New country; new ministry! Hello Albania 🙂
“If you want to get warm, you must stand near the fire. If you want to be wet, you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.” C. S. Lewis
Where can we find those? The Bible. To get into those things, you have to get into the Word, where the words that have come directly from God, who possesses all those characteristics. I’ve been in a slow but sweet process of growing into WANTING to read my Bible. To be completely honest, when I was younger and even for parts of college, I didn’t want to read my Bible. I found it boring or felt like I had read it before so didn’t think I needed to read it again. But the past year, I have found so much joy in reading my Bible. It’s like I’m reading it with a new lens. I’m hungry for it. Every time I open my Bible, I learn something new, even if it was from a passage I’ve read a hundred times. The Bible is our sword, it helps us in our daily life. It’s alive, ready to be used in any situation.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6
The sunset view from the top of the mountain.
The past two weeks, our squad has been located in a small town called Krujë, at the base of the mountains in Albania. In the distance you can see the Adriatic Sea and the coastal city of Durrës, in another direction, the capital city of Tirana, and at night all the city lights shine and twinkle. The mountains to the northeast loom over us, a bit intimidating but nonetheless, I made my way up several times. There I had some my favorite conversations with God and my squadmates. Being up there and looking out over the whole city is incredible, but as you come back down off the mountain and you can see the people’s smiles, the stray dogs that wanted to be pet, the colorful rugs and scarves that hang waiting to be sold, the hard working people, etc.
Every day as we walked past the little shops in the bazaar, we were greeted with smiles and “come inside and look.” Most of the time, I’d say, “No, thank you.” Sometimes they’d ask if I was Deutsch (German) and I’d say, “Nein danke.” Haha. But sometimes I’d stop and look for a minute. Some of my teammates got to share the Gospel with them and throughout the weeks, they came to know us. Last night as I walked by, a woman said, “Tomorrow you go?” And waved goodbye. It’s sweet to know we made a little impact on the people here but will they know how much they made an impact on me?
It’s amazing, the faint hope I can see in the eyes of the people here in Albania, even when they’re not filled with the Holy Spirit. But they’re hungry, looking for something. It’s our mission to show them the hope and joy of the Lord, to fill them with the Bread of Life that will never let them hunger again.
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” John 6:35
Of the two weeks, we spent the first in debrief, which looked like spending time in team meetings, one on ones with our squad leaders, Allie and Lindsey; our mentor, Brandon; and our coaches, AJ and Jenn Hebert, giving ourselves time to rest and spend time with God, and worship and pray together as a squad. The second week was an extension of training, led by our mentor, Brandon. We dove into the scriptures on tough subjects and questions, like why is the Word of God truth, the Holy Spirit and listening to God’s voice, spiritual warfare, and different worldviews, as well as preparing for our ATL (ask the Lord) these next few weeks. ATL has been a learning practice, to listen for God’s voice and guidance to where and how he wants us to serve. Even though these last two weeks were for debriefing and resting, there are always opportunities to share the Gospel and the need for it. There’s a common saying coined by the World Race, “Ministry is life; life is ministry.” The goal is to go about your day while being interruptible and always seeking opportunities to love others and share the Gospel. Living life in ministry with no separation is always the goal.
I wrote in my last blog that our squad has split up into our smaller teams and traveled to different areas of Albania. We spent the last week praying and listening for where God wanted us to serve the next two-ish weeks. My team ended up in Shkodër, Albania, which is in the very northwestern corner near the border of Albania and Montenegro. We have already been connecting with some different ministry opportunities here, including a local Christian-owned coffee shop, a local church, and just meeting locals to start building relationships with. I’m excited for these coming 15 days here in Shkodër, before we move on to another area in Albania, where we will spend about 3 weeks with a host, more on that when I learn more. Talk to you later!
May God bless you! Love, Clara Grace
