So, Jamie and the kids and I have been doing quite a bit of traveling
lately. As most of you are aware of, Albania is the first or second
poorest country in Europe. But, being here allows us to be right next
to some pretty cool countries. One of those is Italy. In October we
had the opportunity to go there for a family vacation which was
amazing. Then I(Tim) got to go back a week and a half later to
another part of Italy for an OM conference. The conference was
held at an OM base in northwest Italy about 45 minutes outside
of Torino(Turin). The pics and video below tell of my adventures
there which during that 12 day stretch was both beautiful and crazy.

I arrived in Italy at night so I didn't see what our surroundings
looked like until the next day. This is what me and my roomates
saw when we first opened our curtains. The pictures really don't
do it justice for how high and beautiful the mountains really were.

This is right outside the front of the OM base. It was located right
at the end of a valley with the surrounding mountains having peek
fall colors and a fresh covering of snow on the taller ones in back
which happen to be the Alps. During our conference breaks
many of us would come outside here and just stare at God's painting.

I had no idea but this valley we stayed in has a very rich history.
There were a group of people called there called the Valeccians
(probably spelled wrong) who I believe migrated there from
France in the 1100's. They were persecuted for many hundreds
of years by both the Roman Catholic church and army in Italy
for their faith.They were always either in hiding or having to
defend themselves and one statue portrayed them having a
Bible in one hand and a sword in the other. This picture was
taken at a place up the mountain where mainly the men and
boys would go during the Winter for maybe 4 months and they
would just spend time reading, studying, and teaching God's
Word. In some ways it was like one of if not the first seminaries.
This was a small room and whether it was here on in pne of
their churches, they always had a Bible opened. There were a
couple of other small rooms there for eating and also another
for keeping animals nearby to help sustain heat inside.

This was inside a cave where they used to meet for service. It was
also a pretty good walk to get there and you had to crunch way down
under rocks to get down into the cave. They said it could fit around
200 people. We visited it at night when it was late and cold and they
shared a very moving story with us. This cave was also very secretive
but when they met they would place boys outside to guard the area
in case the army would show up. Well, one time the army did come while
they were having service and they silently killed off all the boys who
were keeping watch. Then they threw burning torches from above
through the cracks into the cave. There was only one way out of there
so the people inside either were burned alive or if they came out the
army was waiting for them with swords to take their lives. All of them
died. We have all heard those kind of stories before and they move us
but to be there inside, at night, where it really happened was just an
unforgettable experience for all of us. In the video here we are inside
the cave singing worship songs and praying for the persecuted church.



At the OM base I roomed with two other guys. One was named David,
and he was from Sweden and working in Syria. The two of us got up
around five in the morning one day and hiked up the mountain. It was
dark the whole way up and even at one point we had to hold onto a rope
and lean over and walk across a stream of water flowing down the
mountain that was pretty steep. At this point where the picture above is
I had to stop because the side of the mountain got pretty steep and I
did not want to risk it with my worn shoes. Right above where I am
standing there was a big pointed rock where we were told that they took
the Valleccian women and children one time and through them all off of
the rock. It was called red rock because of all the blood spilled.





After we had been there a week the whole group attending the
conference went to Torino for the weekend for an outreach. Torino
was about 45 minutes away from where we were staying and we
found out is actually one of the most Satanic cities in the world. I
believe it is the fastest growing "religion" in Torino with over 40
thousand registered Satanists. Anyways, we actually didn't have
any run-ins with that and we spent the weekend evangelizing at
a big outdoor market. This place was a big hangout for foreigners,
and especially Arab people. The picture above is my "bed" one
of the nights I spent at a church. I could have slept on the tile
also but it was too cold.




The girl in the blue jacket was German and she worked in
Morocco. She spoke Arabic and was very useful in speaking
with the many Muslims that were there. This little canopy
was where we had our station and gave out books, Bibles,
and literature in many languages.








So theses two pics(above) are from when I took an unexpected
trip. The last day I was in Italy I got a call from our field leader
in Germany asking me to come to Germany and pick up a
vehicle for our team here in Lushnje, Albania. Our van here
has pretty much died and so I rode up to Germany with some people
traveling from Italy and transferred the car documents into my
name and then drove it back to Albania. (See story below)
On the way, I was stoked to stop at a gas station in Germany
and find two food items I miss from the States. I was kind of
a Mountain Dew-a-holic back in the States but in most of
Europe it is nowhere to be found. Subway was also a great
find. I got a turkey and meatball sub and ate them very slowly!

So, my drive back turned out to be quite an adventure. I
started in Southern-Central Germany and drove through
Switzerland and through all of Italy to the Southern most
tip to a city called Bari where I got a ferry to take me over
to Durres Albania. But on the way, I made a very, very wrong
turn. I had been given an atlas in German but I was mainly
using some directions that I printed out. Everything was
going ok until after I passed through Zurich, Switzerland.
By then it was starting to get dark and I was driving by
myself and I knew I had around 2 hours to reach the
Italian-Swiss border. The only problem was when I reached
the border about 2 hours later I passed through and I
noticed the signs did not change into Italian! I got a knot
in my throat as I felt something was really wrong. I pulled
over and asked a guy where I was and he said I was in
Germany!! I did not even know where in Germany as
I had no idea what direction I had headed in. I tried to
go to the next exit and turn around but I couldn't and
that led me going down another road somewhere. Then
I tried again to get off another exit on that road and
the same thing happened again. And to make things
worse, when I was getting more lost on these roads
I entered into France!!! I finally asked someone and
found my way back to (now) the French-Swiss border.
I had a bunch of things inside my car and when I got to
the border they would not let me through. The told me to
pull over and proceeded to search my entire car inside
and out. The took all my bags apart and even had a dog
sniffing the entire vehicle, even the engine! An hour and
a half later they let me go but now it was late and I knew
I needed to drive late into the night to make up for lost
time. This video was me sleeping outside of Milan, Italy
on a rest stop. I got about 3-4 hours sleep and then had to
hit the road again. The humbling thing is that usually I am
very good with directions while driving but not this time!
Thank you God for your provision and protection.

Prayer Makes Such a Difference

What a difference. This second year has certainly been different than our first - which is to be expected. First of all, I would like to say an enormous THANK YOU to all those who have prayed for us. A specific answer to prayer to mention is Kya and school. She struggled all year long last year with not wanting to go or throwing terrible fits when we left her there. We kept taking her there, though, because if she didn't go, she would have almost zero interaction with other kids her age and be around adults 24/7 and we knew it would be the best way to help her learn the language. When the summer was ending, we weren't sure whether or not to put her back in because of the traumatizing first year. We prayed for sure and asked all of you to pray as well. Well, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! She is like a totally new kid! I don't think she has cried once this whole new year. She has so much joy and the teachers tell me how happy she is and well she's doing. She goes on her own and gives everyone (the other kids and teachers) hugs afterwards and tells them, "Mirupafshim!" which is "goodbye" in Albanian. She's also been speaking more Albanian for sure this year in school and out. Initially we heard how they would pick it up so much faster than we would, but that was not the case with Kya. Even by the end of the last school year, we were surprised at how little Albanian she understood and knew. PRAISE GOD! He is ALIVE and answers prayer! All I can say is she really is like a whole new kid. My heart is full when I see her at school so full of joy. THANK YOU prayer partners. THANK YOU, MY GOD!!

This is a happy day at the Center for gypsy kids we have here. It's with the Florida team from summer time. However, what you will read about here is another type of day.

Read on to find out what went on in my (Jamie's) head yesterday when coming home from the Emmanuel Center.

THIS IS NOT WORKING!! Why in the world did we give up our lives for these kids? It was for nothing!! They don't care! They don't respond! They don't respect us one bit! They mock us! Why are we here? I'm so ready to close this down! I am going to those boys' fathers and going to have a word with them about how their boys behaved and what little respect they have showed us! What a waste! We are some of the few people that treat them like human beings, we come and give them food, they get clothes sometimes here, when we see them on the street, we shake their hands and treat them with dignity, we visit their homes. Why in the world did we give up our lives for them?

Then, Jesus whispered in my heart, "You didn't do it for them, you did it for Me."

Yes, that's true. And it did help calm me down. Although, the frustration continued. What a terrible day - actually, the worst yet - there at the center for gypsy kids. I was actually getting somewhere with the younger boy who is 6. He was writing his name, but it was totally backwards, so I was showing him how to write it forwards, and he was really improving. Then, I was teaching an 8 year old girl how to write her 6s the right way and she was also improving. Then, the older teenage boys went out of control. They were so incredibly rude and disrespectful, when I went home, I was ready to call it quits. The Albanian woman who helps us wasn't able to make it that day, so it was just me and Jess (the Aussie lady who's on my team). It was a joke. They were stealing keys and trying to break into other rooms. They were climbing out the window (we're on the 2nd floor), making fun of our accents, physically pushing me out of a room where they weren't supposed to be, knocking over chairs, being extremely loud yelling and knocking things over (which we're in an apartment building and other people can hear us easily). I was demanding that they leave, but they wouldn't. I felt powerless. Finally, we had to call our pastor to come over to help us. Then, when they heard he was coming, they left, making an enormous ruckus as they went. That was a bad enough nightmare and it took a while for me to calm down. Then, after the meeting, I asked a couple of the older girls who are 13 and 14 to come with me to show them something. I wanted to show them a painting I did and ask them to paint with me sometime (the 14 year old is always painting and coloring at the center and I know she loves to). The 14 year old's mother and sister are prostitutes and she hasn't come for months. Suddenly, she's coming again and I want to really form a relationship with her. I really don't want her going down that path. Well, after I showed them, we were trying to make plans for when to paint together, then a couple other kids from the center saw us and asked what we were doing. When they found out, they were all jealous and mad and called me stupid and yelling at me and wouldn't listen to a word I said. I was mad, then too. I had already been telling one of them that I would go to her house and do something special with her and she was happy about it. I asked them why I couldn't do something special with them and these 2 girls, but they wouldn't hear it. I was fuming by the time I got home. I was just thinking, Why in the world do we do this? These kids don't care one bit. All they want to do is take and misbehave.

I hate to say that that's the end of this blog post. There is no resolution... yet. The truth is, sometimes I have no idea what to do. I feel completely inadequate, like my language isn't good enough yet, just powerless. I have sought God about what to do with these kids, but when I feel I have a clear direction, it seems to shut down or the doors close. I don't know. I feel confused sometimes. If you remember, please, please, pray with us for this ministry. It is the most difficult by far. I know that God loves these kids by Jesus' example. Looking at His life here on earth, He loved the most rejected, the most looked down upon. It's one of the things I REALLY love about Him! This ministry also defies society's thinking in that way. Anyways, it's not like I expected this to be a piece of cake, but it reminds me of labor. I knew going into it, it would be extremely painful... and it was! But, knowing it would be so painful didn't make it any less painful if you know what I mean. Knowing this would be so difficult, doesn't make it any easier. That's all. I love you all and thank you for reading. It feels good getting my true feelings out there sometimes. -Jamie

In the beginning of October we went to Montenegro for MTS2 which
stands for missionary training school part 2. It was held for all of the OM
missionaries around our general area. They came from Bosnia, Moldova,
Romania, Albania, and Kosovo. It was a great time of learning and
growing as well as getting to meet and make new friends.
We drove there since it was only around 4 hours from our flat and
we stayed there for 10 days. This is a picture of what the
surrounding area looked like.




This was a boy named Ilir who Kya really bonded with while we
were at MTS. She enjoyed being around him so much that each
morning and after every nap she would wake up asking to go
and play with him right away. Fortunately, he lives in Albania in
a city 2 hours from ours and she will get to see him again during
Christmas as the 3 OM Albanian teams meet for the holidays.




This is right outside the room in our hotel where we would come
together everyday to worship, pray, teach, share, and interact
with one another. The room was a little tight and the food the hotel
served was not so good, but it didn't matter much because the time
we spent there with each other in fellowship and learning and
growing was special.

This water source was right outside the hotel room where
we met (see above) and you could get fresh water from it
whenever you wanted. I think the kids used it much more
than we did.


I put this picture in because it says a lot about who Kya is. After
taking her to go potty at the hotel I ripped off some toilet paper
and it came out uneven. She didn't like that so I tore the rest that
was hanging to make an even cut but I left this one little part on
purpose to see if she would notice. Well, she did. It still was bothering
her. She showed signs of this when she was very little. When she was
around 1 and couldn't talk yet, she woke up one morning in her crib
and was whining about something and pointing over to the corner of
her room. When I took her out and put her on the floor she walked
over to her closet door that was open just a little and pushed it closed
because it was bothering her. At least we shouldn't have to worry a
whole lot about her keeping her room clean but we'll have to see how
extreme she goes with it.



While in Montenegro Jamie and I celebrated our 9th wedding
anniversary. This was a pretty nice restaurant in town that
we went to and the food and service was really good.




These were mozzarella sticks that we ate there. We have not
eaten or even thought of them since we left the States. They
were a pleasant surprise.




When we were driving to Montenegro we ofcourse had to go
across the border of Albania/Montenegro. When you drive
over you need a green card and another document for your
car as well(only in certain countries). Well some of the cars
driving over from Albania didn't know this and they had to
leave their vehicles at the border for 10 days. They took a
taxi to get to the hotel which is about an hour drive but could
not fit all their bags. So I offered to drive back to the border
that first night with an English guy named Neil to retrieve
the bags that were left. We left around 8 or so and the drive
back to the border was a little hairy because the road was
super narrow in many spots and very dark and in the
mountains as well. And there was not much of a shoulder or
none at all sometimes so when someone is coming at you with
their brights on it was quite challenging sometimes to stay on
the road. I should tell you that neither Neil or I had been with
them when they were driving so we only knew where to find the cars
from what they told us. Anyways, after searching for like an hour
we could not find them. We left after some guy started yelling
something at us from inside this van. I walked over to it and around
the back and to my surprise he was holding a semi-automatic gun
and telling me (in Albanian) not to come any closer. I am still not sure
whether he was a guard in that area or if he was just living there by
himself. Anyways, that was our cue to go. We never did find the cars
that night and got back after midnight. Thankfully, they were still
where the guys left them 10 days later after the MTS ended.

We have not blogged for a while because we were gone almost the whole
month of October. We went to Montenegro for what they call MTS2 which
means missionary training school and then we were off to Italy for a family
vacation. Well, I have waited over a year to get this picture but it was well
worth it. It is a picture of Jamie eating at McDonalds. The reason why I
say this is because in the States she ragged on anyone of our friends who
would eat there (including our pastor) and she said that even if she was
starving she would not never eat there. I told them before I left that when
we are overseas as missionaries there will come a day where my wife will
eat there and when it does I am spreading the news and letting everyone
back home know about it! So, here it is. The proof is in the....cheesburger!
One reason it took so long is because there is no Micky D's in Albania.
Sorry Honey. I love you, but you knew this day would come if you ate there.

Believe it or not, this was actually the first time that either of our girls
have been there. Needless to say, they liked it.