Albania Trip Recap

A few months ago, this trip wasn't on my radar, but when I heard its purpose, I couldn't imagine NOT going!  What an investment it could be in our future in Vlashaj!  Nine days without Nathan and the children gave me lots of time to think, however our time was short and I had limited access to internet, so I wasn't able to blog my thoughts at the time. Now I'm home and jet lag has given me some quiet early morning hours to share some of those thoughts here...

The trip started out with an unexpected 24 hour layover in Chicago ... that led to meeting a beautiful woman.

We had a very busy first day in Albania, frantically assembling everything from storage that we would need in the village, purchased produce at the market, and stopped at QTU for everything else for the eight ladies who would join us for the next week.  The lights went out twice, but eventually we had bedding on ten beds (by "on", we really mean that we had a stack of bedding on each bed) and fires in the stoves and were off to the airport to welcome our guests at 7:30pm.

view to the east of Maminas, Vlashaj and Marikaj and the autostrada to Tirana

I met Sue (far right) eight years ago when Nathan and I attended the first Global Impact Celebration at The Family Church.  It was a joy to get to know her better this past week.  I so appreciated her wisdom and maturity as a team leader.  She started the week with an excellent devotional message, walking through the book of Nehemiah, giving context to our theme verse from Nehemiah 8, "...the joy of the Lord is our strength."

One of the aspects to the trip that appealed to me most was the fact that we would be visiting homes of as many attendees as possible prior to the retreat.  I couldn't imagine a better way to get to know the ladies of the community than to see where they lived and learn about their families.  I loved how this woman below, though not a participant in any of the programs at the Center, saw us admiring her daffodils as we passed by and picked several for us.

At one of the homes we visited, our hostess was so sweet to tell me that when we move to the village, she will send her daughters over to meet me when they are in town to see her so that I can make some friends my age.  How sweet was that?

The Wednesday night women's meeting met around the ping pong table.  Shpresa shared that many of the ladies have seemed content to come and hear teaching from her, but she's struggling to encourage them in their own personal study and growth in between meetings. We shared that some issues are universal...

Two ladies on the team are skilled nurses (Sue is a nurse practioner).  They solicited several donations of medical supplies and delivered them to Mira, the village nurse, at the clinic a few doors down the street.  Sue was particularly excited to deliver an otoscope. This will be a much-used tool!  I love how God uses our talents and gifts and the generosity of others to meet practical needs and tangibly show love.

Eda, Sue, Mira, Emma, and Karen

Communication to and from Albania has changed dramatically over the course of the last 20 years!  My freshman year of college (and a few years beyond), I would hear from mom and dad every few weeks via fax machine (not even phone).  Eventually we moved up to prepaid cards for 8-minute phone chats now and then .... after spending 5-minutes typing in the 32-digit PIN, at least a couple of times, until you got it right. :-)

While we didn't have internet in Vlashaj this trip, wherever we went that had wifi, several women on the team whipped out their iPhones and within seconds could Facetime with family!  No clunky desktop computer, restricted to one place, no bulky headset and microphone, no waiting to catch a loved one at home... Yes, we will appreciate much easier communication with "home" when we settle there.

It was a special treat to connect with my friend, Kerri! She took the bus in from Elbasan to meet me for lunch on Tuesday.  I appreciate having a friend who's been-there-done-that in missions!  She has so much wisdom and experience and a generous heart!  We are blessed to call her friend!

The day we were stranded in Chicago an e-mail arrived on my phone from B.  She and her husband had just gotten custody of their son, G, from the Vlore orphanage that Ellie called home until she was ours.  How do we get him to drink?  How do we get him to chew and swallow food? I fought tears as I recalled our early struggles in dealing with Ellie's institutional behaviors and delays.  I was also reminded again that what she endured wasn't just something I have manufactured in my imagination, that's been exaggerated as time and distance have increased.  Oh how my heart hurts that children still endure those conditions.  (And it doesn't sound like a thing has changed).

On Tuesday evening I was able to meet B's family in person!  The Bethany house parents, Bob and Cathy Watanabe, hosted us for dinner and we were able to chat about our mutual experiences.  This is the first family I've known in six years to have adopted a child from this orphanage!  How sweet was it that we overlapped in Albania?  Given that they live on the west coast, I don't know that our paths would have ever crossed anywhere else!  I look forward to seeing how G flourishes in the safe and loving arms of a family!

At the last possible moment, my youngest sister Hannah was able to join us on this trip.  For Hannah, it's been at least four years since she's been to Albania.  It was a joy to see her visit places and get reacquainted with old friends.

It's given that our weak American stomachs can't handle the tap water in the village (or the city, for that matter).  Nathan has been talking for months about our need to find a water filtration system to save us the money of buying all of our drinking water.  Low and behold, Sue (a frequent traveler to Haiti) brought a filtration system for the team that she had used on a previous missions trip and donated it to our family!  Hurray!  Jenna demonstrates it below!

Whenever Mom and Dad host a team, they take them to an historical site in Durres rich with meaning for those of us who follow Christ.  It really puts a lot of things into perspective, especially at the beginning of a missions trip. Lest I spoil the surprise for those of you who plan to visit us, I'll just share a few snapshots below... :-)

What a fantastic group of ladies!  I'm so glad to now call them friends!  What a privilege it us for us when others take the time out of their lives to come and serve and leave a piece of their hearts in Albania.  We love and appreciate you, women of TFC!

Finally, it was a rich blessing to once again visit Albania with my mom and dad, and see how much they are dearly loved by those whom they've been called to serve.  Nathan and I are stepping onto a strong foundation, laid by their years of work and sacrifice.  Many doors are open to us because of their testimony.  Whenever I sense fear rise up, I'm reminded that we are not breaking completely new ground.  The hard top soil has been broken up, and seeds have already been planted. Thank you, Mom and Dad!  Thank you, Lord!