By Rick for the Squad
So our first day (Saturday) has come to an end. The nine of us who arrived yesterday–and the Bosnicks who have been here for several days–took the bus into town today.
We had amazing (and cheap!) gelato, changed money, had donair & souvlaki at a local diner, walked the mall a bit and met up with the rest of our crew who caught the 2pm flight from Vienna (Luis, Diego, Jouren, Wayne, Janis & Britton). None of our bags have made it yet but we’re making do.
I was surprised by how developed Tirana is and even how fast the village of Sauk is growing and developing. We bussed back to the Dove House in Sauk around 8, met up with the church leaders here – Klement, Xhevi, Jonathan, Suela, as well as many of the older teens who are developing leaders in their own right. Arlinda impressed me the most; she loves Jesus, loves the fledgling church here, is confident and bold in her faith, and the kids love her.
We played a little basketball and then split into 2 teams to walk the village, pray and invite kids to camp the next few days. It was such a joy to see how much the kids and teens love Klement and Xhevi. Add 20 Canadians to the mix and we drew quite the crowd! Our kids have grown up hearing stories about this place and it’s been very special to see, hear, touch the people and places that we’ve prayed for and loved from afar for so long.
