Trip to the Mountain

While we waited to learn when our language classes would start and still had a little flexibility in our schedule, we took a field trip day off of homeschool to accompany Mandi up to D*arshen for Kids' Club and to drop off clothing and food for some needy families.  I will let the images tell the story.

Down to 30 families and 14 school children this fall.

Better than a petting zoo, we got up close with a lot of livestock, including cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and donkeys.  The kids were thrilled.  The chicks might have been a little traumatized.

The views are breathtakingly beautiful, but life is so, so difficult.

Last Christmas Nathan recounted his visit to a particularly humble home.  It became one of our most-read posts of all time.  If you missed it, I would encourage you to click here.  You may also see the little boy below and how he has changed!

A rare view.  A glimpse of untainted nature.

Life in Albania | Drinking Water

Just like you have little chores around your house each day, so do we.  While we might not take our trash cans out to the top of the driveway on Tuesday and Friday mornings anymore (we toss our bags of trash in the dumpster at the end of the alley whenever we need to), we have replaced some familiar tasks with new ones.

Memories of cramping stomachs and sprints to the bathroom are ones we prefer not to re-live so while the water treatment systems have come a long ways here, we still need to drink filtered water.

We have two options:  we could either purchase bottled water (which isn't terribly expensive but it adds up and weighs quite a bit when you are already walking home with heavy groceries in hand) or we could filter it ourselves.

Perhaps one of the most practical gifts anyone has given us so far is the gift of our Sawyer water filtration system.  (THANK YOU, SUE!!!)

All we do is fill a 5-gallon, food-grade bucket with water from the tap.  

Gravity and the Sawyer filter do the rest.

We fill some 5 liter jugs with water (it takes about 7 minutes per jug), then pour those into smaller liter bottles that fit in our fridge.  We also have a 'bottle exchange system' where we keep a supply of full bottles on the floor by the fridge.  Whenever Abby and Anna need water, they bring up and leave their empties and take down a full replacement.

So far, no sickness and lots of lek (money) saved!

Visit to Darshen [video]

Here's a brief, 30 second video from our visit to Darshen yesterday.  Ellie and Reni were thrilled with the up-close-and-personal opportunity to interact with farm animals including cows, goats, sheep, donkeys and chickens.  No fences separating us from the "wildlife" here!  I guess you could call it the ultimate petting zoo! (Photos to come)  Be sure your volume is turned up to hear the bells!

4 weeks ago... | Our Commissioning

Four weeks ago today...

Four weeks ago we woke up to the awful news of Mom Waggoner's stroke as we were preparing to fly out that day for Albania.  It was a day full of tense moments, frantic packing, cleaning, checking for text messages from the hospital, praying, taking phone calls, sweating as we hauled bags and loaded cars on a sweltering September day with temps approaching three digits, and more praying.

But the day before had been sweet.  Full of special memories as our Illinois home church commissioned us.  We were prayed for and loved on by friends and family, many who left their individual churches that morning to be with us.  Nathan's brother Stephen preached a wonderfully personal message which you can listen to here ("Joy in Partnership" - 09/08/13).  We got to linger and visit over a potluck meal after church (by the way, my mom and aunts are the best ladies to invite to potlucks EVER!  Oh my goodness -- my Aunt Miriam brought a tortellini fruit salad with coconut -- who would have thought? Delicious! and my Aunt Marcia never forgets my faves and always brings it which makes me feel so special).  Mom was a trooper and made BBQ for everyone!  Thank you, Mom! The closest thing I can liken it too (without the fancy clothes and formality) was our wedding -- just so much love poured on us, I don't want to forget it.  We are blessed beyond what we deserve by the Family God has placed us in.

I'll stop writing and leave you with some images from the day... (thank you, Steve Booker, for taking most of these images for us!)

I have no words to describe the extent of my shock and surprise when we turned around after the service concluded to see our dear friends, the McCreadys from PA standing a few feet away.  I was speechless and nearly brought to tears.

My 'sneaky' friend Corrina read here that we would be having a commissioning the same weekend she would just so happen to be driving through IL to and from a family wedding in Iowa.  Corrina and John took a 'slight' detour and blessed our socks off with their gesture and presence.  Sadly, we got ten minutes with them before they had to depart to make it back to PA.  Something about picking up their kids or something to that effect...

Two Shqiptars!  #cooltobeadoptedfromAlbania #smallclub #specialfriends 

It meant so much that some of my cousins came with their families!!!  Above, my cousin Heidi, her husband, David, and daughter Addy...

My grandma quoted me Psalm 1 and the chorus of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus as she said 'goodbye' to me.

These photos don't do justice to representing all of our loved ones who were present -- I wish I could have cloned myself to take more photos from that day.  Likewise we recognize that not everyone who has played a part in sending us to Albania could be present that day!  You may not have been physically present at this service, but you were very much a part of it all!  Faleminderit shume!

A Girl and her Bird

Can you tell she's pleased as punch?

Wearing her 'gloves' like a real bird handler (albeit just cleaning gloves) she is protected from sharp 'talons'. 

Several times a day, Abigail/Handsome/Pedro will get a little tour of our apartment.  Thankfully it is small as Ellie's arm tires quickly, then back into his cage he goes.

Our little feathered friend should not suffer from low self esteem as his owner frequently reminds him what a good, cute, and special little birdie he really is.

This week I'm grateful that a friend shared how helpful a pet can be for a child transitioning to a new home.  Not only did it give Ellie something to anticipate in coming over here, but it's given her something to care for (other than herself) now that we are here.

If you want to know how you can pray for our Ellie and Reni as they go through adjusting to our new home, status, and routine, click here for some specific prayer requests that might help guide your prayers for our kids as well as other missionary kids you might know!

Table for Nine, Please!

Hospitality.

It normally doesn't strike fear in my heart.  After all, our previous ministry was all about hospitality.  And we expect that a lot of what our ministry here will entail will include an open door into our home.

However, Albania is a country steeped in traditions and I'm sure even the most gracious of our Albanian friends still hold expectations in their heart of hearts (though they would never, ever say so) of how we would entertain them as an indication of the level of our care and love and respect for them. As newbies, we have a lot to learn about these many traditions! I think even Martha Stewart might be shaking in her slippers if she had to throw a dinner party here, three weeks fresh off the plane.

I figured there was no better impetus for finishing our 'settling in' to our apartment and overcoming my nerves about entertaining in this culture than than to invite company for supper right away.   Adventurous?  Just a bit, considering I'm still figuring out this grocery shopping/cooking thing here.  At least I went 'easy' by inviting our colleague, Arjan and his family.  I figured they'd be gracious and understanding in the event of any major flub ups and as a family of three, I thought we could all fit within the limitations of our cozy apartment space.

Before they arrived I was going through a mental checklist:

• is my menu pallatable? I hope so, but the brown sugar glazed carrots might be a stretch -- I've heard that 'sweet and savory' is not a typical combination of flavors here
• guest slippers at the door?  check, though is it cold enough for slippers? Should I have flip flops instead?
• tray for beverages and glasses in the living room?  check
• enough glasses for appetizers in the living room and supper around the table?  no!  add this to shopping list.  Hopefully they won't mind using the same glasses twice, carrying them to the table!  I wonder how long I can use this excuse, "We just moved here!" ?
• to serve American/family-style around the table or Albanian style, with served up plates already (and risk they won't like the different dishes or they won't ask for seconds if they want more)?  um, nine people around a table built for six?  Albanian style it is!  Not a single additional dish will fit!
• Uh oh.  Were we supposed to have candy when they arrived?  too late, and no, Nathan, we can't serve fruit.  That means we're ready for them to 'go home' and we will not have even served supper yet!

I don't know what I would have done without Anna and Abby's help!  They made the salad and they washed the salad bowls after supper when everyone retired to the living room for coffee and dessert.  They had to wash the salad bowls because we didn't have enough bowls for serving dessert -- oops!  More items for the shopping list!

The children were particularly excited about entertaining a 'baby' (though she's only fifteen months younger than Reni).  That excitement evaporated rather quickly when Ellie realized she couldn't communicate with A in English ("Mom, Is she stuck in Albanian?") and Reni discovered that his toys held the greatest appeal.

All in all, I think it was a success!  Will we be doing this again soon?  Oh yes, but not until I can make another trip to Jumbo for more tableware!

Uno and Origami

   Friday afternoon was a momentous day.  It was our first day of driving independently in this country! After half a day of homeschool, we packed up the vehicle (I still don't know what to call it -- I suppose it's like a minivan, but think "European delivery van" with seats) for an overnight in Vlashaj.  Armed with some out-of-date Google maps printouts, we satisfactorily navigated our way to co-op, then high tailed it to beat rush hour traffic in Tirana (while eating ham and cheese sandwiches on chewy Albanian bread) to drive across town, plus another 17 km beyond to reach Vlashaj by 5:30.  

   On Friday evenings there is an informal church service in the ministry center and we wanted to invite the youth to join us on the upper level following church for Uno and popcorn.  Somewhere the message was lost and nearly the entire group of attendees (about 25 individuals between ages 3 and 40) came upstairs for 'game night'.  Needless to say, we were caught a bit off guard by a crowd four times larger than we expected, but Jesus multiplied our 'loaves and fishes' to be just enough!

Poor Abby learned that the "house rules" here vary considerably from the way she's always played!  Of course she was more than good natured about it! ;-)

The crowd dispersed around 8PM and we made up our bunk beds, put the kids down, and collapsed with gratitude that we had made it though the day!

After watching a beautiful sunrise and our neighbors drive their livestock up our street, we ate a simple breakfast Saturday morning and headed downstairs for kids' club.  We told Reni that he had to wear his 'power boots' -- and he did for a while, but was extremely self-conscious in them.  After about 45 minutes we took them off and he was his old self again.

During one of the songs, the children march one way,

then change direction and march the other.

Ellie loved the singing so much that she started singing the songs in (her version of) Albanian on the way home.  It was so sweet!  I take it as a sign that she's trying to learn the language.  I even heard her chastise her bird in simple Shqip this afternoon!)

We learned earlier in the week that the lesson would be on the life of Abraham, so I put Anna and Abby in charge of coming up with a craft.  Anna had the idea to make origami stars (based on God's covenant with Abram in Genesis 15).

Lacking table space, Anna demonstrates the folds on the wall.

Needless to say, with translation, it took a bit longer than anticipated to walk through all the necessary folds.  The English class released and a few of those students decided to come in and take up the challenge too...

Eventually the younger kids (i.e. most of the boys) gave up and started playing their own games (though we were amazed how long they stuck with it).  One particular boy took a special interest in Reni and I can't believe I caught the moment below... be still my heart.  Reni has made his first Albanian friend.

Getting close to the end!!!

The boys (led by Reni) decided they'd much rather have paper airplanes... though a few sneaky ones made off with Anna's sample stars too!

We made it back home by mid afternoon and crashed with tired bodies but happy hearts!  Looking forward to many more weekends to come!