Travel with me to Albania

Where is Albania you ask? Officially known as The Republic of Albania, the nation is located in South Eastern Europe. The country sits across the Adriatic Sea from the heel of Italy with Greece as its south and southeastern neighbor. Albania is about the size of the state of Maryland with a population of 3.1 million people. Its per capita income is approximately $2,580 and more than a quarter of the population lives below the poverty level, making Albania one of the poorest countries in Europe. Often family members will work in neighboring Greece and send money home to provide for their families.

In 1967 the communist government created the world's first officially atheistic country when it outlawed all religions. It was ruled by the most repressive and isolated regime in Europe until 1991, when it became the last country to emerge from the communist regime. Since then the nation has struggled through years of political instability and ecomonic collapse. An outbreak of civil disorder erupted in 1997, followed by an influx of 460,000 Kosovar refugees in 1998. This increased the burden on the already deteriorating political, ecomonic, and social infrastructures. Today Albanians enjoy full religous freedom. and while the government is an "emerging democracy" maintaining infrastructure is extremely difficult, especially in rural areas.

Alongside Ministries International hosts the Crossroads Christian Camp in Erseke in southern Albania. The children and youth are introduced to Jesus Christ and loved on by Christians in a one-week camp enviroment that includes crafts, games, bible lessons, and a ropes course (don't we all love camp!). I feel very priviledged to be part of bringing Christ into the lives of these young people.

Excerpts borrowed from World Vision http://www.worldvision.org/

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Team's Last Day

Friday was Dundee's last full day in Erseke. The roof crew finished the roof framing which they felt really great about - it's always such a good feeling when you are able to complete what you set out to do. The roof was really steep (see picture below) and I'm so glad it wasn't me that had to work on it. The roofers did an outstanding job, often when it was quite hot, and now it's ready for the next stage which I'm guessing will be completed by another work crew. It didn't look like the playground was going to get finished but the roofers got done early and added some extra muscle and manpower to the job - and wella, the playground got finished as far as our crew could go (the picture below isn't a good one of the team but it does show you the playground).



This morning there were many hugs and tears as the team, along with Ruthie, her oldest daughter Abby, Ruthie's parents, and her niece, Ashley, left on the bus to head back to Durres. The team flies out of Tirana early Sunday morning and Ruthie & family are heading to Pasadena, CA where her parents are retiring at Westminister Gardens - a retirement community for missionaries. Ruthie, Abby, and Ashley will spend a week helping grandma and grandpa get unpacked and settled and then all five of them fly to Wisconsin for a family wedding. Everyone headed out about 10:30 a.m. on the bus joined by the Boston/France team and will spend the night in Durres (same city we stayed at in the beginning of our trip). Mark went with them and on Sunday evening a high school team from Hollywood Presbyterian flies in. That team, and Mark, will spend the night in Durres and will take the drive to Erseke, arriving sometime late Monday afternoon.


After the bus drove away the house seemed strangely quiet. The energy was gone and it was eerily quiet as the Stoscher's three youngest children - Becca, 12; James 9; and Stephen, 7 - and I re-entered the house and realized we were by ourselves. The children felt sad as they didn't know when they would see their grandparents again, and they had to say good-bye to their mother, sister, and cousin. Ruthie will be gone for two weeks, Abby will be gone for four weeks as she flies to Austria after the family wedding to spend two weeks at a Torchbearer's School (Mark's winter bible school is a Torchbearer's School), and Ashley will return to her home in Pakistan. To help take the kid's minds off of saying good-bye the boys and I played a game of Disney Monopoly and Becca cuddled with their new kitten. A little later I made lunch, we picked clover grass for their 72 pet tortoises, and then we walked downtown for an ice cream treat. The rest of the day promises to be fairly quiet as I wash the bed linens and prepare the house for Hollywood Presbyterian.
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1 comment:

  1. Matt LehrJuly 10, 2010 at 9:09 PM

    Mom,

    Enjoy the rest and the downtime. I just talked to dad and he told me he spoke with you all about everyone leaving.

    I love you and I hope you have a great last week there!

    Love,

    Matt

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