June 2014. Prayer letter from Albania
Dear friends, warm greetings from Gjirokaster Albania!
The summer is upon us and the weather here is warming up. God willing we will have lots of activities and outreach during the next months. School holidays are very long in Albania; from mid June until September! So there's plenty of opportunity to run camps. Apart from this, the hot days always bring people outside – especially in the evenings when the sun is less strong. In villages in 'the cool of the day' the squares become filled with people simply sitting around, and in town the main streets are filled with strollers.
We have a message of eternal importance that we wish to bring to children and adults alike! How can we best do this? How do we reach the right people? How can we present the message of Jesus to children and young people in a way that they can understand clearly? How can we best use the time? These are some of the questions that we face each year.
But ultimately we are very aware that it is the Lord who saves. We are so dependent on Him to be at work in people's hearts, in circumstances, and in our own hearts too. Please then, do pray for us over the next few months for these things.
Below is a calendar of events in the Summer, and below that a few explanations.
June:
1st -18th Registrations for camps.
18Th – 27th Day camps in Gjirokaster 1 & 2
22nd Geni and Nikoleta's wedding!
30th – 4th Day camp in Ballsh
July:
7th - 11th Day camps in Tepelena
12th - 19th Beach Camp for children from villages
19th – 26th Beach Camp for children from towns
7th - 11th Day camps in Tepelena
12th - 19th Beach Camp for children from villages
19th – 26th Beach Camp for children from towns
August:
4th-17th Village and town outreach
23rd-30th Evangelistic Family Camp.
4th-17th Village and town outreach
23rd-30th Evangelistic Family Camp.
Beach Camps for Children
We're actually half way through registering children for our Summer camps now. We always have a lot of children who want to come from the towns, the challenge is choosing which children to take. This year we aimed to have a week just for children from outside the main towns (from villages and small towns). It's a lot harder to get children from these places to come. Parents often don't give their consent. As I've mentioned before we hope that trust built up during out English teaching and through the Operation Christmas Child program might open a door here. Teachers and headmasters of schools have been very positive so far and have helped a lot. This week we will be going back to several schools to collect application forms. Please pray that parents would give their children permission to come – especially from villages. Pray also for registraions in towns that God would overrule in who we take.
Day Camps in Gjirokaster, Tepelena & Ballsh
These are for younger chilren. They come in the mornings but sleep at home. As you can see from the calendar we will be having these in three places. Around 50-60 children are due to come for each camp, so over 200 children in total. As with the beach camps – these are all from non-christian families. This will be an opportunity for them to hear the Gospel.
These are for younger chilren. They come in the mornings but sleep at home. As you can see from the calendar we will be having these in three places. Around 50-60 children are due to come for each camp, so over 200 children in total. As with the beach camps – these are all from non-christian families. This will be an opportunity for them to hear the Gospel.
Village Outreach.
We plan to spend some time in August focusing on outreach in villages in the evenings. We're still planning this, but it will probably involve some open-air preaching as well as other activities. We usually use the projector to show a short film as it helps to draw a crowd and if there are children, we have a separate children's program. We hope to go to some of the villages that have given us a warm welcome in the past, as well as some of the more remote ones. Last year New Testaments were given to individuals that showed interest.
Evangelistic Family Camp.
This is a camp for non-christian families. There are evangelistic talks in the evenings and plenty of opportunity in the day time during meals and beach time for personal witness. It's aimed at reaching whole families – so is quite unique in this respect.
This is a camp for non-christian families. There are evangelistic talks in the evenings and plenty of opportunity in the day time during meals and beach time for personal witness. It's aimed at reaching whole families – so is quite unique in this respect.
Family News
Ana is doing well and had her first vaccines without any problems. John is excited about the summer and is looking forward to swimming in the sea (as is Daddy)! Lori has enjoyed being home and seeing her friends
Other news: Geni Dogani, our close friend and pastor in Memaliaj, is getting married at the end of June!
Thank you for your interest, prayer and support,
James, Lori, John & Ana
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