Thursday morning found us doing something new -- picking up friends at the Durres Ferry Terminal!
It's a little different than the airport. There are no monitors to let you know if the ferry is on time or ahead of schedule. There are no sliding doors opening and closing at baggage claim to give you a sneak peak at your guests as they wait for their luggage. Here you just wait and watch for shadows to round a corner and here they are!
After two+ years of dreaming of this, the Santor family came for north Georgia for a family mission trip to Albania and we are blessed to host them!
Because we were in Durres to pick them up, we stopped by the ancient Durres amphitheater before heading back to the village.
They jumped right into life here -- playing with kids at the center, taking a lesson in colors and numbers in Albanian, taking a prayer walk to a spot overlooking the village, and worshiping at an evening church service and helping with kids club the next morning.
They are already a huge hit with our village friends and given that they prayed for each of the families, by name, who participated in the village portrait project, they have been excited to match faces with the photos they studied before arriving.
The girls held abandoned babies at the maternity hospital (separate post on that later) and everyone rolled up their sleeves to put a coat of paint on our modified front gate. We appreciated the extra hands with Saturday's monthly Wii game reward party for good attendance, then we had a cook out with the youth at the Hope Center.
In between there has been lots of conversation and nerf gun wars.
After three straight days of go-go-go, we went on a family hike to enjoy some of the beauty of God's creation here in Albania.
I look forward to sharing more of our time together when I have a few moments to post! It's going to be a busy week!
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