Monday in the village

We learned a few new words of Albanian today, playing the game Spot It.

The guys brought gifts from families in their church who have been partnered with village families...
So far they have been to six homes!

This photo personifies how the kids have felt about having their cousins here...

This afternoon we paid a visit to our friends... Sherif had invited Stephen at the retreat to come to his home so we were happy to oblige.

You haven't been to the village until you've ridden a donkey... or held a chicken!

Someone wasn't in the mood to join the 'chicken' fun.

He said, "I'm keeping my hands to my SELF!"

And to humor Ellie, Zhania made the chicken "fly"...

Men's Retreat Recap

It's Sunday night and we all feel like crashing hard, but before we go to bed, we want to share some photos from our first men's retreat this weekend.

I wasn't there, but it sounds like everyone had a good time!  Stephen shared the Gospel and challenged the men and sons in their relationships with each other. 

The retreat was held at a new Christian campground that opened about 6 months ago.  It was perfect for the weekend's activities.

 Four brothers and their sister's son (who brought one of his sons)

The empty swimming pool made a great place to play soccer...

Mersin led worship....

Stephen and the boys shared some humorous skits demonstrating the importance of "doing"(backing up your words with actions) over "saying only"

The evening session didn't start until 9PM.  It was a little late for this 5-year-old who was pretty tuckered out from hanging with the big boys (who some didn't get to bed til the wee hours of the morning)!

Saturday morning

Nathan got some great video of game time, which I hope we can share later.  I specifically asked for prayers that everyone would stay safe and while some of the games were pretty 'active', in spite of some close calls, injuries were spared! ;-)

Four More Waggoners in the Village

They're here!  It's spring break and we couldn't imagine a better way to spend it than to have Nathan's brother and three nephews here with us!  I don't think Ellie has stopped talking nor Reni giggling since we picked them up at the airport this afternoon!  I had no idea just how excited they would be to have family here.

 

Within minutes of unloading their bags, they were back outside for our open court hours that we have every afternoon, practicing the Albanian phrases they had been practicing (SO proud of them for putting in the effort ahead of time and even prouder for not being afraid to try to speak)!

After everyone left Rachel got a phone call to hear that they had arrived safe and sound, then it was time to eat and pulling out all the stops to keep everyone up until at least 8!

Tomorrow will be a big day and we don't let up!  Saturday is our Father/Son retreat and tonight Stephen shared the outlines of his messages.  It's going to be SO good, I wish I could be there to hear them myself!

Alright, now I'm off to bed too!  And I don't even have jetlag as an excuse!

Whetting Your Appetite

Tomorrow starts a new season of guests coming to the village and we couldn't be more excited!  To lighten the load a tad, I had the idea to hire my friend Xhania to help me with some food prep.  She's always peppered me with questions about American cuisine and I thought this might be a good way to satiate her curiosity and give me an extra set of hands in stocking the freezer with some ready-to-cook meals!

I know, Dad.  Shocker.  The first thing we made was Shepherd's Pie.

But in two hours we knocked out a Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Pot Pie and a Spaghetti casserole!

We will definitely be doing this again after these are eaten (or maybe I need to buy more pyrex)!

Then yesterday we had a staff meeting which was the perfect excuse to make a German Chocolate Cupcake mix sent from America.

Look who got to lick the leftover batter! 

Okay, maybe a lot of batter.