Albania Winter 2000

February 12

Jerry (part of the farmer team), Jenny (you all know her as Bug), Meggie (Sower Team member), and I stood as a group at a point on the mountain road with a great vista. Two miles to the elevations. Beyond the river rose another steep granite and slate edifice painted gray from the rock, charmed by the sun; the very picture of God's creation. Below us lay the houses of our visits.  
   The view being completed, we walked down a twisting path, our steps channeled between broken fences and a slick muddy aisle. The houses confirmed the traditions of the ancients. Darshen is a village with a record of antiquity, marked by season upon season and family upon family each etching its past and shaping its future.    
     One house we visited was the home of Fatmira, a lady with honest character. She had great generosity and kindness yet with a somewhat warn and used look! Her name in Albanian means "to live with luck." Apparently she had not relied on her name's honor. With an unusual shyness she fumbled with a button as we introduced ourselves. Her 77 years had denied her of two things, her hearing (partial deafness) and any knowledge of Christ's love. The pictures shows Fatmira, in the white scarf, squatting in her Muslim style, outside her home. It also shows Bug and Meggie explaining the seeds we brought for her garden and the seed we brought for her heart. It took flawless diplomacy from Bug and Meggie both speaking loudly with specific words. I think she entertained the Gospel in her mind; she acknowledged it to be complete and universal, but then said, "This is only for men, not for women."  

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