Finding Life | April 2022

New colleagues, launching soccer school, dedicating/inaugurating the new center and publishing the new logo... it's appropriate all these new things transpired in a month where the earth is emerging in bright, vibrant shades of green.

Enjoy the following pictoral review of our family's activities in April

This month we hosted a volunteer with years of experience running sports programs in Asia.  He was a wealth of information and practical help!  We were so happy to have Tony here with us and hope that perhaps he will return!

I continued to help with beginner's English.  One week we played a memory game to learn new vocabulary related to all of the members of a family -- from Baby to step-father and widow!

 

We are SO happy to welcome the Acosta family to our team.  They have a ton of experience in working with children and individuals with disabilities in sports (Luis was the coach of Turkey's national blind soccer team).  We could not have asked for co-workers with a stronger skillset.  I'm brimming with anticipation for when these two finish some language study and can move out to our area and join us!  Below, we enjoyed coffee while providing a crashcourse initiation to our team and project.

Spring weather means our friends at VT are often found enjoying the terrace -- which happens to be eye-level with our dining room window!

The bird flu impacted us in Albania too -- tripling the cost of eggs!  So rather than color eggs as is our tradition, on Saturday of Easter weekend, we decorated cookies.  The kids didn't seem to mind one bit!

Even though the holiday meant a fuller schedule, we took time for an impromptu game of wiffle ball.  The Americans had fun teaching our Albanian and Argentine friends the rules of baseball...

... and how to hit a ball with a bat.  As you can see below, Reni had less patience.

On Easter Sunday we had friends join us for lunch (unfortunately, I don't have any photos of our meal time!)  We also decorated cookies altogether!

This may be our new tradition!  I love the difference of colors from Christmas...

We had a nice Easter service on Sunday.

Ellie played the piano for a change (usually, she plays the guitar)!

Ellie has had a long time dream of teaching music.  Eda was a sweetheart and asked Ellie if she would like to teach some principles of music to the young girls who meet on Monday afternoons.  Below is Ellie giving a lesson on rhythm.  The goal is for them to understand music in such a way that they can contribute in our times of worship through music in kids club or church.

The feeding program is hitting a rhythm of its own and in spite of our limited food rotation, attendance has remained quite consistent!

I was soooo excited when the day came that our lit sign was delivered and installed on the building.

The day was actually quite windy and was spitting rain.

Now, there's no question if you have found us! (Keep reading to the account of the building dedication to understand the irony of the previous sentence).

After a long winter, we have found Lucy napping in the sun in a multitude of locations...

After working with individuals with disabilities, one becomes hyper aware of matters of accessibility.  This has become even more enhanced as Luis has taught us a little bit about the needs of those with visual impairments.  Walking with him to acquire documents necessary for his residency, we came across this street crossing...Originally it was throughtfully constructed with tiles... that lead to no where...

Twice per month the kids meet up with other home-schooling families for fellowship.  One afternoon we met up at a country-side restaurant that was full of beautiful walkways like this one!

Sprig is my favorite time in Vlashaj -- we have the greenest grass and trees and bluest skies in springtime!

In April we started girls soccer school!  It's been a huge hit!

Mandi sourced these secondhand uniforms from the dutch warehouse.  It was so cute to see the girls show up for class the next week all matching...

Near the end of April we were pleased to welcome our regional director, Joy (far right).  We were so very happy when she announced that she would be bringing her former colleague, Karen, as a traveling companion.  Karen lived in Kenya for decades and all four of her children were involved in our student fellowship at Asbury during our time there in the early 2000s.

Then a few days later, we welcomed three colleagues from our agency's communications department.  They came to collect photos, video, and stories.

Before we even brought them to Vlashaj, we stopped at the castle in Preze for a coffee.

A huge bonus for having guests is the ability to have things delivered from America. We surprised Reni with this goalie shirt printed with his name on the reverse.

In anticipation of the dedication service, Luli helped me translate a video message from my mother.  Nathan then subtitled it for everyone to enjoy during the service.

Below, Eda is interviewed on camera.

Having a formal inauguration meant that so many small items don't the check list finally got finished -- like this cover over the education entrance.

In anticipation of this opening, Nathan purchased themed cookie cutters of cleat, balls, and uniforms. 

Then the Acosta family decorated them for us with food coloring markers -- didn't they do a fantastic job?  So cute!!

On the 30th of the month we held our dedication service.  I was happy to have the job of running the media in the back room.

We were so touched that so many friends came to support us with their presence.

Arjan was able to find a vendor to make us shirts with the center's logo embroidered.

Photo Credit: Caleb Hatfield

Various individuals shared words during the service.

Photo Credit: Caleb Hatfield

Pastor Genti shared a fantastic message in which he likened the building to an empty bottle.  It's not the vessel that has the value - it's what's inside the bottle that gives its value. Our prayer is that this place will be filled with people and that they will find life inside.

Photo credit: Caleb Hatfield

He then went on to say how English speakers often call our center "Jetta" with an English "j" while in Albanian it's actually pronounced "Yetta". To an Albanian listener,"Jetta" spoken by an English speaker  sounds like the Albanian word "gjeta" which means "I found."

We named the center "Jeta" in Albanian because it means "the life." But if you say "Gjeta Jeta" (together) the meaning can be quite significant!  It means. "I found the life!"

We pray that this center is a place where many will say "I found life" there!

Photo Credit: Caleb Hatfield

What a way to close out April!  We are so thankful to God for his goodness and provision and for the people below with whom we work and serve.

Photo Credit: Caleb Hatfield