Day 12: Our Last Day Here

We worshiped today in a house church at Banush and Fitnete's apartment.  It was wonderful to worship with a family from Vushtrri and Agon from Prizren who also joined us.  Ron presented a message on what it means to be a disciple and did an outstanding job.  We again celebrated communion at the end of our service with our fellow Kosovar brothers and sisters.

Afterward, Fitnete prepared our Sunday lunch, which again was very tasty--and complemented with a luscious torte, Turkish coffee and Schweppe's!

Agon headed back to Prizren, and we met Agron Sopaj on the plaza for a macchiato.  It was interesting to hear about his work and the work of his teammates on the campus of the University of Prishtina.

Banush & Agron

Now we are all packed and will be picked up at the guesthouse at 3:30 am to make our 5:30 am departure flight to Munich.  We will be back in Minnesota in about 30 hours from now.  This is a bittersweet time.  We have grown to love and appreciate the people and the ministry in Kosova, but we are all anxious to get back home to see our families and re-enter normal routines.  "Even in darkness a little light helps."  We hope we have been able to spark a little light in lives of those we've come into contact with, and encourage those who will continue on in this task.  We look forward to the time that we can return.  We will continue to pray for and encourage those who remain here to continue the work that each has personally felt called to do.  Please keep the various Kosovar ministeries in your prayers.  Lamtumirë dhe Zoti i bekoftë (Good-bye and God bless)!

--Kosova Impact Team 10

PS: Via the internet and a smartphone, we are able to pull in the Vikings-Tampa Bay game.  Way to go Vikes!!

Day 11: The Pastors' Confefrence--"We Are One in the Bond of Love"

In keeping with our theme of encouraging and equipping, we held a pastors' conference today for all church leaders and church workers throughout Kosova.  There were 22 in attendance; they came from Djakova, Peja, Prizren and Prishtina.  Both Pastor Dan and Ron did an outstanding job in covering various topics along the theme of discipleship.  Special thanks to the Nazarene Church for the use of their building and to our translator, Arjeta Ajeti, who did a phenomenal job throughout the conference.  The conference concluded with a prayer for unity among all evangelical churches throughout Kosova.

Some of the conference attendees

Pastor Banush & Arjeta

Pastor Dan during one of the teaching sessions

Ron lead a session on "Sharing Jesus Without Fear."

Day 10: "You're in the Army Now..."

Last evening, Banush and Les went to Mitrovica to do a home visit to a family whose little boy has orthopedic problems.  It's a God-cidence how this meeting even took place.  The father is a sergeant-major for the Kosovo Security Force, second in line to the general.  His translator is a personal friend of Banush, and she informed him of the special needs of his son, Ensar, who is 7 years old.  This has been a difficult 5 years for the family and again they were able to encourage the family and provide medications to try and correct his medical condition.  This will require periodic follow-up.  The family was so appreciative of the home visit, let alone the medication.  In appreciation, the sergeant-major invited the team to graduation ceremonies at the land forces command center this morning, which we were all honored to attend.

This morning, before the ceremony, we met with the sergeant-major in his office briefly before the ceremony.  To show his deep appreciation for the time and assistance given his son, he presented Les with a military medal of honor and insignias from his unit.  We are not sure what all that means, but Les reports for basic training with the Kosovo Security Force next week (not really...just kidding, Deb!). 

Kosovo Security Force medal of honor with land forces command insignias.

As honored guests of Sergeant-Major Zejnullahu, we were given front-row seats for the ceremony then a personal tour by him afterwards.  Duty called, and he was off to do field maneuvers with his troops.  It was indeed an honor and a privilege to meet this very gracious man.

We spent most of the afternoon preparing for the pastors' conference that will take place tomorrow.  We spent the latter part of the afternoon on Mother Teresa Boulevard doing some sight-seeing a people-watching.  We met Banush and his family for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and had an enjoyable evening with them and with the woman who will be translating for us at the conference tomorrow.  The cooler temperatures and light breeze made for an enjoyable evening on the plaza. 

We say good-bye to Carolyn and Ivahn Dockter as they need to return to the States a couple days earlier than the rest of us.  Thank you, Carolyn and Ivahn, for your marvelous contribution to this team and for your caring spirit.  You were both an asset to this team, and we look forward to ministering with you again someday.

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game..."

The HandiKOS All-Stars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gang

The purpose of this team is to encourage and equip our Kosovar friends and colleagues.  Today we held an appreciation picnic for the HandiKOS Centre at Germia Park in Prishtina.  It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect.  We introduced the kids to American baseball (actually wiffle ball), and it was a huge hit (pardon the pun)!  Besides helping them with eye-hand coordination, they also had a chance for just plain old fun.  Some of these kids are born naturals!  After having a pizza lunch, we presented the staff with appreciation gifts to help them in their jobs.  We appreciate all they do to meet specific needs in their community.  We are happy for the opportunity to deepen our relationships with HandiKOS.

Ivahn and Carolyn spent time in Ferizaj with Chendressa and her family this afternoon as well.  They were able to deepen these bonds of friendship as well.

--Kosova Team 10

Seeing clearly for the first time in 7 years...priceless!

Today we made our way to Vushtrri and did our first eyeglass clinic at the HandiKOS Centre.  We distributed about 80 pair of eyeglasses and sunglasses with the help of our very fine translators.  It was fun to see the smiles spread across the faces of those people who were finally given the chance to improve their eyesight from their new pair of reading glasses.  Laminated reading chart: $2.00.  A pair of brand new readers: 50 cents.  Seeing clearly for the first time in 7 years...priceless!

We also went to do 4 home visits this afternoon.  The first 3 took us up into the foothills around Vushtrri which offered a spectacular view.  One home visit was particularly intriguing.  Before the war, a family of 7 lived in a tiny little house before the war (see photo). Afterwards, KFOR (Kosova military police) helped them build a more sturdier structure. The family lives several kilometers outside Vushtrri, but Isak (HandiKOS manager) has made the long trek on foot several times to visit the families in this area.

 After we got back from Vushtrri, Banush's wife, Fitnete, made a wonderful Albanian meal for us this evening.  We deeply appreciate their hospitality.  We ate like kings!  We had a demonstration on the fine art of Turkish coffee-making and enjoyed a cup as well.

Tomorrow it's back to Vushtrri for more home visits and another eyeglass clinic.

The old cottage

A grateful family

Banush's family

Arriving in Vushtrri

Today we said goodbye to Prizren as we traveled northeast to Vushtrri.  There, we will work with HandiKOS, a Kosovar NGO (non-governmental organization) for the next several days.  The weather was already warming up quite a bit when we left mid-morning, and even the limited air conditioning on the bus was welcomed.  The forecast is for hot, dry weather (in the mid- to low-90s) all week.  No one here remembers a hot, dry September as this before. 

                             As you can see from the photo, we got to the bus stop before our taxi did! 

After settling in at our guesthouse and picking up a van, we headed out to Vushtrri.  This is about a 30-minute drive from Prishtina.  We will be encouraging and equipping the staff at the HandiKOS Centre for most of this week.  HandiKOS has been given the responsibility from the Kosovar government to care for and treat handicapped children in and around Vushtrri.  They also take care of some of the elderly folks (pensioners) that are also handicapped or disadvantaged.  All total, HandiKOS cares for about 700 persons. 

Our main task today was to get reacquainted with Isak Hysini (the director) and do five home visits.  We will be visiting many of the families who received food parcels from our church at Christmastime last year.  Isak was very happy to see us and we are happy to partner with him in these various projects.  Before the home visits, we purchased basic food items (such as cooking oil, sugar, flour, salt, pasta, dish soap) and we included health/hygiene kits for each family.  It was humbling to be in these homes; seeing they had little means but their hospitality was outstanding!  The government only gives these families about $60 a month to care for these with special needs, which is a big challenge.  Special thanks goes to Faith Church in Farmington, MN for making these food parcels possible.  We will be distributing several more of these parcels over the next few days.

There was less of a breeze tonight, but the sunset was still beautiful.  It's as if God put his signature to the closing of our day.  
--Kosova Team 10

9/11 went by rather uneventfully here in Kosova, politically speaking.  We tried to catch some of the news online regarding 9/11 remembrances, and found these quite moving.  How our world has changed in the last 10 years! 

We had a great time with about 20 Kosovar believers  worshiping in the "lower room" this morning.  Pastor Dan gave a challenging message based on Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Several commented on the new perspective they received as the result of his message.  We concluded our worship time with a communion service, which made this all the more special. The young teacher-turned-parking-lot-attendant came to worship with us this morning, and it was a privilege to connect and share life with him today.

This evening, we met with Pastor Besim (the translator in the photo above) and Pastor Banush, who told us their faith stories and talked about the challenges and rewards of doing ministry in Kosova.  Once again, we were reminded that none of us from America know what it's like to suffer for our faith.  The future of the Kosovar evangelical church lies in its youth, and it was encouraging to hear of their plans for ministry in this area.


Yesterday, a couple of us took a long hike up the hill to the old Turkish castle ruins overlooking Prizren.  The view was phenomenal, and it reminded us of the biblical account of Jesus overlooking Jerusalem and weeping for the city.  We also prayed over this city and for a spiritual awakening in this country.

As Chris Tomlin sings, "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are yet to be done in this city..."


Tomorrow we leave for Prishtina and Vushtrri.  Our week is starting to get busier.  It is also remaining quite hot here--about 90-95 degrees.  We will miss the cool mountain air in the evening.


Comments?  Thoughts?