Lots of PRAYER needed!!

Below: Mosque in Babrru (suburb of Tirana where our first camp will be held)


4 pictures below: Advertising for Camp in Babrru, a village of Tirana

(Above: Josiah Venture Albania Camp Team)

Hey, everyone! We haven't done a more "newsy" update in a while to let you know all the valuable ministry and events that are happening over the summer here!

The Lord continues to give us many opportunities to pour ourselves into the students' lives here, and we're grateful for that. We are reminded continually that this next generation is needed to change this country for Christ!! Life-on-life discipleship is ministry strategy we're about, and that happens in exciting and also lots of mundane ways as well. Here are some highlights that WE REALLY NEED YOUR PRAYER FOR!!

1. EVANGELISTIC CAMPS! We are doing 3 Josiah Venture evangelistic camps in July - two English camps and 1 sports camp. We've never attempted 3 in one summer, and we are excited to see how the Lord will show Himself faithful. Please pray for a great spiritual harvest this summer. And pray that we would be diligent and creative in our follow-up relationships with all of these students. One very specific prayer request regarding the first camp we are doing: we don't have any students signed up yet, and this is a camp for a church plant in a nearby village/suburb of Tirana. Please pray that students will come and that they will get plugged into the local church.

2. "Lies Young Women Believe" Girls Bible Study/Discussion Group. I (Gretchen) will be leading a 9-week evangelistic Bible study for our teenage girls and their friends. We will meet on Monday mornings throughout the summer. This is an AMAZING book/ministry, and I am really excited to lead this. We will meet as a large group on Mondays, and then each of the girls will meet in small groups with their friends for discussion/prayer at another time during the week. So I am really excited to use this as a evangelism and discipleship tool! (Check out the website by clicking on the icon in the sidebar.)

3. "Elements" Bible Studies. We will use this very effective Bible study for new believers as a follow-up tool after camps. Please pray that many students will be involved and learn how to grow in Christ! (Click on the link to find out more.)

4. Our Family. Please continue to pray for us as a family. Pray for our unity in Christ, for the protection of our marriage, for us to be godly parents, and salvation for our children! We need your prayers for our personal lives as well as our ministry. Our family is our first ministry, and the Lord uses your prayers to minister to us!! We treasure your prayers for us and could not be here without them! For more pictures than you could ever want of our family, go here.

5. Financial Support. It's no shocker (with the lagging economy and the falling value of the dollar overseas) that our personal and ministry support is down quite a bit. Please pray with us that the Lord would supply our every need and that He would shepherd our hearts while we trust in Him. If you have followed our ministry and prayed for us faithfully over the years we've been here, may we ask you to join our financial support team? We would love to hear from you, and would be happy to answer any questions you have. Send us an email or contact our home church, Grace Church of DuPage in Warrenville, IL. We need regular monthly supporters as well as one-time project support. THANK YOU!

We thank our Heavenly Father for you, for your prayers for us, and for our fellowship in Jesus. Thank you for checking the blog and come back soon!!



and on a random but fun note: HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO OUR MIRACLE BABY GIRL - Evangeline Sarah Hall!! We had a great day celebrating her and praising God for her life! Hop on over to our family blog to see our day. Thank you Jesus for Evangeline!!!!!

Driving in Eastern Europe, JV Family Conference & Theresa Kerns

We have been back in Tirana just over a week now from our long road trip to the Czech Republic. We traveled 17 hours from Tirana, Albania up through Montenegro then into Croatia. We spent a few nights in Kastav, Croatia, with the Vuletic family who serve with Josiah Venture there. From there, Stevo Vuletic and Justin continued their journey of 10 more hours through Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, and on into Czech for the JV Council. Gretchen spent a few more days with Sarah Vuletic and made the same long trip up to Czech with Sarah and her 3 kids! We had a packed car, but it was such a good time of fellowship. We thank the Lord for keeping up safe every kilometer of the way.
Our time at the JV Spring Conference was wonderful. It was our first official Spring Conference since joining JV at the beginning of 2008. The JV Council meetings as always are a highlight for Justin. We were inspired and energized by being reminded what God is currently doing all over Eastern Europe. At the conference we were thankful to experience some precious moments with the JV family as they said goodbye to some very important families and singles.
It definitely was not a relaxing time for us physically, as Evangeline had a viral fever during the first 6 days of our trip! That combined with the fact that she and Samuel were not in their normal beds made for precious little sleep for their parents!! But God really encouraged our hearts with many precious times of sweet fellowship with co-laborers. We have some very dear, like-minded friends in Croatia now…and we can’t wait to get back to that beautiful country!
Following the conference we tackled the 27 hours back to Albania from Czech. Actually we were able to do it in 26 hours on the way back ☺ And this time we had a very special passenger, Theresa Kerns. That’s right, she braved the trip with us. It was a bit more demanding on the way back because we drove for two days in a row (with one night in Croatia again at the Vuletic’s).
Theresa Kerns cares for the JV missionary wives all over Eastern Europe. She sacrificially travels to visit each of the missionary wives in order to encourage them through a Titus 2 sort of ministry. She has incredible godly wisdom, insight, and perspective. Having Theresa here with us for one week was so helpful to me (Gretchen). She helped me organize (woohoo!), build lots of shelves for our kitchen and bedroom (woooooohooooo!) and plant flowers, herbs (parsley, dill, mint, cilantro, and basil) and vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers) on our balcony garden. My mom should be so proud! Now I just hope that I can keep them alive ☺ So far they are doing well, but Theresa only left 24 hours ago! Gardening is so satisfying! I will post some pictures of the progress on the balcony garden soon.
Theresa also spoke to the women of our church on Sunday on the passage Titus 2:3-5. She brought a personal aspect to the message and the women (ages ranged from about 16 to 60) received it very well. Titus 2 relationships are lacking in our church, but are essential for a healthy growing body of believers. Please pray for the continued impact of this passage on the women and girls.
We are so thankful to Josiah Venture and Grace Church of DuPage for the ministry of Theresa Kerns (as well as those who financially support her to do what she does)! We are grateful for her sacrificial and selfless love for us in her verbal encouragement as well as homemaking skills. She is truly a godly woman and such a blessing to missionary wives! Thank you, Theresa!!

Pictures from the Girls' Retreat

All the girls at the retreat (minus 2 who had to leave a bit early and 1 who came a bit late).
Me and Jona, and amazing girl with a passion for evangelism!
Jona and Ina, a relatively new member of our youth group. These girls are two of a kind - out-going, evangelistic, and sporty!
Rozi, my spiritual daughter :), with two girls from another city who came to our retreat!
Jayne (center with blonde hair), our amazing servant-hearted volunteer youth worker, giving her talk on Godly Beauty:

Yay Titus 2!!

During the 6 months we were in the States, God did some amazing things here. I just keep learning more and more how faithful and sovereign and good he is - how much he doesn't need me to get things done here! Don't worry - I'm not planning to leave Albania anytime soon. But I've been so encouraged to hear of progress and growth and joy in the lives of my spiritual "daughters" here.

Since we stepped foot in Albania almost 3 years ago (!!!!!) we have always placed a priority on one-on-one discipleship. Life-on-life stuff. Aside from the preaching on Sunday mornings, the seminars on Sunday afternoons, the summer training sessions, and weekly Bible studies, we place a huge importance on (and we try to save most of our "free" time for) simply hanging out with our students and acquaintances. We try to share as much of our lives with them as possible.

In this respect, Titus 2 has been a life-changing passage for me. There are so many women who has poured themselves into my life, or at least let me hang around and watch them a lot! Being in their homes, observing their actions and attitudes as godly wives and mothers, having late night conversations, doing household chores together, reading the Bible before bedtime, having family devotions. This was my training and "certification" to become a wife and mother! That's "life-on-life" discipleship!

There are currently SIX Titus 2 disciplship relationships that I am asking you to pray for! These "older" women and "younger" women have been meeting together for different lengths of time - but they all happened without my prompting! And that is exciting.

Younger Older
Bruna ------> Chelle
Xhili -------> Lizzy
Rozi --------> Gretchen
Majlinda ---> Diana
Fjori -------> Jayne
Jona -------> Jennie

Please pray for these Titus 2 partners!! Some are meeting for a bible study, some for general accountability and encouragement, some for prayer, and some for more Titus 2-related topics.
Thank you!!


P.S. This post is dedicated to Denice Parker - friend, mentor, and all-around amazing woman :)