A Plethora of Information

Ok. Since I have been receiving many more questions about how things run around here I decided I should address these questions before I give any personal updates. I have time right now so let me try and give you an overview of everything here.

Right now, the way this works is that we have English classes at 3 different levels: beginners (those who haven't studied English until now), high beginners (those who study it at school and can get the point across though they have limited vocabulary and grammar), and one intermediate group (they are mostly fluent but with small mistakes). Each group meets twice a week. Emily teaches the three beginner groups, and I teach the 3 high beginner groups and the intermediate group. So Emily teaches classes a week and I teach eight. Then, there is one student that I meet with on her own twice a week because she has a different school schedule than everyone else and there is one group of young beginners that Emily meets with on their own twice a week, if they remember. lol

Overall, our attendance has been very good. Our numbers haven't fluctuated in a huge way. We have around 40 students. Most of them come to classes regularly. This always impresses me because they didn't pay for the class, just for the book(s). No one reminds them that it's time for class, they just remember on their own. Keep in mind--the majority of our students are between 10 and 13 years old.

Once a week after my high beginner classes, Agron has a devotion with the class. He's been using the Christ Light lessons that are used in the lower grades in the US. It's a better level for them because the English is simpler and because the stories are new to them. They really like it and often ask if we will have a devotion before the class even starts. :)

My intermediate class ends at 7pm and he feels that's too late to keep them. Also, some of those kids are already pretty solid contacts and he knows some of their parents personally so there other ways to reach them.

Emily does her own devotions with her classes. They are using the Albanian version of a My First Bible. It's really really simple and she sometimes feels like it doesn't have much depth, but for the very very limited English her students understand, I think it's perfect because it keeps their interest since it's at their level. Yes, it could have more substance at times, but an introduction doesn't need to be complex.

Besides that, we don't actually have any other religious classes going on. In the future this could (and hopefully will) change because there were 4 girls who told me they'd be interested in learning more. They're all around "normal" confirmation age so I brought it up to Pastor and Agron and they were happy to hear it, of course. It was talked about briefly but nothing stable has started yet. I'm going to try to bring it up with the girls again--and also with Pastor and Agron--to see if we can't get started with that before I leave, but we'll see.

The MMM group, Mary and Martha Meetings, is a group for girls ages 13-17. We have about 6 or 7 girls that attend these monthly activities. We meet and do something away from the church. Some things we've done include bringing them to our place. For Christmas we had a huge cookie baking day. Once we had them over for pizza and a movie. Most recently we went to the artificial lake and had a picnic. At each meeting, we have a little devotion and just spend time talking with each other and making connections to each other. It has helped the girls become more cohesive and I've noticed that they are more likely to come to church now if they see someone they know from this group.

Girls who are 11 and 12 constantly beg to be a part of this group. We've even had 2 boys (and I think in all classes combined we only have 5 or 6 boys, if that) ask if they could please please come. Of all the things that will be difficult to continue once we leave, this is the one that I think will hurt the most if it falls apart. Not saying that it will, I'm just expressing my fear. One of the girls who comes to this group, Kesi, has really stepped up as a leader. The younger ones in the group really look to her and Agron has even let her teach the devotion lesson to her sister's class a few times. Olsa has also expressed an interest in doing more church-related work so Emily and I are planning to sit down with those two and teach them how to keep this MMM group going.

You know about our weekly Activity Nights that are open to our students and their families. They are always popular and they were a great way to get new faces involved in the Christmas Program and Easter Program this year. Being that Emily and I are the ones who organize and run that hour or so of weekly excitement, we have been the one building relationships with these people. Now we're trying to get them to connect with the people who are permanent fixtures here. That will bridge the gap and hopefully make it easier for these relationships to grow in the future.

We also have a monthly activity for adults that we call Cappuccino Club. This is for those who are 18 or older. It's always very small, and it's always all women, though we advertise it for either gender. Agron doesn't come, but I don't know why. Vitori has come twice, and Olsa has come once, so that helps. A mom in one of Emily's classes loves these days. She comes regularly. This lady, Fatmira (I've mentioned her in the past) has 3 daughters in our classes, one of whom participates in MMM. Sara and Danja's mom came twice and once she brought a friend. So though it is small, it is branching out which is nice to see.

Pastor is arrived Thursday for his last visit here. He will leave around the 20th of June after that, there is no full time Pastor here. Pastor Vogt, who is in the Ukraine, will act as a circuit pastor for the church here, in Durres, in Bulgaria, in the Ukraine, and I'm not sure where else. From what I've been told, he'll be making small visits to check in on each of these places, teach some classes with the leaders at each location, and assist with other issues/projects as needed. It's good to know that someone so dedicated will be here to help things keep going, but the church in Tirana is very young and very new. I pray every day that God blesses our synod monetarily so that a full time pastor and Kingdom Workers can be sent here again. It is needed because we are not yet at the level here where we have people we can teach and train as consistent leaders aside from Agron and Vitori, who do everything already.

There are so many things to pray for here, because the possibilities are numerous and right on the brink of becoming something bigger. It's sad to think that there won't be as many people working here but I have to keep telling myself it's not up to me. I don't know how the Lord plans to work here, but I do know that he won't abandon those who believe so I am confident that the small seeds of faith in so many people will continue to grow with his help. I just keep telling myself that my job here is to act as people's introduction page to the Bible. Hopefully, I've been able to do that job well.

In other news, my next posts will include an overview of our road trip to Croatia this past weekend, numerous links to recently created photo albums, funny stories of my students, and tales of home visits. You won't want to miss this. ;) I'll do my absolute best to be timely with the rest of these blogs, but bear in mind that as my remaining time here is very very limited (just barely over a month) my schedule is becoming increasingly full because we're trying to cram everything in at the end. Typical. :) But it continues to be quite the ride and I'm thankful for every second of it! :)