May 2004 Newsletter: Pogradec, Albania
May began with a visit from Theresa King, a missionary from Durres. She wanted to visit Pogradec before she moved back to the United States. Theresa moved back to America shortly after her trip to Pogradec. She had been in Albania for a year and hopes to return. We had a wonderful time together.
This month Xhumert spent a week and a half in Tirana. He had not been feeling well and wanted see doctors there. Tirana is the capital of Albania and a much larger city so the health services are better. The doctors gave him a clean bill of health and attributed his problems to stress. He is feeling much better.
We are reaching the end of the Basic Course with many of our students. Progress is slow, but we are certain that God will give the increase in His time. Public and Private schools will start their summer vacation in the first days of June so we hope this will bring a flood of new students though our doors.
We apologize for the mix-up in the website information last month. We truly want you to see our students and get to know them a little better. The correct address for our page of Student Profiles is: http://www.oocities.org/weipogradec/student_1.html .
This month also saw the beginning of a Sunday morning Bible class and teen class. We hope that both of these classes will give us opportunities for further outreach. The teen class began to study the Gospel of John. Every Sunday we gather after worship to “have a coffee” in our apartment. This is gives time for us to get to know each other better and create more of a family atmosphere. We have expanded this time into a Bible study this month.
In May, Sokol Troçi became our first student to complete the WEI Advanced course. The WEI Basic Course teaches about the creation of the world, God’s promise to His people from Abraham to his descendants, and the Promise fulfilled. The WEI Advanced Course is concept oriented and teaches about baptism, Christian living, and the Biblical church and its structure.
We have an interesting request. Last month we commented on the poverty of Pogradec. Everyday we pass a woman named Bukuroshe, a divorcee who sells bananas on the street. She lives with her daughter, Magda, in a small apartment on the other side of the city. We had the opportunity to visit Bukuroshe and Magda at home. They are very sweet women, but they are struggling. Magda studied music in university focusing on the flute. She works occasionally teaching piano lessons at a center in town, but it is not a full-time job. The women live on Bukuroshe’s income from the bananas and Magda’s income from lessons. Magda does not have a flute and cannot afford to buy one. This gave us an idea. We wanted to help these women and this is how you can help. If you know anyone with a spare flute (maybe their child was in band, but abandoned it) or someone who would be able to help us with this problem, please put us in contact. We hope to find a flute (of any quality) for Magda to use for teaching students lessons and a good quality flute for performance. We cannot help every family that we come in contact with, but we think this simple gift will improve the quality of life of these women.
You might be asking yourself, why these women. The answer is simple, as a divorced woman in a male dominated society life is simply more difficult than it is for even a widow. Though divorce is becoming more common in Albania a divorced woman is looked down on, even if the divorce was not her fault or her choice. The other part of the answer is this: the women invited us into their home for no reason other than the fact that we have stopped to talk to Bukuroshe. The fact that we have shown respect and kindness prompted them to share their home. They have not asked for the flute, we are asking for them.
The summer break for the Pogradec schools begins this Friday, June 4th, and that means more students who want to be taught using the WEI materials. We already have three new students who will be taking lessons this summer, if you are interested in coming to work here in Pogradec please contact us. We would love to have your help this summer.
Thank you for your continued support of this work through your prayers.
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With Love in Christ,
Xhumert, Kevin and Allison