Road Trip

Saturday morning, I'm leaving (with 12 other people from the church) on a mission trip to Kosova (aka Kosovo). We'll be gone one week, helping with a children's carnival/crusade. Believe it or not (note ironic tone), I don't know many details about what we'll be doing. I think a team of 50+ North Americans are traveling around Europe, hosting these carnivals. But come what may, it's sure to be an experience...

An Eastern European road trip... let the adventure begin!

This week in photos

We swam in the sea twice last week, once here, where the water was... less than clean.

My big (literally) brothers

Jane's weekly violin lesson... she's learning Song of the Wind (her third song!)

Michael's piano recital was last night... the room was amazing, with huge windows overlooking the sea

We played one song together, a polka


Me and Jane


Then to celebrate, we went down by the sea to eat dinner

King Zog's castle from below

Fruit Market

My week in photos...

I don't think I'll ever get tired of photographing the sea...

Absolutely normal chaos after the final seminar on Saturday

Chocolate banana crepes... Jane and her cousin, Iris (pronounced Earus)

The team from Kosova and Britain

Pastor Dreton, from Kosova, was the recipient of a Bible sponsored by my home Sunday School class. He became a Christian right before the war, and he was one of four Christians in his town at that time. For four years, he didn't have a Bible, only a tract that he kept under his pillow. Needless to say he greatly appreciated the gift of a new Shqip study Bible.

My tomato skin: we spent six hours at the beach on Saturday, and I was in the water most of that time. Thank goodness for vinegar! (Notice the white strip where my long ponytail shielded my back. :)

David getting a back massage from Michael

Prayer Request

As some of you know, Jane and Michael's dad, the pastor here and leader of many church ministries, has been having health issues since I arrived. This week, he found out that one of the arteries in his heart is blocked. If he had a procedure done in Albania, it would cost over 3000 Euros, so yesterday he flew to Canada, where health care is you-know-what.

He will be gone until the end of July; please pray for the family, church, and missionaries here this summer, that we will carry on well. He is the glue that keeps things together, so we will need all of your prayers! But the positive side is that his absence will give several nationals the chance to step up. There is a weakness among some commander-style leaders, the inability to let go... and since one of the pillars of leadership is empowerment... this absence could bear good fruit.

We know that all things work together for good, to them that love the Lord, and are called according to His purpose.

There are three extra guests in the apartment this week... a pastor and teenager from Kosovo, and a British pastor. They're leading a three day seminar on discipleship. The Kosovar pastor is a joke teller. So I have a joke for you.

Did you know that Paul's father was crucified?

The Bible says so, in Romans 6.

His old man was crucified.

World Cup kicks off today (fyi)

Europe's Superbowl.

I'm expecting a late, loud night in Durres, with all the cafes and sports bars overflowing into the streets.

King Zog's Castle

We visited the ruins of Zog's Castle, king of Albania from 1928 to 1939, and supposedly a descendant of Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero. The Royal family fled Albania when Mussolini's Italy invaded at the beginning of WWII. Zog hoarded gold coins and precious stones, and legends still circulate of treasure hidden in the abandoned rooms. The floors were pulled up in most places, and slabs of marble balustrades missing from the main staircase.

Me, the kids' mother, Rudina, two motorcyclists from North America, an Albanian from the church, a visiting Kosovar, and Nathan

Beautiful sunset over Durres, as seen from the king's balcony

Sitting in a window overlooking the sea...

At the Plazh!

Saturday the youth group spent the day at the beach! I swam in the Adriatic Sea! ...floated in salt water, got my toe pinched by a crab, and was generally awed by nature and the fact that I was having a Mediterranean holiday.

Me and Leddy, the girl who got the Bible

Friday in Tirana

David, Nathan, Bruna and I visited the new building of a church led by friends of David's. It's in a beautiful apartment, and I spent the morning taking photos of the neighborhood and balcony. Several of the shots are inspired by my friend Holly, who has the most amazing eye for photography.

Then we walked about Tirana for a while, had Nescafe (iced coffee) at a cafe, and caught a van home.

Bruna and Nathan

Near the football stadium

June 1st is an official holiday here: Children's Day. The kindergartners from upstairs put on a program for their families, complete with singing, memorized lines, and a fashion promenade. We three Americans judged Miss Smile, Miss Cutie, Miss Photogenic, etc. Phew! That was a job!

There was also waltzing. To loud strains of Strauss.

The bunker outside our building, a remnant of Albania's not-so-distant communist past. In the neighborhoods around us, they've been demolishing the bunkers, and laying asphalt. As I watched the backhoes work, the cement crumble, it felt very symbolic. Yet, as Jane and Michael's mother said, there are so many memories attached to the bunkers. Racing up the slanted old entrances (see LA18), dropping money down the vents... it's a part of her neighborhood.