More About Our Albanian Adventure

Well, when we said it would get crazy-busy, it did! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We have been going non-stop since Wednesday morning. Here are a few pictures:

These are from the English class we got to teach. The kids were so much fun!



Hervin & Sedika came over for dinner. We really enjoyed spending time with them and meeting their children, Joel & Edon.



I got to teach the lesson at the ladies Bible study in Shkoze. What a blessing to be able to open the Word with these precious women!



Carol also got to share her testimony at one of the church plants outside of town. I don't have pictures of that, but I know it went very well. She also had the opportunity to teach the leaders of the Roma ministry how to make jewelry so that they can teach the gypsy women they minister to.

While Carol was teaching the women the jewelry making, Wayne, Meg, Cindy & I listened to a power point presentation on the Roma Gypsy ministry and prayed with the men who lead it. It was very interesting.

Today, Saturday, we have a VERY busy day. We will start out with children's ministry this morning, youth this afternoon, and church this evening. It's hard to believe we only have two days left. This trip has flown by. I'm not sure any of us are ready for it to end.

Albania Update 3

There is way too much to post in one entry, especially since it takes 15 minutes to upload two pictures. Tuesday afternoon we went to the gorge with two of the Brewer's. Nathan is still sick, and Mary was not able to come. I think Norman & Bethany really enjoyed it, though. I know we all did!

Yesterday was a great day! We visited with Memli & Louisa, a missionary couple we met the last time we were here. We had a wonderful time of fellowship & prayer in their home.

After lunch, we headed up to Shkoze, the village we will be working in a lot with the Brewers. Carol taught them how to make jewelry, and Meg taught them how to make ribbon bracelets. They loved learning both, and were excited that we were coming back on Friday.

For dinner we were invited into the home of Jona & Elda, two girl's we met on our last trip, and their parents, Tusha and Xhavid. There are no word to say how blessed we felt to be in their home and eat a meal of rice & beans (which was REALLY good). The ladies moved to the bedroom to talk, and the men watched soccer in the living room. We were there for three hours. It was one of my best Albanian moments ever.

Albania Update

Wow, have we been busy! And our real intense ministry stuff doesn't even start until Wednesday. Yesterday Carol spent most of the day meeting with local missionaries and seeing the school in preparation for moving here. Meg, Erin, Emily & their friend Sarah went to Bethany Children's Home to spend time with the kids. I don't have pictures of those, because I wasn't there :) Matt, Wayne, Caleb & I painted the Wright's living room, dining room & hallway. When you see the pictures, you'll understand why!




I'll post some after pictures when we get the apartment put back together. It look's great!

Last night we went to a combined Bible study of Matt's young adult class and Cindy's worship team. Wayne taught a great lesson on "All We Like Sheep". It was great to visit there with some old and new friends.



Just for fun, here are a couple of extra pictures of Albania.

These are two gypsy children we passed on the street.

This is in a shopping mall we walked through on the way to the Wright's from the bus stop.

Today we are spending some more time with the Brewer family, who we will begin ministering with tomorrow. We are going to a place called the gorge, where all the water runs down from the mountains. We will be able to swim & climb on the rocks. Pray for us through the rest of the week. We will be much busier. I will continue to post updates as often as possible, but we won't be home much.

Finally in our Second Home

Carol, Wayne, Meg & I arrived in Albania on Saturday. It was an eventful, but fairly easy trip. We were extremely amused by the airport security screener who wasn't quite sure what to do with the 9 bottles of soy sauce we had packed for Matt. I wanted to take a picture of his face, but learned my lesson about taking pictures in security areas the hard way the last time we came over here. In Munich we had a 40 minute layover and were taking off from gate 25. The gates were labeled 1-24 and 26-40. Hmmmm... I saw a lady in a restaurant wearing a yellow vest who looked like she might know her way around. I interrupted her lunch to ask where gate 25 was. She said, like it made perfect sense, "It's right through that store." Of course! Why didn't we think of that? When they called our flight, we went through the gate, where there was a perfectly good plane connected to the ramp. Instead, we walked down 5 flights of stairs only to find ourselves locked in a glass room. Luckily there was a man from Colorado, who Carol nicknamed John Locke, who had done this before and assured us it would be ok. Then, 5 minutes after we were supposed to take off, a bus came to get us. The bus ride was 15 minutes long and took us WAY out of the airport, past the small planes in the back, to a lot with three planes on it. Finally, a half hour after our scheduled take-off, we left. Catching the bus from the airport into Tirana was also an adventure, and got us to Matt & Cindy's just 2 hours behind schedule. Good thing we have a flexible team :)

Saturday night we walked to church and were all doing very well. We enjoyed seeing many of the people we remember from our last trip. When the sermon started, which was actually very interesting, we all started falling asleep. We ended up having to leave church early. We got our first ice cream and went to bed.

Sunday morning started off with a trip to a new church plant that Caleb has been helping to start. We had a prayer time with Berti (the pastor) and Ava (his wife) and their friend, Sonida. Then 8 children between 5 and 15 showed up. They really enjoyed the worship, singing and clapping a lot. I taught a lesson on Luke 5 while Carol drew a picture of the men lowering their friend through the roof to Jesus. Caleb & Meg sang a song, and then Wayne, Caleb & Meg did a skit. Afterward, we had a snack and visited with the kids.





When we were leaving the church, three cows greeted us in the alley. Here's a picture that shows how close they were to our taxi.


Sunday afternoon we went shopping in Kruja. Afterwards, we helped Cindy prepare dinner for the Brewer's, who are the family we will be working with the rest of the week. Mary & Norman came, but their kids, Bethany & Nathan, couldn't make it. We will meet them tomorrow. We are really looking forward to the rest of the trip. We have a very busy schedule, but the work is perfect for our team. We can't wait to see what the Lord does through this week!

You Never Know Who's Watching

Wow, I stink at updating this. I need to get better than once a month. What's really bad is that I think of things every day I'd like to blog about, but when I have time to sit down & actually do it, I've forgotten what those things were.

Tonight I had a conversation with an acquaintance that I knew many years ago. In the course of our catching up conversation, she mentioned some very specific ways that I had impacted her life in a positive way. That absolutely blew me away. I knew her at a time in my life when I could not have felt more invisible. Thinking back to that time, there isn't a single person I would name that I impacted, good or bad. We had just moved to Tennessee. I was depressed, lonely, and WAY out of place. I was a young newlywed with a baby and another one on the way. I didn't look, talk or act like anyone here. I wanted to ask her if she had me confused with someone else.

We all feel invisible at times. We don't measure up. We aren't doing anything important. Nobody sees or hears us. We feel like nothing we say or do matters. We need to always remember that, even when we aren't aware of it, people are watching. They are listening. What they see or hear can impact their life positively or negatively for a long time. So often I forget that. I confess that I say & do things that don't honor Christ or other people. I pray that I will always be mindful that people are watching. They, and the Lord, deserve my best.

A God-Centered Marriage

This morning, Northbrook Church experienced something totally new to us as a church family. Our friends, Ron & Tanya, have both been married & divorced before they accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior. Since they became Christians, they met & fell in love. They both truly want this marriage to be different. They want to experience God at the very center of their relationships with each other, their children & their church. They & our pastor decided to surprise everyone with a ceremony during the regular Sunday service. That way the focus of the day was on the Lord rather than on them, and their wedding was simply an extension of their (and our) worship. It was a blessing for them and for everyone who was privileged enough to be there.


Chuck began the ceremony with an interview with Ron & Tanya. A lot of people still didn't guess at this point that the wedding would actually be today.




They had written their own vows. They were beautiful.


Ron couldn't wait. He kissed Tanya after she read her vows. Chuck had to say, "No, wait! Not yet!"

Ron pledged to love & care for Tanya's children as his own. It was a very precious moment.

Then the church family pledged to come alongside them in their desire to live out a Christian marriage & family.

The happy family :) We surprised them with a reception following the service. It was a special morning for everyone involved.

Character SHOULD Still Count

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields it's fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

Lately my heart has been grieved by the lack of concern over moral issues among Christians. It seems that everywhere I turn and everything I hear, especially about those who are looked to as role models or leaders, is about the external. They are either good writers, singers, teachers, communicators, actors, etc. or they are the color we prefer (or not the color we don't prefer), have a great accent, or any other standard of attractiveness that draws us to people. There is little to no concern about their internal character or compass. And why should that matter anyway? They're just somebody we watch or listen to. They don't affect our personal life or choices. Or do they? What we allow into ourselves, who we choose to follow, promote or fight for, affects what comes out-and that includes every area of our life.

I want to clarify that I am not talking about culture as a whole, but about those who profess Christ. We cannot expect the world to strive for or uphold the standards of Christ when they don't know Him in the first place. What we need to ask ourselves is this, "Do I look or act any different than the world? Is there anything that sets me apart, not in my words, but in my actions, that would make those who don't know Him want to know what the difference is?" It angers me when a Christian will, out of one side of their mouth claim to want to be more like Christ, and out of the other side mock the standards of God in the choices they make.

Those of you who know me know that I don't make any claims to have it all together in this area. In fact, there are areas that I really need to work on. One of the things I am most grateful for is that I have people in my life who will speak to my weak areas, confront me in love when change is needed, and encourage me as I cooperate with the sanctification process. Without those people & the work of the Holy Spirit, I would look and act just as lost as the person without Christ.

We need to be intentional about who & what we choose to allow to influence our life. The gospel is truly at stake in the choices His people make. "I will be careful to lead a blameless life-when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing...My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me." Psalm 101:2-3a,6

Some Things Never Change

This weekend is the Word Within the Word Conference at Union University. I went by myself and hoped that I would find someone nice to eat and talk with. I sat down at a table with two ladies who welcomed me warmly. We struck up a conversation and were enjoying getting to know each other. Another woman joined us (who was wonderful, and I look forward to talking with her more tomorrow), and she asked me where I am from. I said northern Minnesota, and the mood at the table changed. One of the first two ladies said, "Oh, you're from up there," and that was the last thing she said to me the entire night. This was just another example of how the attitude towards outsiders (especially those of us from the north) in this place will never change. What blessed me, though, was how much the attitude of my heart has changed. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and am excited about going back tomorrow. I was still able to see the blessing in the other woman who joined us and made me feel accepted in a room full of strangers. God may not change my situation, but He has worked a miracle in the way I respond to it. I am so thankful that He never gives up on me, and for the people who who have come alongside Him & me in that process.

To Be, Or Not To Be, Accountable

Today was a rough day. I needed someone to talk to, so I picked up the phone. As I was talking about my situation, the topic of accountability came up. As the conversation progressed, I realized that we were talking two different languages. My conversation partner thought of accountability as being taken to task for something that we have already done or are in danger of doing. It all had to do with punishment and was a negative idea to her. While I do agree that we need to be held responsible for wrong actions as part of accountability, for me it is so much more than that. True Christian accountability is the idea of others coming alongside you in your walk to help you stay faithful to what is right and away from what is wrong, as well as to help you repent and be restored when you stray away.

Another friend this week mentioned that there are many people in her life aching for discipleship and accountability. While I also agree that this is true, it is something that I hear often, but don't see a lot of evidence of people doing something to make that happen. Here's an excerpt from my e-mail with her, so that I don't have to type those ideas again:

"Here are a few things I think we as Christians need to do in order to see these relationships develop:
1) Recognize the valuable things others have to offer. We have a tendency to judge the speck in another's eye and see the areas where they need to grow over the areas where they are strong. We also forget that it is a valuable thing to learn from where others have fallen or failed and instead use those mistakes as reasons not to ask them to mentor us.

2) Be willing to ask. We have a tendency to wait for leadership in the church to start an official program or come up with a curriculum before we take a step. Mentoring is relational. It doesn't flow naturally out of a program. As we see things in others and their walk with the Lord that we admire or could learn from, we need to be willing to take the step to ask them if they would be interested in developing a mentoring relationship.

3) Recognize that we have things to offer others. As we do with others, we often focus on our own weaknesses and feel completely inadequate to mentor others. We think it takes someone super-spiritual to fill that role. We have to remember that there is always someone behind us and someone ahead of us. If someone is struggling in an area that we have grown in, we need to be willing to offer to come alongside of them. We don't need to be years ahead of them. Much of discipleship and mentoring is learning and growing together.

4) Make it a priority. It is very easy to talk about the need for mentoring/accountability/discipleship, and it sounds good when we recognize that need. The thing is, it's easier to talk about than to actually do. It requires time, effort, a reordering of our priorities, and an intimacy that people say they want, yet they often aren't willing to take that risk. We have to be willing to say no to other things. And we have to be willing to take the first step to make that happen.

I can name at least 5 pairs of people who have begun these types of relationships since the beginning of this year. Some of them have started as a result of relationships begun in a small group. Some of them have called a leader to ask for help in finding someone, but all of them have had to do the asking and take the step of starting those relationships themselves. If we can't take the steps to start it, we will not be able or willing to take the steps to continue it. But it can happen, and it is very valuable when it does."

We live in a sinful world full of temptations that can destroy our lives. In order to stay faithful, we need the encouragement & accountability that real relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters brings. We are charged with protecting & communicating the gospel. Unfortunately, those in the church who have fallen give the rest of us a bad name. We have a big hole to dig out of in this country, and the only way out is to live above reproach and love others as Jesus did. And we need each other to "spur us on to love and good works."

Snow Day Number 3

Ok. So we got 11 inches of snow on Saturday night. Most of it melted by Sunday night, and the roads were clear by Monday. But, it is Tuesday, and the kids STILL didn't have school. Welcome to Tennessee. Thankfully, though, I have a father and sister-in-law who generously helped out with the kids so I could go to work. Shari took the kids sledding today, and the newspaper showed up. I thought I'd post a couple of their pics, and the one description that cracked me up.



And here's the description of this last pic that just cracked me up: "Lynnea Baldwin, 10, Ian Baldwin, 11, Jadon Baldwin, 7, and their aunt Shari Baldwin, from right, grimace before hitting a manhole at the bottom of a snow-covered hill at North Parkway Intermediate School in Jackson, Tenn., Tuesday, March 3, 2009. No one was hurt in the crash, but Jadon was a little shaken." Luckily they didn't do a direct quote, since Jadon told me he told the guy that he was ok, but his booty hurt bad :o)