Yes. A. Chair.
A month or two ago, Cory was pelted with watermelon from the balcony as he walked away from the church building.
Nearly every week the neighbors come down (our church is on the first floor of an apartment building) and SCREAM about the music.
Worship music.
When we live next to a wedding venue that blares shrieking Albanian dance music until 4 AM.
It definitely puts a damper on the atmosphere of Jr. High and High school group when you have to whisper instead of cheer during the games.
We have completely outgrown the kids room and every week there are 15 boys in the back that are too old for the kids room but apparently too young to sit still in church.
We have also outgrown storage space in the church. There are massive crates that store the summer camp tents, supplies for dramas, sound equipment. It's basically all on display. The church room is kind of like a maze that you have to weave through.
We have been in search of a new building for months. We needed something in the center of the city, that was large enough and that was a reasonable price.
Finally, a building that we have had our eyes on for a long time, opened up and we signed the lease almost immediately.
We were trying to wait until we could raise money to buy something permanent, but since the watermelon catastrophe, it seemed quite clear that we needed to come up with a temporary solution.
2 weeks ago when we signed the lease, the building was wall to wall cement. No flooring, no ceiling, no electricity.
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| Before |
With Erion and Melodie gone on furlough, Cory has been heading up this entire process.
And I don't really know how to put into words all that this has meant. It's learning Albanian vocabulary you don't know, it's making permanent, detailed, decisions, it's determining the best way to spend money, it's communicating with the workers, understanding the lease, being present every day to make sure things are going smoothly, moving the furniture, building the stage, getting electricity instead of hijacking it from the store nearby...ect.
It's difficult to explain how you have to relearn everything when you move to a new country. The ways you have always done things, no longer apply. The way you are used to contacting someone, or finding a phone number, or working out bills and money, is not the same. You have to relearn everything. And you can never learn enough. Because in every new context, you have to understand how this new situation is different. Beyond that, you have to adapt to how each different person sounds when they speak the language.
And because of this, moving to a new church building is something we never could have done by ourselves. We couldn't be more thankful for the young men here who have taken this on. They have helped in irreplaceable ways and have made this completely possible.
Xhoni and Alvaro were a part of the first Bible study that took place here in Pogradec nearly 5 years ago. And today, we can't imagine what our church would be without them.
So, this Sunday, whether we have electricity or not, we will have our first Sunday service in our new building. Almost exactly a year from the day of our very first Sunday service here in Pogradec.
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| Almost after |
And by God's grace, our congregation continues to grow.
In July we had our first baptism service. We invited all the churches that have been planted by the church in Korca, as well as the Korca church, to come and be a part of the service.
Nearly 500 people lined the shore of the lake to watch as these believers declared their faith in Christ.
And maybe I have stopped writing this blog because I know longer know how to put into words everything that I am learning and experiencing here. Word's don't seem to express what I am watching the Lord do, what the Lord is doing in me, and what our life here has become.
Raw. Broken.
Those are weird words that I would normally roll my eyes at but they are the words that come to mind.
Nothing is pretty or shiny or new.
And maybe when we we first moved here, everything was. Even the things that were broken were new because they were new to me. Like a child given a hand me down toy.
The hard things were exciting. The dirt was intriguing. The confusion an adventure.
But now, almost 2 1/2 years later there is something different I experience every day that I can't put my finger on.
And it's something better and more real.
I am more devastated than I have ever been by sin, corruption and godlessness.
But I am more amazed than every by the power of the Gospel and love of Christ.
I see sanctification in a whole new way.
When we came here for that first summer camp over 4 years ago, we were impacted by the fun, the love and the chaos of the Albanian culture.
Now we have seen the backside of it. The sin that has grown here unconstrained for centuries.
But, instead of that making me hate it here, it has made me love it all the more.
It has made me more desperately want people to know Christ. It has made me more amazed by the congregation that gathers on Sunday.
And so, when 4 girls from my Bible study got baptized that day, I worshiped God in a way I never have before.
And the more we know people's stories and understand the Albanian culture, the more we are amazed by what God is doing here.
And we still have so much more to learn. So I can imagine that 2 more years from now, I will be more devastated and more amazed all at the same time.
So how long will we stay here? We still get asked this all the time by Americans and Albanians alike.
As long as the Lord allows us.
We have bought a house. We have struggled through language learning. We have given birth to a child.
We no longer truly feel like we belong anywhere.
But we sure do want to be here. Even when we don't. I wouldn't trade these last 2 1/2 years for anything.
So bear with me as I attempt to write about our life here during this new season. Besides, it wouldn't be a proper blog if I hadn't taken an unexplained, extended amount of time off would it?
Thank you for all of you who encourage me to keep at it. Here we go again.
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