Albania ~ Day 15

I think it's time I caught you up on what I've been doing.
Last Thursday evening we had our weekly Bible study and prayer meeting which I went to. It was all in Albanian so I didn't understand much, but it was on the Tabernacle and Enris has a model so I could see what he was talking about.

On Friday I was back at GDQ doing more circuits in science; fractions, decimals and percentages with a student and P.E. with Kindergarten and Grade 1. Mrs Pearce the librarian also showed me how to put new books onto the system so that I'll now be able to help her with that too. I also found out that there was a non-pupil day on Monday, so I got the day off too.
    Later I went with Sylvia to their church's craft group where they're currently making things to sell at the 'National Sisters Conference' in May. It was really interesting and some of the things they've made are lovely.

On Saturday we had our kids club again, this time it was in the church, where we had about 15 children come. We played some games and then had a story, which had pictures on a power point, so I was able to understand what was going on! The children all seemed to enjoy themselves and they all got sweets at the end for answering questions on the story.
    I then had the afternoon for my study time and had a great time concentrating on prayer. It was fantastic, though challenging. The main verses from the Bible that came up a few times were Philippians ch 4 v 5-7, which were the verses I wrote on my first blog entry after arriving in Albania.

On Sunday we had our Breaking of Bread service, followed by what I would call the family service. I'm starting to recognise some of the hymns in Albanian, and hopefully by the time I get home, I'll know a couple of them. Enris was kind enough to translate the family service for me as one of the other people was taking the service. It was a good time and I got to meet a lot more of the Church.
    We then went and had a BBQ at the house Enris and Sylvia are building. It's in such a lovely spot, the view was amazing, a fantastic reminder of God's goodness.

On Monday, as I had the day off school, I went out to lunch with the librarian from the school, and her daughter. We had a great time chatting and getting to know each other which was good because I'm going to be helping the girl with her piano.

One of Sylvia's university friends has been visiting for the past few day and so on Tuesday, which was my official day off, we went around to some of the different places in Tirana. We went to Mother Teresa square, where the Mother Teresa University is and then went to see the statue of Albania's hero Skanderbeg on his horse. We also went to 'Sky Tower' which is just a tall tower with glass windows at the top so you can take pictures. The top of it actually moves as well!

Me at Sky Tower

So many trees in the middle of Tirana!

Look at the mountains!!

Another picture taken at Sky Tower

Skanderbeg on his horse

Yesterday I was working on the Emmaus courses for Enris. He's hoping that he can get the website launched  next week, so I need to work quickly to try and get all of the courses on there! I feel so privileged to play just a small part in Albanians being able to get these amazing Bible study courses in their own language. Truly amazing work!

    In the evening Sylvia's friend treated us all to a meal out before she leaves. It was very kind of her, and the food was lovely.

Today I was at GDQ again, after being off on Monday. I started putting some of the new books that came in last week onto the school system, so that the children can get to read them sooner than they would with just one person working on it. I also had science and maths. In maths they were working with indices and as a starter they had 3 minutes to write down the first 20 square numbers! (they did a lot of work on this last year and they had to do it for homework too, so they weren't thrown right in at the deep end). I was also working on ordering fractions, with one of the students, putting them in order from smallest to largest. It was another fantastic day.

The weather here continues to stay warm although we did have rain, for the first time since I arrived, on Monday which made me feel even more at home. However, it seems to be starting to get even warmer now, it was definitely over 20 degrees today. Thankfully it's a lot cooler inside!


'“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' ~ Isaiah ch 55 v 8&9 (NIV)

Albania ~ Day 8

Last Sunday, we had our morning church service, which was the first church service I'd been to since I arrived (not that I could understand any of it as it was in Albanian) but it was still a good service, being with the Lord's people. Several of the couples from the church were away so in the afternoon they'd decided we would have a church picnic. It was nice to get to know a few more people who can speak English! It was a fantastic day and all of the children had a great time running around and climbing trees.

Monday was my first day at GDQ (the missions school). It was a super time and everyone is really lovely. I got to help with Grade 2, P.E, maths with Grade 8 and with special support for one of the students. I also got to do some work in the library and I even found some books I have at home!

Books I have at home!

Lord of the Rings!

On Tuesday I was doing some work for Enris. He is translating Emmaus courses into Albanian, from English, and then putting them on the internet for people to use. It is a fantastic work, but it takes a lot of work to get all of the courses on there. So, with the courses that Enris had finished translating I copied and pasted the questions for each chapter to where they had to go so that he has more time to translate the courses. It was very repetitive, but quite enjoyable.

Yesterday was my first day off, which was lovely, and I spent the morning shopping with Sylvia and Esther.  In the evening Enris and Sylvia both had to go out so the children and I watched 'Joseph: King of Dreams' because they are learning all about Joseph at the moment. It was a nice time and we even got everyone's homework finished.

Today I was at GDQ again and some new books had arrived for the school so I was sorting through them all making sure we had everything we were supposed to have. I also helped one of the students with her rounding and she did it so quickly we finished her words work as well and still had 15 minutes to spare! I also helped with maths again and also with science where we were making circuits, which I remember doing at school!

I am having a brilliant time and can hardly believe that I've been here for a week already!
Thank you God for your goodness and grace!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? ~ Luke ch 12 v 22-26 (NIV)

Albania ~ Day 3

Because mum wanted a picture of me
at the airport

Well, this is now the final part of my FirstServe experience. On Thursday I left the chilly, overcast South West of England and headed for the sunny land of Albania (here comes the sun!). Thankfully I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be, flying on my own for the first time, but it was still rather scary!
    I was met at the airport by Sylvia and her 3 children Luke, Ben and Esther. The whole family are lovely and the children seem to have unlimited amounts of energy.
    It's... rather warm here, already I've ditched the jumper and coat and dusted off my sunglasses. Even when I'm walking back, to the place where I'm staying, at night it's still warm out!

Yesterday I went and visited the mission school where I'll be helping 3 days a week. All of the children and staff seem very friendly. While I'm here I'll get to work with different year groups, doing a variety of subjects (e.g Maths, P.E, Science) and helping to give extra support to some of the students.
    Today we were doing children's work in the morning which is normally done at the Church, but every so often they go out and play some games. So we went and played football and a few other games with the children which they seemed to really enjoy.

Taken from the plane

Also taken from the plane, don't
have a clue which mountains!

I had a good view from the plane (once we got out of all the clouds!) and a couple songs in particular kept springing to mind: Indescribable by Chris Tomlin, Greatest Day in History by Tim Hughes and Let Everything that has Breath by Matt Redman. It seems amazing to me that anyone can look at God's wonderful creation, the sky and the sea, the fish and the trees, and yet not see that there is an awesome creator behind it all! That it didn't all happen by accident with no purpose or plan, we were all created for a reason as part of God's amazing plan. I'm not just a part of the circle of life (you're born, you live, you die) I was created for a purpose and I can now look forward to eternity with God when my life on this earth is over. Praise the Lord!!

'If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.' ~ C T Studd
'It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.' ~ Jim Elliot

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.' ~ Philippians ch 4 v 6&7 (NIV)

Thanks to everyone I met in Wales

I can't believe that my month in Wales is over. It was an amazing time that I will never forget with people who are just as amazing.

Last Wednesday I got to do 24 again, this time with Steve. We did it twice in the morning and the questions the children had at the end showed that they'd really been listening and thinking about what they'd heard, which was great.
    In the afternoon I helped Steve and Gwyn to pack up lots of PBS (Postal Bible School) lessons. It was really weird being on the other side of the process, as I'd done PBS lessons when I was younger!

The beach view from the Tower

Me in-front of Swansea Tower

I spent Thursday going shopping and going to Swansea Tower. We went right to the top of the tower and had a drink. The view from that high up was fantastic. We were 29 stories high!
    It was a great day out with Steve and Gwyn, thank you very much!

The view of Swansea from the Tower

Friday, of course, was Good Friday and Dunvant had a church service in the morning. Phil had decided that the 24 presentation was so good that we would have that as part of the service, so I got to do it for a forth time!
    Phil's brother Mark Davies was down from Motherwell for the day, taking a service at a nearby church in the evening. Dunvant didn't have an evening service so we went to listen to Mark. It was an excellent service with great speakers. I was nice seeing Mark again, as he is the principle of Tilsley College in Motherwell where I spent some time before going to Swansea.

The Worm's Head ~ Rhossili

On Saturday Phil, Sheila, my friend Christine and I went on a walk at Rhossili to the Worm's Head. It was a lovely walk, even if it was quite cold, over to the Worm's Head, but we didn't walk right the way to the end. It was a fantastic last day in Wales, thank you.

Thank you to everyone I met while I was in Wales, I had the most amazing time and you are all lovely people. I hope we'll meet again some day.

'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!' ~ Luke ch 24 v 5&6