Albania Days #13 & #14

Friends and Family! 

I will be honest, I had this post completely done and the webpage deleted it all…So, I will do my best to remember everything that was typed. 

We have had an amazing couple of days in one of the greatest cities in the world! It is literally breathtaking to walk down the streets and our tour guide say “that building is not very old,” and it is actually 1700 years old! 

I will start off by expounding a little bit on what we saw on Monday. When we got here we went to the hotel, grabbed some lunch, and then got on the hop on/hop off tour bus. It was a great experience for us to just get to ride around and listen to the history in this great city. We got to see pretty much everything in the city, but we didn’t actually go in any of the historical sites until Tuesday (more on that later). One of the places that we did get to see on Monday was the Circus Maximus. This is the place where the chariot races (like the movie Ben Hur) happened. It is also the place in Rome where the most Christians were martyred. The area is so big that at one time it could fit upwards of 300,000 Romans in it. We finished Monday off by grabbing some gelato and trying to get some rest. 

Tuesday we got up early, jumped on the worlds most crowded subway, and headed to meet our tour guide Stefano (steph-ahhh-no…not stefeno…he made sure we knew that) at the Roman Forum. We began our 8+hour walking tour at the Roman Forum, it was awesome to see the old “city center” of Rome. We then got to peak at 2 different archeological digs that are still going on at the Roman Forum. 

After the Forum we walked over to the Colosseum. This is the place that I was most looking forward to. I was not disappointed. At all. It was simply amazing. I stood in one of the walkways and just looked out over the place where gladiators used to do battles to the death. We get so many aspects of our modern stadiums from the Colosseum: numbered sections, rows, seats, ticket entrance requirements, and the ability to vacate a massive amount of people in a relatively short amount of time. The Colosseum could at one time fit 50,000+ Romans in it, and they could completely empty it in less than a half hour. 

We left the Colosseum, jumped back on the subway, and headed to the Vatican. It is crazy to me that the vatican is actually a city/state unto itself. When in Vatican city you are not in Rome and not even in Italy anymore. I probably could have spent a solid week just in the Vatican soaking up all of the history that resides within its walls. The 2 main highlights of that part of the tour are the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica. The Sistine Chapel ceiling is where Michealangelo painted probably his most famous fresco. It was unbelievable to hear all that went in to his work, and it is far too much info for this blog post. After the Sistine Chapel we walked over to the Sistine Chapel, which is actually the largest church (in length and width) in the world. In this church all the popes are laid to rest. 

After the Vatican we took the subway over to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. I still cant believe that I just typed that sentence. We said goodbye to our phenomenal tour guide at the Pantheon, and headed over to the Piazzo Navarro. There we bought any last souvenirs, ate dinner, and enjoyed our very last gelato. 

Finally, after a long, amazing, exhausting day, we got to the hotel and tried to get some rest before waking up early to head home. I took a ton of pictures over the last 2 days, and I will try to get all of those thrown into a slideshow for everyone to see, but it probably wont happen before Sunday. Also, I have told all of the students this, but just so you know, I will be making a cd of all of the pictures that everyone took during the trip and giving it to everyone that went. 

I know we have given you all of this information already, but I thought I would go ahead and give you the last minute information about today. Here are the estimated times of arrival at Beltway for our groups: 

Group #1 - ETA at Beltway is 7pm

Geoffrey Turner, Kerri Kirby, Kaci St. John, Josh Dodderer, David Setser, Jabril Jackson, Jordan Cosper, Brianna West, Allison Keenum, Kimber Beam, Kristy Beam, Ashlee Justice 

Group #2- ETA at Beltway is 2am 

Leighton Lockett, Josh McQueen, Taylor Grant, Maitlyn Yarbrough, Tesney Ake, Rachel Stovall, Paige Parks, Sam Gomez 

If you have any questions, I land in the states around 2:30pm your time, so feel free to call me and I will try to get you any information you need. My cell number once again is (325) 668-5601. Cant wait to see all of you! Thank you for all your prayers and support over the last couple of weeks. Please pray for a safe travel day, on time flights, and a safe drive home. 

See you in a few hours! 

-Geoffrey

Howdy Ya’ll! 

So sorry that I didnt post the last couple of days. It has been crazy busy here on this side of the world. 

Before I type anything else I just want to thank everyone who has supported us throughout this trip, both financially and spiritually. We literally could not have done this trip without the support of others, so thank you so much. 

Yesterday was Sunday (I think…time is running together). We spent the morning doing some trip reflection and discussion. We always want to acknowledge things that went well, and things that could have gone better. Sunday morning was that time. Then, Sunday afternoon we finished up packing and got ready for church. 

Church was awesome. It was so fun to get to be around the Albanian people that we have come to love so much. They were such a blessing to us. So, thank you Pastor Shaban, Tahnie, Niku, Desi, and Jorida. 

During church we had our students lead the worship, and also speak. Then, at the very end we got a chance to pray a blessing over each and every person that wanted it. They then prayed a prayer of blessing over us. It was an incredibly sweet time. 

Monday morning started early…really early. We had to have our luggage downstairs and ready to be loaded in the vans at 4am. We got loaded, headed to the airport, and flew from Tirana to Rome.  

We got to Rome, and got to get on a hop on/hop off tour bus. We drove all around the city and saw so many things. This city is amazing. The pictures we have all taken should tell it all. 

Please pray for good rest for us tonight. I think we are all pretty tired from the last couple of days, so your prayers are appreciated. We miss all of you and cant wait to see you! (Especially you Sarah and Berkley!)  

Blessings on all of you! 

-Geoffrey

Today was a good and restful day. We kind of took things easy and just enjoyed each others company. We had poured out so much of our energy and emotion this week in camp, and so it was a phenomenal time to just be with our team.

We went to a city called Kruja, and went to an old castle there. The city was incredibly beautiful, as was the castle. One of the coolest /unnerving experiences of the entire trip. After we had toured the castle we were walking along one of the streets and then all of the sudden we heard the muslim call to prayer. I can safely say that it stopped all of us in our tracks, and we immediately began to pray for the muslims in Albania.

After we got done touring, we got to do some shopping in the city. There were so many little shops, that sold many handmade items and Albanian souveniers. I even got my little baby some cute little hand made shoes!

Pray for us today, because it is our very last day in Tirana. We are  spending the morning doing some recap and evaluation of the week, and then the afternoon we are going to rest/pack.

We miss all of you! 

-Geoffrey

Albania Day #10

Hey guys!! It’s crazy to think that in 4 days we will be home. This week has gone by so fast. Yesterday was our last day of camp and it was really sad saying good-bye to all the kids but it touched my heart to witness how much love our team had shown to the kids and how much it affected them. I can’t believe it is already over but I know without a doubt that God has planted many seeds in the lives of the people here in Albania.

Today we went to Kruja, which is the old capital city of Albania. We toured a castle and it was just amazing getting to learn about the history of this country and how it came to be. While we were there the call to prayer from the Mosque went off and it was really almost brought a sick feeling to my stomach. It made me realize how blessed I am to have been raised in a country where Christianity is the main religion. My heart just sinks when I think about how the people here are sold out to unreal gods and how most of them have never even heard about Jesus Christ. I just ask that you all would be praying for a revival of all nations and that the name of Jesus Christ would be known all over the world!

Tomorrow we will be packing up and getting ready for one last evening spent with the church here. I am just pumped about see what all God is going to do tomorrow. A revolution is just now starting here in Tirana and this church is going to have a huge impact! The Lord has been so gracious to us thus far and has kept us safe from harm and has kept us away from sickness and I not sure that all of us know how big of an impact that he has made through us this week. It’s been an amazing blessing to be apart of this trip as it is my last youth trip and I can’t thank God enough for what he has done in my life through this trip. I love and miss you all and can’t wait to see yall on Wednesday!!

~David

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been in Albania for 9 days. The last week has flown by, and now we’re preparing to say goodbye and head to Rome. It’s been an amazing week, and the Lord has done incredible things in and through us.

Today, we had the opportunity to travel to Kruja, a mountain town about an hour from Tirana. Kruja was the original capital of Albania, and is full of history. We toured an old castle, and learned about the origins and history of this amazing country, including the invasion of the Ottoman empire, which introduced (read, forced) Islam on its people. While we were at the castle, the call to prayer sounded from one of the Mosques, giving a sense of reality to the religious atmosphere of Kruja and by extension, Albania. The Lord revealed the spirit of oppression that reigns over Albania through this religion, and though many are not religious, the atmosphere retains that sense. I felt my own call to prayer from Father, to lift up the people of this nation, that they would find salvation and freedom in Christ.

Kruja was a lovely town, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. We did some shopping, paid too much for probably cheaply made souvenirs, then headed back to the hotel. This evening, I find myself preparing my heart for tomorrow’s goodbyes, ready to see Rome and come home, but not ready to part from these dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Keep praying for our team as we finish up the work we were assigned to do. Love and miss you all!

Hey everybody!! Today we went to an amazing beautiful castle in the mountains. It rained a little but we still walked around and had fun. We went through a guide of the inside and learned some Albanian history and there was a spot where we took some really pretty pictures. It was really cool to see. There is a street by the castle that is filled with little shops to buy souvenirs. It was fun trying to bargain with them. Mindy and I were in this little old lady’s shop and we asked her if we could pray for her and she said yes. Her heart was so open to what we were saying, she started crying. She was the sweetest little old lady, she even sold me hand made gloves for half price. I’m not ready to leave Albania. God has been moving so much here, it’s incredible! Love and miss yall.

-Tesney

Albania Day #9