ECMI Shorts

This is it....

2011-07-31T23:25:00.003+01:00

So the fat lady is warming up her vocal chords to start to sing, our time here (for now) is almost over. Tim & I leave on Monday to arrive back to the Emerald Isle. While we will be pleased to get home to a bed, clean clothes, a full wardrobe to choose from and a much more bearable temperature (& friends & families of course) we are sad to be leaving behind some great friends that have been a privilege to serve alongside and have had an unforgettable experience, for which we give thanks to God.

We arrived back late last night from Albania, the 10 hour bus journey was not one of the highlights of the trip but it could have been much worse - no major travel sickness or complications on the homeward journey (it helps to have friends who work on border control!!).

As we said our goodbyes to the campers it's hard to know what impact that the week may have had on them. The vast majority are not Christians and not from Christian homes, so please pray that God will have used the discussion groups and even the simple interactions with the leaders to speak to them. Pray for the follow up with them as the church seeks to put on English classes from Sept and that more will come along to the teenager programmes as well.

We will probably blog one more time to sum up our experiences here over the last month, but for now tiredness has taken over!!

Please pray for our travel tomorrow and as we say goodbye to some of the amazing people we have had the chance to serve alongside.

Lucy

CHUBBY BUNNIES!!

2011-07-29T00:41:00.003+01:00

Where to begin.......

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

Not really :)

It's almost 2am and Tim and myself are sitting on the hallway stairs having a midnight feast of go ahead bars & a glass of the wonderful (+multi-talented) 'nurse' Vlora's dolce vita plus multivitamin fruit juice. And giggling like schoolgirls which is pretty apt given the love notes that some of the girls here have just left on Tim's pillow!!! oh how great it is for tomorrow to be a friday :(!

It has been exhausting, tiring, challenging but something that neither of us will ever regret doing!!

We have had an awesome time getting to know the kids and in particular some of the leaders as well. The best part of the camp has to be the laughter that we have all shared together - Lucy's outstanding quick reflexes in uno (the card was still in the deck) and also how we are corrupting the Albanians with are NORN IRON phrases...'wise up' 'build a bridge and get over it' & 'button it'

Everyone had a great time today ... not at the beach - ohhh no, not while eating - no chance BUT when the marshmallows came out everyone knew what time it was .... Chubby Bunny Time & these Kosovo kids can pack!!! 3 packs of marshmallows later we were almost out of food ( thank goodness for the gag reflex!) There was also few mini challenges that got some well needed points to the teams (mainly the greens who destroyed everyone) the night was topped off with the leaders went head-to-head with vitamin C tablets and cup of "coke" in hand!! it ended with a slight bang and a little fizz!!

Tomorrow is the final day of the English camp - so we are praying for extra strength and endurance to make it through this final day and hope that all is well (it is currently wet with thunder and lightening so pray for the weather) also pray Vlora who has just told us that she hates people who are loud when talking ... opps?! Pray for the team who have worked AMAZINGLY hard and made this this trip a resounding success!!

No time!!

2011-07-26T23:12:00.003+01:00

As we thought we don't have much spare time so here are a few prayer points that we would appreciate your prayers for:

- energy: it's been a long month and are days are getting longer! Up for leaders meeting at 7.30am and not in bed til midnight and are time completely filled in between.

- enthusiasm: it can start to wane when the energy goes!

- it can be frustrating at times for tim & myself trying to communicate with kids (&some of the leaders) due to the language barrier, pray that it will get easier!

- so far at the beach we have had no incidents, pray that it stays this way!!

- where we are staying there are a few elderly residents pray that we would be considerate and a good witness for the church we are with but at the same time be able to do all the games planned & enable the kids to have a enjoyable time.

Sorry it's quick and no photo's but we have spoilt you over the last few weeks!!

Here we go!!!!!

2011-07-23T20:14:00.006+01:00

So this is it.... the time has come.

Tim & I are heading to Albania to teach English.

Pray.

The bus will leave tomorrow at 11am or so, with 40 odd kids and 10 even odder leaders and it will take approximately 7 hours to get to Vlora. Pray for safety in travel, a smooth crossing through the border checkpoint and strong stomachs & bladders on the bus!!

Each morning at camp there will be 3 activities that the kids will rotate round, all centred on teaching them English (it is an English camp after all). Tim & myself will be involved in the more structured, intensive activities despite having no teaching experience! So please pray for confidence, ability & plenty of wisdom!

The afternoons will be spent on the beach, not all the campers & not all the leaders can swim or are strong swimmers so we would really appreciate prayers for safety.

Then in the evenings the campers will be split into discussion groups where we will look at a passenge from the Bible. Due to legal restrictions we have to be careful of what we say so again please pray that the leaders of each group will have discernment but also the courage to ask deeper questions. Pray also that God will work in the hearts of the campers, that even studying these passenges in a comprehension fashion will give them cause to explore God's word deeper.

And then.. after all that we will have some games or movie time, pray that the campers & leaders will have a blast and get to know each better during this time.

So that's it. We are pretty anxious, we had no intention when we left Belfast on the 3rd July that we would still be here come the 23rd and be staying until the 1st August. Toiletries and clean clothes have long run out (& been replaced - don't fear) & Prishtina now feels like a second home, we've met some incredible people and are humbled that we can help out the church with their camp in this way.

We both have had different verses in are heads over the last few days as we have contemplated (& joked about) our current situation. Tim has been reminded of Proverbs 16 v 9 "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps" and for me it's been Jeremiah 29 v 11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". We don't know what's in store but we know that God has planned it from the beginning and that it is for good, we have no reason really to be anxious or worried but every reason to be bold & confident in Christ!

We hope to keep this updated while we are on camp but have no idea how much time or access to internet we will have but please do check back and also check out the ECMI Shorts facebook group as we might, at the very least, be able to post short updates on there.

Thanks for joining with us in prayer!

Lucy & Tim

21st July...what a day!

2011-07-22T02:20:00.006+01:00

It wouldn't be a trip to a foreign country without someone having a birthday!! luckily today was the 25th year in the life of Tim and so to celebrate Primrose baked up a storm with coffee cake (not made with coffee), eggs and 'bacon' which went down a treat. there was also no expenses spared in the ECM budget on the birthday cake

the rest of the time was spent well .... we collected some essentials for camp this Sunday and then went home to watch Thor via Dan's projector! Afterwards we had a leaders meeting at the church to go over + finalise some things for the camp - which went on quite abit that we (Primrose, Dan, Lucy & Tim) were almost chomping at the bit to get food in us!

Since it was a special occasion we heading out to Paddy O'Brien's Irish Bar in Prishtina, and of course since we are (northern) Irish me and Lucy decided for a glass of the black stuff each and a plate of fish and chips! which was outstanding though funnily enough we enjoyed our meal outside to get away form the smokers from inside!

...........things then got crazy haha........

this has been a birthday I will not forget anytime - to new friends and new places!!

thank God for another year to praise and pray + hope there will be many more!

The Prodigal Bag

2011-07-22T00:31:00.008+01:00

It had come the time to return the many borrowed beds, (that the ECM team had been using whilst staying with Primrose + Dan, to its rightful owner - which meant a wee journey to Pejë so alot of folding, bending and bungee cord attachments later the perilous explorers (Dan, Lucy & myself) began the trek. This journey would become doubly rewarding because it finally reunited Jean with her prodigal bag....however happy that might sound her brown shoe is still AWOL so please keep a look out on your travels!

The journey to Pejë was superb however it was clear that the weather was going to have other ideas, but we continued on and after a refreshing fill up of ice tea with Randy and the American team staying there we took off in a hope to beat the clouds and catch the sights of the Rugova mountains....we were NOT to be disappointed!

With the song 'Indescribable' by Chris Tomlin ringing in our ears and the sights we were looking at - we couldn't even try to comprehend the sheer power that went into making this world we live in

"From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea, Creation's revealing Your Majesty.... Indescribable, uncontainable.... Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim - You ARE amazing God"

Having sank a few glasses of ice tea the travelers began feeling the effects of bladder versus bumps + found that the bumps were winning! we took a brave decision and proceeded up a road that took us to the border of Montenegro, there we took the once in a lifetime decision to pee in a different country ..... much to the satisfaction of Lucy and me!

(note the high 5 was after we washed up)

we then felt the hunger building and went to California for a well needed top up of energy+carbs before setting off back home to Primrose who was stressing about the up and coming English camp to Albania which she had to prepare talks + discussions on (hence the fact she did not travel out with us - she needed space haha)

that sums up another amazing day of traveling in and around Kosovo - such a beautiful place!

Prayers needed for - camp preparation, leaders sanity and children safety!!

Tim

sniff sniff part II

2011-07-18T20:12:00.004+01:00

Today was a big day, not only did we have our first planning meeting but another member of our merry band left us. And 3 became 2..

Prishtina airport now winces at the sight of the green landrover pulling up as it is well aware of the emotional wrecks that it withholds, the securty guard hands us a box of kleenex as we bid a fond farewell to Karen.... sniff, sniff.

Oh well, life goes on. Back to the apartment for some freshly baked cornbread..

YUMMY!!!!

T minus 6 days

2011-07-18T18:40:00.007+01:00

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was the first planning meeting for the english camp to albania that Tim and I are staying on for. Obviously it wasn't quite the first planning meeting as the camp starts on sunday but it was our first planning meeting.

How did we end up here again?

So initially everyone on the team was flying out on the 3rd July and returning on the 14th.

11 days.

Then some leaders dropped out of the english camp and Prim & Dan were getting a little desperate. Very long story short - I felt quite clearly that God was telling me to stay, even though I wasn't overly keen - I'm not a teacher and my grasp of the english language is somewhat tenuous. But having taught the kids in the first week the story of Jonah (I, myself, played quite a convincing whale) I did not want to end up being vomited onto a beach, so here I am...

30 days...

taking it all in my stride...

Tim is coping much better

Beautiful sunset and relax.......

So, back to english camp, there are 11 leaders (9 from the church and us two from Norn Iron) and around 40 plus kids. Most are not from a church background and we have to be very careful how we talk to the kids about anything Christian due to some fairly strict laws in the country. Please pray for wisdom for each of the leaders as we seek to bring the truth of God's love to these young people but are restricted in what we say. Pray that as leaders we would treat each other and the young people with patience and respect and through our actions they may see the love of Christ. It is a fantastic opportunity to meet with these kids and each night there will be a discussion time where we will talk about certain Bible stories, pray for each of those leading group discussions.

A few other prayer points:

- safety in travel: it's a 7 hour bus journey to Vlora in Albania & it's currently 38 degrees

- safety while on the camp: there'll be plenty of sport & outdoor activities as well as afternoons on the beach

- that the food and accommodation will be adequate: we aren't expecting the Ritz but pray that the rooms will be cool at night to be able to sleep and the food able to fuel us through each days activities.

- we are short a female leader

- Tim and I would especially appreciate your prayers as we are definitely entering into the unknown and as 2 of only 4 native english speakers we may be called on to do teaching (at which our only experience was the albanian teaching of the other day!!).

- energy to make it though!!

The morning after

2011-07-15T15:03:00.004+01:00

3 left....

The team may have gone but that was not to mean the remaining 3 would be resting on their laurels. Oh no. This is Kosova, there is work to be done, people to see and whole new experiences to "enjoy".

And it was to be a simple start to the day as well, get a taxi to the church, then look out for a man in a green car and get in. He would take us where we were going...

Jumped into the cab - no-one knows the address of the church. Get over that hurdle. Arrive at church, sitting outside, no sign of a green car, a man in a green t-shirt is loitering though - could it be him?

No.

It's the man in the blue car.

Of course.

We then headed to see a project that a lady from the church works with. It's a learning centre for kids from the Roma community. The way the school system works here is if you don't register for school within the first 2 years of being eligible then you have to pass a test to get in. How you pass a test when you've never been taught to read or write is tricky though! The kids from the Roma community often aren't registered in time so this centre helps tutor kids in Maths, English & Albanian in order to help them pass the entrance exam and enter full time, mainstream education.

We thought we were going to observe.

They thought otherwise.

Fine for teacher Karen, but Tim and myself were a little taken aback when we were told we had to take one on one sessions for the morning. Teaching albanian to albanian speakers.

How well do you think this worked out?

The project itself is very worthwhile and has a very dynamic lady leading the way. But there is only one Christian volunteer. So please pray for her to be salt and light in that place. The Roma community is a very ostracised one and has many needs: material & spiritual. Pray that more Kosovan Christians would be willing to work within this section of the community despite the tensions that exist and that they may show God's grace and forgiveness to them.

sniff sniff

2011-07-15T14:42:00.005+01:00

Thursday 14th July, t'was a dark day.

The sun may have been burning brightly outside but inside, in our hearts, it was torrential rain.

The team was leaving.

Many around the world remember the day the Beatles split up, it sent shockwaves around the globe. We like to think that the dissolving of the ECM Ireland summer team to Prishtina had a similar impact.

Elaine, Joanne, Jillers & Carlena left us. Jillers tried to extend her stay with some dubious items in her hand luggage that led the security staff at Prishtina airport to believe that she had evil intentions. (Anyone who knows Jillers would realise she is no evil villain attempting to take over the world, unless they've been stuck in a lift with her - then her dark side comes out).

So that left Tim, Karen & Lucy.

Kosova wept.

Tim comfort eating through the pain of separation.

Kamenica - Part II

2011-07-14T19:12:00.006+01:00

So after Monday's adventures we decided that we would maybe not go up to the top of the hill to visit our good friend Geoff again. As much as the team are great topiarists we felt that we should focus on our prayer walking:

"this boots were made for prayer walking"

So under strict instructions from Primrose to get into a group of people whom you weren't related to or didn't know before the team we marched off in 4 groups in different directions, armed with a handy card with specific prayer points for different buildings, locations, people in the town.

It was during this time that Dan and his group got talking to members of the Romany community and so we told them we would be back the next day to meet with them & play with the kids in the park.

At the very beginning before we had set off for Kamenica on the first day, we had prayed that we would be able to make some contacts in the town. 2 days there we had met someone right at the top and then those very much on the bottom rung of the ladder. The least and the lost.

We came back, armed with a parachute......

Please pray for the town of Kamenica, particularly as Kosovan church leaders look to establish a church there.

We thank God for the opportunities we had to show just a little bit of love in action with the people of this community.

a few photo's of the last few days..

2011-07-14T18:13:00.005+01:00

last day of kids clubs...

girls sports camp

our individually designed t-shirts for Kamenica

inspiration took a little longer to find some people

'Kosova Moments'

2011-07-14T10:15:00.007+01:00

After 7 years of coming here, I thought I was desensitised to the quirks of cross cultural interactions.

As I looked down at my watch, a couple of days ago, to see why my tummy was rumbling (we've eaten constantly and so well this team!) I began to laugh at the absurdness of the situation.

Here we were: 8 people from NI, two missionaries, 4 (lovely) Kosovans. Standing in the beginnings of an elaborately designed garden of a man we'd just met. As he told us about his star shaped rockery that had rocks from as far away as Peru, a 7000euro Japanese maple tree, beautiful flowers, two massive German shepherd guard dogs, a gorgeous but tiny, yapping hound pup.

The man showed us pictures of his daughter, his nephew and all the rest of the family. Then we looked at the architectural drawings for the house with a jacuzzi that he plans to build on the hill below us, over looking the beautiful valley with the city of Kamenica nestled in it.

Our plans to pray there were side lined while he continued to tell us of his great wealth, briefly discussed God and belief systems.

There we were, this strange mix of people, sweaty and smelly from a 2 hour journey from Prishtina in 35deg heat with no windows and a 2 hour sports camp earlier in the day, wearing home made white t'shirts with 'Dashuria ne Aksion' scrawled across the back. Sweat and wind had given us creative hair styles, tiredness and hunger had subdued our conversation, our feet and legs dirty from dusty flip flops.

Before we knew it, we were back in our vehicles driving towards the town. Our convoy became longer as we followed the 'rich man from the big house on the hill' towards a restaurant that would give us a discount because he knew the owner.

We pulled up in our sweat box vehicles to an exceptionally posh restaurant: bouncers with bow ties, a red carpet we were scared to walk on in our dirty shoes.

All eyes from the other patrons on us as we were guided to our seats, still sweaty, dusty and wearing home made clothes, the ink now running as they soaked up our sweat. We wondered if the absurdness and hilarity of the situation would be communicated as we tell the folks back home?

carlena doing a turn on the red carpet

feeling slightly underdressed (& the ink had started to run on the homemade t-shirts, they seemed a good idea at the time..)

You should now be able to comment on the blog.

2011-07-12T08:08:00.001+01:00

so lets hear your witty insights!! (or encouragements!!)

Day 8

2011-07-11T15:05:00.006+01:00

One of life's little pleasures #3: waking up on a sunday morning knowing you've an extra hour in bed!

No 8am breakfast today but a far more leisurely pace, a help yourself style buffet breakfast (ending at 10am) which would obviously mean me rocking up at 9.55 for a bowl of cereal & a bit of toast in the hand for the bus. And here ends the lazy sunday morning....

Packed lunches in hand, cool boxes packed & all dressed in our sunday finest we were confronted with ..... a flat tyre. Rats.

Thankfully I am not a man & therefore do not need to pretend to know about these things, so all the ladies jumped into 2 cabs and left the menfolk to kick tyres and strain muscles (it's what they wanted).

Once we got to church (slightly late) we realised it was starting late (felt just like holywood baptist) as the power was off. That wasn't to stop us though, and the worship group fired on ahead. There really is something remarkable about people from different cultures, who speak different languages all coming together and worshipping God. We sang a song which was originally in English but translated into Albanian. The room was filled with a cacophony of sound but a beautiful one - and you couldn't help but be reminded of the verse in Revelation about every tribe & every tongue worshipping together in Heaven.

A lazy afternoon was spent in the park (well, for most of us - Tim went off to play football and lost half his body weight in sweat but showed the Kosovan men how to tackle proper - like).

The next few days will be different from the last week: football camp with guys, craft & sports with teen girls in the morning. Then the afternoon we will visit a town about an hour away where a new ministry is hoping to start and spend our time praying around the town & maybe getting some kids games on the go.

PRAYER POINTS FOR INCOMING WEEK:

- safety in travel, we will be covering more miles this week on the road so please pray for protection & no more flat tyres or vehicle trouble.

- for wisdom as we prepare talks with the older guys & girls. There is a limit on what we can say, which can be frustrating but pray that God will use what is said & how we interact to speak to everyone there.

- if it were to cool down a few degrees no-one would complain, particularly given the more active nature of this week.

- an injury free football camp

- give thanks for the young people in the church who have been helping us this week

- for the time spent in the new town, that we will be a positive presence and not a negative one. That we draw attention to ourselves for the right reasons!

Hutch.

Day 6

2011-07-09T20:27:00.002+01:00

(Retrospective blogging!)

Our first activity of the day was with the teen girls group. This group has been running for some time in the church. The girls were full of fun and we enjoyed our time with them, making bracelets and playing games. After a few initial difficulties with remember our actions during one of the games, we managed some pretty speedy rounds and had the person in the middle, dizzy with spinning round trying to figure out who was 'it'!

Whilst that was happening, Tim and some of the young guys from the church were planning our sports camp next week. There has been much interest in the camp, possibly due to it being advertised as a 'Football Camp with professional football coaches from NI and America'! Tim has stepped up to the challenge of transferring his rugby skills with the help of the boys from the church. Please pray for him and the others that will be sharing a short thought at the end of the session. We'll also be bringing the girls down to the sports venue for the last hour of sports too. The temperature is supposed to be 35 degrees next week and our sessions are 10-1. Prayers would also be appreciated for keeping the young people hydrated and safe in the sun.

Our third day of our kids club in the local church was another enjoyable time. Tim shared the story of the fishermen catching many fish with the help of Jesus and Jo did a good improv with her memory verse when our timing over ran. Than it was back to the park for some games with the general public. We were a little worried at the start as there weren't too many children about. We'd explained the day before that we were Christians from N.Ireland here to share with them about Jesus' love. We didn't have to wait for long though and plenty of children arrived. We didn't have all our 'usuals' back, though we think that may be more to do with the very high temperatures and people heading out of the city for the weekend.

Our action packed day continued in full force with a delightful and tasty meal with Pastor Femi and his family. Immediately followed by a 12 hour praise and prayer session in the church. We managed a few hours, not quite the whole session! The worship was fantastically led by Shpresa, a 15 year old believer who has been leading worship in the church since she was 12!! We have all been inspired by her faith and energy in sharing God's love for His people.

The highlight of the evening could have been sharing communion with our Kosovar brothers and sisters, it could have been the amazing prayer, praise, it could have been acting out putting on the armour of salvation, but I think we all agree the highlight was Pastor Femi blowing the shofar during the praise. His jubilant, intense and passionate playing will be a fond memory for a long time! I'm hoping for Part 2 during church on Sunday!

Karen

Day 7

2011-07-09T20:04:00.003+01:00

Upon waking up after an extra half hour of much needed and appreciated sleep the team made their way down to another delightful breakfast of muffins and eggs (which 1 team member was happy to see as she was unsure if they exsisted in kosovo) the team made their way to the final kids club of the week. They were very rushed and arrived very sweaty this made no difference to the kids as they still arrived with full enthusiasm.
They played a few games of pass the parcel which proved difficult to explain because the teams translator had stayed up all night leading worship and had clearly lost ability to translate as she insisted on singing frosty the snowman all day long!!
Elaine then went over the memory verse and did a fantastic job as she had no power point and had to use on the spot skills (only a teacher would have)!
Following this we procedded to do a quiz with the kids which tested them on all they had learnt all week. (this was not good for 2 leaders as they got covered in shaving foam and wotsits)
On to the park and a final day of playing games in the scorching sun proved so much fun! the kids did not let the heat stop them and there energy rubbed of on the leaders.
on the way back from the park carlena went over on her ankle and will probably spend the rest of the time here hobbling around! the team then had the afternoon off and went off to a lake where they all got nicely burnt and had a much deserved break (karen even managed to sunburn 1 armpit and lucy managed to sunburn 1 knee)
carlena and primrose stayed at the apartment and had a bonding session over facebook photos!
the team then arrived home after a long journey (and unappreciated traffic) and schorching heat! to a lovely prepared meal by primrose!!
we are all now sitting drinking tea and eating biscuits!!
tune in tomorrow for day 8 :)

carlena!

day 5 (day 4 is still to come!)

2011-07-08T14:08:00.004+01:00

After a very healthy breakfast yesturday morning we made up for it with an amazing baked apple fried bread breakfast.

We have a problem with a certain team member & their faith - in that they have too much!! Particularly in relation to the faith they have (misguidedly placed) in albanian drivers & whether they will stop or not when she steps out. She was somewhat perturbed to find the rest of her teammates standing well back, trembling in fear at her exploits. She even scared our albanian friends!

No better way to begin a days work than with a fantastic time of prayer and worship. We were well catered for with familiar tunes and english words. This was followed by an off the cuff question and answer time with the Pastor. Here we gained so much insight into the lives of the Kosova people and what the past ten years were like for someone, Pastor, to live through. We sat with mouths wide open and goosebumps on our arms as we heard some harrowing reports of what Pastor witnessed. But as he so correctly said, people who live in peace are very different from those who live in conflict. Conflict allows you to call and depend on God in a deeper than any good times could ever encourage. God proved his power back in the days of War at Kosova, saving the lives of his people and bringing Pastors family to salvation.

As always the club was a success with many children enjoying the games, crafts, story and snacks provided. Today Jonah's whale came to life much to the excitement of the children. The park was no disappointment, seeing 60+ children waiting for us and parents sitting watching the fun. One thing we have seen in the park is how God's love is contagious. The fun and laughter that we have is a strong magnet for drawing others in and helping our paths to cross with people, young and old, that we would never meet in the church building.

Elaine (p.s this was posted at the church in between activites so no photo's but rest assured we have continued to be snap happy)

Day 3

2011-07-05T21:38:00.006+01:00

After another hearty breakfast curtesy of Prim and her kitchen helpers, we began our day by leisurely loading up the land rover with our equipment for the day, a refreshing walk to the bus stop and a short time to relax in the sun.

That's where the serenity of the day ended and the laughter, singing, hard work and 10 hours continuous use of our feet and legs began.

Our first activity of the day would have been excellently used for arachnaphobia desensitisation therapy. However, we had to face our fears without the help of trained professionals. We did not need them. We had Jillian (please note the spelling). With her nerves of steel, she willing chased down, tackled and neutralised a rough estimate of a million spiders.

Our major concern was for the room's occupant, known, for the purposes of protecting his

identity, as Spider Boy. We're convinced he's eaten more than his fair share of spiders whilst sleeping. We cleaned walls, furniture the kitchen, bathroom, cupboards and spider's webs, folded clothes, emptied the rooms of furniture and took to the painting with gusto. Even we were astonished with all we achieved and plan to invite Spider Boy for dinner some time incase he feels lonely now all his spider friends have gone. We'll return to the house tomorrow to finish some painting in the first half of the house and start into the second half. The owners of the house are Christian's associated with the church. Their circumstances have changed and they no longer have an income. We are hoping the work we have done in the house will mean they will be able to rent it out and develop a means of independent income.

After a quick turn around, we began our first kid's club at the church. It all started in a fairly reserved and quiet fashion with 13 children from the church. After our bible lesson, craft and games, we headed down to the local park armed with a giant parachute, some balls and perhaps a little naivety at the interest we would attract. It our last count we had 43 children, and a large number of parental spectators, playing games. Kudos goes to Carlena for her quick thinking in rescuing a fallen child in a competitive game of Pata, Pata, Goose (aka Duck, Duck, Goose). The entertainment prize goes to Elaine for the attention her mud stained clothes received on our bus journey and walking home. Between that and seven pale, tired-looking foreigners running down the street to catch the bus at the end of a exciting but long day, we haven't really done very well in avoiding attracting undue attention to ourselves, as Prim requested at the start of the team! We'll be heading back to the park tomorrow and have no idea how many children we'll have by then. Please pray!

Karen

day 2

2011-07-04T22:24:00.006+01:00

One long and well overdue sleep (for some) later the team woke to a pleasantly warm and sunny day, looking forward to a days adventure around Prishtina. After an amazing breakfast treat from Primrose of (gob smackingly) amazing pancakes, we began with preparations for the kids club that begins tomorrow from 4-6pm and runs till Saturday. We were also graced with the presence of some of the churches youth who helped in sorting out songs and helping with pronunciation of the memory verse in Albanian (which was/is in great need of help with)

With all the "ground work" done for the club we were taken on a walk to find the bus stop and learn the bus routines but mainly it was to go and feed the team!?

The team were clearly buzzing with all the excitement over the kids club and some of the ideas that were brought up were mind blowing - all i can say is that you would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation!!! Food went down a treat, unfortunately that cant be said for us all as Dan can be testament to with a little added extra given to him with his portion of French flies (... I mean) Fries.

Once we came across that we were quick to get to the church to see what we were working with as the team have never seen the church just heard the stories. On our journey by foot to the church, we had come to see the amount of pressure we were under, by the adverts posted, to make this trip a sporting success as you can read:

Professional football coaches from Ireland & America

We introduced the team to close friends of Primrose, Dan, Kazza + Lucy who showed great hospitality and kindness (and patience to put up with us all.) We left with a spring in our step + a rumble in our tummy which was subsequently filled by more fine dining from Primrose.

The club+other activities begin tomorrow so please pray for smooth sailing with transport + child/team safety throughout the day and also the week ahead + be thankful for the work that is being done in Prishtina and later with Kamenica.

More to come tomorrow from celebrity guest bloggers, but for now - Mirëbrema!!

Tom

Prishtina 2011

2011-07-03T17:53:00.006+01:00

It was 3am, it was dark and gloomy, Glengall Street had an ominous air, but there was something, something gleaming, a bolt of colbalt blue - it could be none other than ECM Ireland team to Kosova.

Sure a hoodie was a controversial choice given the average temperature of over 30 degrees in Kosova, but this is a team unafraid of controversy. This is a team that is willing to jump security barriers at airports, laughs in the face at the metal detectors & no liquid rules. And the less said about passport control the better. So after the smooth, incident free travelling we have been welcomed with open arms by Dan & Primrose, staying in their apartment block (and a cute little welcome pack with Kosova's must haves - pack of seven days & a pen).

So now it's time for massive pizza and then planning & sleep!

But we are very thankful to God that we did all get here, that all our bags arrived and that the smell of freshly baked cookies greeted us :)

Hutch.

De velden zijn wit om te oogsten

2009-08-02T19:46:00.003+01:00

Soms komen er pas resultaten van het werk dat je verricht hebt, als je weer weg bent. gelukkig mochten Henri en ik vandaag resultaten zien van vele jaren werk in het dorpje Qyshk. De vele jaren trouw werk van ECM-werkers, lijkt vruchten af te werpen. Ik vertelde jullie al eerder over een vrouw die na vele jaren van bezoeken, heeft aangegeven te geloven in Jezus en haar leven in zijn dienst te willen stellen.
Vandaag is er ook weer iets geweldigs gebeurd. Afgelopen woensdag hebben we een BBQ gehad in Qyshk, een dorpje bij Peja. Een van de albanese vrouwen uit ons team raakte in gesprek met twee meisjes, die weleens naar de kerk in Peja wilden komen (Rruga e Paques, weg van de vrede). Vanochtend ben ik met Thera (nederlandse zendelinge) naar Qyshk gereden en er stonden 6! vrouwen te wachten (of kwamen later aan) om mee te gaan naar de kerk naar de kerk in Peja. Ze luisterden aandachtig terwijl Pastor Gani preekte en gaven later aan het erg fijn gevonden te hebben en ze wilden terug komen. Willen jullie God danken voor hun aanwezigheid en interesse? Willen jullie bidden dat ze inderaad terugkomen en meer mensen mee brengen?
Ik ben nu weer in Prishtina en ben lekker niets aan het doen met Tinka, dochter van de pastor. Henri en Lorik (Tinka's broer) zijn aan het zaalvoetballen met vrienden van Lorik. Hopelijk komen ze beide heel terug.
Wille jullie bidden voor het werk van ECM hier het hele jaar door en voor een veilige terugreis voor henri en mij?
groetjes, Marjan

p.s. check ook de eerdere berichten door op 'older posts' te klikken

Zegeningen en even uitrusten

2009-08-01T09:09:00.002+01:00

Er is veel gebeurd in de afgelopen week. Wat het meest indruk op mij gemaakt heeft is dat een Vrouw die we al jaren bezoeken met de teams, heeft aangegeven haar hart aan Jezus te willen geven. Ze heeft ook gevraagd om een bijbel en die natuurlijk gekregen. Prijs de Heer! het is feest in de hemel.
De laatste week van het teamwerk was er een team van albanese jongeren die ons team kwam versterken. Het was wel raar om opeens samen te moeten werekn met 14-jarigen die nog nooit in het buitenland geweest waren, weinig ervaring hebben met in groepen werken en de jongens hadden al helemaal geen ervaring met huishoudelijk werk. Op de feedback avond gaf een van de jongens aan dat hij in de afgelopen week had leren afwassen ;-)
Hoewel het in het begin wel lastig was dat de groepsdynamiek veranderde en dat je er opeen een paar kinderen bij had, heeft het toch ook heel veel zegen gebracht. De jongeren konden direct met de kinderen en tieners in kosovo communiceren, ze hadden geen last van de taalbarriere die wij natuurlijk wel ervaren. Er waren ook 2 vrouwen en een pastor uit albanie. Vooral de 2 vrouwen hebben veel gesprekken gehad met de vrouwen in de kerk en vrouwen die de bijeenkomsten van het team bezochten. De vrouwen waren ook mee naar de vrouw die haar leven aan Jezus wilde geven. Zij konden direct met haar in gesprek gaan en haar over Jezus vertellen. Dat is echt een zegen geweest.
Bij de kinderclub waren een paar meiden ingedeeld die gewoon super waren. Heel dappere meisjes. Geen van hen kwam uit een familie waar iedereen christen was. 1 van hen ging alleen naar de kerk omdat haar moeder niet naar de kerk kon gaan omdat haar vader moslim is. Toen ze klein was ging ze met een oom, maar nu ging ze alleen. Ze durfde ook te bidden in een volle kamer met 40 tieners en volwassenen. Wat een moedige meid!
1 van onze vertalers had erg veel interesse in het christelijk geloof en hij bad ook. Op dat moment kreeg ik echt kippenvel. ook al snapte ik het gebed niet helemaal, want dat was in het albanees, maar achteraf heeft hij uitgelegd wat hij bad en hij bad voor veel liefde, om dat door te geven aan de mensen die onze clubs bezochten. Geweldig toch!
1 van onze vertalers is een jonge christen, hij is vorig jaar tot geloof gekomen. Deze teams zijn geweldig voor dit soort jongens. Zij worden opgebouwd in geloof.
Wat voor mij een eye-opener was, is dat je eigenlijk overal een kinderclub kan beginnen. Wij gingen als kinderclub-mensen mee naar de vrouw die uiteindelijk tot geloof kwam, om met haar kinderen te spelen. We besloten toen dat de buurtkinderen ook wel mee konden doen. De laatste keer dat ik er was waren er 15 kinderen. En allemaal superenthousiast. Ze brachten hun werkjes van de vorige keer mee naar de volgende club. Geweldig toch!
Er is nog zoveel meer te vertellen, maar ik wil nu eerst wat gaan eten. Heb best een beetje trek.
Het team is vertrokken en Henri en ik zijn nu in Prishtina bij een van onze vertalers en zijn zus, die ik van eerdere jaren ken, toen zij ook vertaalde. Vandaag lekker uitgeslapen en het plan is om vandaag naar een zwembad te gaan. Het is hier heerlijk weer. niet TE warm, maar wel een lekker zonnetje.
Gister zijn we naar een soort kermis geweest. Allemaal heel oud spul. SCARY. maar wel heel leuk en gezellig. Mijn buik deed zeer van het lachen.
Ik moet nu echt gaan.
groetjes, Marjan

Heerlijk om hier weer te zijn, maar wel druk

2009-07-26T15:31:00.002+01:00

Hallo allemaal,
We hebben een geweldige tijd hier. Het is vooral super om de kinderen in Peja en Qyshk weer te zien. We zijn ook begonnen met een nieuwe kinderclub in Radac. Het begon als een visite aan iemand, maar nu doen we om de dag kinderclubs daar. Dank God voor deze kans!
De praatjes voor de tienerjongens gaan erg goed en de samenwerking in het team is super! Afgelopen week is een albanees team gearriveerd met veel jonge mensen. Bis voor eenheid in het team, want het is nog best wel lastig om van deze 2 teams 1 te maken. ER is een taalbarriere maar ook vooral een leeftijdsverschil.
Het is er g warm geweest de afgelopen dagen. Gisteren zijn veel van ons naar het zwembad geweest om uit te rusten na een hele drukke week. WE hebben erg weinig vrije tijd gehad, het is een vol programma. Maar dat is ook waarom we hier zijn. Om clubs te draaien en mensen te bezoeken, niet om uit te rusten. Hoewel dat wel erg lekker is af en toe. En we hadden het ook gewoon echt nodig. Het team begon een beetje uitgeput te raken. Bid alsjeblieft voor nieuwe energie. We hebben mooie dingen zien gebeuren, zoals een vrouw die we al tijden bezoeken, die vroeg om een bijbel en echt meer van het geloof wil weten en een van onze vertalers die officieel (nog) geen christen is, maar wel bid tot God. Ik verwachtte het totaal niet, dus ik was erg verrast dat hij begon te bidden en God dankte voor de dag. Mijn albanees is niet zo goed, maar dat kreeg ik mee. Willen jullie bidden voor onze vertalers (sommigen wel christen, anderen niet) data God hun echt in hun hart wil raken en dat zij hun leven in dienst van God willen stellen.
We hebben ook tegenslag gehad. Clubs die verstoord werden. Kinderen die niet kwamen. We hebben hiervoor gebeden en de tegenslagen verdwenen en de clubs werden gezegend. God verhoort!!
Willen jullie bidden voor de clubs die volgende week zullen plaatsvinden? Voor open harten en open oren. Willen jullie ook bidden voor de vrouwengroepen. 3 Noord-Ierse vrouwen hebben regelmatig bijenkomsten met Kosovaarse vrouwen om het woord van God te delen. Bid voor hen!
BLijf bidden en danken! dank jullie voor julie betrokkenheid. SMS , email stellen we erg op prijs!

groetjes,

Henri en Marjan

Hello from Kosova.

2009-07-25T13:10:00.000+01:00

Hi guys whats up!

here in Peja we are having the time of our life..hard work plus its far to hot to
do anything but still we do it. please keep on praying for us and particulary for the kids.
God Bless
Alberto xx

Eerste week achter de rug!

2009-07-25T09:59:00.003+01:00

Ik heb een computer kunnen scoren, dus kan ik jullie eens bijpraten over het ons hier in Kosovo vergaat. Het HETE Kosovo, welteverstaan, want de temperatuur liep hier elke dag op, en blijft nu hangen op een graadje of 40.

De afgelopen week is behoorlijk vermoeiend geweest voor ons allemaal, we hadden een vol programma en dat hakt er behoorlijk in met deze temperaturen. Maar naast vermoeiend, was het vooral ook erg gaaf om hier weer aan het werk te zijn voor God. Het is erg fijn om te merken dat we echt een bijdrage kunnen leveren hier.

Marjan is de hele week bezig geweest met het invullen en leiden van de kinderclubs en het bezoeken van mensen thuis. De kinderclubs waren een groot succes, er komen veel kinderen op af en de sfeer is erg goed. Ook Jeroen heeft een onvergetelijke bijdrage geleverd aan de kinderclubs met zijn verhaal over de plagen in Egypte, waar hij zijn acteer- en dramakunsten kon laten zien. Schitterend! Bijzonder moment deze week: Enkele teamleden bevonden zich ergens in Peja, ze waren onderweg naar het teamhuis, toen ze opeens een kinderstemmetje hoorden zingen ''Onze Heer is zo groot, zo sterk en zo machtig etc.'' Het was een jongentje, die daar net de hoek om kwam fietsen, en de liedjes aan het zingen was die hij geleerd heeft op de kinderclubs. Leuk toch:)

Ikzelf ben deze week samen met Robby uit Ierland en Lorick (zoon van Gani) bezig geweest met de tienerjongens. We hebben echt een mooie week gehad, hebben veel gevoetbald en lol gemaakt met de jongens hier in de buurt en in het dorpje Cyshk. Daarnaast hebben we echt wat uit kunnen dragen van het evangelie. We hebben deze week het hele verhaal van Jezus met de jongens doorgenomen en het belang van zijn dood en opstanding benadrukt. Ook hebben we met de jongens gepraat over naastenliefde, en hoe dat ook geld voor bijvoorbeeld de Serviers, waar ze zo'n haat tegen koesteren. Verder hebben Robby en ik ook beiden een getuigenis gegeven aan de jongens waarin we verteld hebben wat het voor ons persoonlijk betekend om Christen te zijn.
Het was mooi om te zien dat de tieners echt aandachtig luisterden en respect toonden voor wat we te melden hadden. Laten we bidden dat ze de woorden zullen onthouden, we hebben echt kunnen zaaien en God kan de rest doen!

Ik wil graag enkele bidpunten doorgeven voor de komende week.

- Bid voor energie voor de teamleden die erg vermoeid zijn geraakt. Ook Marjan voelt zich al een paar dagen niet lekker, is erg moe.
- Bid voor de kinder, tiener en vrouwenclubs van de komende week. We gaan aan de slag op een andere lokatie in Peja en we hopen op een goede opkomst.
- We zijn ook praktisch aan het werk, we knappen een school op in Cyshk. Er moet de komende week nog veel werk verzet worden, dus zouden jullie willen bidden voor een goed verloop in de werkzaamheden.
- Tenslotte, bid voor bescherming/veiligheid van de teamleden, met name in het verkeer. Ht is momenteel erg druk in Peja en de wegen zijn ronduit gevaarlijk.

Tot zover, we laten nog wel weer iets van ons horen. We hebben echt veel zin in de komende week, dit weekend kunnen we lekker uitrusten! Marjan zit nu lekker in het zwembad en ik ga eens een lekker broodje scoren ergens.

Tot snel allemaal!

Henri

Kosova...here we come

2009-07-18T15:51:00.005+01:00

Morgen is het zover! Dan vertrekken we weer naar Kosova (met een a aan het eind is albanese spelling), meer specifiek naar Peja. Henri voor de tweede keer, ik voor de vierde keer. De rest van het team, een heel stel Ieren en 1 nederlander, zijn donderdag al in Peja in Kosova aangekomen.

Ik hoop dat onze reis goed mag verlopen en dat het niet te vermoeiend is, want maandag moeten we meteen al aan de slag. Voor Henri betekent dat vooral veel voetballen en dollen met de jongens en natuurlijk vertellen over God. Zijn plan is om deze weken de focus op Jezus te leggen, te vertellen over wat Hij gedaan heeft en wie Hij is.

Mijn werkzaamheden bestaan uit verhalen vertellen over Gods grote daden (dit jaar gaat het over de tijd van Mozes en hoe God zorgde voor het volk Israel) spelletjes doen met de kids, dansen, zingen en knuffelen. Dat is zo ongeveer wel de hoofdmoot

Als team willen we graag de liefde van God uistralen en overbrengen. Het project heet daarom ook al jaren Liefde in Actie.

Willen jullie voor ons bidden?

- voor een goed reis en genoeg energie om direct aan de slag te gaan.
- voor een goede samenwerking met de mensen die er nu al zijn.
- voor open harten bij de kinderen en volwassenen die naar de clubs komen.
- voor enthousiastme en daadkracht bij de leden van de lokale gemeente in Peja.

Hopelijk hebben we als we in Peja zijn ook snel weer tijd om iets te schrijven. We vinden het ook leuk om iets van de lezers te horen, dus laat een reactie achter of stuur een mail.

groeten, ook namens Henri,

Marjan

Weer thuis... en boekenproject

2008-08-06T14:23:00.002+01:00

Hallo allemaal,
Ik ben weer thuis en aan het genieten van het mooie weer, zo lang het nog kan... Ik kijk terug op een gezegende tijd in Kosova, waarin ik ook dit jaar weer veel geleerd heb en Gods liefde heb gezien. Ik hoop dat jullie willen blijven bidden voor de christenen in Kosova, dat zij mogen vasthouden aan hun geloof en een licht mogen zijn. Dat steeds meer mensen het goede evangelie mogen horen en dat de kerken mogen groeien.
Dit jaar heb ik aandacht gevraagd voor het boekenproject dat in Peja loopt. Kinderen krijgen via dit project de kans om een opleiding te volgen. Via het project worden ze voorzien van schoolboeken die ze anders niet zouden kunnen betalen. Het kost 55 euro om 1 kind een jaar van schoolboeken te voorzien. Door middel van een leen-en-doorgeef systeem is het mogelijk dat deze kosten ze laag zijn.
Op de rekening van ECM is genoeg geld binnengekomen om 17 nieuwe kinderen deel te laten nemen aan dit project. Dank jullie allemaal hartelijk voor jullie gulle giften.
groeten, Marjan

Dutchies are leaving Kosova today....snif

2008-08-04T07:22:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone,

I hope all the members of the ECM-team that left on Friday made it home safely. Of some we've heard they are home safely.

Last weekend we went to Pristian on saturday and spent the day there with the Smolica's. Thank God for all the work that gani and Adile Smolica are doing here and thank God for their children, who are great people and super-translaters (or are going to be ;-)

On sunday we went to church in Peja. Diamant, who helped us with translating had invited a young man from Qyshk, the village we have been working in besides Peja. His name is Fisi. He enjoyed the service and really wanted to come again and bring more people. Thank God for that. Pray God that He will work in this young mans heart and in de village of Qyshk. Pray for Diamant who is a young christian. Pray for strength and growth of faith.

Pray for Thera, Primrose and Dan who work here with children and adults. pray that God lifts them up and strengthens them and taht he will bless the wonderful work they are doing here.

pray for a save journey home for me and Joelle. Pray for the country of Kosova and the christians that live here. pray that more and more people hear and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you.

Kosova last days.....

2008-07-31T15:57:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone,
Our time here is getting to an end. I'm sad allready. Most of the team will leave tomorrow. Joelle and I will be staying for the weekend and daniella will stay for 4 weeks more. It is very hot here now. A lot different than last week. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. We had a great time with 25 villagers from Qyshk and tuesday we had a very succesfull BBQ with the villagers fronm Qyshk and the Roma community together. God is really healing relationships there. The relationship between the ECM-workers and the villagers has also been strengthened because of the time spend up the camp in the mountain. Thank God for that.It rained a lot, so we played a lot of board games and got to know each other better. Some of the teenage girls speak english, so that made communication al lot easier. Thanks for all your prayers. Sorry we couldn't find that much time to write on our blog. Things are good but there is still a lot to pray for. Pray for the young christians in this country. Pray that they will persevere and stay close to God and that tGod will give them christian friends and mentors. pray for the ECM-workers in Peja: Gani and Adile and their children, Primrose and Dan, Thera. Thank God for all that they do here. Today we went to pre-school. It is good to see the children blossom as they are there. They learn how to play and how to just be children. Their home-situations are not the best ones. Pray for these young children, pray that God keeps them save and cares for these boys and their family.
In the previous week we were invited to the wedding of Diamants sister. Diamant is one of our great helpers, who help with translating. It was an experience to witness a wedding in a different culture. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long enough to see his sister coming out. But it was a good time.
Thank God that most of us were in good health. Joalle has been feeling sick for a few days, but she feels so much better now. Thank God. I had some backpain. But that is gone now too.
Sunday was a special service in church. Ricardo, a spanish minister, gave a sermon on forgiveness. It was translated in english and then in ALbanian. it took some time, but it was definetely worth the wait. It was a great message about that forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. it left us all with lots to think and talk about. It is great to be in a church with so many different nationalities and be one in Jesus Christ. Pray for the local church here in Peja. Pray that it may grow and that the churchmembers may build eachother up and show love to their neighbours.
There is so much more to tell, but there's no more time. i have to go....teem-meeting.
Big hug. Marjan

Last team day in Peja

2008-07-31T13:00:00.002+01:00

Today is the last team day in Peja. Tonight a church gathering is planned. Tomorrow most team members will travel home. Apart from the Dutch girls, who will stay with the Dutch (apprentice) missionary Thera until Monday.

The team has been working so hard that they even haven't seen the time to go all the way to the internet cafe and post blogs! Therefore this blog is posted by the Dutch ECM office, who has been updated by text messages.

We appreciate your prayers for
- the team members who are flying home tomorrow
- Marjan and Joelle who are staying for the weekend
- Marjan's back ache
- the goodbye from all the children, that the children will hold on to what they have received from the team, that they will come to know Jesus Christ personally
- the church service, that the church members will stay encouraged and will grow in their relationship with God
- the ECM missionaries Gani and Adile, Dan and Primrose and Thera who are organising for even more teams this summer

Thank you for your prayers and your support!
ECM Netherlands,
Rianne

Hello from Kosova

2008-07-22T16:01:00.001+01:00

It is actually cool in Kosova now! I've never experienced that before. It's always been hot when I was here. But it's good. It has rained. The land really needed that, cause it's been dry for the past weeks. So thank the Lord for the rain. Also thank God that almost the entire team has arrived safely. Today another team member is arriving, Daniela, she's from Romania.

Things have changed in Kosova since I've last been here. There's a lot of building going on. Bussinesses are being founded, there's a lot of activity. Thank God for new opportunities and pray that the poor will benefit as well. I've had a realxed weekend in Pristina with Lorik and Tinka, son and daughter of the pastor, and our translators. It was good to speak to them again and see where they live and to meet some of Tinka's friends. I also met two translators from last year. It was good to see them. Thank God for all young people in Kosova who have given their lives to Him and pray that they will find strength in Him to keep going and face the challenges here everyday, it's so much harder for them to be Christians here than it is for us.

Pray for energy for the clubs that are starting tomorrow. Thank God for the gifts that have been given for the book project. At least nine kids can take part in the projects because of these gifts and maybe more gifts are coming in?? For the dutch readers go to www.ecmnl.nl/kosovo to read about the book project.

Pray for us while we will be going up the mountains this weekend. The plan is to invite villagers from Qyshk (small town near Peja) and people from the Roma community. If both communities will come that would be really great, cause there is still some animosity between the villagers and the Roma. Pray that people from both communities come up with us to the mountains and that it will help the healing of the relationship. Pray for safety in the mountains (and that we won't be cold ;-)

Thank you for praying for us
Marjan

p.s. If any of the Bellymena-team read this: You really made an impression. Come again.

Flying Dutch woman arrived savely!

2008-07-19T12:32:00.002+01:00

Marjan, one of the Dutch team members, just informed me that she has arrived safely in Peja and that everything is fine! The other Dutch girl, Joelle, travels directly from Albania (where she has been over the last couple of weeks) to Kosova.

From the Dutch ECM office: many blessings to the whole team!

Morgen is de dag....Kosova

2008-07-17T20:02:00.004+01:00

Sorry for the English readers... It's in Dutch. I'm too tired to write in English.

Hallo allemaal,
Morgen vlieg ik naar Kosovo. Ik zal heel vroeg Nijmegen verlaten om naar schiphol te gaan. Ik verheug me er erg op om weer in Peja te zijn en iedereen weer terug te zien. De afgelopen dagen hebben verschillende mensen geld overgemaakt voor het boekenproject (zie www.ecmnl.nl/kosovo). Allemaal heel hartelijk bedankt. Met het geld wat nu binnen is kunnen bijna 9 kinderen volgend jaar aan boeken worden geholpen. Het verast mij steeds weer positief hoe gul mensen zijn. Super dat jullie ook dit jaar weer een project willen steunen. Ook als ik al vertrokken ben is het mogelijk om het boekenproject te steunen. Hoe dat kan is ook te vinden op de hierboven genoemde site.
Ik hoop zo te kunnen gaan slapen, zodat ik enigzins uitgerust aan de reis kan beginnen.
Hoop dat jullie ook een geweldige tijd hebben wat jullie ook maar gaan doen.
Groetjes, Marjan

9 days to go! / Nog 9 dagen te gaan!

2008-07-09T15:29:00.002+01:00

As the first team is enjoying their first week in Kosova, and sweating al lot, I'm sure. I'm starting to prepare here in Holland for my weeks in Kosova. I have 9 days to go and I can't wait to go. This year another Dutch girl, Joëlle, will be joining the team. She is now in Albania where she is doing another project she had been involved with for several years. She will be making the trip from Albania to Kosova by bus. Please pray for a safe trip for her, and for me. Pray for the team that is now in Peja. It is very hot. Pray for strength and energy for them and for the children. pray that the people in Peja see God's love through them.
All the best to you all over there in Peja.
Marjan (a.k.a. Margji, thanks to Lucy!)

Kosova Team

2008-07-07T16:48:00.002+01:00

Well, first couple of days here, and after a long twelve hours, we finally arrive in Kosova. As Alison walked through the doors of the airport, thunder rolled ominously!

Saturday
We began with a lot of orientation on Saturday evening, to help us find our feet, and the team are bonding well together.

Sunday
Sunday was spent at Gani's church in the morning and in preparation for Monday's children's clubs on Sunday afternoon. In the evening we had a chance to meet other missionaries in the region, and afterwards a meal in the restaurant "California 2". Some of you might have been there before. So, a good day topped off by a lovely meal

Monday
Well, it's only half way through Monday, but we had a good youth club and children's club. Because the temperature is in the 30s there may not be as many kids, as they are away at the municipal pool. There are about 5 of us away in the mountains doing manual labour at a campsite, unblocking a spring. The rest of us are working with the children

Prayer points
Pray for everyone physically, as the heat is hard for some to deal with, and that everyone will be sensible.
Pray for Caroline especially in the heat

last days & home safe

2008-06-22T12:24:00.002+01:00

This is the last blog from the Albania team as we all arrived home safe last night around 1am! so we are all shattered!

Our last days in Lushnje were great! The Daycare project "Way of Hope" continued well with our numbers rising a little to 9 with one little girl coming back to us.

On Thursday afternoon, however, the team were told that Marika, the 50 yr old lady who was in a wheelchair & had come to most days of the centre, had died very peacefully in her home. This was such a shock to all of us! The pastor spoke with her family & they said they were to grateful for everything we had done for Marika & they were so pleased she had the opportunity to take part in our program. Her sister described how she had been smiling & laughing a lot those past two weeks. For Marika our project gave her a glimpse of a better life as she was often left at home in bed while her sisters went to work. With us Marika took part in the activities she was able to but was also very happy to watch what was going on, she just loved being with people. Marika also came with us on our trip to Appolloni, where her mother came from, and so had a very full & happy two weeks with us! please remember Marika's family in your prayers & thank God for the testimony of this family!

Friday morning in the centre we did something a little different! We began the session with the usual lessons of arts or sports but then after the break we invited all their parents to a graduation type ceremony. At the service we sang some of the songs the young people had been learning & watched a film clip of the past few weeks & saw lots of pictures! It was wonderful watching the young people see themselves & see the joy that brought to their parents. We then awarded each young person a certificate to simply say thank you for taking part & gave each family a photograph of their child taking part in the activities!

After this Mervyn spoke to encourage the Church & the parents to pursue the local government to keep this project up & running in some form or other. Mervyn also pointed out that none of what we achieved in those two weeks could have been done without God's love & support!

The parents then had a chance to tell us what they thought about the project. Three parents shared & we were so encouraged by the kind words they said to us. The surprising thing was, though, that these parents are so passionate about keeping something going, they have seen their children have a better life & seen the improvements in each of them, growning in confidence & learning many new skills, and that is only in a short space of time!

Please pray for guidance for the future of the project, pray the Church in Lushnje will continue on this work, even if only once a month for a start!

Pray the government will see the need their is, not only for a Daycare facility, but for a school for these young people, where they can get the chances in life they
deserve!

finally, thank you for all your support & prayers!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Music, Crafts, Games and ICE CREAM!

2008-06-18T16:26:00.002+01:00

hello from Lushnje!

Today we had our 7 faithful young people @ the Daycare program! We had a great time! Today they learnt to play bowls & some of them are EXCELLENT @ it!

One highlight of the day was @ the end, instead of doing a relaxation time, we took the young people in small groups to go buy ice cream! For many of them it was one of the first times they had been out in the community so it was such a priviledge to do this! The smiles on their faces has made the whole project worthwhile! :) Some of the parents came for a walk with us & they were so happy & proud of their children. One young man, Blerim, brought his mum along today for the first time & when she saw him having so much fun & learning new things she was so proud that she cried! These young people are having the time of their lives!

Please pray something can continue for them here & that God would reveal his plans for this project!

Albanian team update Tues 17th June

2008-06-17T15:52:00.002+01:00

Hello again from Lushnje!

We are able to update the blog more frequently now we are teaching English in the afternoons because in each classroom there is a rather nice computer :)

Today at the Daycare we had approx 7 young people and their families. Today was much more settled & we all felt it went a lot better! The young people are loving the activities, especially bowling, music and making things in art! We are just noticing with so many of them that they are becoming more and more confident about themselves and being in social situations, which is what it is all about!

The team are all still feeling rather tired as we are teaching for approx 4 hrs each, apart from Mervyn who gets to go home @ 3 and sleep! (lucky duck)The teaching is great fun and is a real opportunity to tell a lot of the young people who attend the English school about ourselves and why we are in Albania!

Please continue to pray for us & all the work we are doing. we are very excited about Friday at the Daycare as we hope to present each young person with a certificate or something they can keep to remind them of their time with us & that they completed the 2 week program. We also hope to take them for a walk to a coffee shop or to get some ice cream!

God Bless

16th June update from Lushnje

2008-06-16T14:43:00.002+01:00

Hello again from Lushnje!

Sunday night the team went to Church & Laura & Claire did an excellent job of giving their testimonies! The team also sang a song & Gordy preached! It was a real encouragement to see two of the families from the Daycare project at Church in the evening. Neither had ever been before!

This morning was very difficult for the whole team as there were only 7 at the daycare facility! Because of the small numbers at the very start the young people were all put in the same group for music which although they enjoyed, it was not as good as previous mornings. Because of this change in routine many of the young people felt unsettled & anxious for the rest of the morning resulting in some challenging behaviour. Please pray that our numbers would improve!

This afternoon the team have turned into English teachers in the Victory School! We are mostly in pairs but Mervyn is on his own. Some of our experience of teaching is limited so this is another challenge for us as a team. We are sheduled to teach from Monday - Wednesday 2.00 - 6.00 or 7.00 so pray for ENERGY!!!

Overall, we are all happy & even ate potatoes for lunch (very rare in Albanian culture) :)

Please continue to pray for the Daycare centre, that numbers would pick up, and that we would get fresh inspiration of what to do with them, so them and us don't get bored!

Mir Ditta from Albania! 15th June 08

2008-06-15T15:08:00.002+01:00

hey!

hope everything is good with you all at home!

The team are all doing very well, we're getting sleepy & a bit pink from the Sun but overall everything is good!

On Saturday we took a group of young people, their carers, some volunteers and some teens from the Church to Appolloni. The sun was shining and we had a great time playing frisbee and just taking them for walks. One young guy who has been attending our camp, Egli (15) really loved taking pictures with our cameras so you'll see his handiwork when we get home! It was great taking this group out somewhere as for some of them this is the first time anyone has ever made an effort to take them on a trip! So thanks be to God for providing the opportunity!

On Sunday morning the team travelled to Durres, about an hr from Lushnje, to take part in the Church service there. The team sang a song & Gordy preached. This afternoon we've just been relaxing, enjoying the sun and Laura & Claire have been preparing to give their testimonies in Church tonight at 6.

Please continue to pray for the team & all the work we are doing here!

God Bless

xxxx

Albanian Team Update 13th June 08

2008-06-13T15:24:00.002+01:00

Hello from Albania! Sorry we haven't written every day, we've just been very busy & sleepy!

Over the past number of days numbers at the morning Daycare dropped to between 9 - 12 which, at first, was a real disappointment. The plus side of this is that we have been able to have give one-on-one attention to those who really need it and can benefit from it! The reason a lot of people haven't come back is because they were lead to believe, somehow, that Doctors would be present and would give out medication. So, some were disappointed when they found out this wasn't the case! Helena, Kathryn & Laura have all been VERY busy using their Uni training to talk one-to-one with parents giving them helpful suggestions of massage & other excerises to improve their children's quality of life.

Overall, we are really seeing a difference in the people coming along each day. Our youngest is a little girl named Santi, who is 5 and our oldest is Marika, who is 50! We have split everyone into groups based on their ages & overall ability. One guy in particular, Blerim, is really enjoying the camp & we are seeing just how capable he really is and trying to get his father to encourage him too! The young people & adults constantly have a smile on their faces, which is such a pleasure to watch!

The team have also visited one 18yr old boy with cerebral palsy at his home, as he is bed ridden and was unable to attend the camp. This young boy lives in awful conditions with very dangerous stairs leading up to his house, making mobility impossible.Laura, Helena & Mervyn met with Daniel & his family and again gave them practical tips to benefit & improve his quality of life. They are going back to this family again later in the week so please pray for this.

This evening some of the team are going to meet a lady called Marika (50) who has also been house bound since she was 3. She does get around in a wheelchair sometimes, but it is an awful wheelchair with NO support at all for her head, legs or body. The team are going to her house to teach her family about proper positioning and overall health care for this lady, so again pray that they would take on board what they are being shown.

Thursday afternoon the team were able to get away for a few hours to a town called Kruja, about an hour away from Lushnje, up on the mountains. it was soooooooo beautiful and just a wonderful chance to get a change of scenary and relax for a while.

Tomorrow (SAT) we are hoping to take a group of the young people and their carers to Appolloni, an ancient Greek ruin, so we are looking forward to spending some extra time with them away from the Daycare setting.

Please pray for....
...visiting various families in their homes, that they would understand & use some of the tips being given
...numbers would remain steady at the Daycare
...parents wouldn't be disappointed that no doctors are here
...The meeting between Mervyn & Berti regarding future vision
...team health & energy!

Albanian Team Update - 10th June 08

2008-06-10T14:46:00.002+01:00

Hello from Albania!

We arrived safe and sound on Saturday to good old irish fashioned weather...rain rain rain, so the trip to Lushnje was a little hairy at times :) However, this did give us a chance to catch up on our sleep as the we weren't too hot! (some of the team even complained they were cold!)

Sunday - we spent as a team, getting to know eachother, having a walk in the surrounding area and planning our program for the week before we went to the Way of Peace Church in the evening. At Church the team sang two songs in English for the Church, Helena & Kathryn gave their testimonies and Gordy preached. It is a wonderful experience to hear people sing God's praises in another language! It definitly reminds us that we are part of such a big picture when it comes to Church!

Monday - First thing Monday morning we went to the Way of Peace Church to begin meeting potential candidates for our learning disability project we are running. As a team we were overwhelmed by the amazing response as 25 people registered to attend. On the Monday morning some of the team met with each candidate and his/her carer for an informal interview to see whether they would be right for this pilot project or not. Some of these people had not been out of their homes for a number of years! One highlight of this was seeing a young man's father break down in tears as he was so grateful someone was taking a positive interest in his son! One thing we did notice that we were not fully expecting was the amount of children and teens who turned up for the project but we were not going to send them away so the project is changing slightly to meet their needs. Throughout the interviews we were so sure God's hand is on this project!

Tuesday - Today was the first official day of the project and we had 14 teens, adults and children, a brilliant turn out! Since this was the first day, of course we came up against some challenges, especially a young boy who is a delight but, a chatterbox & tends to disrupt groups. The arts & crafts lesson was also difficult & too structured for some of the little ones, so we learn from our mistakes and will change this for tomorrow! Everything else went well & overall it was an exciting first day!

Please pray for....
...continued good health for the team overall
...that we would make an impact in the lives of the young people, children and adults lives.
...us as we try to communicate & build relationships despite a definite language barrier.

SUMMER 2008

2008-05-20T14:59:00.002+01:00

During June and July approximately 40 people from Northern Ireland will be heading to eastern Europe to help with the long term work of ECM missionaries. To learn more about the teams come along to our Short term Commissioning Service in West Church, Ballymena on June 5th at 8pm.

Slovenia team safely home

2007-08-22T17:06:00.000+01:00

Hi there everyone!
Sorry we were unable to access the blog for our final few days. We arrived back in Belfast International Airport at around 11pm last night and were very pleased to see some family and friends at the airport. We are all safe and well, even though it seemed like a very long day of travelling and waiting around in airports!! I think we are all pretty tired and some poor souls from the team had to work today.

The last few days of the camp were really special and no-one wanted to go home when the camp finished on Sunday...In fact when we arrived at the church where the parents were collecting the children, some of the children were crying because they didn't want camp to be over. Later that evening we were told that some parents were amazed that their kids ran over to them, said a quick hello, and then went straight back to be with the camp leaders.

Many of the parents and children stayed for the church service. The kids sang their camp songs, performed the mime which we had taught them, and told the congregation about their favourite part of camp.

After church, our team and the Slovene leaders went for pizza and chatted about our experiences of the camp. We were so pleased to hear that at least ten children accepted Jesus as their saviour while at the camp, and that Zvonko, Dubravka & Metka (the organisers) thought the camp went extremely well and were very happy with our role in it...in fact they want us back next year!

On Monday we spent most of the day with Sebastian & Gloria, Metka (who is coming to NI in a few weeks time to study at Belfast Bible College for a year), Tina (who had translated for us many of the evening sessions at camp) & Anton (the teenager who took us on the boat trip on our second day in Slovenia). We had really enjoyable day with them, visiting Bled Castle, having Kebabs for lunch while giving them gifts, and then going to Ljubljana for shopping & cinema.

We spent Tuesday morning packing and had time to reflect on what we had experienced together, before heading to Austria for the flight home.

I think it's safe to say that we all had a wonderful experience over the past two weeks and have been so aware of the presence of God...seeing Him work in all sorts of ways. A huge thank you to everyone for praying for us and the work that is continuing to take place in Slovenia. It was a privilege to serve our Lord with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Slovenia and to see the difference Jesus has made in their lives and how His light shines in them and His love overflows from them to others.

We thank God for all He has done and is doing...and to Him be the Glory.

God Bless you all
Love Alice, Daniel, Elise, Heather, Julie, Stephen & Rachel

Greetings from Porec!

2007-08-15T09:44:00.000+01:00

A lot has happened since our last entry...we've been to church and experienced a slovene worship service. Thankfully the preacher spoke in english so we understood that part. Our team shared in the worship by using mime put to the words of the song 'The wonder of the cross' which seemed to be received well. Monday we travelled to Porec in Croatia. Thankfully we seem to have left the rain in Slovenia behind!! The temperature is much warmer here too, though we're not complaining yet! Ourselves and the slovene team are staying with around 60 kids in a youth centre right by the beach. We have a packed schedule this week, getting up at 7.30am and joining the kids for breakfast outside at 8am. Then into very lively worship, memory verse, quiz and story, told by a very familiar looking Elisha complete with handmade beard. Beach time til lunch which is always a popular choice. After lunch its the English and craft slot in which our team is divided up between the two activities. We are responsible for teaching english, so we teach six groups of children who rotate between the two workshops. The craft that we were able to buy, thanks to the financial support of many back home, has been thoroughly enjoyed by the leaders and kids alike. First day of english class was good. We were teaching colours and getting to know the kids, and they were really enthusiastic which was encouraging for us.

The kids are really great, so loving and crying out for affection. Over half of them do not know Jesus as their saviour yet, so please keep praying that they will understand and receive Him.

Sorry for delay in update. Internet access is limited...but we'll try to keep in touch as much as possible.

Please keep praying for safety for all, unity in the team and God's love to be experienced.
Love and prayers
God Bless
Julie and Elise

2007-08-11T22:07:00.000+01:00

Saturdays update
Yes i know we missed out on friday but we couldnt get access to a computer.Yesterday we had awesome weather and were able to do a scavengers hunt with the teenagers,it went really well and the team were all able to interact ealsily with the slovenia teens. They seemed enthusiastic about speaking English which made it easy. We all then went out for dinner and got an incredible pizza,also it was a good opportunity to get to know the forjans.
Today we went to the capital of Slovenia,Lubijana,in the morning we got shown round by Sebastian.
In the afternoon we went to Glorias parents house were we met the rest of the team for the Croatia camp.We were taken aback at how friendly they were as they showed such a genuine interest in us and were so glad that we had come.
Thanks again for yours prayers,please continue to pray for the weather to be good next week and that everything will go as planned.

Thursday's Slovenia update

2007-08-09T18:35:00.000+01:00

Last night, after a lovely tea, we headed back to our hostel in Bled. We had some free time and managed to suss-out a rather delicious pudding shop, can't have us running low on sugar! We had a team meeting for about an hour, we discussed our thoughts on the day, spent time in prayer and discussed what the Bible has to teach us about teamwork.

Today we felt much more at home, possibly due to the delights of heavy rain most of the day, (and we thought we'd escape that)! We headed to the Forjans around 11 where we planned our day with the kids. Unfortunately due to the weather we couldn't do a scavenger hunt as planned but brainstormed to come up with some fun indoor games. Our afternoon was spent helping the Forjans with a reunion of a past English camp. The kids we met were really friendly and more than willing to engage in English conversation which was very encouraging! It was great to see the good relationships that the Forjans have been able to form with the local kids in such a short time, you can really see God working through them.

We hope to meet with them again tomorrow, hopefully to do more outdoor activities so please pray for good weather and that we will continue to build up friendships with the kids.

Love and God Bless

Alice and Daniel

First two days of our Slovene adventure!

2007-08-08T14:46:00.000+01:00

Well here we are in (partially) sunny Slovenia! Yesterday was our day of travel and all went perfectly smoothly, thankfully, without delays or problems! (Apart of course from some slight turbulence and a thunder and lightning storm upon arrival - what they say about the Irish bringing the weather with them really must be true!)

The Forjans collected us at the airport and gave us a really warm and friendly welcome to their country. We travelled up through the Austrian mountains in minibus and crossed into Slovenia in roughly an hour. Sebastian and Glorija brought us to the flat and made us feel right at home, we had dinner and chatted together about how God is using them in Slovenia. After having our tummies filled, we left for our youth hostel with Sebastian. We got our rooms sorted, unpacked and went on the hunt for some water feeling a bit dehydrated after our day travelling. Before bedtime we all met up to discuss how we were feeling now we had arrived, discussed our fears and concerns and prayed we would be useful in our work. We felt it important to thank God for guiding us and watching over us in our travels.

DAY TWO-
After a good sleep we woke at around eight and went for breakfast together at around 8.45. We then had some free time to explore the area. We walked for around five minutes and there we were- right at Lake Bled. We were immediately amazed at just how beautiful and tranquil it was. At 11 we met the Forjans and went on an hour long walk in the beautiful sunshine around the lake. Their friends have little boats at the lake edge and were kind enough to take us across to the island in the middle, so we clambered onboard (some of us more gracefully than others!) and climbed the 99 steps to the top where there was a little church and beautiful views.
Once back from the island we all had lunch together and the boys went swimming or rather jumping into the lake whilst the girls went for coffee or sat by the waters edge. Having time to talk to Glorija about her life and work in this country was a really worthwhile experience and it was good to spend some time chatting and having fun together. It is amazing to hear about the struggles of many people in Slovenia who become Christians as many come from Catholic or aethiest families who see Christianity as something bad or evil.

We then packed up our things and headed back to the Forjans where we write this blog! We are having dinner soon and look forward to beginning our work with the children tomorrow.
We really appreciate your prayers both for us and the people of Slovenia.
God Bless,
Elise and Alice x

"I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing." John 15 v 5

WELCOME TO SLOVENIA!!!

2007-08-01T13:52:00.002+01:00

One team returns just as another heads out. Check back regularly for news and prayer updates from the Portrush Presbyterian team who leave for Slovenia in the next few days. They will be working alongside the Forjans during their time there.

Please click on the link *"WELCOME TO SLOVENIA!!!" above for more information.

A safe return!!!

2007-08-01T12:36:00.000+01:00

Well, the bags should be unpacked by now and the euros exchanged for good old sterling. The team to Kosova all safely returned late on the 21st July after a very entertaining taxi journey from Dublin airport all the way to Belfast (UlsterBus need to put on extra coaches!!).

Apologies for the lack of posting and we were shamed by our dutch team mates who at least managed 2 posts. But the busy schedule and less than great internet connection at the internet cafe got in the way. The team was busy, exhausting, tiring, hot, sweaty and hot but awesome!!

Despite the 40 degree heat the kids and teenagers turned out, the boys ended up playing 3 footie matches a day between 9am - 4pm: the precise time you are advised to stay in the shade. But the effort everyone put in was amazing and absolutely worth it.

Having been involved in the teams for the last 4 years it is fantastic to see how God is moving and using even the short term work for His glory. When i first started going out the two communities at Qyshk were very much divided - the villagers and the Romas. Year by year tensions have eased little by little but it was this year that i saw the greatest improvement. At the two teen clubs (one for girls one for guys) those from the Roma community came over and joined in with the village teenagers - without any problem or tension. God has answered our prayers in a mighty way. Just 4 years ago we could not run a separate club for the Roma's because of opposition.

Another highlight for me was in the teen guy group. George and the other guys covered the entire Bible in just 7 days, at the end the guys were left in no doubt what our beliefs our and there were tracts and information on the local church available if they wanted to take them (no pressure at all) - everything was taken!! Pray with us now for the young guys who took different pieces of literature.

That's it for Kosova 2007, now time to start planning for next year - roll on Kosova 2008!!!

Henri's update

2007-07-18T07:24:00.000+01:00

This is from Henri, a Dutch team member. He writes in Dutch since that is all he can do in the short time they are able to spend in the internet café. The internet connection is very slow! This is part of the explanation why we haven't read many messages by the team:

Zal het niet te lang maken, want internet is supersloom hier. Ik denk dat ik ook namens Mir en Mar kan zeggen dat het hier helemaal geweldig is! De tijd vliegt en het is heerlijk om hier voor God aan het werk te zijn, hoewel we vooral s' avonds vaak wel uitgeput zijn. De clubs lopen lekker, de banden met de kids en ook de volwassenen in Peja en Qyshk zijn erg goed, we worden erg gewaardereerd, en ook binnen het team is het erg gezellig. Wel even bijzonder om te vermelden is het volgende.We hebben afgelopen vrijdag een bbq gehouden in Qshk, en hebben daar lange tijd staan praten met Haki en Arif, twee volwassen mannen uit het dorp, (waar er nog maar weinig van zijn). Haki nodigde ons daarna uit om de volgende dag met hem en een paar anderen de bergen in te gaan, richting grens met Albanie. Daar was een plek waar veel kosovaren zijn omgebracht en ook liggen begraven. Een grote eer voor ons dat ze ons meevroegen naar die plek. Zeer indruwekkend. Het slagveld, de graven. We zijn zelfs nog een een hike gegaan door de bergen, zelfs tot over de grens met Albanie. Een oudere man die ons zag bij de graven nodigde ons uit om met hem me te gaan verder de bergen in om een aantal belangrijke plekken te bekijken, zoals Servische basissen e.d. Een geweldige dag gehad, samen met die mannen uit Qyshk. We gaan hier ongetwijfeld nog veel meer over vertellen, heb ik nu geen tijd voor. Word hier nu uit het internetcafe gebonjourd. even snel een paar gebedspunten:
- kracht, energie en gezondheid in het hete weer.
- dat we de juiste boodschapo over weten te brengen op de mensen hier, dat God in ze aan het werk mag gaan.
- voor rust in de harten van de mensen hier. We voelen nog veel haat.
- voor het werk van Gani en Adile. (ECM Kosovaars voorgangersechtpaar)

2007-07-15T14:32:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone(especially the Dutchies),

We are doing great up here.The weather is really hot. We're not complaining but fewer kids are coming to clubs when it's this hot, so please pray that it will cool down a little so more kids will come, hopefully.The clubs are going really well.I've also been here last year so I see a lot of familiar faces and the kids have rememberedd me too, I think. Pray that the kids learn from the story we tell. Yesterday I told the illustration of the good samaritan. That that they understood they should be good to their neighbours and pray that they act upon it.Henri and Mirjam are also doing wel. Henri is really loving it to play football (or soccer) everyday. Although it's really hot. He's impressing everyone with his skills. Pray that he and his teammates can really reach the boys with the Word they are bringing. Pray for Mirjam that she can be a good example for the teengirls and pray for creativity to come up with a piece of drama or something else everytime. Pray that the girls understand the message that Mirjam and her teammates are telling them and that it will workin their hearts.Pray for energy for us,because it can be really exhausting to dance and play sports in the sun. Pray that God will fill us with his Spirit and that his love may shine through.It's good to see that the boys from Qyshk and the Roma-community are playing football together. The new generation is getting on with each other. Thank God for that and pray that the adults will also come to respect eachother more.Lots of love from Kosova to everyone in Nijmegen (miss you, GZE-girls), Elst, Enschede (big kiss to my little brother), Delft, Groningen, Waddinxveen, Dokkum, Zwolle, Hoorn (Jannieke, I loved the picture) and wherever in the Netherlands.Thank you for supporting us and praying for us.see you soon hopefully.
love, Marjan

Introducing the team

2007-06-25T12:23:00.000+01:00

Hey everybody,

It’s coming so close now, our trip to Kosova! I’m so happy to join the summer team for the next few weeks!

At first I will tell something about myself. My name is Henri Zwarts, I’m 21 years old and I’m living in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) for all my life. I’m studying there to be a paramedic or to work on development projects, in the local hospitals. In Nijmegen, I’m also member of the local reformed church. I feel very happy in that community.
I have a major hobby, soccer. I like to watch it, like also other kinds of sports, but most of all to play it myself. I’m looking forward to compete with the boys in Kosova :-)

I got to know about the project in Kosova by Marjan (team member last year) and Rianne (team member last year and ECM recruiter in the Netherlands). They showed me pictures from last year, and told me very enthusiastically how cool it was to be involved in this project! I was immediately enthusiastic and asked them if I could join the team next year.

And well, here I am. I’m looking so much forward to meet the other team members from Ireland, the people in Peja, Qyshk and the Roma community and so on.
If it was up to me, I’d catch the plane tomorrow!

Love, Henri

Welcome!!!!

2007-06-05T18:28:00.000+01:00

So this is the world of European Christian Mission short term teams and placements. It is where people out on teams can leave up to date prayer requests and news which those back home can stay in touch with. So please check back regularly for updates . . . .