Everyone arrived back safely in the UK around 10:30pm Friday 17th July. The trip this year has been amazing and was a big step forward for the Gospel in Albania. Will and his family deserve a huge thank you for having us stay with them for the full two weeks and for allowing us the privilege of serving alongside them in their work.

Our last day in Albania was really amazing and everyone was sad to be leaving. In the morning the guys all woke up and went to play football with the local lads in Fier. This was another opportunity for Will “Torres” Niven to put on his football sandals and he didn’t disappoint with yet another hatrick! It was great to spend some time with the local guys and for them to get alongside Will in this way.

Also in the morning the two girls (Eni and Cledia) from next door came over to the house and spent some time with the ladies as they started getting the house in shape for our departure. Around midday we all met for our final devotions. Dan led us in the end of Ephesians and we looked at the armour of God. After some time singing and praying, Will spoke to us all from Acts 18.  The entire session was an incredible time of deep conviction for the Gospel and for our mission.

After lunch we all packed away our stuff and tidied the house. The coach arrived around 4pm and we said our goodbyes to Will, Doretta, Esther, Lidia and Samuel. It was really sad to leave and it felt like we were leaving family. We all waved goodbye to ‘Fort Niven’ and set off for Tirana airport. Everyone enjoyed looking out at the Albanian countryside and mountains. The journey also included some interesting games and dares – only some of which were carried out, (don’t think you got away with it Rob!). The flight home was very smooth except for an interesting double landing where the plane decided to come inches away from the runway then take off again, circle round and only then land down.

Adi Haak and Mic Cornell collected us from the airport and we all travelled home to Hertfordshire. Hopefully the team all got some good rest last night and most of the team will be in church on Sunday to tell you all about the trip. Thank you all so much for being a part of the mission back at home; for your prayers and for keeping up with the blog. Praise God for everything He achieved through us the last two weeks and pray for the continuing good work out in Albania and back here in the UK.

Sorry for yet another late night blog! This week has been manic. We just got back from Will’s next door neighbour Kledi who invited us all over for a drink which was really great fun. The weather today has been absolutely sweltering – easily the hottest day of the trip so far – so it was nice to kick back this evening in the cool and have some cold drinks!

This morning the team (minus Will, Dan, Rob and myself) all went to the blind school in Fier with Doretta. Will and Doretta have wanted to go down and spend time here for quite some time and it was nice to see that finally come to fruition today. The team chatted to these remarkable people all morning (all of them completely blind and yet typing away on computers, and some fluent in 3-4 languages). Doretta even managed to share the gospel with a few of them and hopes to visit again soon with Will to keep up the work. Praise God for this exciting new area of ministry for Will and Doretta and for all the amazing people in the school.

Meanwhile the lads went and finished off the paint work down at the cafe. We also spent some time chatting to Fation who works there and talking through future ideas for the place. We also bumped into Mario at the cafe (one of the football boys from Fier), who was on the internet when we came in looking at facebook photos of our previous years work in Albania! Not only that he was chatting to Phil Brown on facebook (a previous member of Team Albania) and looking at this blog! We’ve barely seen Mario and the local boys this year because they are all working, but it’s amazing to see the level of interest that surrounds the work we do. We have made plans to play football with these boys tomorrow morning, bright and early, so pray for those relationships.

After lunch Dan, Katy, Rob and myself went out into Fier with Eni, Cledia and Ira (three local girls from holiday club). We had a nice time chatting and spent some of our remaining Lek. At 4 o clock we all went back to the house for devotions, and Ira joined us. Manjula took us through the rest of Ephesians 5 and we had a great time singing and praying together. Straight after devotions, some of the guys started making preperations for our evening event in Fier, whilst some others of us went back into town to meet with more people.

The evening event with the church in Fier went really well tonight. The girls we were out having drinks with came along and Mario and his friends even made an appearance! We sung some songs together, then the Albanians sang us a song, then we sang ‘blessed be your name’ to them, (a song that Will is hoping to soon introduce to the Albanian churches!). Will asked me to share the same message from Sunday in Patos with the church in Fier, so we looked at 1 Thessalonians together and the return of Christ. It was a really special time with a real sense of fellowship between beleivers and a good outreach to the visitors.

(Above – one women was so impressed with Rob’s hair that she decided to give it a cut and take a lock home with her!)

After the meeting we all went home and had dinner together. Afterwards we all went over to Will and Doretta’s next door neighbours house for late night drinks with them. They are a lovely family with great kids – It would be great to see them involved at the church in the future – please pray for them all. We once again experienced the amazing Albanian hospitality with drinks and snacks and we all had a really good laugh together. It was the perfect way to spend our last night out here in Albania.

We have just a few more things planned for tomorrow and then we will say our goodbyes and fly out from Tirana late afternoon / early evening. We are all really looking forward to seeing everyone back at home but are incredibly sad to be leaving Albania – it never feels long enough and there is so much more we would like to do, friends we would like to spend more time with etc.

Praise God for all the amazing opportunities he has presented to us and all the ways he has provided for us over the last two weeks. The relationships between the English/Albanian churches has grown immeasurably stronger through these weeks and the gospel has reached many, many people – far beyond our expectations! Praise God.

There will be a short blog tomorrow detailing our last day here – See you all very soon!

We’re coming back!!!

Ben C.

Another incredibly busy day! The men went straight off in the morning to finish painting the church. Meanwhile Chris and Manjula stayed at home and were joined by some of the local women who live near Will’s house. They managed to overcome language barriers by baking some genuine Irish cookies (Rob’s recipe), putting on Manjulas Saris and speaking French! Katy and Helen also went out for a coffee (at the dentists surgery???) with a local girl called Ira.

Lunch time provided some interesting conversation; a number of profound philosophical debates occurred including themes of trees falling in forests, dan travelling faster than the speed of light, and the baby pigeon theory. For those who are unaware of said theory, the baby pigeon theory states that, if we’re honest, nobody has ever seen a baby pigeon – and therefore the only sensible conclusion one can entertain is that the pigeons we see ARE the babies. This led to talk of giant pigeons in the sky and other intellectual discussion.

In the afternoon the boys all finished painting the church and managed to make a good start of the internet cafe. We are planning to add all the finishing touches to the cafe tomorrow at some point. We are also hoping to go and buy a second-hand fridge for the shop for drinks as a good source of sustainable income for the guys (Edi, Bledi and Fation).

We looked at Ephesians 5 today in Devotions speaking about walking in the light and leaving the old way of life behind. This aided a good time of prayer and worship together.

This evening we all went down to Patos church for a social gathering and BBQ. It was easily one of the highlights of our time here in Albania. We all really enjoyed each others company and it really felt as though the two groups/churches were bonding well. Praise God for not letting the language be a barrier to the fellowship we have together in Christ. Rob and I spent quite some time chatting to a young guy in the church called Fabio, (who is Mary & Bellas brother for those of you who know Mary & Bella from previous years). He is a really nice guy, committed to Christ and to the church in Patos. However he does find it really hard being one of the only ones his age in the church so please pray for him in that respect.

As this was one of the last nights in Patos we had to say goodbye to some close friends. This was really difficult but amazing to see that relationships have grown so much in such a short space of time and that we will all be missing each other. Of course, the infamous facebook has now deeply imbedded itself into Albanian culture, so we should be able to stay in touch with our new friends.

We are doing a similar event with the Fier church tomorrow evening – and we pray that it will be just as successful as tonight. (sorry there were no photos taken this evening!) Thanks again for your continuing support with the mission. Come back tomorrow for more details on our progress.

Ben C.

Today we woke up early and had breakfast together as a team. We started the day by helping Will in his garden; we cleared the place up, weeded, and turned all the soil. The early morning also involved giving his dog Leica a wash! This was a great way of helping Will and Doretta whilst out here and the place looked great once we’d all finished.

Around 11 o clock the guys left the women to finish things off and went out to Edi and Bledi’s internet cafe. Here we hung out for a while and made the offer to buy paint and paint the place for them. Dan and Rob have just gone down again now to see Edi himself to confirm colour choice and we should be all-systems-go for tomorrow morning. Because we couldn’t go ahead today – we went down to the church instead in Fier and started painting the church entrance (which was in dire need of a wash, sand down and paint job). This will also need finishing tomorrow. We met the church caretaker Ligor and he seemed very appreciative of all the work.

In the afternoon we met together as a team for our daily devotions. Today Chris Croft led us in the end of Ephesians 4 which really aided a great time of prayer together. After this we set off for Patos for a holiday club follow-up event. We had games, songs, testimonies and question times prepared but upon arrival very, very few kids had turned up. We’re still not sure why – maybe lack of promotion or maybe because it was a baking hot day and they were all at the beach! Either way, instead we took the kids that were there down to the local cafe, Pista, and had a drink with them all and chatted over the week. This was a really great time, particularly with a boy called Artenis who also came to church on Sunday. We also bumped into some old Albanian friends from last year whilst at the cafe.

Finally, in the evening, we were all invited to dinner by a women called Theota (please excuse spelling in case). She is a friend of Dorettas and has been helping cook our meals all week. Her and her family live in a flat just above a family from the church – although they themselves are not Christian or church-going. Their generosity and hospitality was overwhelming and the food was superb (if not rather large portions!). We spent the night chatting, sharing photos and some of the more ‘mature’ members of the team enjoyed a bit of Albanian “raki”. The night produced some interesting moments of confusion and was a good learning curve for Albanian custom and etiquette. All in all it was a really great time with a lovely family and our prayer is that through nights like tonight and all their existing links with the church that they might consider Christ in the near future.

The wedding celebrations seem less frivolous tonight but still very much present. We’ll all be dancing in our sleep again tonight.

More tomorrow!

Ben C

((( Apologies! The Internet suddenly went down all of last night so here’s yesterday’s blog! )))

The wedding celebrations power on through into their second night! As it turns out the power cut last night was caused by a rat having a nibble at some cables right outside Will’s house!

We had a really good day today down at the beach in Vlora relaxing and enjoying a day off together as a group. The weather was excellent, (but thankfully nobody was too sunburnt this year)! Everyone really enjoyed each others company and we shared lunch with our Albanian bus driver down at an amazing fresh fish restaurant just by the beach. They served us up various types of fish along with squid, octopus and muscles; the flavours were genuinely amazing (nothing like British supermarket fish) and everyone really enjoyed “disecting” their meal.

When we got home the boys all went down to see Edi, Bledi and Fation’s new internet cafe in Fier. The place is really big and has some great potential. At the moment it has 7 computers there, a table football table, a playstation and a table tennis table. The plan is to make it a real central hang-out for all the youth in Fier – and, through this, be used as an evangelistic tool for inviting people into the church. The boys are all going back tomorrow morning to paint the walls and get the place looking sparkling.

Anyway – today was our day off so nothing too important to report. But here are some photos for you all to enjoy!

See you tomorrow for more updates! Ben C.

The wedding celebrations power on through into their second night! As it turns out the power cut last night was caused by a rat having a nibble at some cables right outside Will’s house!

We had a really good day today down at the beach in Vlora relaxing and enjoying a day off together as a group. The weather was excellent, (but thankfully nobody was too sunburnt this year)! Everyone really enjoyed each others company and we shared lunch with our Albanian bus driver down at an amazing fresh fish restaurant just by the beach. They served us up various types of fish along with squid, octopus and muscles; the flavours were genuinely amazing (nothing like British supermarket fish) and everyone really enjoyed “disecting” their meal.

When we got home the boys all went down to see Edi, Bledi and Fation’s new internet cafe in Fier. The place is really big and has some great potential. At the moment it has 7 computers there, a table football table, a playstation and a table tennis table. The plan is to make it a real central hang-out for all the youth in Fier – and, through this, be used as an evangelistic tool for inviting people into the church. The boys are all going back tomorrow morning to paint the walls and get the place looking sparkling.

Anyway – today was our day off so nothing too important to report. But here are some photos for you all to enjoy!

See you tomorrow for more updates! Ben C.

Hello! The end of another great day!

We’re currently experiencing an Albanian wedding celebration over the road which involves very loud music, fireworks and singing! This is likely to go on way into the night and last a few days! The only break we had was when the power cut out in the street which also took with it half of the first attempt at this blog! Members of the team are starting to retire off to bed now, softly lulled by the soothing sound of the 80watt ghetto-blasted Albanian folk music.

Today we visited the two churches in Fier and Patos who met back in their own buildings today after we all met together last Sunday down at the beach to baptise a couple of people in the sea. It was such a nice day and really amazing to meet with all the Albanian believers. We had a number of new faces in the churches today; in Fier we were joined by the father of one of the young women in the church which is a really big deal over here for an older man to show up at church. We also had a number of the kids from the holiday club show up in Patos and met a missionary women called Jen who works with Albanians in Greece. Ashley spoke in the morning from the prayer in Ephesians 3 in Fier, and I spoke in Patos from 1 Thessalonians 4 on the return of Christ. Both talks went well and seemed both encouraging and well-received.

Loretta, as many of you will know, is a women who made a commitment to Christ last September off the back of last year’s mission. We all saw her again today in Patos and she is reading her Bible, getting stuck in and very grateful for us coming back again!

The International evening last night was still being spoken about today. In fact there were a number of comments about Vicki’s Irish Oatmeal Cookies which went down a treat!

At lunch today Chris was telling us about a conversation she had earlier in the week over coffee with an English teacher from Patos whose students were sitting a 4 hour university enterance exam. During their exam they were texting their teacher asking for the right answers which is considered acceptable and the norm in Albania. The kids have been telling us about some other pretty corrupt stuff that goes on in the schools here – this being one of the major ones.

It’s been a really great day visiting the two churches and for Will to see new people in church, (particularly this man in Fier). Pray that they might continue coming along and pray for the miracle. We have a day of rest tomorrow which we will probably spend down at the beach in Vlora – then we will finalise our plans for the second week. More to come soon! Thank you all so much for being a part of the mission back home – for all your prayers, comments and support. See you back here tomorrow!

(Ben C)

Hi! Hello! The end of an amazing week!

The team have just finished an evening meal together, all finally able to relax now knowing that there’s no English school preperation for tomorrow! The first week has been absolutely incredible with a really great finale today with both the holiday clubs and the ‘International’ Evening. We are feeling a little depleted now without Ben, Anne and Vicki who travelled home to England earlier today. I know that the whole team would like to thank each of them SO much for all their hard work and for everything that they brought to the team. Thanks!

Thanks also to Anne for doing such a great job with the blog in this first week! I will now be keeping the blog up-to-date for the coming week, (Ben C), so in case you all notice a severe decline in flair, articulation and wit over the coming week… well, you all know why.

We had the final session in both of the holiday clubs today. We looked at Jesus on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples and, as usual, had some good drama to help the talks. The talks were both very well received with a clear message and strong application – encouraging the kids to consider Christ for themselves. We’ve developed really great friendships with the kids over the week and it’s been loads of fun getting to know them all.

Perhaps the best news of the day came rather unexpectedly when Will met the mayor of Patos down at the calchetto (football nets) where he had stopped for a drink. The mayor asked what we were doing and showed a real interest and appreciation for all the work. He invited Will for a drink which resulted in him promising to sort out all of Will’s documents for ownership of the land and the church. (He even paid for our use of the nets!)

(Above: Samuel, Will and Doretta’s son). After lunch we waved goodbye to Ben, Anne and Vicki and then began preperations for our afternoon/evening event. We ran an ‘Internationals’ cafe with talks and food from different countries. (Will – Scotland, Dan – Netherlands, Rob – Ireland, Katy – Costa Rica, Ben – England, Manjula – India and ofcourse Will-Albania). It was a great night, loads of fun and a real experience for all the kids. A highlight was Manjula showing the kids how to dress up in a sari!

The team are looking forward to a good rest tonight and church tomorrow. Ashley is speaking in Fier in the morning and I will be speaking in Patos in the afternoon. Pray for fellowship and that the Gospel would be lived out as we share time with the Albanian churches.

The team continues to get closer every day and is bonding well. As a leaving present to Dan, Vicki managed to crack a raw egg open on his head last night which happened to be the second broken egg of the day after I managed to break an egg open on myself after being given it in good faith that it had indeed been boiled… it hadn’t. Will made another shining appearance on the football pitch today and when asked by Rob whether he knew ‘Eminem’ made the reply, ‘Yes, I eat them all the time’.

We really appreciate all your prayers. More tomorrow!

(Ben C).

Today, the English lessons came to a close in Fier and Patos. All of the students seem to have enjoyed the classes, and there’s been a noticeable improvement in the spoken English of many of them. Manjula also had her last lesson with the group that takes place during the Fier holiday club, and really enjoyed her time with them. It’s worth adding that many of our students were sitting exams today for university places, so it was a big day for many of them. We hope they all get the grades they need.

Holiday clubs on both sites were a real blessing. Today we learned about the thief who met Jesus on the cross. In both clubs, the children listened really well, and the drama (not the Bible reading but an illustration about a judge and a criminal) was really well received. Thanks to Bela and Elvis we had music again at both sites, and the children absolutely loved making crosses with the Hama beads.

Many of the children in Fier were asking about the time of the holiday club on Saturday, and at Patos a number said that they were looking forward both to that and to church on Sunday. It was a wonderful, wonderful time!

 

Will’s car has now been fixed it seems, which is a great relief all round! Will himself went to visit Patos today (he’s been based in Fier this time) and, according to our local commentators, Rob and BenC, Will scored an absolute ’screamer’ in the top corner of the net during the football – with his left foot no less. Apparently he also ran off pretending to be Fernando Torres, but perhaps we’ll gloss over that. Back home, the boys prepared another manly salad (even MORE beautiful and manly than the last if that were possible) and we established some important essential facts about cheese: firstly that lychees are not a cheese; and secondly that feta cheese is made from feet. It’s important to know these things!

 

Tomorrow we have our final holiday clubs and also the international evening, so there is much to prepare. Vikki, BenA and Anne will also be winging their way home, which is really sad. We’ve really grown together as a team over the last week together, so it will be really sad to say goodbye. But thanks to the wonders of blogging, we’ll be able to keep in touch with all the news!

 

And this is Anne signing off! From tomorrow, the blog will be ably updated by BenC so watch this space…

(written by Anne)

Thursday has come around already (unbelievably – the week is passing so fast!). English schools went well again today and are being very well received, especially in Patos where the students are very enthusiastic and hungry to learn. Manjula has been giving an extra afternoon class in Fier during the holiday club, and this ladies class is proving to be a really special one for her.

Both holiday clubs also went well. In Fier we’ve been joined by Elvis, who led us today in the singing on his guitar (which BenC had restrung during the afternoon). It was great to have him along again! In Patos, Bela led the singing beautifully. Today we learned about Zacchaeus and his dramatic change of heart. The children enjoyed the drama once again (ably assisted in Fier by Bonna and Lindita) and listened well to the talks. On both sites the organisation of craft and games is steadily improving day by day as well – we’ll have it down to a fine art by Saturday. Face masks were particularly popular today – lots of the girls and many of the boys created absolutely stunning masks, which they wore happily for the rest of the afternoon.

Outside of school and holiday clubs, coffees, ice-creams and visits to cafes are happening on a daily basis now, and have been immensely encouraging for all concerned. On the weather front, although it was very hot again today, we had a lovely cool breeze for much of the afternoon, which stopped us from wilting. Back at the ranch, Will’s car is on the mend and so got the team to Patos and back again today, but will need some more work tomorrow – hopefully that might sort out the electrical fault. Dinner this evening produced several new wonders: the boys created the most artistic salad EVER, and the various impressions of dinosaurs and thunderbirds had to be seen to be believed. Whatever next, we wonder?!

(written by Anne)

Well, it’s really starting to hot up now! 32C this morning, and a bit higher this afternoon. We were all starting to wilt a little bit today in the heat, but thankfully a good breeze has come up now, so we’re feeling the benefit of that!

English school went well again today, with good numbers in both Fier and Patos. There was a moment of slight concern when Will’s car started to misbehave, but a kind neighbour gave the car a jump start, and it then behaved itself for the trip to Patos and back in the afternoon. It’s being looked at tomorrow, so hopefully the problem will soon be rectified.

At the holiday clubs today, we learned about the rich man who came to see Jesus to ask what he needed to do to go to heaven. The children seemed to enjoy the drama (including a star turn from BenA as the rich man, complete with bath robe, bling and shades) and they responded well to the talk in both Fier and Patos. Both BenC and Helen gave their first holiday club talks today, and both of them did really well. As for numbers, we had a few new faces in Fier today, but in Patos the numbers were up again by quite a margin, topping 50. In spite of the high numbers, the children seem to be getting really stuck in, and the sport is proving really popular. We introduced the guys in Fier to Kabaddi today, which ended up being pretty hilarious (we almost wrapped ourselves around a tree at one point) so we’ll probably have another go at that tomorrow.

A couple more firsts today worthy of a mention: Anne cut her first watermelon (and, rather surprisingly, didn’t lose any digits in the process) and Dan taught us how to shell an egg without all that messy cracking and peeling. Want to know how? I’m sure Dan will give you a demo if you ask…!

More tomorrow!

(written by Anne)

Thanks for all the comments everyone – it’s so great to hear from you and to know that you’re all praying for us. And Michelle, I’ll give you a demo of the dance of the dying elephant next time we see you!!!

Day 2 was a busy but lovely day. In Fier we had similar numbers for the English school, which seemed to go really well. In Patos, the number rose to about 30, which was really encouraging! After we got back, Anne and Manjula went out with Doreta to do some food shopping in the local shops and markets – sampling and buying some olives was a particular highlight (they were fabulous!!) and seeing all the wonderful herbs, spices and fruits was great fun.

In the afternoon, both of the holiday clubs also went well. In Patos, the numbers for holiday club had more than doubled, which was great. In Fier, we had lots of the same faces from the day before, back to hear the second part of the story. Today we heard about the paralyzed man meeting Jesus and being healed – the children really seemed to appreciate the drama, and we had lots of fun afterwards with craft and games, including a great game of Uno with some of the older guys at Fier. At Patos, on the way down to the football pitch, a lot of the kids were chatting about the talk and asking questions, which was so good to hear!

As for the weather, well, the rain has stopped (not a drop today). It’s quite nice generally because there’s quite a breeze, but when it drops the heat is really on. The mozzies are still feasting happily, but neither the heat nor the munching is dampening spirits! Daily devotions are a real highlight (everyone taking a turn to lead) and we’re so thankful for all the encouragements that we’re seeing!

More again tomorrow…!

(wrriten by Anne)

Well, today we got started with both English school and holiday clubs. And to mark the occasion, we were “treated” to thunderstorms, with thunder, lightening and some spectacular downpours – Will told us at Fier that this was the first time in ten years he had seen rain in July. (Oh good!) We managed ok in Fier, but there were some pretty dire consequences in Patos – loss of electricity at the English school and flooding on the football pitch. But, praise God, all was well in time for the holiday club later.

Aside from the drama, all went well – people came along for English schools at both sites, and Manjula even did an extra lesson during the holiday club at Fier. At the holiday clubs, we learned about Simon Peter’s encounter with Jesus when Jesus taught from his boat and then encouraged him to put out into deep water and lower the nets. (We even had a miraculous catch of fish – about 300 of them, lovingly made the evening before from sheets of foam!!) Both the talks went well, and everyone seemed to engage well with them, which was brilliant. Numbers were down at Patos compared to last year, but we hope they will rise as word spreads.

On the lighter side of the news, we’re managing to keep up a good ratio of spectacular accidents: Helen managed to badly sprain a toe at the beach and Anne did the dance of the dying elephant in the middle of Fier, to the general consternation of all around her. We’re also collecting a good number of mozzie bites, although life is made a lot easier on that count by the installation of mosquito screens in all the windows around the house. So we can have the windows open at night…. Bliss!

One final note for those of you who’ve been part of Team Albania in previous years. Guess what…. Doreta has a dishwasher (a gift from some very kind friends). And both she, and we, are very thankful!!!

More to come tomorrow…!

(written by Anne Andrews)

(posted from the UK)

6 of last years team at church this morning

David, Simon, Hazel, Bex, Glynn and Rachel are praying the team and for our Albanian friends from last year.

David and Hazel did a good job in the service at Christchurch Baldock this morning of reminding the rest of us at Christchurch to keep you in our prayers over the next couple of weeks.

The team arrived safe and sound at around 10.30pm at Will & Doreta’s – shaken but not stirred by a slightly bumpy ride over on the plane. After some supper and a bit of unpacking, we all eventually went off to bed, serenaded by some fireworks and by the slightly confused cockerel in the yard!

On Sunday morning, we were up bright and early for a trip over to Plazhi Seman for some baptisms. We travelled over with members of the church from Fier on an old Greek bus with immense character, and met up there with some of the group from Patos as well. First stop was the beach, to witness the testimony and baptism in the sea of Stilian and Monda – a really lovely moment! We then sang some songs and trooped off to the shade of a nearby wood. There, in a clearing, serenaded by what sounded like thousands of crickets, we had our church service and communion. Will opened the service with a reading from Psalm 98: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!” It certainly sounded as if the occupants of the trees were trying at least as hard to do that as we were. Bleddi preached a great sermon on the meaning of repentance and baptism, and then we had communion.

After lunch we went our separate ways for a while, some staying in the woods to enjoy a snooze in the shade, some heading back to the beach for some swimming and sunbathing – all with plenty of time to chat and get to know each other. Then it was back on the bus to come back to Fier. On the way home we stopped off at the church to check on the situation there – a flash flood last week caused by heavy rain further upstream resulted in some flooding in the church building but, thankfully, everything seems to have dried out well and we should be able to go ahead with English school there tomorrow as planned.

Tomorrow, we start English school in the morning and then Holiday club in the afternoon, so we’ll be cracking on with last minute prep for that tonight. More soon…

(written by Anne Andrews)

Hi! Welcome to the web blog for the 2009 mission trip to Albania!

This blog will be kept up to date by the team each day so please come back and see everything that is going on.