Joshua Mission, Elbasan and Victory Church, Tirana.

Last Sunday morning we were again at the church in Elbasan where we spend most of our time and who we as Kerith church support. Since we were last here they have now moved into their new hall for their Sunday morning meetings and with the children they already nicely fill it. The next step, probably by September, will be for them to have all the children out from the beginning of the meeting.

Here are some of the church after the children have just left for their meetings with their teachers

and just before I am about to speak on the life of Joseph.

These are people we know and love but what is exciting is that new people are coming and being added all the time, so there are new faces to get to know. After many farewells to Ilir and Rudina and the church, we were invited out for lunch by two people in the church Sokol and Ankelata. Sokol is the bodyguard for the Elbasan Mayor, so he is a tall strong guy, (like Goliath head and shoulders above most people) knows all the Police, all the trouble makers and all the restaurants and the best places to eat. We had a delightful lunch together and then we collected our belongings and they drove us to Tirana to the apartment where we now are and where I am writing this.

We are in an apartment on the 9th floor. This is the view from our balcony. On the left of photo is a mosque. In Albania and most of the Balkans during the Ottoman Empire, mosques were built like a house, square shaped with a sloping pantile roof, not a dome. The minaret is a recent addition and a Saudi idea, not something one found here historically. Then in the centre is a blue glass roofed new pazar, an open sided fruit and vegetable market with new apartment buildings behind it.

We are here in Tirana for the week until we fly home just before midnight on Saturday. We have come primarily to speak to the academy students at Tomor and Miranda's Victory Church. I speak each evening apart from Thursday for 3 hours with breaks, on the Church. The history of the Church from its beginnings to the Reformation; Church structures, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational etc; the role of the Pastor and the Mission of the Church. We know most of the students having meet some of them at Youth camp or because we have been to Victory Church several times. (It is Miranda who organises the Ladies Conference UNIKE here in Tirana that Catrina Benham will come to speak at in May) Here are some of the students.

 

Yesterday morning we met and spent time with Edi Morava who led a church in Korca and now is starting a new church here in Tirana. We had coffee together, as you do here a lot,

and then went for lunch with his wife Arta who works for World Vision.

Edi has his finger on the pulse of a lot that is going on church wise in Albania, so we talk about our Youth Camp in the summer, the 18+ weekend, the possibility of another Youth Camp in the north of Albania, the Ladies Conference and other matters besides.

On our travels as we do see some things. How about this written on the wall of the German restaurant where we had lunch with Edi and Arta!!

Now today, Wednesday after writing this blog, I will read through the material I speak on tonight, then we have lunch with Tomor and Miranda and in the afternoon catch up on how they are and how their church is doing and speak at their academy in the evening.

All the while the sky is totally blue, not a cloud to be seen, and by mid morning it is hot 26C, way warmer than is usual for this time of the year. Now to head to the cafe with an Internet connection. There is no wifi in the apartment. God bless you. Please keep praying for us, the students we speak to, the up coming Ladiers Conference UNIKE and Catrina who will speak and the church leaders here.

Ken and Ann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gjirokaster, city of stone

Last Friday Ann and I got a furgon, minibus, to Gjirokaster in southern Albania. We left Elbasan at midday and travelled for almost 4 hours for 1000 Lek each, about £6.50. We travelled to see Jorida Doce a young

woman we have known for 10 years. Jorida was a teenager when we first met, but has been to University and now is the manager of a Christian childrens home in that city. Here is Jorida with Ann. We think that she is

an outstanding young woman with leadership gifting. She wanted to come on our Academy a couple of years ago but was not granted a visa. We chatted at length about the small church she attends in Gjirokaster and the tasks she is being asked to do and her hopes and dreams for the future. As we talked we walked through the old town part of the city. Gjirokaster is known for three things in Albania. Firstly it is a city built entirely of stone, which is sometimes then covered in plaster. Not a brick or breeze block in sight. Stone walls, stone tiled roofs, roads made of cobblestones and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING is on the level. You either walk uphill or downhill, never on the flat. It is so steep in parts that you can literally fall over onto the roof of a house, roll down the roof onto the roof of another house and so on. Secondly it was home to the best known Albanian author Ismail Kadare. I have read a number of his books which I have found very helpful in understanding Albania. And thirdly, it was the birthplace of Enver Hoxha, the communist leader who ruled Albania for many years.

This is what some of the buildings and roads look like.

 

After an evening meal together we returned to our hotel, and the following morning Jorida brought us back to Elbasan before she travelled on to her home in Tirana to meet her mother who had just returned from Greece.

On the Saturday whilst we were traveling back to Elbasan, Ilir Koçi in Elbasan had organised a get together for young people aged 20+ from Elbasan, Librazhd, Korce and Tirana. It was a part teaching time about relationships and part informal time for them together. Ilir and Rudina see this as vital in a culture and country that is changing form Muslim in thinking where marriages are arranged, to a situation where Christian young people want to marry another Christian. These are the kind of issues that Ann and I talk through with Ilir and Rudina in our coffee times together or over the meal table. It is helping to give new ideas, think biblically and work matters out practically for the benefit of the people and church here in Albania.

Now the end of another day and looking forward to what God has in store for tomorrow.

Ken and Ann

 

 

 

 

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Ohrid, Охрид, Macedonia

Today Ann and me with Ilir Koçi have been to Ohrid, Macedonia and back. In May Catrina Benham speaks at the two day ladies UNIKE Conference in Tirana, Albania. A week later Catrina will be speaking at our first ladies Conference in Skopje, Macedonia that will gather women from Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria. Should she fly home from Tirana (there aren't direct flights every day) only to fly out again a couple of days later to Skopje (again there aren't direct flights daily). All round we decided it best that Catrina travel on from Tirana and stay for a few days at Ohrid, Macedonia by the lake of the same name giving her time to catch up with herself. Ann and I have been to Ohrid a few times and know what a nice place it is for a few days. Other people are catching on. WIZZ air now fly here to the Saint Paul the Apostle airport and the Rough Guide recently named it as one of 20 best places to see in Europe on a budget.

From Elbasan in Albania, the road climbs continually to the still snow topped mountains that divide Albania and Macedonia and the border crossing. We were able to get a taxi from the Macedonian side (they are not always there) to Ohrid. We arrived by the lakeside to see and hear hordes of kindergarten aged children gathered with their parents being entertained near the statue of Saint Clement of Ohrid. I am not sure what he would have made of it!

St Clement was a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Greeks, who invented the forerunner of the Cyrillic script in their endeavours to reach the Slav people for Christ and the Orthodox Church. In coming to Macedonia one has stepped into the world of the Cyrillic script, the alphabet that Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian are written in.

We had come to check out a number of hotels that line the lakeside. To read reports on Tripadvisor is one thing but we wanted to see how big the rooms are, how clean they are, check out the facilities, is there air con, does everything work, and if they really have a view of the lake!

Having exchanged some money and checked out five hotels, (I could show photos of bedrooms, balconies, and bathrooms galore,) it was time for lunch in the increasing heat, 26C by lunchtime. Below is a classic in this part of the world Shopska salad. Macedonian meals are pretty hearty affairs often beginning with soup and then salad. Shopska salad is a salad made with tomato, cucumber, peppers and onions cut small drenched in a grated mild sirene cheese. It is the most recognisable and best known salad in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia and even in Romania. This is followed by the main course often of some form of smoked pork meat, chops, sausages etc.

My main course was liver and bacon with rice and unsurprisingly, macedoine.

on

Here is Ann enjoying her lunch

 

And here are Ann and Ilir by the lakeside with part of Ohrid in the background, as it climbs up the hill to a castle that overlooks the city.

And finally before we caught a taxi back to the Macedonian border, a last look at a statue of Saints Cyril and Methodius who were key in seeing this part of Europe impacted by Orthodox Christianity.

May Catrina and Marija who leads the Conference in May, hugely impact the women who will hear them for the building of the church in today's world.

 Бог да те благослови

God bless you.

Ken and Ann

 

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Young people and more young people

Whenever we are in Elbasan we do our best to visit Arti and Vali and their daughters Era and Elsa. We rented an apartment from them the first time we came to Elbasan and we have remained friends. Each time we go we are offered Turkish coffee and a glass of raki and something to eat. They know Ann is gluten free so they offered her some ballakume Elbasani which is made with maize flour. But no raki for me, because I am taking penicillin for my infected foot.

I asked Elsa for her help in buying a cheap phone to use in Albania. My Albanian SIM card for some inexplicable reason doesn't work in my phone. Earlier I had gone to a Vodafone shop in Elbasan where mobile phones are displayed with prices shown and asked to buy one. Their answer? We don't sell phones! Sorry about the pun. But Elsa knew where to go, to a Vodafone shop run by a cousin of hers and a cheap phone was duly bought. At last I am in contact with the the rest of Albania!

Next stop was to travel to the neighbouring town of Librazhd to meet and speak to the young people of Librazhd Community Church. This is the door to their building

and here are some of the young people with Ann. At the front next to Ann is Nerila who was one of the initial 5 young people we met from Librazhd who came to our first Youth Camp and became a follower of Jesus. Now she is living and working in Tirana.

And the rest of the group are here. Notice that there a good number of guys! Some of the church youth invited their friends and this is the result. The Librazhd church has probably been the most evangelistic of the youth groups we have known over the years, and they have seen many become Christ followers. I spoke from the life of Joseph who was just 17 when his brothers threw him in a pit and the story of his amazing, turbulent, God led journey through life began.

Then back to Elbasan by taxi, paid for by the young people. By 5.30pm few people want to travel and getting an inter town minibus, a furgon, is difficult, virtually impossible. And back to another group of young people!

The Elbasan youth were doing Youth Alfa and thoroughly enjoying it. This group is led by Mundi, back row third from left. Mundi came to a concert that we did in the theatre in Elbasan about 8 years ago, Matt Price led the band. What was said intrigued him, he came to the youth camp and then became a Christian on an Alpha course run by the Elbasan church. Now he is the youth pastor.

A hot chocolate and lemon tea with Ilir the church leader and then Ann and I had a meal out. Risotto seemed to be the order of the day. Yes it has got a piece of a strawberry and a chunk of radish on top! But my, was it tasty.

And so back to the apartment and another day draws to a close. I wonder what God has in store for tomorrow?

God bless you!

Ken and Ann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Springtime in Elbasan

 

Ann and I are here again in Elbasan, Albania but this year a little earlier than would normally be the case. One of the key events in 2017 for us is that my sister and her husband from Auckland, New Zealand come to stay with us in mid May for 6 weeks. This has made us look at our diary and plan accordingly. So here we're in Albania in mid March a month or 6 weeks earlier than usual. We left the grey skies of the U.K. on Wednesday morning and have arrived to blue skies and sunshine and warmth in the day. 18C at midday, but the clear skies mean a low of 2C at night!. Ann has been to the pazaar, open air fruit and veg market (bazaar is a enclosed market) and bought local fresh strawberries, all ripe and juicy.

It is similar with the tomatoes, which are red and really ripe all through, along with the lemons and madarins Ann purchased.

We were met at the airport by Tomor and Miranda Ajeti who run Victory Church, Tirana. It is Miranda who leads the Ladies Conference UNIKE that Catrina Benham will come to speak at in early May. A nice surprise was also to be met by Ida Ashley's sister Mira and her husband George. Ida and Tom were on the same flight as us and have come to see her parents for a few days. For those who don't know, Ida and Tom are part of Kerith. A lunch of fish soup and then fresh fish was to follow with Miranda and Tomor, before getting our transport to Elbasan. Here we were met by Ilir Koçi who leads the church Joshua Mission in Elbasan and helped us with our cases into the apartment.

We almost didn't come to Albania. We were all set to come but on Monday this week my left foot swelled up for seemingly no reason so that I was in real pain and hobbling about. Ann persuaded me to go to the doctor, (why do men need persuading?) who said I had an infection and has given me a strong dose of penicillin. I am much improved but regularly plunge my foot into a bowl of cold water to cool my foot down. No you don't need to see a photo!!

Tomorrow Saturday, we will go to Librazhd and meet many of the young people we know from that church. We have been coming for 10 years now, so many of those who were teenagers when we first came have finished schooling, been to university or college and now are in employment and looking to marry! But what is great that they have evangelised and seen many other young people now take their place in the church following in their footsteps. Sunday I will speak at the church here in Elbasan and catch up with many people we know.

How do we know it is springtime in Albania? It is warm in the sunshine but the air itself is cold and the tops of the mountains that surround Elbasan are still covered in sparkling white snow. But at the end of April and early May, God turns a switch, and suddenly the air is warm, the snow has gone and the long summer has begun, just in time for Catrina to arrive for the Ladies Conference!

God bless you! Zoti bekoft!

Ken and Ann

 

 

 

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