Dobro!

Today was another great day. We had the same schedule as yesterday, morning in Konjare and afternoon in Shutka. We have already seen God move in this place. What a blessing to be part of it! There were many more children in English class this morning. Almost all of them were girls. Most of the village boys spend their time playing in the polluted river outside of town. We discussed the roles of men and women in Islam and Dr Shaw suggested that education is one of the only ways for Muslim women to get ahead in life. Many do not have the opportunity. We taught the girls English and they taught us a game. We had sp much fun playing that we missed the time our class was supposed to end. When we went downstairs, everyone we met yesterday was gathered to say goodbye. A woman who was my particular favorite asked me why I did not come to her house today. We joked that I should hide and stay there with her. I almost would. The Albanian people are so easy to love. We have visited them only twice, but my heart stays in Konjare when we go to Shutka. It is difficult to explain what makes them so special. I cant wait to see them Monday. Despite that, the village of Konjare has a lot of battles going on. One of our new friends is a new Christian. He has asked us to teach him Bible lessons. Unfortunately, there are a few radical Muslims in the village who would disrupt those lessons if they heard about them. We have to be discreet. There is also a great deal of spiritual warfare. Many of the villagers are only nominal Muslims, it has no meaning for them. The people are very pragmatic and live their lives doing what works for them. There are some of our new friends who don't think it makes a difference whether you follow God or Allah. Others are willing to accept Christianity, but fail to understand how to accept Christ. Ultimately, the lost need Jesus and the found need discipleship. Even though I love the Albanians, today was our first opportunity to meet the Roma children. That was also a great experience. We were late to the church so there were already kids inside. As soon as we arrived they began to cheer. We split up into groups for games and Bible story. I told the story of creation. There was a lot of noise. Most of the Roma are able to speak Macedonian, so Dr Shaw translated for me. But he does not speak Roma, so sometimes the pastor would translate his Macedonian into Roma. It took three voices to take it, but we were able to bring the word of God to the kids. I really felt God use me today. I know that I would not have done the same quality of story without him. Not gonna lie, I felt a little super hero-ish. Then, something great happened. A few older boys sat in the back with Dr Shaw. In the midst of all the distraction, one of the boys talked with him about becoming a Christian. The boy's parents have just recently come to Christ. We all cheered and told him he was our new brother. It made a perfect and unexpected transition for us to share the gospel, even though we had planned to tell it Tuesday. The whole thing was such a surprise and such an encouragement. I want to sleep so bad. I think I'm not supposed to, because it is 6:00 in the evening. My internal clock is probably going to punch me in the face. These blogs do not come close to doing justice to the things going on. You will just have to keep reading and waiting until I get home. The end!