Nancy and I have finished a wonderful month in Erseke, Albania, and are in the Albanian capital, Tirana, for a couple days. Three weeks of the Erseke time I was teaching, 2 weeks on the Parables of Jesus and one on the Pastoral Epistles. One week was a week of ministry outside the school for the students, and Nancy and I went with the Osbornes to Greece—not just to enjoy the place but to do some shopping for the school. Thessalonika is easier to get to than the Albanian capital, and the stores are more user-friendly.

Today I preached for the second Sunday in the International Assembly church here in Tirana. It is a five day vacation weekend so some of the regulars were away from the city, but the people were most gracious and attentive as I shared about two parables on prayer. Later today we will go to another church service where our friend Jack Dabney will be preaching, then go out to dinner with him and his wife Susannah. The two of them are long-time workers in Albania and have a wonderful message and spirit of ministry.

We are staying at the Qendra Stefan, the Stephen Center, which is a central Tirana restaurant-hostel run by a Christian couple. They came to the country soon after it opened to outsiders and instead of starting a church started this place as a gathering place for believers and as a fund-generating place for ministries in the country. It has succeeded marvelously on both fronts—and it is one of the few places in the country where you can get a good cup of regular coffee…

At the school we celebrated Thanksgiving with a big turkey dinner, decorations and a reenactment of the Pilgrim experience compliments of the missionary children. A real treat and a reminder of home while away from home. We have enjoyed reconnecting with not only the Osbornes (friends since 1970) but with the missionary families (Gundy and Stoscher) and the Albanian staff. The dedication of these people to the work not only at the school but in the church and community is a real inspiration.

One of the highlights of our time in Erseke was the report given by the students about their week of outreach, when they presented the gospel to over 500 people, mostly children and youth, in Leskovik, Erseke and Billisht. The interest among the children and youth was great, and the encouragement the response gave to missionaries and locals who have been at work for years in these places was also wonderful. As an example, in one meeting the highest estimate of projected attendance was 40 and so material was prepared for that number—but 120 came! It meant quite a bit of rapid cutting out of sheep for the story time, but it was more than worth it. What a joy to see the faces of the students returning with as much enthusiasm as the earliest disciples did when they were sent out Jesus and returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

Such is the stuff of ministry here in this Muslim country of Albania. Tuesday we get on the plane and head back to Dublin for two nights, then back to Greensboro. It is time to go home, but we are thankful to God and to his people for the opportunity to serve and be served here…

Udhekryq

Mountains Outside Erseke

Just over a week ago Nancy and I were saying goodbye to friends in Ireland. We vacated our home in Cahir on Sunday morning and headed north to Dublin to see friends at Adelide Road church. After the services there we went out to the airport and flew to Bologna, Italy, for the night. The next morning we flew to Tirana, Albania, where we were met and taken directly to the town of Erseke and the Udhekryq (Crossroads) Bible School. My first class on The Parables was that night and Nancy’s first English class the next day.

Co Teacher Jack Dabney

Now we have been here for just over a week. In that time we have renewed relationships, made new friends, taught numerous classes, enjoyed wonderful food—and Nancy even managed a couple days of English seminars in the Albanian city of Berat. Since coming the rains have been falling most of the time and the roads have turned into flowing streams, but the school is comfortable and dry, with all the amenities of a school at home.

School Cooks

Albania is very different from Ireland and Greensboro. In the architecture and infrastructure it bears the unmistakable marks of its communist past—marks which are not very pretty. But it also has an air of newness and life. In the midst of decaying apartment buildings there are new buildings popping up, and the roads are bit by bit being smoothed, straightened, and expanded. It is a very beautiful place, with unspoiled Adriatic white sand coastland giving way to incredibly rugged Balkan mountains. Where we are these mountains rise just outside of the town, separating us from Greece, and the beginning of winter has started to cover them with a dusting of snow. Sunsets are dramatic and the air is clear and clean (except when the cheese factory just outside the school belches out its daily dose of smoke). Buildings in the town are often not heated, so their doors are left open even in these cold days, but in the school a modern and innovative system keeps everyone comfortable and the water always hot.

Street Leaving Erseke

All this is to say that the world in which God has placed Nancy and me continues to be an interesting, challenging, and rewarding one. We are blessed to be here in Erseke once again, and are grateful to God for the opportunity to serve and be served. As I experience the road on which God has placed us, I marvel again at how good it is—and thank him for the place and the people, and the chance to continue with the adventure of following him. Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song… Psalm 95:1,2.