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Greetings to all of
our friends and family. Instead of telling a story about a particular,
this update will be simply an account of what we’ve been up to. We will try
not to bore you with too many details.
This marks the third
week back in Albania from our Christmas time spent in Illinois with our
family. As usual, we brought with us the cold and rain. I think we have
seen the sun twice since we’ve been back. We woke up this morning to no
water—we suspected frozen pipes, again. Hopefully, if the sun shows up for
an hour or two today we will have water once again…that is if our pump gets
the water up to the fourth floor. It seems to get pressure locked and so we
must run down and run out some water so the pump will start up again. And
so it goes…
Anyway, we are so
very grateful for our woodstove and supply of wood to keep it going non-stop
even all night long. We don’t know what we would do without it.
Since the 24th of January, we have
had a special guest, Stephanie, that has joined us to help with the children
and the Bright Star team. This is her third trip to Albania. The first two
trips were in the summers of 03 and 04 when she was a member of the team
from Beacon Church. These teams did VBS programs in the village of Vlashi.
Now, Stephanie is working specifically with the Bright Star team to help
them design their weekly programs. We are very excited about her desire to
understand the language, culture, and people here in Albania. Most of all,
we are impressed with her willingness to serve and to show forth God's love.
She will be here until the end of February. Maybe her next trip will be for
a much longer stay.
Yesterday we wanted
to start getting the sewing machines in order so that our classes could get
organized for the girls in the village. We cut open the boxes, carefully
unloaded the contents only to discover no directions…not even a picture.
Help! We see a trip back to the open market on the other side of town to
take a picture of the machines they have set up to get an idea of how to
proceed. How long did you say it took to build Rome?
We are in early
stages of seeing what it would take to begin some classes for the girls in
the village. These will be along the lines of vocational training classes.
They will be intended for the girls that will not continue their education
into high school. Hopefully, it will give them a way to learn more skills and understanding of the world and God’s love for
them (hence, the sewing machines). Stay tuned to future details.
We are planning to
be here just a couple more weeks trying to get things in place for the
upcoming months’ activities. Our days are packed trying to make sure all
the needed management decisions are in place.
Our
Bright Star team is down in number at
this current time. Mersin and
Klara have moved on to other career
jobs. We sure miss their contributions that they have made throughout the
years. We are deeply grateful for all they have done for the ministry.
That leaves us with Arjan and
Eldina and
Mandi. We are doing fine for the time
being. It depends on how the Lord leads with more village involvement as to
whether or not we will need to add more team members.
We are excited for
the things that God is placing before us. Daily we never cease to be amazed
at the blessings that He gives to us. Thanks so much for all of your
prayers. They truly sustain us.
Blessings,
Sarah and David |
