journeytoalbania.com

Okay… so now that we have our feet on the ground, you might want to know where we are and what we are doing? Click on the Wheelis Summer Tour to see specific dates on our itinerary.

We spent our first two weeks in CO with family and recovering from jet-lag. Both of our parents live there as well as my (Jenny’s) brother. I got to meet my new niece for the first time (cutie) and see my brother and sister for a day (don’t worry, we’ll be seeing them again).

Robert’s sister and family came up from Arizona for a few days and all the kids LOVED their cousin time. First thing the boys said to me after their cousins left was “We’re bored!” It was wonderful to be with our families and spend some QT together.

We also had the chance to share about Albania with the pastors of the church where we grew up and also Robert’s parents’ small group of 20+ from their church. Many of them are faithful supporters and several others expressed interest in being a part. Praise God!

So this week, we are in the Chicago area with our long time friends Brandon and Beki Grissom! We have not seen each other for 3 years! We are here meeting with all the old Okies in the area (Tyler, Devon, Scott and Brooke, Adam and Laura to name a few) and spreading the news about what God is doing in Albania. We had a great BBQ last night with old and new friends and the food and fellowship was awesome. God is good!

As we mentioned in our previous post, we are in America this summer for our Home Ministry Assignment.  The last month in Albania has been a great time as we have finished the chapter on our first two years and to see the fruit of our labor.  

• We finished language lessons at the end of May. It is amazing to see the progress we have made and yet still so frustrating to not be able to communicate all the ideas in our heads! Please pray that our time in the US would be restful for the mind! They say that a significant language break at this point in our study will actually allow all the information to “settle” (come on what does that really mean?) and we will come back and find we are actually able to communicate more clearly than when we left! We can’t wait!
• We attended the graduation ceremony for students at the HS Homeschooling Co-op for Missionary Kids. Robert spoke at the ceremony and shared a few words of wisdom for the graduates. There are five students from our ministry graduating this year. Daniel and Josiah will be heading back to the States this month in preparation for college. Erin is staying in Albania to continue doing ministry before going to college in another year. Elda and Ola are Albanians and will be staying here to serve their families and community over the summer before starting college next year, one in Tirana, the other maybe in Italy. We also had a special celebration for all of them at The Loft, the youth center we rent, and it was great and we started some fun traditions as we send our students out!

God has been amazingly faithful over these last 2 years and we feel so blessed to continue to be a part of His movement in Albania! We’ll be posting the Wheelis Summer Tour and when we’ll be in your area in the next couple of days.

Most of you are probably like we were before we started this journey…unfamiliar with the how-to’s of international missions. We didn’t grow up in any churches that really had a history of sending missionaries overseas and, therefore, the learning curve has been huge. Over the last two years, we’ve tried our best to familiarize ourselves with the norms within the missionary community. (Although, there’s quite a bit of diversity with every mission sending organization.) I would say the majority of missionaries we know here come from churches with a long history of sending missionaries and/or are 2nd or 3rd generation missionaries. Many have spent the majority of their adult lives on the mission field (10-20 years).

One of the expectations that we were unware of was the need to go home to connect with and report to our supporters in America every couple or three years. This has traditionally been called a furlough. Frontiers, our mission agency calls it HMA (Home Ministry Assignment). In the days before airplanes, it was common for missionaries to go home for a whole year every 4-7 years. This was because it was a several month journey on the boat home, not to mention extremely expensive.
There are some missionaries here who still do this. In fact, many churches even have a missionary house for missionaries to stay in when they come back for HMA.

Now, typically, the length of time for HMA is 3-4 months. Some of you might be wondering, “why on earth would you need that long to be home? I don’t get a 3 month vacation.” Don’t feel bad, I had the same question. Let me unpack it a little.

1. It’s not a vacation. In fact, most missionaries have told us that it’s actually more work and more stressful than being on the mission field because…

2. There’s a ton of travel time. As you know, missionaries are supported by churches and individuals who hear the call to “go and make disciples of all nations”. This summer we will be travelling by car over 3000 miles from Colorado to Chicago to Ohio to North Carolina to Oklahoma. I’m exhausted already! All of this to share the vision God has given us and ask people to join our effort, because the truth is…

3. It takes money to build God’s kingdom. Fundraising is a big part of a missionary’s job. This summer, while back in the States, we will be raising funds for the Youth Center, salary for an Albanian assistant youth pastor (Egli), and shortfalls in our own budget. And I can tell you from personal experience that this can really drain you. We’re happy to do it, though, because, we see what God is doing in our midst. But, it means that at the end of HMA…

4. missionaries need time for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual renewal. This can’t be done in a quick 3 or 4 day getaway. I was reading a leadership blog (swerve.lifechurch.tv) recently encouraging American pastors to take at least 2 weeks at a time for vacation to relax and truly unwind. I think it requires a little more for missionaries because of the added culture stress, jet lag, travelling time in the states, etc.

So, we just arrived back in the states and are starting our first HMA. I’ll keep you posted on dates and locations over the next week. Please pray for our times to be joy-filled, for deeper relationships with our friends and supporters, and for patience with each other as we travel.

P.S. Sorry for the marathon post!

Had to share this post from a fellow missionary in Albania.  David and his family live and minister in a smaller city about an hour from Tirana. 

Once upon a furlough, a sweet but naive man told me, “I bet it’s so incredible to be a missionary, to have nothing else to do but evangelize all day long.”  (At this point my missionary readers are chuckling audibly, because they all know that sometimes the simplest tasks can be all-day events in developing nations.)  Yesterday, as I must do each summer, I re-registered my Ford Transit van–and that’s about all I did yesterday.  Here was my day:

Step 1.  Drive out of the city to the police station with all the documents that were required of me last year for the same process.

Step 2.  Wait in a line for an hour in the sun (OK, I’m being generous — this is NOT a line, it is a mob of other sweaty, stinky men, all mashed upon you, jockeying for position, elbowing into one another’s ribs in front of a small barred window, behind which one man is processing what seems to be the whole world’s vehicle documents, by hand.  Three other employees are sitting with him, drinking coffee but, predictably, doing nothing.)

Step 3.  An hour later, when I finally elbow my way up to the window, I learn that this year I need to go to get a pre-inspection, down the road, so they can make sure my van isn’t stolen. My first hour in the sun amidst the aroma of body odor has been in vain.

Step 4.  I wait behind other cars for pre-inspection, and after 30 minutes, it is my turn.  But the people need to see my passport and visa.  I have in my hand the originals and photocopies. But no, they want a notarized photocopy.  Logically, there is no notary nearby.  I must drive back into town.

This resembles our life. 

Wrap your mind around this profound theological conversation I had with Tyler and Austin last week after their soccer game.

Me: Hey guys! How was the game?
Tyler: Great, Dad! MY team won!
Austin: Nuh-uh
Tyler: Uh-huh
Austin: Nuh-uh. The Bible says that the first will be last and the last will be first, so MY team won!
Tyler: (with rolling eyes) Austin…everyone knows that’s only in HEAVEN!
Austin: Oh yeah…I forgot! (both quickly run off to play with friends)

So, which is it? What do you think?

On our way back from Kruja yesterday, I saw what tops my list of oddities in Albania.

A white trailer with the words (in English) “FAST FOOD,” spray painted on the side.

This is what was tied to the back of the trailer.

(Note: These are not actual pictures… I could have kicked myself- we did not have the camera!)

How fast is that, do you think?

Today, Jenny and I drove to Kruja, a smaller town about a hour outside of Tirana, located on the side of the mountain. We went to do a little gift shopping. It is hard to imagine that the bumpy two lane road will lead you to one of the best tourist spots in Albania. And the road has improved greatly since my first trip there in 2002!

On the way home, we passed several individuals and groups waiting on the side of the narrow roads for furgons (small vans) that transport people from town to town. You can usually take a furgon from Tirana to Kruja for about 200 lek (a little over $2). But really, it’s like organized hitchhiking. Really just about anyone who might want to earn a little cash and has room for you might stop and offer you a ride! There is a certain amount of organization to the furgons passing by, but really no guarantees… as far as we know, there are no offices that set up furgon schedules or sellfurgon tickets or any specific furgon stops. It’s all old style, word of mouth and common understanding. As you drive along you see people gathered on the road, every one to two kilometers, waiting with their luggage, for the furgon they need to take them to the place they want to go.  Like I said, organized hitchhiking. You just have to hope that you are not the last one aboard who ends up sardined between two guys who haven’t showered for a week and don’t own deodorant.

That’s what I call her when I answer the phone. That’s what I feel about her in my heart. That’s what her eyes communicate. But ,most importantly, that’s how God views her! Today, my beautiful wife turns 36! So, I thought I would take a moment to tell you all what she means to me.

We have been married for 13 years this August and we have known each other for 20 years now!!! When we were in high school, I told her that I didn’t believe in love so young. I said that people were too immature and foolish to fully understand what “love” really is! But, you know what, she LOVED ME anyway! And she taught me (thru her life) what love could be…the kind that can only come from Jesus.

I’ll never forget how intimidated I was by her when we first met…she had a presence about her, a light, a confidence that filled a room. The joy and love in her eyes spoke volumes of her soul. She was always quick to point out the positives in others. She was always willing to cry with a friend who needed her. She always stood up for what she believed in. She was a person of quiet integrity. She deeply cared about others. She had an inner strength and conviction that commanded an audience. She had a voice that poured beautiful songs from the depths of her heart.

This was the girl I fell in love with way back then…and this is the woman I’m MORE in love with today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE YOU LIKE JESUS!

Yesterday’s post got me to thinking (always a dangerous thing). Did you know that the Albanian language has only been a written language in the last century? With this, plus the fact that Albania has only been open to the outside world for about 17 years, comes the reality that there are many concepts and ideas that have no expression in the Albanian language. Do you know how many words we have in the English language?

This all being said, I now unequivocally state that as of 1:16 pm (Pacific) on the 22nd day of March in the year 2008 AD (or CE, whatever your preference), there were approximately 995,112 words in the English Language, plus or minus a handful.

In English, we have more synonyms for things that you could begin to imagine. Albanian has only about 200,000 words however this does not count the 70+ forms of each verb that are used. (Note: this is a number I have been unable to verify from more than one source. Anyone have more information?) There are many ideas for which English speakers have different ways of saying something, where as Albanians would use the same phrase. Everything is based on context. You will know the meaning of the word based on the context in which it is used. New words and ideas are constantly being added to the Albanian language to express ideas and concepts (mostly from foreign media and products) which until Albania opened its boarders 17 years ago had no meaning.

I should tell you that NOTHING has expanded my world view more than learning a new language. (The Perspectives course would rate a close second). As English continues to become a global language, we are among the luckiest people although perhaps most ethnocentric people in the world. Everyone speaks our language in almost every country we might visit in the world. But becoming humble enough to learn another language, has taught me more about myself and the world in which we live that I could have ever imagined. I feel inadequate, frustrated, and exhilarated all at the same time. I have realized that the “world according to Jenny” (that which I see and understand) is infinitely smaller than the world that exists beyond our state and country boarders. I have come to know that love and friendship can be built beyond our expressions of words, but also that the expression of those words, our “heart language”, is the only means by which we can come to the smallest understanding of God and who He is. His transcendence goes so far beyond the expressions of words in any language.

So, I just keep trucking along, talking like a four year old. Hoping that one day all the pieces of the ever elusive language puzzle will fall into place. I am not so sure I like this stage.

Today during our language lesson our teacher, Fitorja was telling us that (to the best of her knowledge) tumors are referred to as “foreign meat” inside one’s body. Yes, you did read it correctly, the doctor will tell you after your x-rays that you have foreign meat in your body.

Seriously?

(Side note: I did do a little research later and found that any kind of abnormal tissue growth can be referred to as a foreign body or ‘meat,’ even in English. I don’t know why but it still strikes me as utterly hilarious!)