Hospitality

Something I learned right away on my first visit to Kosova last summer was the overwhelming level of hospitality the people here offer towards us. This visit hasn't been any different. A couple of our students have already brought us into their homes to meet and spend time with all of their family and to eat traditional meals made by their mothers. Yesterday we got to visit one of our student's home in a village about 15 minutes away. We met her uncles and cousins and sat with her grandmother who couldn't understand any English. Even though we couldn't speak to her, and despite the fact that we had only known her for about 5 seconds, all she wanted to do was make sure we were comfortable. She was so willing to serve us without even knowing us. The food her mom made is called "pita" and its a flaky pie type thing filled with a vegetable and cheese. All the vegetables in the pita and served to us were grown from their garden in their yard--such a cool part of the village lifestyle that I love. Her little sister had practiced how to say "What is your name?" and "How are you?" in English and recited the phrases to all 5 of us English speakers in her home. (It was seriously the most precious thing.) The amount of effort the whole family put in to talking to us and welcoming us was amazing. It's so hard for me to understand because the level of respect and hospitality they offer to us is way beyond anything else I've ever experienced. This particular student is a friend from last year, so meeting her family was very exciting for us! And we really wanted to be as gracious and reflective of Christ as possible. Any difference in our behaviors and actions makes a huge difference here. Most of her family is fasting for Ramadan, so the fact that they wanted us over to eat with them in the middle of the day is a huge deal! Even though I don't think I will ever get used to the incredible amount of hospitality here, I am so grateful for it. I wish everyone back home could experience it. (And trust me, you wish you could eat the pita too, it's delicious.)


We have had a really great week here. Thank you for all your prayers and support! 

My view everyday:

This is from a little "mountain" behind our apartment building. It's an amazing view overlooking the city and behind us are more beautiful mountains. I am still surprised to see all of this around me sometimes. But I'm not complaining--seriously I am so thankful. We are so lucky to call this place our home!

Blessings from Suhareke, Kosova.

One Month later....

I have officially been living in Kosova for one whole month! It feels very surreal--some times I feel like the time has flown by and at other moments I feel like it's going by very slowly. There are still lots of cultural things that are hard to adjust to, and most of them are things that we will probably never figure out because we aren't Albanian. Nonetheless, I love Kosova because God has given me the heart to love it. I miss a lot of luxuries in America, like not having seasonal foods. (I never thought how hard it would be not being able to get whatever fruits and veggies I wanted, because when does Kroger not have what I want? Hah) There have definitely been some trying times and struggles to overcome. Thankfully, as my dad reminded me just today, my weaknesses are filled with the strength of the Lord.

I miss my family--especially my sisters and best friends who I've relied on everyday for encouragement and advice. But if I went back to America today I know that I would have already learned such an amazing lesson of what it looks like to wake up and "die to myself" everyday. Choosing the Lord is honestly my only option, otherwise life here is just too hard. There is so much left for my heart and spirit to learn, and I am anxious for those lessons to come and for me to share them with my family and friends when I do get home in November.

There is definitely a feeling that God is preparing Suhareke, Kosova for Him. This city is special, and so is everyone in it. We have a really great (small) community of believers here--the three of us, an Irish missionary named Gillian, some other American missionaries, and several Kosovars. We have such a unique opportunity as American Believers. The people here SEE a difference in us, besides the physical differences of being from a different country, they see something IN us that is different. What a blessing! We have already seen some amazing opportunities to have great conversations because of this. I am reassured daily that we are planting seeds in our English classes and friendships by our behavior. Just recently we were actually given the opportunity to go to a "family camp" in Albania for a week, so we have no idea what to expect with regards to that but we know it will be an adventure!

The English classes are going pretty well. We are in our third week, and I am teaching the "intermediate/advanced" level students. We have two classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There  are about 10 students in each of my classes, and they are all really sweet. It has been very interesting trying to make lesson plans, and make myself appear as though I know what I'm talking about, everyday for class--honestly I'm just winging it! I hope that I will learn just as much as my students.

Continue to pray for me and my roommates, the Gegaj family that we are working for, our fellow believers here, our students, unbelievers here, and for countless opportunities to talk about Jesus! <3

Real life.

We had our first day of English classes yesterday (Monday, July 2nd). It was definitely a lot more difficult than I ever would have imagined. There were some students who seemed completely uninterested in trying to be involved and speak English with us, and then there were some people who couldn't speak any English at all. I was very discouraged after that first day, and honestly had no idea what we were supposed to do. Teaching English is a daunting task when you're only an 18 year old right out of high school...

I had to spend a lot of time praying and really just being honest with God that I was lost with this project. I'm clearly unprepared for this job--so why was I here? It wasn't until the morning when I was doing my word study/journal time that God showed me the answer. I'm not the one doing this. I was never meant to carry the burden of this difficult task. Instead, God wants to take it from me, and He wants to provide me with whatever wisdom and power I need in order to accomplish it. His Spirit is alive and working around me to clear the path I need to take and working in me to instill an unlimited source of energy. If we rest in Him, He fills us with the energy and power we need to go do His work. How cool is that?

Our other roommate Samantha Crain got here on Tuesday, July 3rd. Emily and I are really excited to have her here, and we're praying she gets adjusted to the very different lifestyle you have to have in Kosovo.

I am thankful for all your prayers. <3

Shtepi

People keep asking if I'm "homesick" yet, but I'm not. Yes, I miss my friends and family, I miss my church and hearing a familiar language, and of course I miss Mexican food. My physical home here isn't luxurious or normal for American standards, but I love it. Emily and I were talking about why we love Kosova, and why despite the trials we feel welcomed here. We were reading a word study on the word "abide" that my dad sent me, and part of it was discussing the use of abide in John 15:5-10. In those verses Jesus is telling His disciples "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he that bears fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown way like a branch and withers; and those branches are gathered and thrown on a fire. If you abide in me, and words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be acted upon. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear fruit and so prove to be my disciple. As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in that love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have listened to my Father and abide in His love." The word abide means: to share the life of, dwell in, remain in, walk with, live in, and make a home in. Our homes are meant to be with Christ. So wherever He is will be my home. The physical building I live in or the place it is doesn't matter, I can take refuge with the Spirit. If we keep His words at home with us, He will be with us, so we'll never go without a place to call home. Emily and I really felt like that was such a blessing for us to know at this point in our lives. So no-I'm not homesick because I never left my home. I do miss everyone and certain things, but I love my home He's making for me here.

P.S. "Shtepi" means "home" in Albanian!

He is greater.

We have had a discouraging past couple of days. Constantly being unable to communicate with the majority of people around us has become really frustrating and honestly pretty disheartening. Making this our home seems to be a little more difficult than just being visitors. There are power blackouts, insane drivers, grocery stores filled with foods with labels I can't read, and no Mexican food. We stand out and I often feel invasive since I'm the one who cannot speak their language.  Feeling so alone and discouraged really put me in a spot where I doubted what I could with my time here. We spent a lot of time praying and talking about where our hearts were and what we needed to be learning in this moment. The main lesson we learned from these hard days was that even though we are out living like independent grown ups, we still need to be dependent on God. Without staying focused on Him, what is even the point of being here? I am so thankful for the trials to come  because I know they will be really important lessons to learn. However, the refreshing days hold lessons just as wonderful. Today, Emily read to me 2 Corinthians 6, and that encouragement from the Lord was amazing. I would type it all out here, but instead you should all go look it up (:

Our first day of "work" was yesterday! We held a registration for any students wanting to take the English class from us. We had to divide them up into intermediate and advanced levels based on their English speaking skills when we met them. There were 30 people to sign up, and we plan on having a class from 10-12 a.m. and another one 4-6 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Our next few days will be very busy as we start making lesson plans and getting ourselves organized. It's a very intimidating task to try to teach students all around the same age as you. Hopefully they can learn a lot from us in our time here, and we hope to build some amazing friendships!

I hope everyone is doing well stateside! (I feel pretty cool that I get to say that.)

Why is everyone staring at us...?

Emily and I have decided that we have to figure out why everyone just knows we are Americans. At home if you see someone who looks foreign, you just think "Hmm I wonder where they're from" and move on. Not here. Here they stare at you until they physically cannot see you anymore, say "Hey USA" or "Alo Amerika". How do you know we're American? Why not German, Irish, Swiss, Italian....anything? I feel like we cannot  look that different from them, because they stare at us like we have neon signs over our heads. And if we don't speak, how would they know that we're speaking English? It's very weird and a little uncomfortable sometimes. Hopefully after a few weeks everyone will just get used to seeing the American girls walking around and it won't be such a surprise to anyone anymore. 

Other than catching everyone's attention, Emily and I are loving being here! We love our anytime of the day makiato e madhe (big machiatto) and of course the Milka chocolate bars. There are croissants filled with nutella that taste like doughnuts, byrek with meat or cheese, amazing ice cream, and a lot of fresh fruits. However, we are determined to find spinach and avocados...they have to be here somewhere, right?