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| 1:30AM airport pick up on June 1 -- officially the first photo of the month! |
In my previous post, I shared that we were asked to host WGM's first leadership conference to take place outside of the USA. It would be the first in-person meeting of this conference for country/field leaders in 4 years!
We spent many days preparing the grounds for visitors, but the bulk of events were hosted at a hotel just south of Durres. As a member of the planning committee, I volunteered to coordinate airport transportation to and from the conference site.
The first guests to arrive came in at 1:30 AM on June 1, hence the less-than-perfect appearance above. I napped a few hours in my clothes and rolled out of bed to drive with Nathan to the airport. We enjoyed a late-night coffee to perk us up while we waited for the Coppedge family to return to Albania after providing orality training in another part of the continent. They left many things at our guesthouse from their visit in May, so we brought them back to the village for a few hours of sleep, breakfast (burritos made by Nathan and John, below), before driving on to the hotel and checking in.
We spent many days preparing the grounds for visitors, but the bulk of events were hosted at a hotel just south of Durres. As a member of the planning committee, I volunteered to coordinate airport transportation to and from the conference site.
The first guests to arrive came in at 1:30 AM on June 1, hence the less-than-perfect appearance above. I napped a few hours in my clothes and rolled out of bed to drive with Nathan to the airport. We enjoyed a late-night coffee to perk us up while we waited for the Coppedge family to return to Albania after providing orality training in another part of the continent. They left many things at our guesthouse from their visit in May, so we brought them back to the village for a few hours of sleep, breakfast (burritos made by Nathan and John, below), before driving on to the hotel and checking in.
We proceeded to transport more than 90 folks on over a dozen different arriving flights to Golem that day, thanks to lots of help. Below, Shpat poses next to his stellar luggage packing job.
These two guys greeted guests as they arrived and connected them to their designated drivers in the various airport pick up zones. They were at the airport from about 10AM until 2AM the next morning, with only a short trip back to the village to play futbol in an evening break between arriving flights.
The conference began on June 2 and included times of corporate worship, Bible teaching, presentations, and strategic discussions in break-out groups.
We often divided by region and spread out throughout the hotel to discuss ideas generated by the various speakers.
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| photo credit, B Bennett |
Other times we paused mid-presentation to discuss with those at our tables.
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| photo credit: B Bennett |
The kids thoroughly loved making new friends with the children of our colleagues who had gathered from around the world. We barely saw Reni the entire week. :-)
Ellie found a kindred spirit in Mrs. A (below) who helped her transcribe one of Ellie's original compositions. Many an evening they could be found on the hotel lobby piano playing together and perfecting Ellie's work.
On Sunday, we bused the group to Jeta for a Sunday worship service. There, Nathan introduced our beautifully diverse team!
Thankfully it wasn't too warm to open the accordion doors so we could spill out onto the sidewalk!
Afterward, Luli took a portion of the group on a hike up to the olive groves above the village (below)
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Other weekend activities included showing our friends the ancient ruins of Apollonia, where Caesar Augustus attended university. What a joy it was to share a glimpse of our adopted home with our colleagues!
Ellie enjoyed taking photos on our tour, something she doesn't normally do. I honestly have no idea where Reni was... no doubt hanging out in the pack of middle-school-aged boys in attendance.
This was followed by lunch with entertainment from a family folk band. Ellie was in heaven!
All in all, the conference was an incredible time of reconnecting with old friends, receiving encouragement through sound teaching and conversation, meeting some extraordinary folks whose paths we would never otherwise cross, and feeling stimulated by learning new concepts and ideas for possible ministry tools in the future.
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