August 2011
1 post
WatchAlbania Days #13 & #14
July 2011
45 posts
Day #13 -Headed Home-Geoffrey
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...
Days #11 & #12
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...
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Day #10- Kruja and Kastles –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...
WatchAlbania Day #10
Day #10- David Setser
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...
Day #10- Kaci St. John
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...
Day #10- Tesney Ake
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...
WatchAlbania Day #9
Day #9- Taylor Grant
Hello United States of America!!! Today was the last day of camp. We are all very sad that this week has come to an end, but very excited of what God has done! This morning started out with a great sports class, dance class, prayer walk, and story time with the gypsy people. I feel like the evening event was the high point of today though. We started out playing some Albanian games, watching...
Day #9- Last day of camp…seriously?!? –Geoffrey
Wow, it is really hard to believe that today was the last day of camp. I think it was significantly harder than we thought it was going to be. Who knew that you could build such heart attachments to people after only a week? Tonight’s post is probably going to be a little short, its 1:20am, and my computer batter is at 9%. So, I will try to say a lot in not too many words.
Today was a great day....
WatchAlbania Day #8
Day #8- Is camp really almost over? –Geoffrey
Today was the second to last day of camp. It has seriously just flown by. It has been an incredible week. Parents, you can be so proud of your kids. They have truly shown Christ’s love to the people of Albania, both young and old.
In the picture slideshow today (which you can see tomorrow morning…sorry my internet crashed twice while uploading), you will see a lot of pictures with the Roma (or...
Day #8 Allison Keenum
Howdy y’all! It feels like just yesterday we had our first meeting about this amazing trip to Albania, and now, our trips almost over. I remember the countdown being at 74 days, and now in 6 days or so, (I’ve honestly lost count) we’ll be hopping on planes back to reality. But I know that what we’ve started here won’t stop when we leave, but that God will continue to water even the tiniest seeds...
Day #8- Maitlyn Yarbrough
Realizing that tomorrow is our last day of camp has brought many mixed emotions. I’m feeling very sad that tomorrow wraps up our community time together with our new Albanian friends. However, I also know that there comes a time to end our ministry here and let the Albanians start doing the ministering themselves. Through just playing football, making a few bracelets, and our weak attempts at...
Day #8- Brianna West
I cannot believe that tomorrow is our last day of camp! Today in sports we got the opportunity to bring a little bit of home to Albania. We taught them how to play American football and they loved it! When we asked them if they wanted to play soccer they asked us if they could play another round of our football. I was shocked! We had a lot of fun getting to play our own sport with them even if...
WatchThe Great Handshake-Off of 2011
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WatchAlbania Day #7 (and some other various pictures)
Day #7- Fun in the Sun (and wind) –Geoffrey
Today’s post will be fairly short…because we spent all day playing at the beach! It was a great day. We got up early and hopped on a bus with the rest of the camp to drive to a beach that’s about 40 minutes away. It was pretty crazy to take 50-60 people to the beach, but we had a great time. It was just another way that we could love on the Albanian people.
It was so cool to see the different...
Day #7- Jabril Jackson
Hola!! Jabril Jackson here.Woahh.. Albania has been amazing to say the least. When we first got here it was kinda weird with all the awkward stares we got…well just mainly I got haha. I was asked several times by random people to take pictures with them and their kids,that showed me just how friendly and laid back they are here.
We settled in and in the next couple of days camp began, which was...
WatchAlbania Day #6 (and some other various pictures)
Day #6- Camp Day #2- You think its hot THERE!...
Hello from Tirana again! The title of this post says it all…it is HOT! It was in the high 90’s today, with probably 80-90% humidity. Lets just say this, it felt like a really hot day in Houston. Needless to say, camp was a huge success!
Today we had sports (outside..whew), and in sports we did kickball, wiffleball, and soccer in the morning. In the evening we played wiffleball, ultimate Frisbee,...
Day #6- Rachel Stovall
Hello from Albania! Today was our second day of camp and it was just as amazing as the first and even more! We had a Texas themed night and it was definitely the most fun I have had on this whole trip. We taught them different dances and games like mad cow and the cotton eyed joe. When I saw their faces light up when they saw these I could see that God was already working in little things such as...
Day #6- Josh Dodderer
What’s up USA!!! Hmm… where do I start!? Well first off I just wanted to personally thank everyone for your prayers! The difference that it has made here amongst us is incredible and though you may not know or feel it, you are as much apart of this mission as we are! The things God is doing here are just indescribable. The best way to put it is like this, God has released a radical fire here...
Day #6- Kimber Beam
Hey from Albania! This is Kimber Beam. I wanted to take a second and tell you a little bit of what we have been doing and what God has done and how He has showed up. Today was the second day of our camp with the local kids and I was assigned to the gypsy camp that was taking place in a park in the town. I wasn’t very sure of what to expect or how any of the children were with their walk with...
Day #6- Taylor Grant
Hello from Tirana! This is Taylor Grant speaking. Today is the second day of camp and we had an awesome morning! The sports played whiffleball, kickball, and futbol(also known as soccer). The dance class was a big hit also as well as story time with the gypsy’s. I went with a group of people to pray over specific things in the city. God laid on our heart the color yellow, a university here,...
WatchAlbania Day #5
Day #5- First day of Camp…whew! –Geoffrey
Today was the first day of Camp! Wow, what a day. To be honest, camp is a little different than we had thought it was going to be, but the Lord is still moving! We began our morning bright and early for some time with the Lord, then we headed over to the sports complex that we are having camp at.
I would estimate that we had between 30-40 students at camp today. This is the very first time that...
Day #5- Jordan Cosper
Hey guys, Jordan here. Today we had the first day of our camp and it was great but what I really want to talk about is what happened before and after the classes. This morning not as many people showed up to the classes as we thought would so we decided that we would bless the Roma people there by giving the children food, water and candy. While doing this the children’s parents came out and...
Day #5- Ashlee Justice
Hi there. Sasha Fierce speaking. So today was the first day of class, but honestly, all I can think about is what happened this morning. Having nothing to do due to a bit of unorthodox organization issues, a group of us prayed over what God wanted us to do before heading out into town. The group felt led to go to love on some of the gypsy community and give them food and water. The trip...
WatchAlbania Day #4
Day #5- Tesney Ake
Hi everybody!! This is the first morning we have had to wake up early. It was kind of cold this morning but that definitely didn’t last long. We got to the camp at about 8:30 and only a few kids showed up, so some classes didn’t have anybody. A few of us weren’t doing anything so we started praying for the workers around the school then we ended up going on a prayer walk. We stopped at this small...
Day #4 -David Setser
Hey guys!! The blistering heat here makes me feel like I never left home but that hasn’t stopped any of us from showing the Love of God to the sweet people here in Albania. Last night we went to a church service at the church we are partnering with. The worship was very intense and was in both English and Albanian. The members of the church have amazing hearts and watching them praise the King of...
Day #4- Samantha Gomez
Hello this Samantha! This experience has been more than I could have asked for. The culture here was nothing I expected and totally took me by surprise. I feel blessed to live in a place where I am not forced to work at a young age, where everyone is treated equally…for the most part. Seeing the faces on these kids has broken my heart and given me more of an understanding of God’s love for us and...
Day #4- Camps about to start!-Geoffrey
We had a great day today, but its late, so this will be short. Today we went to the pool this afternoon, and then we got to go to church tonight! During church tonight our students got to pray for people from the Albanian church!
I will be posting pictures sometime tomorrow morning of today…I will get them up ASAP I promise!
Please pray for our team. Camp starts tomorrow, and we want to...
WatchAlbania Day #3
Day #3-Planning...Planning...Playtime -Geoffrey
Today was a great day. We got to sleep in a little bit (waking up around 9am). Then we spent the morning shopping and looking around Tirana some more. We shopped in some souvenirs at some little shops. After that, we went to a mall that was actually probably better than the Mall of Abilene.
We had a great chicken and rice lunch, then spent the afternoon planning for Creative Camp. After that,...
Day #3 - Josh McQueen
Our third day in Albania was our first full day in the city and mostly a day of rest. We were able to sleep in a little later and then had the opportunity to go shopping at some street vendors and at an Albanian mall. Albania is unlike any other place I’ve ever been to. Hopefully you can tell through some of our pictures, but much of the city is very developed with paved streets and nice...
WatchAlbania Day #2
Day #2 - Welcome to Albania! -Geoffrey
Day #2 – Welcome to Albania! – Geoffrey
We’ve arrived! We were supposed to only have a 30 minute layover this morning when we landed in Munich, Germany, but thankfully we landed about a half hour early. So, we hopped on the plane from Munich to Tirana. Munich was a nice 60something degrees. Tirana…not so much. I would guess it is in the mid 90’s, with at least 75% humidity. Its warm to say the...
Day #2 - Kristy Beam
Hey this is Kristy! Today we got to Tirana and we kind of toured the city with some of our new friends we met here! We walked down the streets and by some huts on the side of a dirt road and that was where some of the gypsies lived. The “huts” were made of material of probably anything they could find. As we walked by three little boys ran up to us with their hands out begging for us to give them...
Day #2 - Allison Keenum
Hey it’s Allison! As we were being shown around Tirana one of the things that stuck out to me were how colorful the buildings are! Almost every building had at least one bright color on it, way different than the boring buildings you see in America. I was also surprised at how populated it is here! Before this trip I honestly had never even heard of Albania but there are so many people here! It’s...
WatchDay 1 Pictures
3 tags
Post #1 - Traveling is Grand-Geoffrey
Our first day started off fairly early. Everyone was supposed to meet at the church at 5am, and we would load a people mover and head to the DFW airport for our flight that was leaving at 11:35am. We got off without a hitch, and arrived at DFW with more than enough time to spare.
We flew from DFW to Washington, D.C. Dulles International Airport. We had a pretty good layover in DC, so some of the...