June! The start of summer! Right out of the gate we were pleased to host Alban and friends from Colorado Springs. Their church exists to serve families in "the Springs" with disabilities. Alban, originally from Albania, has a burden to share this vision of inclusiveness and intentionality with the church of Albania. They helped facilitate a camp for individuals with disabilities and before leaving, came one morning to our village to meet our friends at Valued Treasures and enjoy a coffee in the cafe`. We connected with Alban and his wife, Tammy, last summer during our visit to Colorado.
They made a great connection with Ellie and were so sweet to pray with her before they left. What special people!
It's always a special privilege to host long-time ministry partners who choose to come and see where the projects for which they have prayed and supported. On June 3 we welcomed Alan and Jennifer from Kentucky!
They only came for an overnight, but next time we hope it will be longer! From the airport, we enjoyed lunch in the ancient fortress at Preza with beautiful views of the valley below Kruja on one side and views of the Adriatic (and our village!) on the other.
The following morning, their son Wes and his fiancee, Vera,` joined us for coffee and lunch before they continued on their journey south to see more of Albania and later visit Vera's family.
On June 4, we welcomed the Ards from Nebraska! We have known Heidi from her college days at Asbury. It was a joy to meet her husband and son (since we have yet to make it to Nebraska on our travels in the USA).
Their flight arrived quite late, but they were troopers after enduring a long layover in Germany.
Little Caleb had been looking forward to serving at Kafe Sera, so Nathan took him through Lydia's training manual created for the Valued Treasures on four different jobs in the cafe`. By the time he left, he mastered making capuccinos on the automated machine! It was incredible and he had a way of cajoling folks to upsize their orders! :-)
Ellie had a special connection with Caleb. Who doesn't love it when someone thinks you're absolutely hilarious? Below, we took a Saturday evening to go to the beach. I think it had been two years since I had been! For folks from the heart of the USA, we thought a beach experience would be a special treat and more enjoyable for a four-year-old than an historical site! I snapped the photo below when I glanced up and saw that Reni had stashed his legs safely out of the sand under the umbrella. It amused me!
What a fun surprise to run into our friend, Fazan, celebrating his anniversary with his wife. Fazan is an artizan of silver filigree that sells jewelry in Kruja and represents the craft at various Albanian artisanal expos throughout Europe. I love it that we have developed friendships over the years with folks all over Albania. Fazan is the same age as Nathan and I and our two oldest children are the same ages, as well! Fazan and his wife also care for his brother who is blind and autistic.
Sunday we took the Ards to Tirana. Caleb takes a photo of his plate of fried donut holes from the Sky Tower where one can get a great perspective of the capital city!
While Heidi and Brian helped at Valued Treasures throughout the week (cooking in the kitchen, facilitating a craft, leading gym class, and more), Caleb joined football school for the week and made some new friends his age!
Heidi brought some special chocolate embellishments to add to brownies (Andes Mints and Reeses Cups) to sell at the coffee shop. She then did a cost analysis for us to determine the best price at which to sell them! It was a great relief to learn we could sell them at a reasonable price and still make a profit.
Her idea inspired a couple of teens to embark on their own enterprise -- making and selling cookies!
One morning Nathan had babysitting duty while Brian and Heidi were engaged in other activities. He said the mopping kept Caleb occupied about 40 seconds, ha ha.
On June 11, Valued Treasures celebrated the end of another academic year and promotion.
Watch the video below to see the recognitions given and celebration afterward. I was so glad that Brian and Heidi got to experience Albanian dancing!
Since we are only about 20 minutes from the city of Durres, we often take guests for a late lunch and afternoon tour. Of course, our kids have been MANY times, but now Ellie has decided she would love to share some of her knowledge and practice her skills as a tour guide. Below, Ellie shares a passage we read from Hebrews 11 from the lion's den in the amphitheater, a tradition started by my parents with visitors decades ago!
Celebrations are really one of the most incredible ways to experience Albanian culture and we were honored to be invited to the 10th birthday dinner for our friend, Roel
Sunday morning we took the Ards to the airport, then celebrated Ellie's 21st birthday!
Below is a video of Ellie's 21st year in review!
The following day, our friend Jessica from Toccoa arrived for five weeks in the village with her youngest son, Eamonn. She rents a house in Vlashaj and usually comes 2-3 times per year. It was fun to show her the coffee shop! If you follow Kafe` Sera on Instagram, her son Eamonn makes a lot of appearances!
While futbol school continued, our brownies sold out each week.
After our guests left, we turned our attention to trying new recipes at Kafe` Sera. I found a recipe for strawberry latte. Nathan wasn't a fan, but I thought it was refreshing! Another great iced-coffee combination: coconut and chocolate!
But nothing beats Nathan's straight iced coffee (with one Sweet & Low, from America).
Summer schedule for Valued Treasures brings excursions and theme days. One day, they visited Aqua Park, accompanied by Nathan and Ellie.
Nathan was asked to present a seminar for our colleagues in uses of AI in our work and ministry...
I got a lot of great ideas, but I'm still writing these posts myself. :-)
Our friend Jessica brought the ring Reni won in his fantasy football league earlier this year. Reni likes his accessories, but this is next level :-)
Nathan made some vinyl stickers for the sidewalk to direct guests to the entrance for the coffee shop. Thanks again, Claudia, for the gift of the Cricut machine! We use it ALL the time!
Reni got a new passport! This is his look for the next 10 years!
Nathan applies signage with the cafe` logo on the door and in the elevator.
As June came to an end, we held ceremonies to mark the end of the spring futbol school season.
After Jordan left and Reni's school concluded, Reni volunteered as an assistant for futbol school. If you look carefully you can see him in the back row of the group photos! Also, that great KF Jeta (Football Club Life) banner was another product made by Nathan with the Cricut machine! He also applied the names of each student to the back of their jerseys.
In the midst of constructing the coffee shop, folks repeatedly asked what kind of product we would carry. To be honest, it was more than I could really think about in the midst of thinking about the placements of electrical outlets and tile patterns. In my mind, I could not think beyond coffee! After opening we sort of waited to see what folks asked for. Someone told us, "I can make coffee at my home but I can't make ice cream!" So we got ice cream, ha ha. It has proven to be a big hit!!
Another excursion we took with the Valued Treasures was a trip to a modest shopping mall. While that may seem rather mundane to some, for us, we can make it a lot of fun! Check out this highlight video I made:
Another day, Laura planned an incredible "underwater" theme day. We heard the story of Jonah, sang songs about God's creation, played fish-themed games, made a whale craft planned by Jessica, and enjoyed special snacks of Goldfish crackers and Swedish fish brought by our friends from the USA! And I had the pleasure of documenting it all.
See all the fun in this highlights video below:
Thanks for taking the time to view these hightlights from June! As always, it doesn't include everything -- like watching many World Cup matches in the coffee shop, or planning for VBS. But you get the idea.
May the changing season bring its share of different activities, times of fellowship with friends and family, and opportunities to enjoy God's world in ways you can only enjoy in the summer!
