Looking Back, Catching the Vision

Three weeks ago, we sat at the Crusade office in Tirana and talked with Juli about his hopes for the Albanian nation. He used an analogy of the Lord of the Rings-- the mission of saving Middle Earth belonged to elves, dwarves, humans, and ultimately the unexpected hobbit. Yuli equated Albanians with the hobbit Frodo-- the young, small character who played the crucial role in destroying the evil "ring of Sauron." In the same way, Albania might be the unexpected link in the chain in bringing the gospel to the world.

Over dinner a couple nights ago, we watched a video about the beginnings of the Christian presence after the fall of communism in Albania. It was a series of short clips of several impromptu church meetings in an old stadium back in 1991.

In these haunting videos, we saw Albanians flocking to these meetings, singing worship songs in Albanian, not sure why these words were touching their hearts in such a profound way. Very elderly women, who knew the pre-Communist Albania, folded their hands like they were praying, showing remnants of all they remembered about being "religious." We watched powerful scenes of missionaries handing out copies of the gospel of John to hordes of spiritually hungry Albanians. They were tackling each other to reach the booklets, shouting for their copies.

It was incredible to recognize several people from the almost 20 year old videos. We recognized Pastor Vaughn, preaching that "God is close to Albania, he wants to know you, he cares about you!" Just two weeks ago, our team attended his now-thriving Albanian church. We saw Ina Kumi in the video being interviewed for the camera as a young girl. Her eyes were glowing as she explained how she knew that "God does love Albania." Her eyes still glow with that same light as a professor at TKC. We spotted her brother, Gert, in the film, dancing to the worship music, even though he had not yet accepted Christ. Today, as a leader for the Albania Venture, he plays worship music on his violin out of a deep passion for the Lord.

Glimpsing into the past, our team was struck with the intense spiritual emptiness in the Albanian people that resulted from Communism. It's an emptiness that Americans cannot understand completely, but for us to be in Albania almost 20 years later reaping the work of others, and sowing seeds of the gospel ourselves, is a remarkable privilege. The King's College is only one link in the chain of uncovering the "Frodo" that is the nation of Albania.

Praying For Marvin

Dear Readers,
Pennie here. Throughout the past couple weeks of interacting with Albanian university students, one particular guy has been on my heart and on the hearts of several other members of our team. His name is Marvin, and he was assigned to the same debate topic as Matt and I. He immediately befriended me, and started making plans about taking us to the mountains, out dancing, or to his beach house in Durres.

Marvin's part of the upper crust crowd in Albania. He owns and runs a profitable construction company, and his family also owns a restaurant and a beach house on the sea coast. He studied architecture at Oxford for several years, and is getting his second bachelor degree in business management in Tirana. He is really funny and popular with his friends. His eyes sparkle when he makes ironic comments during the debates. After debates that first day we piled into his fancy pick up truck and he swerved all over Tirana to a restaurant where he knew the owner. In fact, Marvin seems to know everyone in Tirana.

Ever since that first dinner together, Marvin has taken so much initiative to hang out with members of our team. Our conversations very quickly and naturally turned to talking about God, and Marvin declared that he's "not that religious." Even though he is not interested in any kind of personal faith, he is very interested in ours. We've talked apologetics with him several times, and at one point, Manuel and I were able to tell him over coffee that religion is not a time commitment or a list of rules to follow, it is a way of orienting your life. He readily admitted that he orients his life toward his job.

Marvin took a group of us to his beach house on the Adriatic Sea for a day for a BBQ and swimming. He was an incredible host, so generous, and so obviously enjoying watching us have fun. He drove the scenic route back to Tirana so he could show us the countryside- he wants us to love Albania as much as he does. He, Danny, Amy, and Jordan visited an art gallery together, and we've had numerous coffee meetings with him.

Marvin weighs heavily on our hearts because we see that he is a natural leader, a gentleman, and a dependable friend. We see that he is living for his own pleasure and success, and our hope is that he would discover a full life of knowing Christ. Manuel and Danny have shared the gospel with Marvin, and I am hoping to leave him with a bold challenge when I see him tonight for the last time. I want to tell him all the great qualities I see in him, then challenge him to courageously pray, whether he believes it or not, that if God is there, that He would reveal Himself. I am praying that Marvin will be restless until he prays this prayer and I have faith that the Lord will show up powerfully in Marvin's life.

The Ideas Institute

Tonight, former Mayor Bret Schundler spoke at the Ideas Institute sponsored by the young socialist movement in Albania. The Ideas Institute inspires young people in Albania to discuss, debate, and think about influential great ideas. The topic of Mayor Schundler’s presentation was minimizing corruption. He used specific examples of how he minimized corruption in his three terms as mayor of Jersey City and explained how they can be applied in Albania. He encouraged the young adults not to assume that every politician is corrupt, but to take the responsibility upon themselves to research candidates to discover whether or not they are corrupt. He also warned the students to only vote for politicians who are truly honest—unless you demand honesty, you will never have an honest government. The main subjects of corruption Mayor Schundler spoke on were bribery, education, and zoning.

After his speech, there was discussion. One question was “In America, if you have the will, you can run for office. But in Albania, you have to be corrupt to run for office.” Mayor Schundler replied that it is never easy to be a politician to fix corruption, or it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place. He further explained the difficulties he faced when running for mayor. He stressed the importance of building grassroots support among the people of your community (all people regardless of parties) for one big, important idea such as school choice. Then, when running for office, people see that you are someone who is committed to true ideas, not just committed to gaining power.

Final Presentations

Today were the final politics, economic, and religion presentations with the University. Two TKC students from each track teamed up with one or two students from the Albanian University to summarize and finalize the topics from last week. The presentations were also filmed and will possibly be aired on Albanian television.

The first presentation was the politics track. TKC students Becca and Danny presented with Albanian student Valerie. The first point given by the politics track was that the key ingredient for a well functioning society is citizen character. This citizen character is achieved by being politically educated and socially engaged. The presentation ended with a discussion of who has the responsibility to make Albania better. First, government representatives must make Albania better by abiding by the rule of law as the citizens must. Second, citizens must pressure the government to perform correctly. Lastly, Albania as a whole must apply their ideals.

The second presentation was the economics presentation. It was given by TKC students Pennie and Manuel, and by Albanian student Marvin. They discussed the benefit of free markets for Albania. The economics track all agreed during their presentations last week that the free markets is the best form of government for Albania because it promotes wealth, virtue, entrepreneurship and foreign investment.

The final presentation was by the religion track. The religion presentations spawned the most intense debates last week. The final presentation was given by TKC students Zuzia and Elijah, and by Albanians students Leon and Lauren. Both the TKC and Albanian presenters agreed that the author of objective morality and human rights came from God. They also agreed that religion explains that which cannot be explained by reason or science and that free societies are based on religious liberty. Yet, the Albanian presenters argued that religion can be a useful tool to effectively engage the masses. TKC students did not advocate that religion was a solely utilitarian tool to society.

IJR Meeting “Politics and Faith”

Last Tuesday, Dr. Harry Bleattler and Dr. David Innes spoke at the New Life Institute (IJR) regarding the all-encompassing topics of politics and faith. This forum was instituted for multiple purposes, but mainly to highlight the importance of faith in the political world. Especially with Albania’s dire need for political reform, this topic was ultimately vital to the political debates of last week. Dr. Bleattler’s speech served as a historical introduction to the topic of politics and faith. He was able to pin-point the historical religious background of western civilization, which set the stage for addressing the political mistakes of the past. Following the introduction, Dr. Innes tackled the issues of political theory, its’ practical applications, and last but not least—the link between politics and faith.

Through surveying, we have discovered that most of the citizens of Albania consider themselves Orthodox, Muslim, or Atheist. Given this religious perspective, it seems obvious that the topic of Islam and its connection to government would be addressed. One of Dr. Innes’ most ‘outrageous’ comments by Dr. Innes, according to many audience members, was his link of Islam to non-democratic political affairs. His statement resulted in lots of small-chat and questions. For many Albanians, Islam and Christianity are one in the same, thus, it is hard for them to see the difference between a democracy based on Christian ideals with one implementing the ideas of Islam. Fortunately, this statement sparked many great discussions amongst UNYT students and educated individuals of the audience. Altogether, the audience greatly appreciated a political perspective from American perspectives.

Macedonia

When we awoke the next morning, we were absolutely astounded by what we saw. Lake Ohrid was shimmering in the bright sunlight. Excited to be in Macedonia, we set out in small groups to explore the town and be tourists for a day.

After shopping and eating ice cream, we regrouped to see the sites. We toured through several churches and the castle located at the top of the city.

St. Sophia was the largest church that we went to. As we walked in, the Albanian Professor began to sing an old byzantine monk song. His voice filled the church with music and echoed off the stone walls.

After the church, some of us broke off from the group to explore ourselves. Danielle, Elijah, and Becca ended up in an interesting conversation with one of the locals about the history of Macedonia and Alexander the Great.

Before leaving Macedonia, we took an hour boat tour across Lake Ohrid. The day was perfect with blue skies and sun shining down on us. It was the perfect weekend trip.

Adventure to Macedonia

Friday morning saw everyone awake at the crack of dawn. With bags loaded with clothes for the weekend, the group left our home of the past two weeks and started off towards the square. Anticipation was high to get to Macedonia and enjoy Lake Ohrid. Just beyond Tirana dark clouds threatened to soak us. Within moments we were running for cover. Twenty minutes later, cold and wet, we were sitting on the bus with our Albanian friends heading towards Macedonia.

What we didn't know was that we were in for the ride of our lives. What started out as a four hour drive turned into a twelve hour adventure. One of the Albanian Professors who had accompanied us took us through the mountains to a small village to eat dinner. After being on the bus for about eight hours we were grateful for food. What we didn't expect was to be humbled by the gorgeous mountain scene we beheld. The restaurant was a half and hour hike up a mountain. The mountains loomed all around us encompassing us in a ring of beauty. It was as if we had stepped into Tolkien's world. A fantasy land that was as ancient as time itself.

Dinner was delicious, but there was no time to waste. Back on the bus, several of us began to worry about how we were going to make it down the mountain alive. The sun had set long ago leaving the land covered in darkness. The road we had to take was full of sharp turns and one slight mistake could send us careening into the abyss. The trip down will never be forgotten by any of us. What will be remembered the most was the running back and forth across the aisles to keep it balanced. But we made it down safe and after several more hours and an attempt at bribery, to allow us to cross the border, we arrived in Macedonia.

Surprise TV Appearance!

This week, Mayor Schundler, a professor at King’s and former mayor of Jersey City, arrived in Tirana to join our team. When he was mayor in the 90’s, Bret Schundler battled corruption in his local government and subsequently transformed his city. His experience gives him just the kind of expertise necessary to engage with political leaders in Albania who are struggling with how to deal with corruption.

Mayor Schundler has already had the opportunity to meet with the mayor of Tirana, and speak at several events. One of our contacts here in Tirana has a connection with a TV anchor on Albanian television, and through her, we were able to secure a live TV interview over the Albanian airwaves.

The show is called Zip, and it might compare to an American program like The O’Reilly Factor, as it deals with all kinds of political issues and current events in an interview format. We laughed because the translation of “Bret” in Albanian is “Mbret” which means “king.”

“King Schundler” proceeded to explain how he tackled corruption among government officials in Jersey City. As mayor, he made a personal commitment to not take bribes, then began investigating any supposed instances of corruption to make his policy of non-toleration clear. It was also necessary to decrease the government's catering to special interest groups. In Jersey City, he explained, creating competition between the private and public sector in areas like education, water companies, and other services did the trick. “Let those who are to be served make the decision of who will serve.”  This kind of competition took arbitrary power out of the hands of bureaucrats and transformed Jersey City, and the same kind of situation could transform Albania.

To finish his interview, Schundler commented on his impressions of Albania: “I envy you in some ways. Whereas life in America may be more comfortable, you here in Albania have a unique historical opportunity to shape your nation in the coming years."

Surprise Lectures and Religion Presentations

Wednesday morning, due to a chance encounter, Dr. Innes and Dr. Tokarev had the opportunity to lecture at the University of Tirana in a forum on democracy and ethics. They joined Albania professors and the former Minister of Finance in discussing morality and politics. Although the day was just getting started the heat was searing. Over 110 Albanian students packed into a classroom, fanning themselves to keep cool. After a few presentations by Albanians, Dr. Innes lectured on liberty. His resolution was that a people must learn to be free. But what is liberty? How do you learn to govern yourself? He continued wit a discussion on three kinds of liberty: National, Political, and Personal. Ending on personal liberty he posed the questions, how can a people be free if they do not govern themselves? How can Albanians expect their leaders to be moral if Albania does not have a moral foundation? Dr. Tokarev followed with a discussion of the free market and how encouraged he was to see Albanians discussing big ideas. He praised Albanians for learning that capitalism is a good system. He ended with a joke about communism and capitalism: There was a little boy in a communist country who at school one day told how his cat had given birth. He told the teacher that the four kittens were communists. The next day the inspector of the school came to visit and the teacher asked the boy to tell the inspector about his kittens. After some persuasion, the boy told him that two of his kittens were communists and two were capitalists. The teacher, now afraid, asked the boy to clarify because he had said that all the kittens were communists yesterday. He nodded and said, "They were, but two of them opened their eyes this morning." The Albanian students were enthralled by their presentations.

The presentations continued at the private university later that afternoon. Dr. Bleattler began with a lecture on the importance of a seperation between church and state. He outlined how the church over time had grown powerful and gained control politically. He showed how this political power of the church was not beneficial. The balance and maintanance of seperating church and state is difficult but essential. Two Albanian professors presented on religion as well. The first stated that most of the time the religion of Albania is Albanianism. It is a tolerant society and no religion is better than another. The third professor made the claim that all religions are seeking te same thing as politics...power. In the name of either God or king or the people all the major disasters have occured. He concluded that religion does not have more of a claim to rightness than a political system.

Should Morality Be Legislated?

Elijah and Zachary gave the first student presentation. They defined two kinds of morality: Objective Morality: which is true for all people and times. And also Subjective Morality: which changes from individual to individual. They gave examples of how justice, honor, and respect can be found in every culture throughout history. These Objective Morals can and should be legislated. Their Albanian counterparts disagreed. They believe that everyone has their own morals. If a set religion's values become legislated than people will suffer. They believed that where morality is legislated in a high degree then human rights are broken.

What is the basis for Human Rights?

Zuzia and Anna discussed why we should have and respect human rights. They explained how every individual has some sense of justice and right and wrong in them. They defined this as natural law. People know how they should act, but they have the opportunity and choice to act differently. But where did humans get this natural law? According to them, humans get it from God. Outside of God there is no basis for human rights. Their Albanian counterparts agreed and said that the God of Christianity provides this foundation. Both groups agreed that without God there would be no basis for Human rights.

Does religion help or hurt a democracy?

Jill and Amy said that depending on the religion it could help or hurt a democracy. They went through the harms that religion has caused throughout history and then looked at the harms that occured when religion was absent. Their conclusion was that the benefits outweigh the harms. Things are a lot worse when there is no religion. Finally, the concluded that Judeo-Christian thought was helpful to a democracy, because it causes people to look outside themselves to benefit others. Their Albanian counterparts agreed that religion was beneficial to democracy, but said that it didn't matter which religion as long as their was religion. Their reasoning was because to wipe out democracy in Albania, during communism, the dictator destoryed all religions.

Economics Presentations

Yesterday was our economics presentations at the university.
The first presentation was by TKC’s Professor Tokarev on the topic of entrepreneurship. He used the creative illustration of Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat Comes Back as a political satire while stressing “The Voom” as the invisible hand of the market. Furthermore, Dr. Tokarev pointed out three common economic beliefs that are wrong and why: (1) Specialization is evil because it leads to alienation, which is wrong because we owe every single convenience to specialization; (2) Private property is evil because it leads to greed and fraud, which is wrong because greed itself comes from the heart—private property promotes self interest, not greed; (3) Exploitation is evil, therefore the rich should be taxed more, but this is also wrong because heavier taxes on corporations will either decrease the pay of their employees or cause the employee to lay off more workers.
The professor from the Albanian university presented on “How to survive in the global world” which described the struggle of developing countries (focusing on the Balkans) to compete effectively in a global market. She championed improving the business environment and for the government of Albania to support corporations. This is done by allowing for competition in the business sector, removing limitations on business growth, requiring financial transparency, and mediating business dispute and resolution. There are many problems in the current Albanian government which hinder Albanian businesses from achieving these goals and becoming competitive in the global world. One way she advocated that Albania and the rest of the Balkans will become globally competitive is to encourage cross border cooperation instead of allowing the borders to hinder economic activity.

The student presentations kicked off with TKC presenters Aleta and Jordan on the role of the entrepreneur in society. They distinguished four roles of the entrepreneur in society: (1) to stimulate economic development and prosperity, (2) to promote peace, (3) to advance human progress, and (4) to combat the problem of poverty by efficiently utilizing resources. Along with these roles of the entrepreneur, the government should encourage the entrepreneur rather than create entrepreneurship. Their Albanian counterparts presented on the same topic. They believed that entrepreneurs are risk takers and innovators, they provide choice, and most importantly help the economy grow. They concluded that the Albanian government doesn’t encourage entrepreneurship as it should.

Next, Pennie and Matt presented on foreign investment in Albania. They resolved that foreign investment was a great thing for Albania because it brings new technologies, skills, jobs, and more use of the country’s resources. They declared that Albania should improve their domestic economy to attract foreign investment. The main improvement Albania should make is to simplify how to start a business. The Albanian presenters further expanded on the Albanian need for foreign investment by outlining ten main reasons why a foreign company should invest in Albania. Some of their main reasons were: lower labor costs, an adaptable/skilled labor force with extensive language skills, and the low inflation.

The last presentation topic was presented by Becky and Manuel on the economic system which best promotes prosperity and virtue. They resolved that the free market system best promotes both. It leads to innovation and productivity (interventionist systems are harmful for prosperity). Yet, it also promotes virtue because force cannot make someone virtuous (interventionist systems force one to distribute their money to the poor while the free market allows one to make their own decisions with their money which can lead to virtuous decisions). The Albanian presentation on the same topic differed slightly from the TKC presentation. They concluded that neither a pure capitalist economy nor a centralized economy can promote virtue. They advocated a mixed economy which the ‘best’ of both economies to promote prosperity and virtue, with the example of Norway.

Ideas and Issues Forum Day One: Politics

This afternoon marked the start of three intense days of debates and discussions with students at a private university in Tirana. Today’s topic was politics, and the overall theme of the day was contrasting the previously communist regime with Albania’s present-day free democracy. Dr. Innes from The King’s College opened with a lecture on statesmanship. He began by explaining the difference between being ruled by party officials (as under communism) or by elected politicians who appeal to the people for their power. He also drew the contrast between the negatively perceived “politician” and a true “statesman,” which later spurred debates on how to solve corruption in the Albanian government. His short lecture was followed by another talk from a Albanian professor on the separation of church and state.

Three student debate teams proceeded to debate on three resolutions:
Is individual liberty beneficial or harmful to a society?
Is it possible to have a free society without a healthy civil society?
What role of citizen character play in a free society?

Amy and Danielle presented first, making the distinction between a society of absolute license, which results ultimately in chaotic anarchy, and a society that is truly one that values liberty. Such a society requires citizens to place themselves under the rule of law, but sacrificing smaller liberties would ultimately lead to the protection of the greater, most essential ones.

The remarkable transformation of Bryant Park in New York City served as the perfect example of the efficient way in which civil society can bridge the gap between desires of citizens and the limitations of government. Erisa and Sharon explained how civil society helps citizens help themselves, and works to keep government in check as well.

Finally, Becca and Danny presented on the importance of citizen character to shape a nation and political culture. A virtuous citizenry is crucial to maintaining order in a society. In a democracy, where the government is comprised of the general population, whatever character citizens have will inevitably carry over into public office.

The exchange of ideas brought several general attitudes to light that were pervasive among our Albanian peers. Students are generally very disillusioned about the corruption in the Albanian government, and are very aware that their country is one that is in transition. They acknowledged that most citizens are still in the mindset of depending on the government to take care of them, rather than taking personal initiative and responsibility for political or societal problems. Our team had plenty of material for some great conversations over dinner or coffee with our Albanian peers.

Church in Albania

This weekend we had the opportunity to visit churches in Tirana. One church that teammates visited Sunday morning was the Lincoln Center Church which is held in the former home of Enver Hoxha. The church was planted by American missionaries only a few years ago, but it is now thriving! The church is affiliated with the only accredited seminary in Tirana and has a strong emphasis on discipleship. Through the seminary and discipleship programs, the Lincoln Center is doing outreach in Tirana. The sermon was given by a pastor from Jordan on the subject serving God. Something he said which spoke strongly to our team was, “some people serve to get something, some people serve to keep something, and some people serve because they already have something.” This really moved us as we are evaluating our role here in Albania—we are serving others because we already have God’s love and by sharing it with others, we are also serving God.

Today, Monday, we begin the first of our presentations—politics! Please pray for the presenters. The 6 presenters have prepared with Dr. Innes for a semester. The three presentation topics are: 1. “Is individual liberty harmful or beneficial?” presented by Danielle Perkins and Amy Cutler. 2. “Is it possible to have a free society without a healthy civil society?” presented by Sharon Rogers and Erisa Yzeiraj. 3. “What is the role of citizen character in a democracy?” presented by Daniel Levia and Becca Tingstrom.

Surveys and Conversations

For the past two days, we spent time taking an “Issues and Ideas” survey through impromptu meetings with students at the University of Tirana. In previous years, the results of the survey were compiled, analyzed, and published in a Tirana newspaper, and this year, the goal is the same. We went out in pairs and approached UT students with a friendly “flis ni Anglisht?” (“do you speak Engish?”) and subsequently introduced ourselves and inititated the surveys. Some of the questions included:

What government policies will help promote wealth?
How involved should the government be in taxing the rich and redistributing wealth to the poor?
How important is religion in helping to improve society?

...among many more. We generally found that Albanian students feel that unemployment and government corruption are the greatest problem in their country, and that few Albanians allow their religion to influence their everyday lives. Several team members had some great conversations with students, some of which resulted in outings for coffee (see "Danielle's Story"). Team members are giving great feedback on their experiences with the surveys. Most of us had conducted surveys as a segue to evangelism during past mission trips or ministry, and taking surveys that are actually used for data as well as a launching point into good conversations gave us a lot of confidence.

Please Pray:

>Our presentations at our partner university in Albania start tomorrow. Pray for a good exchange of ideas and new friendships with students.

>That the surveys would get Albanian college students thinking about bigger issues in politics, economics and religion.

>That our questions and conversations through the surveys will spark thoughts about God in the hearts of Albanians-- that they would seek a true personal God.

Team Bonding

The Albania missions team is comprised of a diverse group of students ranging from freshmen to alumni, with the addition of several staff and faculty members. Many of us did not know each other well at all before flying over the Atlantic together. However, now that we’ve arrived in Albania, there have been unlimited opportunities for what we call “team bonding.” Not only do we hang together as we adjust to the Albanian culture, but doing ministry in small groups in the next couple of weeks will no doubt knit our team together. Friday night, was the most notable of team bonding experiences.

Our team member and Albania native, Erisa Yzeiraj hosted us for dinner at her home in Tirana. We met her parents, sisters, and brother-in-law, and enjoyed a traditional Albanian feast. There were five different kinds of salad on the table when we arrived, from Greek Salad with cucumbers and tomatoes, to a Russian-style salad with noodles and a cream sauce. We ate traditional Albanian dishes like Byrek, Mish qengi (lamb), akullore (extra-creamy ice-cream), and quofte (a well seasoned sausage). We really enjoyed getting to know Erisa's family and seeing her home.

Albanian dinner parties typically start with about 15 minutes of eating over conversation, then some dancing, then more eating, then more dancing, and on and on for hours. We had a wonderful time learning to dance Albanian style with Mr. Yzeiraj. This was team bonding at its best, but also a way of bonding with the culture—a night that will likely be the highlight of our time in Albania.

Danielle's Story

Usually when you go on a missions trip, you expect to be the one seeking out people, not the other way around. Initiating is part of the job title, but God sometimes works in other ways, in ways we would never expect.

As Ame, Zachary, and I went out to one of the universities, I wasn't sure how to begin. We had our surveys in hand and an agenda in mind, but after speaking with one student, all our plans fell by the wayside. Two Albanian students came up to us, excited to see that we were Americans. They introduced themselves and went through the surveys with us. Their openness was encouraging, far beyond what I had expected, and then they invited us out to coffee. Although, insisted is probably a better word.

For the next several hours we talked over frothy cappachinos and rich macchiatos. We talked about everything from our families to politics, from religion to sports. The one thing I will never forget was when one of them leaned over and said,

"You know, I have not been happy in a long time, but you guys... you have made me happy."

That moment seemed to bring it all into perspective. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have met them, and I am overjoyed that our plans did not go through and that God's agenda took precedent over ours.

New Life and Becca's Encounter

Greetings,

This evening we attended New Life Institute’s weekly college meeting. It was exciting to come alongside Albania Students and worship Jesus together. One young woman opened the event with a solo. She had an amazing voice which moved the audience. The speaker, Tony, had flown in from England. He had an amazing story. Growing up in with an abusive grandfather, he was trained in Kung Fu and became a highly sought after body guard. He talked about how he had everything he wanted—until he received the news that his fiancé had been killed in a car accident. The news completely changed his life. Turning to violence to fill his void, he entered into the world of crime. He was eventually arrested by police while robbing a bank. While in prison, he came to know the Lord through the kindness of one missionary and the memory of his deceased fiancé. It was truly an inspirational story.

At the conclusion of the event, Becca was standing near the front of the room. The girl who opened up singing approached her. The language barrier made it difficult to communicate, but Becca thanked her for the song and noted that she had a beautiful voice. She smiled and told Becca that she only sings for Jesus. She continued to tell her how important worship was for her and how it was more than singing: it was a lifestyle. Dora became a Christian when she was nine years old. American missionaries came and shared the gospel in her town. They had looked her in the face and asked her if she wanted to accept Jesus. She had said yes. The missionaries prayed over her that she would dance and sing for Jesus—which she does now! Dora began to pray daily for her family, and in the last ten years they each have come to accept Jesus as their savior. Dora joined some of the team members for dinner, and they hope to meet up with her again during the trip.

Prayer Requests:
* Teammate, Rebecca Steffen, is sick. Please pray that she recovers quickly!
* Tomorrow we will be conducting surveys at a public University. Please pray that these lead to great conversations with Albanian students.
* One student is still waiting for their luggage.

First Impressions

Hello, Albania! Today, after about 15 hours of traveling, the team arrived safely in Albania. There were only a few kinks in our plans—first, it was a rainy day in New York, which made things a little wetter when half of us had to walk to Penn Station for the train when our second van to the airport did not show up. After an 8 hour red-eye flight, our team, led by the fearless Anna Peters, made it to Rome safely. It was 6:30 am, and we promptly bought real Italian gelato for breakfast in the airport. We spent our layover sleeping on benches, and then boarded a short flight to Tirana, Albania. During our trip, we were able to befriend Rina, an Albanian student on our plane. She gave us her number, and we hope to meet up with her again while we are here.

Once we arrived, we spent the day strolling around Tirana. The highlight was a coffee shop on the top of a tall building that looked over the whole city. Albanians know how to make coffee right! We explored the city further, which included the mansion of the former dictator of Communist Albania, Enver Hoxja. The mansion now houses a church. We learned that Mother Theresa was an Albanian as well.

Our initial observations of Albania were that the city and people definitely display remnants of communism—the economy seems weaker than it needs to be, and buildings and roads are not kept up. Plaster on buildings is cracked, and trash overflows from dumpsters on the street. There is a sense that there is not enough well-paying work to go around. Still, there are glimmers of hope. The people have a happy spirit about them—there were many families and young adults spending the evening together at parks and coffee shops.

We met up with David Leedy and Erisa to enjoy a huge Albanian meal together at a restaurant here in Tirana, and tomorrow we look forward to exploring the city further, and meeting with the Albanian Campus Crusade staff.

Pray:
Ø We lost a little of our luggage. Pray that it is returned soon!
Ø For Rina—that God would open up a time for us to get together with her.
Ø That we would find our bearings in the city.
Ø For our further training tomorrow with Campus Crusade.
Ø For swift recovery from jet-lag.

Flying Away

Today we leave from JFK Airport for a long, long flight to Albania. This past week, God has shown so much grace and provision in preparing the team financially and logistically for the trip.

Finals have passed by fairly smoothly, and all our funds have been raised. At the beginning of this last week, our team had a deficit of $7000, but today, we have all we need and more, both through some last minute donations, and a lot of initiative on the team's part. Two team members, Jordan Nash and Amy Cutler, went down to Union Square here in the city and performed African dance on the street and made $250! Students and supporters have been praying faithfully for the fundraising, declaring that God is big enough to provide for us --before his provision even appeared before their eyes.

Please Pray:

• For a safe and smooth flight.
• For the health of each team member while we're on the trip.
• That God would make it clear to each of us why he chose us individually to minister in Albania, that we would find that our various gifts would work together in a dynamic way.
• That God would go before us and prepare the hearts of the Albanians to see Christ in us.
• That we would delight in the Lord first and foremost. If we start there, all else will follow.

Bon Voyage!

Preparing for Lift Off

With just over a week before Albania Venture '08 takes off, the team is getting excited. Today marks our last Training Session before we head out on Monday May 12th. None of us can believe that we will soon be heading to JFK Airport and then to Albania.

Even though we are excited to be leaving there is still so much to do here at school. This being the final week of classes many of us have final papers due. Finals are always stressful, but with literally no turn around time for those of us heading out to Albania after finals, it is more stressful than normal. Some senior members of the team are not only worrying about finals, moving out of housing, and heading to Albania, but also graduation.

With these thoughts in mind we are in need of prayer for the following:
1. Time to get papers done
2. Time to study for finals
3. Ability to move everything out of housing and into storage
4. Finances...we are still approximately $7,000 away from our team goal
5. Rest during the coming week to prepare for Albania
6. That Graduation will be a time of fun and excitement
7. Spiritual Preparation for the team