Albania Trip Review

This is Krishnik who drove the STL van and served a an interpreter for our team. Krishnik's sense of humor was never ending and our team grew of love him dearly. He is also a graduate from the Bible college and serves as Kurt Plagenhoef's assistant. Since he is unmarried, many of us on the team tried to marry him off to one our daughters or granddaughters! Krishnik and Juli were wonderful drivers in Albania.

Emrie with her children: Soko (her son), Sara and Sada (twin daughters) and Lela (who is not pictured) in front of their home, in which our team was invited for coffee on afternoon. A group of 8 from our team enjoyed this families gracious and generous hospitality. We heard their stories and prayed with them. Having Americans in your home is considered an honor, yet we were the ones who felt honored to receive such a blessing from their invitation!

The court yard at the Grumbilini complex was used many times for activities for the children. Our team also cleaned this court yard of garbage and debris. New families have moved in since our first visit to Albania, and some have not taken care to keep the area clean. Cleaning the area was a witness of God's love working through our Team to the Albanian people at Grumbilini.

On both Sunday's our team was at the Fushe Kruje church, several team members gave their testimonies and Pastor Bill brought the word. Pastor Albani interpreted for the church service. Pictured is Nancy sharing her beautiful testimony of God's grace in her life!

Albania Trip Review

Kurt, Stephanie, Joel, Sarah and Hannah Plagenhoef, our Assemble of God's missionaries to Albania for 16 years. A very dedicated family, wonderful people and servants of God. It has been a privilege to serve with them on the short term missions trip. Sarah and Hannah joined the team many times to serve as interpreters.

This red cabbage salad was a staple at our lunch table. Very delicious!

This is Bashkim's home where we had lunch everyday. The open porch was a beautiful setting for us as we ate and listened to testimonies. Bashkim and his wife Ava were wonderful host.

Julian was our driver / interpreter for the time were stayed in Albania. He used to be a police officer in Albania and now serves as a driver for World Vision International. His driving skills were both entertaining and appreciated! He also patiently answered many questions we asked about the Albanian culture. Juli is a wonderful Christian with a beautiful wife and daughter. He was a blessing and asset to our group!

This is Bashkim and Ava with their beautiful daughter, who was dedicated to the Lord in church on the first Sunday after we arrived. Their hospitality was so generous as they served the team lunch everyday in their home. Bashkim works very hard serving the people at the Grumbilini complex and evangelising the community. Both Bashkim and Ava shared their testimonies on two different days during our lunch time. It brought our team great joy and laughter as we heard each of their accounts of how God brought them together as man and wife. A beautiful love story!

Albania Trip Review

The children loved to color pages from coloring books. We taped some of these pages to the wall and attempted to get all the children to stand for a picture. Not so easy of a task! You see Pastor Albania here with the children. He was of great value to our team. He interpreted stories, directions for activities and new songs.

A group picture at Durres by the seashore, taken on our first Sunday in Albania after church and lunch. We could see Italy in the faint distance across the Adriatic Sea.

Here you see Pat Cook and Marilyn Joyner playing jump rope with the children at Grumbilini. The children loved this, and learned to take turns using the longer jump ropes. Even though it was hot outside, the temperature did not slow the children from jumping with all their might!

Karl Heiss, Marilyn Joyner, Doug Weber, Julian (our driver we called Juli), Larry Joyner sit for some refreshment in the shade. This one of our "days off" when we first arrived in Albania.

A group photo from the ruins of one of the ancient
coliseums. We understand that Christians were sometimes martyred here.

Sunday AM

Yesterday our team had the privilege of putting together 21 food baskets to give to families at Grumbilini. You could see the hope and gratitude on the faces of these families as they carried their baskets home. We included in each basket basic food staples, and gifts for the children.
A team also went to the current church facility and did a thorough cleaning inside and out. Some of the tean worked on repairing a leak on the roof of the Grumbilini complex. We spent most of our time engaging with the children; playing games, talking, hugging and laughing. We invited everyone to join us for church today.

Today the team has a full day planned. First church at Fushe Kruja, lunch at Bashkim's home, a trip to the mountain city of Kruja for a tour, back for dinner in Tirana, packing for our trip home and maybe a few hours of sleep. At church today we will hear testimonies from Sharon Wing, Pat Cook, Brandon Berry, and Rick Sentle. Pastor Bill will bring the message.

Everyday during our lunch at Bashkim's home, we enjoyed hearing a testimony from each of our drivers/interrupters; Juli, and Kisnik, Baskem and his wife, Ava; in which we hear the two different perspectives of how they met, thus their "love story". This brought many laughs and great joy to our group. Also, Doug Weber shared his testimony, Albani, the pastor of the new church in Frushe Kruja, as well as Goney from the Grumbilini complex. These testimonies were a highlight we looked forward to during our lunch time.

I wish I had the time and the words to express all God has done here. Our hearts are happy to return home, and very sad to leave these people who are now inside our hearts. I wish we could have both worlds together, but someday in Heaven we will enjoy the fellowship of all we have loved in this world. God is so good. He is good all the time!

Friday in Fushe Kruje

Friday was a good day in Fushe Kruje. Making some friends with the workers at the church construction site. Karl is training a new apprentice, Dennis one of the children from Grumbellimi with plenty of energy jumped at a chance to help. JoNell found plenty of opportunities to pray with people. Albani and his wife Elida are very excited about the progress on the church they will pastor. We did have a slight delay getting back to the Bible College for dinner. The road was blocked by cows and sheep, something we don't see every day back at home.

ALBANIA PHOTOS

Thursday pm

Here we are, almost to the end of our week and wondering where our days have gone. This has been a great day and we have watched as God has confirmed to us His wonderful love and favor we have found in Albania. One of our highlights today was going to the grade school where the children of Grumbellimi attend. We were welcomed by the children in the courtyard with shouts of "Do you speak English?" "Yes, we said do you?" They proceeded to talk with us in broken English but so excited to have Americans at their school. Pastor Bill was surrounded by young grade school girls and he was able to share with them in English and tell them about Jesus' love for us and for them. They have very open hearts and anxious to learn and use their new found language skills. We then were allowed to enter the school and look in their classrooms but then we were summoned to meet with the school Director and his assistant. They asked us to sit in their office and share with them why we were in Albania, asking each of our names and repeating them back to us. As we shared, they took it all in and then asked questions of us!! They both gave us an overview of their school system and how it functions in Albania. They were very appreciative of the work we are doing with the gypsy children and for our presence in their country. They even took us to a class in session, which by the way had one of our girls in the glass, Brasillda, and let us take a picture of her. The Director even wanted his picture taken with her!!! Pastor Bill got to show them on their world maps where we were from in Ohio. Considering that we were not allowed in the school 2 years ago, this is a big step for us with these people.

The rest of our day was again spent with the children, hugging, laughing, playing and loving them - a desperate need for these children. The church work site continues to show progress, and tomorrow will allow us to finish some of the rooms with the plaster walls completed. Much is yet to be done and God's timing will determine the finished product! Today was a breakthrough with the workers from Albania, allowing for our team to be accepted and not looked upon as interference with their work.

It is a privilege to be here and be used as Jesus' hands and feet, sharing His love and in turn being blessed beyond measure. Thank you Calvary family for supporting us and for praying for us. The needs are so great and these people are also God's children, as are we. Please continue to hold us up and pray that our final days with them will plant even more seeds that our next team will begin to water, awaiting the harvest. It has been a joy to meet with the children and friends again, and to see how they have grown in the Lord. We are thankful for the Plagenhoef family and their commitment to the Albania people. They are truly wonderful workers in the vineyard! It's time for me to sleep - one more hard days work ahead. Thank you again for loving the missions field and the peoples we support. See you soon.