Sevastopol continued

I mentioned in the previous blog that we went to a Tatar church in Simferopol. Well here are the photos at last! This is Martyn Dunsford on the right, from Hedge End, Southampton with the leader of the church. It is their custom to wear traditional dress if they speak or are involved in the worship. The 14 year old girl in blue, below, danced during the worship.



Here are some of the other youngsters who were in the meeting.




On returning from Simferopol we headed straight for McDonald's! We loved it!



, After a full day on Sunday I had an opportunity on Monday morning to write a blog at an Internet cafe then see some of Sevastopol. It was bitterly cold and everyone is well wrapped up. Full length coats to within a few inches of the ground are common, as are fur coats with fur hoods. Part of the Russian fleet is based here.

And reminders of the liberation of Sevastopol from the Germans in the 2nd World War are to be seen in several places.

Since the fall of communism, consumerism has grown apace. Here is a supermarket similar say to Asda, in a shopping mall that we walked through. Warmer than being outside!



We have the inevitable meetings. Here we are on Tuesday morning with Sergei the leader of the Sevastopol church in his church office in the basement of his home. Alexander, in the middle, is our main translator. Very few people we met spoke English other than to say "Good morning" or "God is good all the time!" Still, what Russian do I know? Sputnik, bistro, cosmonaut, czar, dobra utro (good morning) and vodka! Note the box of chocolates on the table!

During our meeting I had opportunity to talk about our church in particular our youth and children's work. This was followed by a superb lunch provided by Sergei's wife. The salmon roe on bread as the starter below, caught my eye! The round black things are not small plums but olives! The biggest I have ever seen. This was followed by creamed mashed potato with big chunks of beef, grated cabbage with sour cream, gherkins etc. Wonderful!

Then off to Balaklava, the place of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade. If you love your history it is a great place to be to bring to life the Crimean War 1854-56. We pass through Inkerman on the way to Sevastopol. It was because of the many British deaths through frostbite and illness that Florence Nightingale came, the Medical Corps was established, the first prefabricated hospital was built by Brunel and the first hospital train was run.

But we had come to Balaklava see Michael and his wife who are the leaders of a church and run a mobile phone shop to provide an income.

Now it was getting dark and it was time to return to our apartment followed by an evening meeting with the Sevastopol church. Again, wonderful worship with God evidently present.

Then to bed and up at 3.30 am for the start of our journey through the flat, snow covered Crimean countryside to our flight from Simferopol to Kiev and then home. What a privilege to see and hear of God on the move in another country!

Ken

Republic of Krim

Oh the joys of writing a blog in an internet cafe here in Sevastopol! All instructions on screen come up in Russian so if I get anything wrong, like having no photos, then you know why!
I flew out on Saturday afternoon with Martyn Dunsford and a colleague of his, Martin, both from Hedge End to Kiev capital of the Ukraine. We went via Vienna. On the first leg of the journey I was seated next to 2 women schoolteachers from Kosovo, so they were Albanian speaking.
We arrived after 11pm and then by taxi straight to our hotel where we tried to get some sleep for 4 hours before waking at 4am to sort ourselves before catching an early morning flight with the Germen Wizz air to Simferopol the capital of the Crimea region. We call it the Crimea, and people here call it the Republic of Krim.
It was all go. Met at the airport, we then travelled by car with Adrain Birks from Woking to Sevastopol the main sea port in the Ukraine that the Russians use as a navy base. The people in the Crimea are all Russian speaking. This was all part of Stalin and other communist leaders plan to keep the Crimea with its ports and access to the Black Sea and then the Mediterranean under Russian control.
We went straight straight into a morning meeting held in a theatre hired from the local council. I had been here once before, 4 years ago. The worship was as wonderful now as then! Whilst everything is sung and spoken in Russian, when they sing their own Russian songs there is something special rather more than when they sing the songs we know that have been translated from English. Martyn spoke on the grace of God and then prayed for many people to be healed.
We left straightaway to be whisked away back to Simferopol for a meeting there.
The plans are not always clear rather one has to be happy with "going with the flow". We arrived in Simferopol and got into a lift to to a flat for a lunch before the meeting. The lift doors locked closed and the lights went out and we didn't move! I thought it was a power outage, a fairly common thing in some countries, but no. The power didn't come on and we were stuck in the lift, 5 of us like sardines in a can. It was a jam and none of us are small! In the movies James Bond forces open the doors with his fingers. We tried that but they were well and truly locked shut. Pitch black and all crammmed together remember, and one of the guys said he wanted the toilet! Fortunately our Russian driver was with us and he could read the emergency notice and phone for help. 5 minutes they said. It was a long 5 minutes. In fact it weas a lot longer. We phoned again. 5 minutes they said again! They we heard a voice in English with a South African accent. "I used to work with the Christan organisation Open Doors, he said, "but I don't work with them anymore!" We laughed. Fortunately the engineer did turn up and we were released from our "prison"
This was follwed by a wonderful lunch of what I have come to know as Slavic food. Grated cabbage, onion and cucumber with sour cream, grated carrot and other vegetables etc and then meat in small pastry parcels. I like it. The family who hosted us are the leaders of the church Yuri aand Vika. They are Tartars and gather a Tatar church. Now I wish I could up load the photos! It is their custom for their singers and the preacher to wear Tatar costume. And when worship started a 14 yr old girl dressed in her costume started to dance. Worship was in Tatar which is written in a version of the Russian alphabet. God was evidently present. Martyn dressed in a Tatar robe, preached, then again we prayed and prophesied over the leaders of the church and the people.
Yuri told us of a remarkable story how God has started a revival in a Tatar village. A Tatar lady was in hospital due to give birth to her 6th child by Caesarian. They gave her too much anasthetic and she went into a coma. They tried to revive her and in so doing broke 2 of her ribs that then pierced her lung. They started to fill with blood. By now they had put her on a life support machine. Still in her coma she saw a man with a long white beard and white hair come to her and tell her not to fear for she would be healed. She came round and began to disconnect herself from the life support machine. The nurses were horrified and said "What are doing? They said if you ever leave here alive it will only ever be with you on a life support system. She began to be afraid again. But once more the man with the white hair came to her and said "Don't be afraid you will be healed. She said this to the nurses who thought that she was losing here mind. Then some Russian people went by the end of the room one of them with an icon like picture of Jesus. She saw it and said that is the man who said he would heal me. At that moment she realised that it was Jesus who had come to her and she believed Him and was healed.
She also prayed for her a son of hers to be healed who had a physical disability and had never walked. He moved about shuffling on his bottom which caused him pain and many sores. In the night at home, the father heard a noise outside his bedroom of footsteps and wondered who it could be. It was his son who had never walked now walking! Just amazing what God does!
As a result the whole family have become Christians and 20 other families in the village have become Christains too. I wish you could have been there to hear it being told first hand and to meet the people. God is doing something remarkable with them.
I look forward with anticipation to the next couple of days.
Ken

Skopje and 490 Christian Centre

On Friday evening the 490 Christian centre runs a bible training school that Marija teaches at. Here is Marija with a couple of the students Trieche and Oliver.

Saturday morning saw me on a walking tour of Skopje with Aleksander. First to the main Orthodox church and then onto the old fortress walls called Kale, with the river Varder in front of it.

We walked through the old part of the town that was built in the Ottoman period and now is the home to the small stalls and markets like any souk or bazaar and sells amongst many things unusually for nowadays real fur coats and jackets. Then having toured the castle walls we walked through the town centre in warm autumn sunshine to the old railway Station where the clock stopped at 5.17 pm on 26th July 1963 when a major earthquake shook Skopje. Over 1,000 people died and over 200,000 were made homeless. The Railway building was never repaired and stands now as a museum.

We stopped for a much needed coffee along the way as many others were doing too.

Where we were was right next to the Mother Teresa monument house. She was born here in Skopje. The architecture of the house is strange to say the least and has been built it seems to me like a almost a idol to her.

Then onto a wonderful meal at Aleksander and Elena's home, where we caught up on the news of each other. This is when I really wished that Ann was with me as Elena really enjoys Ann's company.

Sunday morning saw us getting a taxi to the 490 Christian Centre church who hold their meetings in a rented hall with theatre style seating. The preacher was a visiting Kosovo Albanian from Gjakove! (the 490 comes from How many times must I forgive my brother? 70x70). Then for a fish a chip lunch Macedonian style. A wonderful big salad followed by chunky chips, not french fries, which is what you find nearly everywhere here, followed by the fresh fish excellently cooked.

After a brief respite it was off again to Naomi's, the 4 yr old daughter, birthday party in a nearby hall. It was all kitted out as these places are with the music and games and food to suit the children whilst the parents sat in a side room in quieter surroundings and fed good Macedonian fare. There I had chance to talk to Zoran, one of the church leaders, and hear about the history and leadership structure of the church.

Time to move on this time to "Glasnost", their youth church; but not really youth rather 18-28's. What started as a youth church has of course grown older! This operates quite separately it seems from the main church and is planting churches in other parts of Macedonia. An interesting chat with one of the leaders Alpin, afterwards over kebabs was called for until late. Then home and to bed.

Now time on Monday morning to write up this blog, post some cards to my family, pack my case and in a few minutes they will come to take me away! To the Aleksander the Great Airport and home via Budapest. So interesting to see how God is yet again at work in a very different culture from home. Lets see what doors God will open from these last two and a half weeks in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia.

Ken

Добредојдовте во Скопје

Yes it's confusing isn't it? It actually says "Welcome to Skopje" in Macedonian. I could also have entitled this page as How time flies! Wednesday morning saw Lee and Tom up in good time for Shpendi to take them down town to the local bus station to get the bus to Pristina, the capital. Then a taxi ride would take them to the airport for the British Airways flight home. I know they got there alright as Lee sent me a text to that effect. And now they will have had a couple of nights in their own beds. Always a wonderful feeling!

I spent a time out day walking round Skopje looking at the sites as described in the Bradt guide, the only guide I know that has a book wholly devoted to Kosovo. I like to do this as it feeds me history, what has changed, how people dress, what they eat and a clue as to what goes on in their culture.

In the evening Liridoni, Shpendi's brother had his future mother in law call round with his fiancee Fitore and her sister. Below is a photo of Fitore, Shpendi, his wife Linda and Shpendi's sister Liradona.

It was so interesting to see what happened. It was just like home! Shpendi's wife Linda and his sister Liradona set too and cleaned the place from top to toe, the floor, the kitchen, we were moved off the settee so it could be straightened etc. This was obviously an important occasion. I later learned they had also come to see me, the Englishman. They told me that only ten years ago just before the Kosovo war, the men and women would have sat in separate rooms Turkish and Muslim style but the war changed all that.

Now it was my turn on Thursday to pack my case, say my farewells and go to the bus station after a very worthwhile time with Shpeni and Linda. At the bus station there is minimal information available to the traveller so it is important to keep ones wits about you. Bus stop 6, my bus stop, would either take me east 3.5 hours to Skopje, Macedonia or west 3.5 hours to Ulcinj in Montenegro. Lesson....get on the right bus!

We left on time in a comfortable modern bus, soon climbing into the mountains. Vines and orange orchards were quickly replaced with roadside stalls piled high with leeks and winter cabbages. Snow had already settled on the mountain tops. One brief "comfort break" and then onto the Macedonian border. I won't describe or show you a photo of the "comfort break". It could put you off international travel for life. Lets just say Ann would not have enjoyed it.

And then over the border having had my passport duly stamped and the bus searched by customs. Over the border into a totally different alphabet and language, which I cannot read apart from a few words, and into Slav culture which is very different from Albanian culture. Importantly Marija was there to great me at the bus station and then taxi to their home. Marija came to our Ladies REAL Conference.

Sasha and Marija have three children. Their youngest daughter Naomi aged 4, wanted to know if Uncle Ken had got his pyjamas with him. If I had then obviously I am staying the night. They were so excited to see me. They reminded me of my own grandchildren. Luka aged 4 wanted me to play football in the house with him, a soft ball of course and look at his model cars. It was great. After something to eat, and in Slav culture that means soup to start, I was then put on a bus, told how the ticket system works and packed off to the other side of the city where I was assured I would be met at the final bus stop to go to a Lifegroup meeting. And true enough there was Aleskander, the first Macedonian I had met some 3 years ago in Struga, now waiting for me. Aleksander and his wife Elena have kept in contact with Ann and me since then.

Life group was excellent. They like us went through the previous weeks sermon, theirs had been part of a series on the grace of God, and the leader Nikola wanted us to tell examples of God's grace in our lives and to give actual examples where we had known God humbling us as we had learnt humility from Christ. Here is Nikola and Maya who led the group.

And three of the guys and the wonderful pear soft drink Gasosa I have had.

The biscuits, crisps, fruit, drinks could have been served at any one of our groups. Fortunately there was a taxi driver in the Lifegroup and he took me home. Finding the way home from the bus stop in the dark would have been fun!

A nights rest and then this morning we travelled across town to see the work the church does amongst Roma children. Skopje has the largest Roma community on the world 50-70,000. Having heard and read about it I was nothing like as daunting as I thought it might be and doesn't compare size wise with say Garbage City in Cairo.

I was impressed with the facility the church has here standing on land bought for them by an American Assemblies of God church. They run a preschool and a soup kitchen. The preschool is bright, colourful with clearly dedicated staff and all the equipment one would want. All they get taught alphabet, counting, numbers etc is linked in one way or another to the Bible. Because they teach values like kindness, patience, helping each other, orderliness, in addition to helping clothe and feed them the local schools snap up these children when it is time for them to move on to infant school.

Other children who are in need of food are feed Monday to Friday at their soup kitchen that is in the same large building. This is run by Tom the pastor of the church here with volunteer help including a young woman from Virginia, USA. They are given a huge chunk of bread and a bowl of soup and a coke like drink. They sing a worship song, shout it would be a better description, but brilliant to hear, have a brief prayer then tuck in. Tom is clearly the man for the job and has everyones respect. Children who need food for the weekend are given some after the Friday session.

Photos of the childrens work were taken by one of the church members rather than me and will be sent me later. Now tomorrow, Saturday I get a personal guided tour of Skopje with Aleksander and then a meal cooked for me us by Elena. I look forward to it!

Ken

Prizren

Well here is Lee and Tom in the centre of Prizren this morning, Tuesday.




Historically there were many trades carried on in Prizren and some of them like this one, a metal worker, still continue.

There are 3 languages in use in Prizren, Albanian, Serbian and Turkish.

This is what we had for breakfast.

Lee and Tom with Shpendi outside the family home.

We had coffee out first thing this morning Tuesday, then returned home to a breakfast cooked by Shpendi's mother. It was a pancake mixture dropped into hot fat, cooked and then folded in half and eaten with jam or honey. It was like a light fluffy pancake. We had several of these!! We talked all last evening and over coffee this morning about the Youth Camp and how church life is for them in this city that has a very strong Turkish influence. This is seen not only in the number of mosques, over 25 in Prizren, but also in the amount of rebuilding that is Turkish financed and the amount of Turkish spoken on the street. Already I feel that we have achieved a great deal and that our friendship is growing. I won't give the details here but our journey with all the problems at the border has proved worthwhile. It is just so good to travel with Lee and Tom, and to have their contributions. It has proved completely appropriate and worthwhile to have Lee as Youth Pastor travel with me. He naturally develops his own relationships with people and is a key person when so many of the churches we meet have a high percentage of youth.

Please keep praying for Lee and Tom as their time here draws to a close and they travel home tomorrow. I am here another day and then travel onto Skopje by bus to see Aleksander and Elena and Marija and their church. The church here needs your prayer too as yet again I hear the calls of the muezzins from the mosques. All our love,

Ken

Sunday in Elbasan and onto Prizren, Kosovo

On Sunday morning most of the church from Librazhd travelled the 25 minutes to Elbasan to join us there. I brought a message to the people and then spoke to the leaders of the Librazhd church and their people about being part of Newfrontiers. Here is a photo of Ladi and Ornela, Ilir and Donika and Samuel, the leaders in Librazhd. Some of you will remember that Ornela and Donika came to the Ladies Real conference and that Ilir and Donika came to the Willow Creek DVD Conference. Below the photo shows some of the Librazhd folks in the Elbasan building whose ground floor meeting hall is nearing completion.



Monday morning early saw us catching a furgon from Elbasan to travel over the mountains to Tirane, the capital of Albania. So it is goodbye to Elbasan from us until next Spring. In Tirane we were met by Shaban at the furgon "terminal". Actually they just drop you off in the street near a building called the Pyramid because of its shape. Then all aboard Shaban's car heading for Prizren in Kosovo. This entails driving along a wonderful new piece of road from Milot, a few miles from Tirane, past Kukes to the Albania/Kosovo border, and thereby making the journey much shorter. The journey to Kosovo was usually by an overnight bus leaving at 10pm and arriving in Prizren at 4am. It never appealed to me! One Albanian church leader who did the journey was picked up in Prizren by the Kosovon Police wanting to know why he was roaming the streets at 4am. You can imagine Ann liking that can't you?

All went well until we reached to Kosovo entry border, when the Police would not let Shaban enter Kosovo. Albanians have an Identity Card and they travel across borders with that but they were clearly unhappy with Shabans and I don't know why. In the end we had to say cheerio to Shaban at the border and walk through the crossing to a nearby taxi. We called Shpendi our friend in Prizren, and took the taxi to the bus station in Prizren, where Shpendi and his wife Linda met us. They have brought us to the family home, a four storey house on the outskirts of Prizren. Now that means mum and dad, his brother and his brothers wife, they and their 2 children and sister live altogether under one roof.

We have been introduced to all the family, photos to follow, and had our lunch of local sausage, chips and salad. Now we are swapping stories and getting ready to eat again. Here is just a bit of background that will interest some of you.

The history of Kosovo needs a book in itself. Let's just say that Prizren pretty well escaped damage in the 1989-1999 war, but when the Albanians returned in 1999 a considerable number of Serbian homes were looted and burnt. Prizren suffered the most material damage in the riots of March 2004 with 55 houses and and 8 Orthodox sites damaged. Many of the these houses remain burnt out shells. Kosovo declared Independence from Serbia on 17th February 2008. To help maintain security and order there are KFOR soldiers (Kosovon Forces) , mainly American, British, German round Prizren, Italian and French troops who patrol, though this is low key.

However, many would say that Prizren is the jewel in the crown of Kosovo from an architectural point of view. It has the highest number of preserved Ottoman buildings with their upper storeys jutting out into the narrow cobbled streets. Prizren is the only municipality in Europe outside of Turkey where Turkish is an official language, a hangover from the Ottoman Empire. So many road signs are in 3 languages, Albanian, Serbian and Turkish. The town has 200,000 people and has a high youth population. Schools operate 3 shifts a day with up to 50 in a class.

Tomorrow we will talk more with Shpendi and Linda and go into Prizren and see some of the sites. Love from Lee and Tom and me.

onto Pogradec and the 2011 Youth Camp

After Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in Librazhd with their youth, today it was all aboard a furgon, minibus, for a 90 minute ride to Pogradec by Lake Ohrid. This is the city where we hold the Youth Camp. And what more could you ask for? Here it is the first week of November and the temperature is 21-22C and dead calm. The mountains of Macedonia are in the background.



You can see Lee is in his short sleeve T shirt!



I nearly always take time to speak to young people like these teenagers we met by the lakeside. It improves my Albanian and you never know what friends you will make or how God will use the conversation.



Autumn is coming though and this tree was a magnificent sight against the cloudless blue sky. God is a wonderful creator. Lili the administrator greeted us at the Nehemiah Centre and showed us the new building they have finished that we will be able to use next year. It will provide bedroom space, showers, break out rooms and has a wonderfully equipped kitchen and dining room that comfortably seats over 100. Here are just a handful of the 300 children and teenagers they teach at the school, having their lunch.




And the photo below shows part of the new kitchens. The Centre is German owned and all the doors, windows down to the kitchen equipment, crockery, cutlery etc come by truck from Germany. The kitchen staff had a German lady train them for 2 weeks on how to use the new equipment!!



Now here is a photo Ann, who is at home in Bracknell, is waiting to see. Edi and Artina (Arta) with their first baby, Michael who was born in September. Edi and Arta lead a church in Korca. They had travelled from Korca to meet us and see the new facilities at the Nehemiah Centre and talk through some of the plans for next years Youth Camp.



And here is Lili, the administrator, admiring Michael as any mum would.



After our time at the Centre, I returned to Elbasan by furgon and Edi and Arta took Lee and Tom to their home in Korca. So tonight, Friday, Lee will be meeting their young people and again tomorrow and speaking at their church on Sunday morning. I am meeting some of the church people in Elbasan tomorrow and then speaking at the Elbasan church on Sunday when we will be joined by the church from Librazhd and I will bring them into Newfrontiers.

What a privilege to be here and to be able to share this with you!

Ken