“Snapshots” in Shkodër

Here are some “Snapshots” of what our ministry looked like during the last month. This past month was packed full, but we loved all of the beautiful moments that we had with Cornerstone church and Hope for the World. We are so privileged to have these new friendships that were started!

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FLOWERS FOR WOMEN-

When we arrived in Shkodër, we noticed that there were many Roma people in the city and a lot of the Roma women sit on the sidewalks and beg for money. We wanted to encourage these women, acknowledge them by letting them know they are seen, and pray for them. We used watercolors to paint on the cards and wrote verses in Albanian to pass out to these women with a flower attached. One of our Albanian friends who is connected to Cornerstone Church agreed to come with us and be our translator. We were able to pray with these women and hear their stories. 

 

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KIDS MINISTRY WITH CORNERSTONE CHURCH

One of the ministries that we felt like the Lord had put on our heart for our time in Albania was Kid’s Ministry! We were able to help out with Cornerstone’s Kids Ministry every Saturday through helping with Bible stories, leading music, crafts, and face painting. 

 

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CAMPUS CRUSADES FOR CHRIST (CRU) EVENTS

We had the opportunity to work with Campus Crusade for Christ who are actively reaching the high school and college age range of students. It was great to meet the CRU staff and students who are involved with their ministry. Their vision is to WIN students for Christ, BUILD up their foundation in the Word of God, and SEND them out to their spheres of influence. We were able to participate in a volleyball tournament that CRU put on as well as host an American night where we were able to share with the students a little bit about us, America, and why we were traveling in Albania. We brought Mac-n-cheese, taught them the chicken dance, and played Mafia. We all had a great time getting to know these students and each other’s culture.

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FALL COMES WITH A TEA PARTY!

The pastor’s wife, Ervisa, told us that one of the ways we could serve the church was to help them decorate for Fall. She mentioned how much she loves the Fall time of year and Madison and I were able to help her and some other women in the church be involved with the first women’s event hosted in their new building. The theme was “Fall comes with a Tea Party”. Part of how we helped out for this event included baking a coffee cake, painting some watercolor encouragements, and teaching the women how to frost cookies to look like pumpkins. Some Muslim women who Madison and I had been meeting with came to this event which was very encouraging. 

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HOPE FOR THE WORLD

In our last week, we were able to participate in several ministry opportunities with Hope for the World. Our Hope for the World contact, Fredi, has been serving in Shkodër, Albania for the last 21 years with his wife. They have many different ways that they serve their community and we got the opportunity to serve alongside them for the last week we were in Shkodër. 

• Senior Picnic- We were able to help take a group of about 25 seniors from a Senior Living Center on a lunch trip about 40 minutes outside of the city. The women who I was with taught us how to harvest and collect the chestnuts that had fallen from the many chestnut trees in the area. We were able to sit and spend time eating Albanian dishes and talking about culture, our stories, and about Jesus and what He has done for us.
• Orphanages- There are 3 orphanages in the Shkodër area that are broken down by age. There is the “baby orphanage” for 0-5 years, “school age” orphanage from 6-15 years, and another for older teenagers 16-18 years old. My team was able to get to know 3 siblings from the school age orphanage. Not all of the children are orphans, some are taken there due to their home life being too unstable and this is the case for these 3 siblings who all happened to have October birthdays. To celebrate their birthdays, Fredi took us with them to pick out a new birthday outfit for each of the children. They were so excited! We also got to go with these sweet kids to a pizza dinner where they were able to see their parents. I am still in awe that I was able to be a part of this vulnerable moment in these children’s lives and my heart hurts for them to know the Love of the Father. Please pray for (F, A, and V) and all of the other children in these orphanages! *Full names withheld for privacy 🙂 
• Passing out Baby Food to Roma Communities
• Development Center-On one of our afternoons we went to a Development Center for people who have physical and developmental disabilities. We were invited to a volleyball game with some of the residents and staff members and had a great time playing with them. 

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Our time in Shkodër was full, beautiful, and so sweet! It was amazing to see the ways that the Lord led us to specific opportunities to serve during our time in Albania. In writing down all of the different “snapshots” of what ministry looked liked for this month, the Lord has been reminding me that He is the God who sees each individual heart. There is no one that goes unnoticed by Him! 

In other news, we are now in Mitrovica, Kosovo! Please be praying for my team as we are facing some different spiritual warfare here in this city than we have experienced leading up to this point. This city is so desperate for the Hope that is in Jesus and we are praying that this city would be good soil for the Gospel! Thank you!

Much love,

-Elizabeth