his deceased father; growing up in an orphanage; his family, who adopted him; and believing in God and how God is always with us. It was a sweet sweet moment given to us by God. Earlier that day when my team was asked for two of us to share our testimonies, I was too scared to share. Yet, God had other plans for me to still have the opportunity to share how God has moved in my life, how God is our Father and how He consistently provides for us and is with us.
I’m continually blown away by the goodness of God and His never ending providence of opportunities to share His goodness and mercy. I loved my time in Shkoder, Albania! I will miss the people, my friends, always seeing people we knew on the streets or in different shops, the adventures my team had together, the growth in being bold to share His Gospel, etc.!
ALSO- The fundraising deadline is in two weeks, my fundraising goal is so close!! Please continue to pray for me and for God to provide the funds! Also you can share this with your friends, church, family, etc. 🙂 Thank you!! Ways to donate: On my blog: click the DONATE tab. You can directly donate to my fund or send in a check. It’s also tax-deductible. Venmo: my venmo is @clleverich.
Now, on to Kosovo!! Updates on our new country, mini debrief, team changes, and ministry this month will come soon!!
Love, Clara Grace
