A lot of firsts…

Well it has been quite an eventful week this week as we have finally moved (somewhat) into our new home in Albania. We didn’t have much to move, only our four pieces of luggage, since we are still waiting for our boxes to arrive (any day now). But our apartment is great, and the Lord has answered some many prayers for us as we sought out a God-appointed place to minister in. We live within “The Block” which is where much of our ministry will be talking place. After searching and searching, and going in home after home that were to expensive, on the last day the Lord brought us to this place! We are so thankful that God micro-manages everything. This home has everything that we need, all the furnishings and set up expresses that we thought we were going to have to buy, we don’t now, which is a huge praise because we can use that money to go towards scholarships for the summer ministries and camps.
Also this week, we got our first dog…what are we doing? I think we caught the dog fever that seems to be running around our ministry team here. Within the last 3 months there has been at least three new dogs, not to mention the other little critters that people have. But Gretchen really loves the thing. His name is Oakley (yes like the sunglasses) and he is a Pekingese, a dog that I said I would never get... Lets just say it is definitely not a man’s dogs (see pictures below).
Finally, last night we had our first get together at our place. We had about 30 people jammed in here, it was great, we had the youth group, as well as the young professionals group. It was a sweet time of fellowship, and a great opportunity to meet new folks and get to know people. We are thankful for everything that the Lord has done for us. Thank you to all of you who are praying….

Below: The New Dog...







Our first get together in our new home:




Seminary Student:


Sunset in Tirana: