This past weekend we went to Wisconsin with our Albania team for a much-needed retreat and team bonding time. A very gracious family from our church has recently built house on a lake that they’ve made available for family vacations, retreats, etc. It is a HUGE ministry to anyone in our church needing a little time away. Anyway, 11 people from our team (sorry, Joe…we know you were with us in Spirit…and in watermelon ☺) spent Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning doing some superb team bonding. There’s nothing that bonds a team like late nights, lifting worship, crazy fun games like Apples to Apples, and lots of volleyball, water skiing and tubing thrown in for good measure. Oh – I forgot to mention the good food provided by Kylie – our team baker ☺. Oh, and Lance displayed some splendid skills flipping pancakes on Saturday morning.
We have an excellent team! Please pray for us: Ryan (leader), Justin (leader), Lance, Kevin, Matt, Joe, Dan, Kylie, Whitney, Anya, Melina, and Gretchen. We desperately need to depend on the Lord for the success of this camp in Tirana, Albania. More and more, we are each aware of the impossibility of this task that we’ve been charged with – displaying the love of Christ, the glory of God, the unity of the Spirit – and all this through our broken, earthen, creaturely, sinful selves. We are truly dependent on God to make that happen.
Take a look at a few photos from the weekend!!! Then scroll down to view an outline of our daily schedule for camp this summer. The theme for our camp will be DELIGHTING IN THE GLORY OF GOD.
Typical Day in Albania:
7:30-8:45 Team Prayer and Worship before camp
9:00-9:30 Chapel
9:30-10:30 English Class 1
10:30-10:40 Break
10:40-11:40 English Class 2
11:40-11:50 Break
11:50-12:45 English Class 3
12:45-1:00 Break
1:00-1:30 Lunch/break
1:30-3:30 Afternoon activities (things like going to the pool, photo scavenger hunt, different games)
3:30-4:00 close the day out
4:00-4:15 Prepare for team meeting
4:15-5:30 Team meeting (study through 1 Peter together)
5:30-8:00 free time (spend time with host families/dinner)
8:00-10:00 Evening Activities (this will consist of bible studies/small groups/and spending times with the kids)
(Note: This Schedule is liable to change from day to day)
1 comment:
Hi Gretchen,
What timing! The day after you wrap up your ministry at TEAM, I was reading a prayer letter from John and Meg Glass (TEAM France). They report that John was a speaker at the 2005 Albania Shepherd's Conference. Maybe you already knew about the common connection, but I thought that I'd pass this along for your info.
Here is a clip from their prayer letter:
"On April 9-12 I was invited to speak at the Albanian
Shepherd’s Conference held in Tirana and hosted by Robb
Provost, a missionary colleague from Grace community
Church in LA. Robb has been a missionary in Albania for
over 10 years, and has not only started a vibrant and
growing church of
100 people
(which he
pastors) but has
also started the
Lincoln Computer
Training Center,
which employs 80 people and offers computer and English
classes to over 1100 people! ”Helping the country rebuild
itself goes hand-in-hand with church planting,” says Robb.
From 1967 to 1991, Albania was the most closed country in
the world and the only officially atheistic country in the world,
where all religion was banned. Today, there are 120 churches
and more than 5000 believers. Amazingly, Grace Church Tirana
meets in the old residence of the former dictator, Enver Hoxha!"
Small world, eh?
Take care,
Dave Haas
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