Working on our Sweet Tooth!

'Tis the weekend for lots of parties and we were no exception (except that ours would have happened regardless of any 'holiday')!  It was our weekend to hang out at the Hope Center, which is always a lot of fun.  I was particularly happy that Ellie and Reni wanted to jump in and participate too!  Check out some of the fun games that Pam planned!

Which team can eat more in one minute?

Who can identify the candy bar without its wrapper?

And what about relay of picking a random food item out of a bag and eating it thoroughly?  While your friends are laughing and your competitor is also making you want to laugh?

Somehow Ellie and Reni were the 'anchor' legs on their teams and while Ellie got a head start in eating, her brother got it chewed up and down the hatch before her!

A great come from behind victory!

And of course it's not a real fall party without bobbing for apples.  Somehow my kids got out of doing this game!

Then said apples were sliced up and served with a side of salted caramel sauce (homemade) and chopped peanuts!  YUM!

And then the power went out, which ended the possibility of making our s'mores, but we decided to save those for next time!

Bye-bye October!

A Dozen Ways to Serve | A Calendar

When we moved to Albania I packed up all my photo equipment and wondered how much of it I'd get to use when we arrived.  I remember thinking maybe I'd take photos for other missionary families (who are always in need of a current 'prayer card photo') or maybe I would teach basic photography as an outreach. 

Of course those were just my guesses and I've really not done much of either.  

That doesn't mean my equipment has been collecting dust though.  There was the Portrait Project last year and photographing products for Village Knits, on top of documenting regular ministry events.  But lately I've been snapping the shutter outside of our village too. 

Last spring I started serving as the cover photographer for Ilira Magazine, a Christian women's magazine that also serves as an evangelism tool.  

One woman I photographed in May was an Albanian pastor's wife whom I knew of through some family connects going years back.  More recently though Ada started a foundation to serve families of children with Down Syndrome.  It's called the Jonathan Center, in honor of her nephew Jonathan.  The cover story shared the story of its inception. 

I had heard of the Jonathan Center more than a year earlier, through our connections at the maternity hospital where Ellie was born.  We were told that they were called in to counsel families who delivered a child with an unexpected diagnosis of Down Syndrome and that they were instrumental in preserving families that might otherwise have abandoned their newborns. 

It was a delight to meet the woman behind the group raising awareness for Down Syndrome in a culture where rearing a child with special needs is especially unusual, where such differences can often be perceived as shameful, and resources are difficult to come by.

In addition to counseling and support groups, the Center also provides a variety of therapies to help these children reach their developmental potential.

A few weeks ago I received a message from Ada asking if I could meet her for coffee because she wanted to ask my help with something for the center.  A short time later we grabbed a coffee before my Albanian class and she told me about their annual fundraiser, a calendar featuring images of their kids.  Unfortunately the photographer they used the prior year was unavailable so she asked if I might be able to help. I immediately agreed! 

Last weekend we met up with a dozen families served by the Jonathan Center and had a wonderful time photographing their beautiful children.  It was special to help them feel celebrated and loved!

The photos below are a handful of unedited images which will not be appearing in the calendar but represent a sample of our time altogether.

Now to work on retouching the final images for the calendar!  (What else to do on these long autumn night?) I can't wait to see the finished product!

Doing the limbo...

I feel like we've been doing the limbo.

Nathan and I resumed Albanian class last week in Tirana.  Unlike 2 years ago, we're now commuting from the village.  Travel times are massively unpredictable, depending on the weather or if there happens to be, say, an historic futbol victory... (that day it took us an hour to get out of town).

Our weeks are flying by as we add the rigors of homework and earlier bedtimes to get us all out the door and set for the day before 8.  

Soon it will be our new normal, but throw in the unexpected, unplanned event (and those happen regularly) and I feel like I'm one step from stumbling.

Thankfully we have a wonderful team around us, encouraging us, praying for us, and helping us along the way.

We owe a special thanks to our neighbor, Pam (who lives and works at the Hope Center).  She is helping with Ellie's education the three mornings per week Nathan and I are in class.

Ellie is thrilled to have her own special teacher, and overall, I have to say that Ellie is doing really well in school this fall without the distraction of (and competition with) her brother. ;-)

So while we're working to find our balance the blog might be a bit quieter, but we're still good.

Naten e mire!

They're back!

After an especially busy week that included resuming Albanian class (and homework!), running church solo, hosting a community viewing of the Albanian/Serbia game, and a weekend visit to the Hope Center, among other things, it was nice to cap off the weekend with a visit to the airport to welcome Xhesi and Herta back to Albania!

After a coffee together at the airport to chat and catch up, Mandi took Xhesi and her parents back over Mt. Dajti to their home where Xhesi was surprised by some major upgrades/renovations to her home, including her own bedroom!  Hopefully these updates will make her home more comfortable as she continues to heal!

When You're an Ambassador...

"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us ..." 

2 Corinthians 5:20

When you're an ambassador you're tasked with the job of carrying the message.  You're a representative, often sent far from home. And sometimes as a representative, living in a foreign place, the distance can feel very far.

Then you get an envelope full of letters of encouragement and while you're reading those words, digesting their message, it's all put back in perspective again.

To a special class of kids from Greensburg, Pennsylvania:  Thank you!!!

Not Just a Day at the Beach

To be honest, when I arrived at the beach I was operating on four hours of sleep and already dreaming about my afternoon nap.

You can see by the photos that it was an over cast Sunday morning, which didn't help the state of my bleary eyes.  We had traveled in four vans 20 minutes northwest of our village to a favorite stretch of beach on the bay.  

I forgot my weariness at the site of our group circling together. I was suddenly grateful to stand witness to the scene unfolding.  Hours earlier I didn't think I'd be able to attend this milestone event in the life of our little church body.  

Reni, who had braved a cold for the previous week, came down with a fever of 101.5 Saturday afternoon.  I found him curled up under his favorite fleece blanket on the floor, a little snoring lump I hadn't realized was even him until I heard the cadence of his breathing.  We plied him with Tylenol and he perked up, though didn't argue when bedtime came.  I got to bed later than normal myself counting the hours until morning and worried about how Reni was feeling.  Two hours later, it was Ellie who came into our room upset and not feeling well.  Being up with her from more than an hour continued my worry and discouragement, so I sent out an SOS to our friends who I knew were still awake in America.  (Sick kids are my Achilles heel).

The next morning the kids were up and energetic, as if the previous day's problems had been just a figment of my imagination.  The multitude of encouraging replies with promises of prayer assured me it indeed had not.  The decision was made we were all going and Reni promised he wouldn't dip even a finger tip in the sea.

Genti read Matthew 28 and reminded us all that what we were going to watch was a miracle, no less great than the miracles we read about in scripture.  

Driving that morning through village after village, each with their own mosque, had already put the significance of the morning's activities in stark perspective.

We sang a few favorite songs.  The joy was palpable.

I was so glad someone suggested this group photo.

Below, Nathan and Genti pose with the eleven who were about to be baptized.

Then into the water they went!  I love Demir's outstretched arm.  I will let the images speak for themselves.  I have several images from each baptism, but for the purposes of space and time, I will share just a few of my favorites.

Ellie has said for a long time that she wanted to be baptized.  We tried to emphasize all week leading up to Sunday that there was absolutely no pressure.  If you see some anxiety on her face, I learned later that her brother had previously informed her of the dangers of ingesting salt water (she had never put her head under water in the sea before and she has a vivid imagination).

JOY

After the last baptism, the sun broke out.

Everyone changed clothes and we enjoyed some relaxed time together.  I was pulled in lots of directions with requests for beach photos with friends and loved ones and I happily obliged.  Though we live relatively close to the beach, it's a special treat to visit.

THANK YOU to those of you who gave me photo paper or cash for printer ink!  We are going to make little albums for each person who was baptized to remember the significance of this special day.

Reni was good to his word and stayed dry.

We brought our little grill and had hot dogs for lunch.  Everyone had been asked to bring a dish to share.  Whadya know, but everyone brought dessert.  We had kadaif, petula, brownies, and a number of other cakes I can't remember the names of.

Tailgating on the beach in October with dear friends.  I think I could get used to this!

Then the ladies wanted to go walk off some of that sugar.

More photos! :-)

Not to be outdone!  I LOVE this image!

From this angle you can't read what they're pointing to (but it's the only one I have, of several, where everyone's eyes were open!).  It says "October 2015".

and below:   04.10.2015