And He's Gone...

 As I type, Dad should be approaching Chicago...

His visit went by so quickly... from meetings to get Planters registration updated, to attending a language session with us on Thursday, and class with us on Friday followed by church in the village on Friday night... here's an assortment of photos from his visit.  And as a disclaimer, my mind is so fatigued, I have no business blogging...

Friday night church in Vlashaj

Jetlag kept him from staying up through 'youth group' afterwards but we pressed on (what's youth group without teaching kids lessons on faith without exercises like 'trust falls'?)

And when the big kids couldn't get over their fear, a certain 8 year old volunteered herself before we could say "you're too young for youth group!" 

She looks a little too much like a crowd surfer to me here...

Then we needed handkerchiefs for another activity, but all Nathan could find at Jumbo were these lovely leopard sleeping masks in the Valentine's seasonal section...

Dad tried to see as many friends as he could in the short period of time he had... I was a lousy journalist, but here he is with the Konis...

Sunday we had fun hosting Fredi for lunch after church.  Ellie thinks 1.) that everyone should find her bird adorable and 2.) this pose is irresistably charming and begs me to take her photo like this with her bird all the time.  Warning: if you come visit us, you may be expected to hold the bird and proffer generous compliments on his beauty and intelligence.  Fredi was a good sport, as you can see.

Monday while the rest of us went to school, Dad was blessed with a rare day of sunshine for his trip over the mountain to Darshen.  

I won't steal his photos with cute babies in case he plans to use those somewhere else... thanks, Mandi, for being journalist!  You did well!

And with that it was time for him to leave!

We have this tradition that started around the time I was leaving for college.  Before one of us would leave to go back to Asbury, then later, back to wherever was home away from Mom and Dad, we took photos in the driveway with Dad.

Here's my photo with Dad as he leaves.

See that giant tear-shaped water stain on the side of the building over my head?  I wish I could say that's from the tears we shed saying goodbye.  That's actually our upstairs neighbor's bathroom leak.  We discovered a few weeks ago that we had evidence of water damage on our bathroom ceiling and on the kids' bedroom wall.  Given how long it takes to get problems addressed here, I'm not looking forward to seeing how long it takes to get this resolved...

And before we knew it, he was off!  We told the kids to say goodbye, but after school, they were asking if he was joining us for supper.  I think it was short, even for them!

mirupafshim!

P.S.  THANK YOU to everyone who bought a scarf or shared about the sale.  We sold every single scarf but one!  WOW!

Keep warm!

We heard it's cold in America and I promised last month to make available to our friends in America some of the scarves knitted by our friends in the village.  My Dad is here until Tuesday morning!  If you would like a scarf for yourself, check out our remaining inventory here:

http://villageknitsalbania.blogspot.com/

I shared this link last night on Facebook and over half of the remaining scarves have been spoken for and taken off the site, but  a few remain.  After shipping and paypal fees, 100% goes to the knitters.  

And on Friday I will have the unmerited blessing of walking up to them, putting one arm around their shoulders and with the other slipping some crisp cash in their pockets.  A pretty, pretty cool part of my 'job' that I wish you could see.

Anything sold through Monday, Dad can take back to the States and ship to you!

Please accept a big, big thank you to those who have purchased these scarves! 

And just to plant a little seed in your head... we have some visitors coming to visit us in March.  If you would like to donate some yarn that maybe you bought with good intentions (but secretly you know you won't ever get to it), please let me know and I can tell you where to mail it.  They will have lots of luggage space to bring it over to us.  We prefer more 'wintery' colors like black, brown, charcoal, oatmeal, navy, cream, wine, etc... as those tend to be preferred colors for matching winter coats and such.  Good yarn is difficult, if not impossible to find here.  I know some women who would be grateful!

I've created a board on Pinterest so you can see nearly all of their creations.  If a style strikes your fancy, let me know, and we may be able to arrange a 'special order'. http://www.pinterest.com/cydil/knitted-scarves-village-ladies-creations/

Look who's here!

We have him for five days so we're soaking up every minute!  Here's a few photos from last night (pretty much straight off the plane)!

Company!

We've been counting down the sleeps!  When we woke up a short while ago his plane was getting close to it's second-to-last descent.

In Ellie's words, "I get to bring my bird to school and Gjyshe is coming today!  I think I'm going to faint!"

Weekend Re-Cap

We are back in our routine and it feels good. 

Friday night we were back at Vlashaj. While Nathan was sharing out in the living room with a packed house of youth, the kids were back in one of the sleeping rooms with their friend Elio.  Yes, playing one app or another... it keeps them pretty quiet (ha, ha)...

I wish I had gotten a photo of the room but it was packed.  Not a single coffee cup or chair to spare!  Next week we are going to be implementing some exercises/activities to underscore the idea of faith in what you can't see.  Would you pray for us that the Holy Spirit would help them 'see' what can't be seen?

Afterwards we got a big surprise gift from our friend Eda... She and her mom baked this for us from scratch...

That's 80-plus pieces of baklava... weighing about ten lbs of honey-soaked pastry and nut sweetness.

This is Eda demonstrating how her mother cut it so symetrically.

They call it a flower pattern.

It reminds me of old-fashioned quilt designs.  And it tastes as good as it looks.

The next morning:

Singing a song with motions...  unfortunately Ellie is doing motions for the macarena... Hmmm... who taught her THAT???

"L" is cramming below for Bible memory time...

Ellie and Reni have lots of friends who like to help them!

 Ambra is their favorite friend and it's now our custom to just come down to Ambra's house on our way back to Tirana because that's where our kids can be found after Kid's Club.  We hear all kinds of stories about what they do at Ambra's...

(no photo for this) Of his mud spattered jacket -- "I slipped in the mud feeding the baby chickens at Ambras..."

I can't tell you how cool it is that the kids have friends like this and I can let them go and explore.

This past Saturday the team distributed Operation Christmas Child Boxes.  We were going to do it on Christmas day, but so many kids showed up, kids we had never seen before, and we didn't have enough, so distribution got postponed.  I think it was more fun to surprise them this way.

For all of you who participate in this program, enjoy these next few images...

Probably the best part of our weekend was an impromptu lunch with Ambra, her sister, Xhesi, and her mom, Xhani.  After cleaning and locking up the center, we drove down the hill to pick up the kids.  I stepped in the house to announce our departure.  I got cajoled into bringing Nathan in and staying for coffee, which turned into bread and plums and then dhalle (a yogurt drink) and finally egg and cheese byrek.  Without any translation assistance, we had a really nice visit for over an hour, learning all about the origins of their family and their arrival in the village, their family in Greece, and plans for Ambra's birthday on Tuesday. Abby paid us the highest compliment when she told us that our language classes were paying off! I think we got about 80% of what they were saying, but they were patient and slow.  And probably spoke simply for our benefit, but it was rewarding nonetheless and encouragement to keep on keeping on!

Ellie on the internet! | Resources for involving children in missions

Do you have children or grandchildren?  Do you pray with your children for our family? 

Or, do you work in children's ministry at your church?

Are you looking for ways to increase their interest in other cultures or help them relate to the children of missionaries?

WGM's website is chock full of resources and we were so flattered that Ellie was featured in one of their Kids World articles this fall.  The piece refers to our use of a popular language app/game (uTalk) to get acquainted and learn basic phrases of Albanian before we left the States. 

Click here to read the feature in full.

There is a companion PDF that you can print or download with sensory activities to cement some cultural tidbits about Albanian culture as well as give tangible reminders of ways to pray for Ellie (and Reni) and the people of Albania!

Thank you, Rachel E, for this creative way to involve children in missions!

Ironically, just today Ellie asked, "Mom, how did I learn English when you brought me home?"
Realizing she must be struggling with the language barrier here I explained then asked, "Are you sad you don't remember how to speak Albanian?"

"Yes."

It'll come, Ellie.  It'll come.

Every story needs a hero... | Lezhe, Albania

Every story needs a hero...

That's creative writing 101, right?

The story of Albania shines most brightly through their favorite son, Skenderbeg.  Afterall, the nation's flag, the fearsome double-headed black eagle, comes from his family's crest.

Skenderbeg's Mausoleum, Lezhe

Born in 1405, he lived in Albania until age 18 when he was whisked away as a hostage by an Ottoman sultan.  Trained by the Ottomans and groomed as a leader then placed into leadership back in his homeland, he defects during a battle and organizes a league to push out the invaders in his people's land.

The shields on the wall each represent a different battle led by Skenderbeg

He goes on to live another 25 years as a brilliant warrior, diplomat, and over all leader uniting the various groups within Albania to fight against their common enemy, the Ottomans. In spite of limited human and financial resources, of 25 battles, he only lost 2.  He is considered one of the most significant figures in European history during the 15th century.

His physical strength was legendary, supposedly able to split a cow in two with one blow of his massive sword, he is also credited with having killed 3,000 Ottomans by his own hand.

"Une jam Shiptar!"  (I am Albanian!)
So proud of my children's heritage -- can you tell?

Upon Skenderbeg's death from malaria in 1468, Albania eventually falls under Ottoman control. But for more than two decades he had diffused their strength and prevented them from advancing further into Europe.

Had Greater Europe come to his aid, we believe Albania would look quite different today.

Posthumously Skenderbeg (along with another great warrior, the Hungarian Janos Hunyadi, who incidently happens to be the namesake of the street we live on here in Tirana) was heralded by the Pope as "Christ's Champion" for saving Europe from the spread of Isl*m.

Skenderbeg's family was bestowed a royal title in Italy and his descendants can be found in several royal households across Europe today.

We are getting quite the collection of 'canon' shots.  Sometime I'll have to post them all together in one place!  It's pretty much the ONLY place Reni requests to have his photo taken, so we oblige.

Legend has it that knowing Skenderbeg's grave would be targeted by his enemies, locals buried another unfortunate soul in his place.  Tragically, as predicted, the site was dug up and the bones made into necklaces in hopes of conferring his courage and strength upon the wearer.

So while this mausoleum isn't technically his burial site anymore... maybe it sort of is???