We worked with several organizations while there. Mostly, we worked with the International Church, IPA .
They were celebrating their 8th anniversary and our team helped them out with their special evening services. We helped lead some worship, did some drama, and our team leader did a sermon.
We also did some work with Mission Possible. We helped them make some gift boxes and sandwiches for the poor.
We also visited an orphanage, cleaned trash around the national TV station (and got on the news too!), and visited a home for Kosovar refugees.
We also got to visit a castle museum. It's the castle of the Albanian hero Skanderbeg (I think that's the spelling) who defeated the Turks and made it a Christian nation. Since then, it has become a Muslim nation but they still have a Christian history.
The highlite of the trip for me was seeing how loving and affectionate the Albanians are. It wasn't strange to see people of the same gender walking down the street holding hands, and it was only because of friendship. They love to touch each other. They are also really sweet people! It also gave me a deeper desire to go back to Europe in the future. The people of Albania are so beautiful on the inside and outside!
(L-R Giri, me, Edlira, Krista, Michael.)
