Their last days were packed to the gills -- so full I didn't have the energy to process photos much less blog .. til today. Here's a re-cap of Steve and the nephews' last few days with us in Albania...
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Friday we traveled to Elbasan where we visited a couple of places. First up was Reni's orphanage. I am sorry I don't have photos! I hopped out of the van to make sure the "pestilence" had passed (the week prior they had 11 kids on IV fluids from a terrible stomach bug that afflicted all but three children) and left my camera behind while I checked to make sure it was still okay to visit that morning. It was! We had a delightful hour playing with children and chatting with the caregivers and Sisters.
From there we joined our missionary friend, Julie, and visited two homes in the Roma community. This was my first visit into a Roma home and found my heart tremendously encouraged after meeting these two sisters in Christ, part of the core of a church planted by YWAM missionaries in their neighborhood.
For lunch we ate inside the fortress walls at a popular local restaurant because, really, how many opportunities do you have to eat inside an old Ottoman fortress?
Then we took a little walk on the Rruga Ignatia (part of the ancient Roman road that connected Istanbul to Rome that winds through Greece and Albania).
We broke up the ride home to have coffee at Kalaja Petrela... a castle that dates back to the 1400s and was part of the string of signal castles that were used to communicate the approach of invaders from the south and east.
Gazuar!
Sadly (insert sad face), it was a yukky, drizzly day so our guests didn't get to see the amazingly beautiful views you can typically see from this high perch.
We returned home in time for church and Bible study. The next morning we had Kids Club where we had a review of the past several months' worth of lessons, Bible-quiz style.
Mersin was kind to translate so the 'Merican boys could participate!
Then said goodbye to our friends, the G's. They've been coming to the village every weekend for the past 5 months so it's going to be so empty feeling not having them here! But we are happy for the work God has for them up north! I foresee the Waggoners visiting Kosovo to se them sometime next fall!
After they departed, we had our monthly Wii party for perfect kids club attendance. Sorry -- no photos as I was busy planning for the next event -- a photo scavenger hunt at the Hope Center. Here's some of the photos, chosen because they included some kids with the same last name as us...photographed with something straight, something round, something green, a beautiful rock, among other things!
The next day we took them over to the national park at the Cape!
We had fun with the local habitat... to Ellie's disappointment, we did not bring this turtle home with us.
Steve and Caleb had an encounter with a snake as they scaled this hillside to explore some communist-era bunkers...
Then we returned to host a screening of the Albania/Armenia game...
The energy was way more intense than any of the World Cup games we watched here last summer. With only 15 minutes left in the game, Albania was down 0-1. The announcer beseech-ed the viewers to "pray to your God!"... Albania went on to score 2 more points and win.
The building rocked with chants of "Shqiperi -Shqiperi - Shqiperi!"
And with that we stacked up the stools, swept the floors, and said our goodbyes. The crew had a 4:55AM flight (an hour at which my camera does not function ) so everyone headed to bed early, saying goodbye with the knowledge that we'll be seeing each other again, Lord willing, at the end of next month!
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