The end...or just the beginning?

Blog update 8.12.05

Well camp here in Tirana is just about over. This is a bittersweet day for us both. It marks the close of a long and wonderful summer overseas for us. I (Gretchen) am mighty glad to be finished teaching English :) But we are both sad to say good-bye to so many people with whom we’ve begun relationships. We hope and pray that God blesses these relationships far into the future. We have begun to taste what life might be like here in Albania. We are tired after 6 weeks overseas conducting camps, but we are sooooo thankful that we came to do the Lord’s work. We have been so blessed and our faith and trust in Him is strengthened because of the way He has sustained us and poured out His blessings on us.

Tonight is the Open House when all the parents are invited to come meet us and hear about what their kids have been doing and learning all week. There will be a slideshow with lots of pictures from the two weeks of camp. Also, Justin will share the gospel in its entirety with all the kids and parents. Please pray for a clear presentation of the gospel and for receptive hearts. Tonight is the culmination of so many great conversations and quality time spent with the kids. One girl accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior a couple days ago. And now she is saying she wants to be someone who travels to different countries to tell people about Jesus. Amazing! God’s Spirit is working here…we’ve felt it these past two weeks. Pray that many of these kids would come to church here in Tirana and they would also come to the youth meetings on Sunday evenings.

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) we leave for Vlora with our team and translators. Should be about 25 people all together. It’s three hours away…and it’s a beautiful coastline and beach…so we’re all very excited for the mini vacation and debrief time. On Sunday Justin preaches in church on James 4. So he’s been preparing heavily for that. It’s such a blessing for me to listen to him preach. God speaks through him to my heart and I am thankful for such a godly husband. Please pray for his message.

On Monday we fly back to Chicago. And we get to sleep in our own bed ☺ That is a happy thought for me. But then on Thursday morning we leave for North Carolina to begin training at the Center for Intercultural Training. We will be there for 5 weeks for two classes: “Equipping for Cross Cultural Life and Ministry” and “Language Acquisition”. I’m not sure when the next time is that we’ll be able to update our blog, but we’ll try to give another update once we are home.
Please continue to pray for us:
- safety in travel
- quality time together as we continue to travel together and prepare for full-time ministry in Albania.
- Continued growth in our relationship with the Lord and with each other
- That those who heard the gospel tonight, both students and parents would be receptive and the Lord would call his sheep.
- Pray that we would find our home in Christ, as there will be much traveling in the coming months. May Christ be our real rest.

ALSO, we wanted to thank all of you who have kept up with us all summer, your prayers and encouraging emails have been a huge blessing to us. To God be the glory forever and ever! AMEN!