Hi everyone!
We are in Albania! Have been actually for a month now oops. So I thought I should probably get around to writing an update, better late than never right?
Our first week here in Albania we had debrief in Vlorë, a beautiful coastal city that I quickly fell in love with. This was such a special time as our coaches, mentor, and alumni leaders all came back to the field for the week to connect and pour into us. We spent the week worshipping, having one-on-one’s with leadership, reflecting on our time in Romania, and casting vision for the rest of the Race. And of course in our free time we made time for going to the beach, trying all the food (pizza, pasta, crepes, gyros), exploring on scooters, and even paragliding! It was such a sweet week full of reflection, restoration, reunion and some of my favorite moments on the Race so far.
Before we arrived in Albania we learned that it would be a time of ATL (Ask the Lord) which means we are not assigned a ministry partner but instead get to pray into where in Albania we should go and what opportunities God has for us. Something that our mentor Cami shared with us one of the first days of debrief was an image of being in the ocean and getting tossed around by the waves. She shared the idea that in order to escape the crashing of the waves you have to go under them. It was an invitation to go deeper with the Lord, to a place of stillness beneath the waves. Later in the week, when we were praying as a team about what the Lord had for us, we felt a confirmation that He was inviting us into a season of deeper healing, trust, and vulnerability both with Him and with each other.
After a few days praying and researching possible partnership opportunities in Albania we decided as a team to move up the coast to Durrës, the second largest city in Albania. We wanted to be very intentional about our time here and the flexibility we have during ATL. We knew that the Lord wanted us to dive deeper with Him in community, so we decided to dedicate our mornings for this purpose. We start everyday with worship and prayer as well as spend time seeking God together whether through a bible study, guided prayer, or just sharing about what the Lord has been teaching us. We also knew coming into this season that we wanted to find a church or organization to partner with. As short term missionaries we believe it’s super important to invest in people who are here for the long term. We reached out to a lot of different possible partners in the area and eventually found Grace Life church. Grace Life Durrës is an international church plant established by pastors from South Africa 8 years ago. Grace Life is a beautiful intercultural community having members from many different countries including: the Netherlands, Lithuanian, Australia, Albania, South Korea, the US, and South Africa. It is a rather small church family, therefore not only were they an answered prayer to us, but they had also been praying for extra hands to help with their ministry. It is so cool how God makes connections! Alecia, the head pastor, has been such an inspiration and help to us. She has helped our team learn a lot about Albanian culture as well as encouraged us to step out in faith and boldness. Some of the ministry we have been doing is working with kids, community outreach, worship in the park, and helping with church on Sundays! We have truly been blessed by them.
Albania has been such a beautiful season of seeking the Lord and seeing Him work both in us and in this city. I am constantly reminded, through living just a block from the Adriatic Sea, how God is always inviting us into the deep waters with Him. How relationship with Him is like a vast ocean that we have the privilege of discovering more and more of. May we grow more and more in awe of Him as a result.
Blessings,
B🤍
