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| February 28, 2005 |
February Newsletter 2005
This was an exciting and busy month. We experienced some of the warmest and coldest temperatures of the winter. February was a very good month for new students. Word of mouth is spreading, and we each were able to take on one or more new students this month. The month began with very cold temperatures; since there are no heating systems inside most of the school buildings in Pogradec, many schools shortened their teaching days. When the students were let out early, many of them came to interview for the course. We gave away over twenty Beginner’s English books to one group of 7th grade students. It is our hope that these students will progress through the Beginner’s English books and will be able to study the WEI Bible course afterward. Some other students, that we interviewed, were a little older and knew more English. These students were able to begin studying WEI Bible courses right away.
Xhumert and Irena Nuro received some great news in February. Irena is two months pregnant with their first child. They were able to hear the baby’s heart beat on the ultrasound, which made them both excited. Mother and baby are both in good health. Please pray for Irena’s health during her pregnancy.
The church met this month to discuss the future of the body after the departure of Kevin and Allison in June. Because no one has come forward yet with interest in working in Pogradec on a long-term basis, we wanted to discuss different options. Xhumert has offered to hold worship in his home beginning in September (after the end of the rent contract on our current building). Some other members offered their homes for bible studies and other activities. As the church grows they thought that it would be necessary to rent a place. They do not think that it is the best solution at the current time because it would be difficult to find an appropriate place for one day per week, pay for the rent themselves, and heat this area in the winter months.
In February there were some sad events in Albania. Four young people, all about 13 years old, committed suicide. For a country as small as Albania the deaths of these young people, one from a village of Pogradec, were a really shock. These youths were of different faiths including Jehovah’s Witnesses. In wake of these events, Kevin began a series of lessons on Sunday mornings about different theological issues that Christians in Pogradec have to deal with centering, of course, on truly studying and knowing the word of God. Please pray for the youth of Albania that they may have direction and understanding of God’s will for their lives.
Xhumert continued to lead the Sunday morning Bible class as we study through the book of Matthew. It is exciting to see the Christians participating in this discussion class; the class is taught in Albanian, and most of the discussion is also in Albanian.
We ask that you consider working with us this summer on campaign. There are many students who are excited to continue studying in the summer and others who will want to begin. As we have seen this month there are students who are ready to begin the WEI materials right away if there is someone to teach them. It is also a great blessing to the church here to meet Christians from other congregations. If you are interested reply to this e-mail, and we can give you further information. We also ask that you prayerfully consider living and working in Pogradec on a long-term basis. It has been a great blessing to us.
For those of you who may have had a problem with finding our website, we apologize for the mix up on address. If you would like to see the pictures from January including Irena’s Baptism click on the address:
http://www.geocites.com/weipogradec/index.html
There, on the left-hand side of the screen, you will see a link to “Baptisms and Fellowship” (click there to view the pictures).
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| February 28, 2005 |