Albania Day 8 : Work projects and a third home visit

Our second work day. Aaron and Nathan finished the second half of the gate at the center. Meanwhile, Jen and the kids finished assembling the metal shelving  and organizing the storage underneath the house.

While Aaron and Nathan finished the top of the gate (too high for the kiddos) Tobin and Andrew resumed their week-long nerf gun fire fight with Reni. 

Rachel and Ellie had more time to tell each other stories. Jen, Cora and Haley helped Cydil photograph and enter data on the computer for a project she is working on.

The afternoon provided an opportunity for one more house visit.  Here we are with the Koni family.  This family was the first in the village to believe in Christ. Their daughter Eda is very fluent in English and was extremely helpful in translating for us especially while we were hanging out with the youth in the village. We were able to spend a lot of time with Eda throughout our time in Albania.  We really enjoyed her fun, loving personality and her commitment to the ministry there in her village.

During our visit we were able to encourage one another with stories of all that God had done in our lives.  Even the kids shared testimonies of seeing God's healing power.

(You can see the bond that was formed between Rachel and Ellie in this photo.  They were attached at the hip.)

From here we headed back to the center for another round of open court volley ball and four square.  We finished the night packing up for our departure late the following evening.



Albania Day 7 : Hot chocolate, castles, slouvaki and an orphanage

Today was a busy day. First we had the opportunity to visit an orphanage.  We brought a foam turtle craft for each of the kids to make. There were about 10 kids around preschool age.  Then we spent a little time playing games with them like "Duck,Duck, Chicken" (Cydil did not know the Albanian word for "Goose"). What a joy to see our kids helping these little ones with making a craft.  The orphanage children were so at ease with our kids.  Our kids started picking them up, giving them piggy back rides and teaching them to summersault.  The smiles on both our kids and the orphanage kids were so amazing to see. We are so thankful for the opportunity. (Sorry, we cannot post any pictures of our time there.)

  

Afterwards we met with some other missionaries in Elbasan.  We met at a fortress for cappuccinos and sodas. 

Here in Elbasan is another section of the Rruga Egnatia.  It was so crazy to think that we were walking on the same road as Paul and other missionaries in the Bible.

For lunch one of the missionary friends, Julie, brought us to eat slouvaki with the Waggoners.  It's kind of like eating a gyro stuffed with shredded meat, lettuce, tomato, and special yummy sauce. They stuff French fries in it as well.  You can see the pictures of Rachel and Andrew eating them.  Side note: We were able to find a similar food the day we spent in Rome and we all were so excited.

Soon after lunch we drove to another fortress called Petrella.  This is the fortress that Scanderbeg's sister was in charge of.  Most of the castles/fortresses are rented by restaurants, so they do not cost anything to visit.  We just bought cappuccinos for the adults and hot chocolates for the kids as a thank you.  Here is a picture of the hot chocolate we wrote about earlier, nice and thick and delicious!

We enjoyed time with the Waggoners seeing the beautiful mountains of Albania.  This is such a beautiful country!!!

We drove home and immediately Cydil and Jen got things ready for an evening bible study with the ladies of the village.  Jen spoke on how God delivered her from so much anger and how spending time in God's Word is essential for growth in the life of every believer. The ladies were surprised, but encouraged to know that we all deal with the same things despite where we are from. As Jen finished our interpreter signaled for Jen to continue. The ladies wanted more encouragement, so she began to tell the story about our adoption of Andrew and his healing of hydrocephalus.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship!

Albania Day 6 : Kruje

We took the day to do some sight seeing and learn more of Albania's history. We drove to the mountain city of Kruje, which was an amazing ride of switch backs going up into the city. The Waggoners brought us to an Ottoman style house at the top of the mountain. It was a "living history" type museum. This was especialy perfect for our kids.  They love exploring "olden day" houses.

Located next to the Ottoman house was the Skenderbeg museum and the ruins of his   watchtower fortress. We were told that Skenderbeg would pray with his generals in the cathedral here before going into battle.

We finished our time in Kruje souvenir shopping in the centuries old bazaar.  There was a gentleman in one of the shops who makes wool slippers by felting.  He was willing to demonstrate this for us in his shop.  It is a fascinating process that takes a lot of time and skill.

There was a woman in another shop who took the time to show our girls how to make a rug.  She weaves these beautiful rugs on this giant loom and creates such beautiful patterns.  Of course we had to buy a small one made in traditional color and design!

Albania is a beautiful country. We were in awe every turn we went around. They have a rich culture and are very hospitable people.

We made it back in time for the village boys to have some playtime in the courtyard.

Later Jen went for a walk with some of the village kids, and with her usual charm, spent the time asking lots of questions about their lives and the traditions in Vlashaj.

Meanwhile Aaron joined Nathan for the men's bible study. He was able to share his testimony of how God had set him free from unforgiveness.

We closed the day keeping our hosts up too late.  There was lots of silly laughter before turning in for the night.

Albania Day 5 : Home visits and a girls' night

In the morning, we visited the homes of  two families that have both recently lost their grandfathers. As is the custom in the culture, we came with gifts for the families, and they offered us juice and candy.

The first woman we met with was a believer. She told us how when they sang "In your arms of love" she could literally feel the arms of Jesus around her. She shared how much it meant to her that her granddaughter too had received Christ. We were able to share with her how Andrew was healed from hydrocephaly. She gave us an Albanian soccer ball as a gift.

The 2nd visit was full of laughter. We shared stories from our lives and how we met our spouses. The women were particularly impressed with Jen for having birthed 4 kids naturally and especially for having Tobin at home. We had the opportunity to pray a blessing over both families. 

After lunch, the girls began
preparing for the young ladies night at the center. Our family brought treasure boxes, as well as plenty of gems and sequins for each of the young ladies to decorate. Inside each box we had printed off the lost coin scripture in the Albanian language. 

Our daughters prepared a devotional, and between the three Rachel was nominated to share on the parable of the lost coin. She spoke on how precious we are to God, and how He searched us out as well. We didn't realize until that evening, but some adult women in the village decided to come as well. Rachel didn't flinch, and shared with confidence all that God laid on their hearts.  

Two women from the village are hairdressers, so the young women put on makeup and had their hair done as well. Afterwards Cydil gave each one their own photo shoot. The young ladies in the village loved their special evening and even lingered for quite some time after.

During all the preparations, Nathan, Aaron and the boys opened the center for volleyball and 4-square with the village boys.  Before we closed the center for dinner, we gave them a new soccer ball that we had brought.   The boys thanked us so much for the it and played until dark.