Straight Rows

Card Making

2009-12-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

When the Vermont/Texas team came to Albania a few weeks ago, one of the projects that was initiated was teaching several of the young ladies how to make greeting cards. Now the ladies are busy making cards for the Christmas and New Year's season. I believe they are trying to fill orders for over 200 cards. You can see some of their samples in the photos.

Flag Day

2009-11-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

There's two things a successful photographer should never do: try to duplicate Iwo Jima and have your subjects turn their backs to the camera. I think in this case we'll be given latitude for both.

I'm helping raise the flag for the Darshen school. This flag is representative of the relationship between the school and America. It is a gift from Jake who lives in Texas, and as the saying goes, "Everything's bigger in Texas." At the school they call him Big Jake, which I think is appropriate because of the big-ness of his heart.

The flag originally was to be hung on a standard within the school but because of its size, it now uniquely adorns the south wall of the upper hallway. Every visitor and every student can't miss it. Many thanks to Jake and Renee` for the tangible representation of this relationship.

P.S. The school principal requested an American flag during Jake's last visit. It was my privilege to deliver it. And, by the way, it did not fly over the Alamo.

Pre-Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

By now, most of you have had or will have your big Thanksgiving meal for 2009. Since Albania is several hours ahead of you we have had our quiet Thanksgiving meal in the shadow of highrises on a dark, Tirana night. You probably will be within view of little Pilgrim statues holding their iconic basket of gifts from the fall harvest. The closest proximity to us are candles that we hope we don't have to light because of black out. Notice our 'turkey'. It's a chicken that rests squarely in a tin foil pan, a Kentucky casserole, and dressing made by our African guest are the only three semblences of a traditional feast. I might add there are very few festive moods to our Muslim background, no football games, no parades, no leftovers on Thursday night. Our only revel is in the fact that with little chickens there's little over eating.

From all of us to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving and be mindful of how good the Lord has been to us.

Tiana, David, and Cydil

P.S. It's easy to clean up when you eat the carry-out chicken directly from the pan.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

2009-11-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

A lot of you will be going to Grandma's house this week. You'll get to share in all the goodies: Food, tradition, and family. It's a natural thing to want to be included in holiday family tradition. Grandmas make anything special, especially when families get together.

I've wanted to visit Grandma's house this week in the village of Vlashaj. Flora has garnished respect from me over the years because she lives on the high corner of the village and always monitored traffic, separating dogs from donkeys. She is a grandma, one who has made her family stronger in time of trouble, happier in times of sadness, and wiser when her knowledge guided the family through low spots. She will, without knowing it, stand over her family on this Thanksgiving.

Age has taken its toll. Every day from her little chair by the front gate she would wave or shake her walking stick to let you know that we'd better say "hi" and give her a hug or you would fall under the rain of strong Albanian phrases. Sadly, these days she's been reduced to the back kitchen to sit by the cooking stove and stays warm all day to help with her arthritis and diminished legs. I was brought over to her, she was told who was there to visit her and did the proper response that guests in Albania do, I bowed low, and then promptly gave her a hearty hug. The work that she's done in the village, the commission handed her to steer her family and the guidance that came from a much younger frame allows me to give this lady respect.

"Cheese" It

2009-11-23T07:37:00.001-08:00

Cydil had the opportunity to bring much kaboom, flash and crackle to the village. It reminded everyone of the big explosion. Planters is so thankful to have Cydil's talent on board for a personal photo shoot for many of the inhabitants of the village. Most dressed up in their finest and we haven't seen that many teeth in a long time. We've got one great picture of model, Mandi, being photographed by Cydil being photographed by Mom. The light explosions were simultaneous and it looked like the fourth of July in the end of November in Vlashaj.

Great Week

2009-11-19T03:49:00.000-08:00

Last week Planters hosted a team from Calvary Bible Church from Rutland, Vermont with two members from San Antonio, Texas. What a tremendous week it was. This team had several objectives for their time in Albania. There were special events for the children, women and men, and also several of the ladies spent time training several ladies in the village several crafts to start them on a new cottage business. The team members were Carol and Joyce, Len and Lynne, and Jake and Renee.

Great Time for All

2009-07-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

One of the many hightlights of our time spent in Albania was the night for the ladies reception. I just want to let you SEE some of the events that took place. Also, I just want to say many, many thanks to the special ladies from Florida, Diane, Sue and Candice who spent hours of planning and shared lots of love to make the ladies night such a special event.

Summer Events

2009-06-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

June 11 -18 marked several remarkable events. One of which being, a series of ladies meetings. The ladies team from The Family Church of Gainesville, FL, planned a study of the book of Ruth to share with the women of Vlashi. Through a drama depicting the relationship of Naomi and Ruth and Boaz the story of redemption was illustrated to the village ladies. The response from the women was awesome. It was met with great enthusiasm.

Easter Celebration in Albania capital city of Tirana

2009-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some great pictures of the Easter celebration that was held on Sunday. The evangelical organization sponsored the march with all of the city churches. It is a wonderful display to all of their country to show that Christianity is alive, well, and is here to stay. To put a face or should I say, a thousand faces to the Christian church tells the government that Albania is not only Muslim but Christian as well! Enjoy the story of photos.

It was a village visit day

2009-04-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

Mandi and Xhina go to Darshen on Tuesdays. (FYI--a mountain village about an hours drive east of Tirana) Mandi took some great pictures of their home visit. The pictures speak for themselves. These girls do most of the work for the family since their Dad passed away 3 years ago. They are about 19 years old. In the picture of Migena washing clothes notice the pile of sticks behind her. They will be used to warm the pot for her hot water wash cycle. Mandi's wife, Xhina, is the one with the jacket wrapped around her waist.
Don't you just love the picture of the men playing dominos? Notice their glasses are empty.(for now) By the way, the picture was not taken after working hours....try 11:00 a.m.
The picture of the black pot is just what you think it is. They are making the Albanian adult beverage called raki (rocky).
This village is so authentic. The stone house is how they lived many years ago. Not too many things have changed in this village the last hundred years.

Children's Activities

2009-03-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

We love to see the ministry center just humming with activity. Arjan sent some pictures of the youth during their special celebration on Friday. The girls and guys discipleship groups combined for a social time playing games and just getting together.

Ladies Night

2009-03-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

Friday evening was ladies night in Vlashi. All of the ladies were invited to view the Mary Magdelene movie plus singing and folk dancing. Genti and Shpresa said ladies came for the evening that had never been in the center before. Hearts were encouraged and challenged. May God open these lives that have never understood the message of love for them. Genti and Shpresa were able to also distribute some items from World Vision.

Busy Days

2009-02-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy time for us these past two weeks. David was in Albania with Joe Bachman for the first week of February buying cows for the heifer project for the explosion affected farmers in the village of Gerdec. There will be some pictures of this in the near future.
It has been our treat to have Arjan as our guest. This is his first visit to the States. He has been on a whirlwind trip to FL with us in the past 9 days where we were attending a missions conference. Here are some pictures of our work to present our "Albanian home" for the village day at the conference. It was a great day and we lost count of all of the Turkish coffee that Arjan made for our visitors....way over 100 cups!! Shpresa spent most of her time greeting visitors and also demonstrating Albanian folk dancing.

It's a Beauty Shop!!

2009-01-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

I love the smile that comes to my mind when things happen that are unexpected! Djusha's beauty shop is one of those events. She just opened a week or so ago. Her shop just happens to be in the old house that we got possession of this fall. Our plans were to simply tear the old house down and start making plans for a new community center. This also happens to be where the kindergarten is meeting. It is wonderful that a greater purpose for something that we considered useless can be of service to others that have need. Djusha knows that it is just a temporary location but wanted to use it to get her business established. Djusha learned hair styling from classes in our girls' training center. We are also thrilled that she has realized her need for a savior. This is what it is all about.

Making something useful out of something old

2008-12-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

The property that we recently acquired has some old buildings and mainly an old village house. Our plan will be to someday just remove all the buildings and start a new structure. But in the meanwhile, since the village kindergarten building has not been repaired from the explosion, they asked to relocate in the old house. They are using two rooms in the house. And then, we received another request to use the other two rooms in the house for a hairdressing salon. Djusha, who took hairdressing at the Planters training center, wants to open up her own salon in the village. We can't wait to show you pictures of this new enterprise in the village. It really pleases us to see her desire to use her new skills.

Women's Meeting

2008-12-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

It was a great time getting to share with several of the ladies in the village who recently have accepted Christ. Just to understand and to learn what struggles they are dealing with in their "new life" is so special. They commented that the peace and joy they have experienced in their walk is something they never have had before. I think we could have talked all day if we had the time. The picture doesn't include Noci who left early to take care of her little boy who was at home.

Monday News

2008-12-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a day off for most business and schools. It is a muslim feast day and so we thought it best not to do any home visits when families are getting together for a special day. We took the opportunity to get some more paper work done and meeting with friends for coffee.

Notes of Interest

2008-12-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning during our children's meeting, this little guy, Kevi, came with his homemade bow. Arjan, the leader of Vlashi village, is so great with these little ones. He has been working with Planters for 10 years. This is such a blessing!

We were able to visit Vera in her shop last evening. She loves to have people stop in and just chat with her. She is doing great but like so many of the rest of us would enjoy having business a little bit more healthy. Her shop carries a wide array of merchandise but her main focus is to carry American made products. (don't we all wish that to be the case when we are shopping) Getting the merchandise into her shop is one of her biggest challenges.

Albania at its Finest

2008-12-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

There is seldom a visitor that comes to Albania that doesn't say home visits are the highlight. We just got back to our computer after two days in the village where we were visiting everyone again. We just want to share with you some photos of our hosts. David sure seems to have a way with the "elder" group in the village. The baby, Pamela, was just born in August and was considered to be in danger and was delivered early. She looks and acts very healthy now. Djusha who is in the picture with both of us has just accepted Christ. She has been attending our girls' training center classes. There is more to tell of this story in a later blog post. The rain showers have followed us everywhere since we came. Thankfully, it isn't a bone chillin' rain. In fact, the air is more balmy than not.

Thursday is Kasalle Village Meeting

2008-12-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

We were about to lose heart after working 5 hours and 3 techs to get our internet going. It was a joyous time to see "Google" again. We really don't want to know what happened to the cable line from here to there. It was something like "community sharing" I think.
This morning we had a staff meeting with Genti and Shpresa and then this afternoon we took off for the village with Arjan's team to Kasalle. Today's story was Nicodemus. The children were very attentive listening but what really touched my heart was their singing that rang out from the building. I just stepped out to take a picture of the view from the balcony of the building where we meet. With the background sound of music of "Oh Be Careful Little Ears What you Hear", I couldn't help but reflect of the contrast of worlds as I snapped a picture of a mosque and a Catholic church just within a good throwing distance from us to them. Will these little minds someday be able to understand the meaning of all of this? Just like Nicodemus...hopefully they will ask the question of what it means to be "born again".

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2008-11-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

It is that time again. Tomorrow we will be leaving to return to Albania to mainly get end of the year business done. Sounds like no fun to me. Anyway, we are looking forward to seeing everyone once again. The main thing is to get lots of pictures taken for some new blog posts so that all of you can enjoy the latest news. Next entry will be written from Tirana.

Pastor's Meeting

2008-10-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

This week the Pastor's Alliance of Tirana held their meeting at our center in Vlashi. It was a great opportunity to share our work with a group of leaders in a format that is difficult to just duplicate anytime. They were able to see firsthand what we do in the village.

School Time

2008-10-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

It was just last month that Planters finally got the keys for the newly acquired property that has been in the works for over a year now. The family finished their new home and recently moved and so we have the key to use the property as we need. Little did we realize that the community kindergarten would be interested in using the facility for their classes. They previously have been meeting in our main building but now they can have more space and their "own place". Here are some pictures of the new tables and chairs the children will be using.

Summer Camp

2008-08-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last week there were 6 youth from Vlashi that went to church camp in northern Albania. Genti and Shpresa organized these youth to attend the camp with other members from the church in Tirana plus with some visiting young people from Germany. Here are some pictures that Genti emailed today. Planters had a scholarship program for these youth so they would be able to stay for the week.

Summer Visit

2008-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Diane, from Florida, arrives with luggage missing.
packing gift bags for the home visits

on the village trails going to the home visits

Bukeria wouldn't let us leave without a gift of flowers from her front garden. She had a baby girl two days later.

having a Bible study with Bartha (center)

getting together with the girls from the girls training center

My intentions were to have this news sent while I was in Albania but there was trouble getting reconnected with the internet server. Also, most of my time was spent in the village and there is no internet in the village. I did arrive home in Illinois last night and so today I'm pretending it was last week and this is the news that I would have written then.