Christmas Traditions | Telling It On The Mountain

[Editor's Note:  This was written before Christmas, but interruptions prevented it from getting published in a timely manner.]

It was a cold but sunny winter day yesterday when the four Waggoners piled in the Planters van with Mandi and his wife, Xhina, for our annual Christmas trek up and over Mt. Dajti.  Of course, we visit more than just once a year, and the Zhukas are there at least twice per month, but this visit is a highlight each year for me personally.  

We start each visit in this village with a kids club meeting during their break time from school.  Gina reviewed the account of Jesus' birth.  I appreciated that she went on to explain the symbols of Christmas that are used for decoration at this time of year and corrected the record that they are indeed for Christmas and not New Years, as many would like them to believe.

Afterwards I led the kids in a brief craft activity making paper angels as angels were the first messengers of the Good News of Jesus birth.  We, too, can be messengers of His coming to those who haven't heard!

Thanks to a generous donor in Austria, these Bible story books have been translated into Albanian and published by our friends, Lee and Kathy Church and their wonderful printing ministry in Tirana.  It's so nice to have quality resources like these available to put in the hands of kids who have so little to read at home but can own a book with the best message!  There are follow-up review and discussion questions at the end of each story.

While we can't be in Darshen full time, we can at least leave resources in their homes which can proclaim Truth each time they are accessed.

Nathan marked the location of the account of Jesus' birth so they could read it again on their own.

I was blessed to see the boys look for the marker on the page and start to read it while they waited for the distribution of the boxes!

While most American friends are familiar with Sam@ritan's Purse as the agent for Christmas shoeboxes, there are actually a variety of different organizations throughout Europe that have their own Christmas shoe box program.  In Albania, all boxes are held at a central warehouse in Durres (the port) and churches or groups (like us) submit a list of requests such as number for each age group and gender for which we need boxes.  After we pay a small fee to underwrite the cost of the storage space, we are given boxes from the group which has been assigned the particular district where the boxes will go.  This year, the boxes above came from Scotland!

Of all the groups to whom we have given boxes, this group is always the most quiet and respectful.  We ask that they not open the boxes until they get home and they are good to do so!

Ellie and Reni love climbing the trails around the meeting space, digging in the dirt, collecting rocks and such.  Though you can't see it in this photo, he built up an impressive amount of dirt under his fingernails in a short amount of time.

Mandi taking roll to make sure every family is represented... 

I love that each time I visit I'm recognizing more and more faces.  I regret that we don't know more of the adults in this community!  However when we do see each other we can comment on how the kids have grown and how the weather has been.

Check out the ingenious way this fellow is carrying his box (below).  They are quite heavy, by the way.

Our hearts desire to see Truth flourish in this community.  Would you pray with us for transformation?  Our hearts are in multiple communities in this country, but alas, we can only live in one at a time...