The scene has shifted, now long since forgotten is the Tirana café, now instead we inhabit a warm Roman Airbnb that inspires thoughts of a fresh marinara and the Italian vinyl classic: Studio Uno by Mina. Gingerly a butterfly has landed on the windowsill and Jordan Jost wonders at it with a perplexed look as he verifies the quality of the photo he just took of it. The Lord is good indeed.
Flashing back to Vlora, I remember the struggles I faced and the daunting faces they presented when I attempted to overcome them alone. I’m thankful that a friend on my team walked alongside me as we discussed our homesickness and the fantasizing of being home once again and the idol called materialism that it turned into. We spent time together and individually with the Lord just turning our eyes back to the gift that is the present. We were so hung up on getting out of here and we were missing out on what was right in front of us. I’m thankful that this struggle was rather short lived.
I praised the Lord because we had stumbled upon a Baptist church that I was much more familiar with after my time in the church as a youngin’. There we found a Tennessee family preaching and leading worship while the pastor was out of town. They had given their lives to Christ and were on fire. They had also just recently done ministry in Israel which I was very excited to hear as I continue to try and learn modern Hebrew. They were just a warm light for us and we had the wonderful opportunity to be a point of comfort and relaxing social interaction for them. We were Americans who understood things that only Americans understand, and Elijah did an especially great job at showing love to their young son. He passionately engaged with Him in basketball, discussions about Star Wars, and on our last night there, he happily stayed out in the freezing cold to play chess as well.
We also began to interact more with two Mormon sisters that were also stationed there in Vlora. We initially met for a coffee that only discussed the common ground of belief between the two of us but we wanted to dig in a lot deeper and so we offered a trade, if they joined us for a service at the Baptist church we had found, we would happily join them for a tabernacle service. Their service was just testimonies and rather uneventful, but when they joined us, we saw that one of them was continually looking to the other throughout the service as the pastor spoke on the Lord’s grace and the divine revelations given to us by the Holy Spirit. She was checking with her fellow sister as to the veracity of his statements but each one had scripture behind it and her sister just nodded her head that every word was true. After that we didn’t have the opportunity to see them until our last day, on a crepe outing when we met the other two sister missionaries there with the LDS church. We dove into a conversation with them, taking the role of students and after hearing their spiel on what the LDS church is, we set to asking questions about where their beliefs didn’t line up with scripture. I felt a little bad because one of the junior sisters was the only one who spoke while her sisters functioned more as spectators than companions. There were a lot of things that she simply didn’t know the answer to and was quite humble in admitting as much. The crepe meeting ended after a mere 2 and a half hours, on a positive note with promises for more crepe recommendations in Tirana as we prepared to head back.
Our time was coming to an end and it seemed to be coming just as everything was budding and starting to take off in Vlora. In the whole time there the Lord was changing the way I lived in the present and also how I interacted with other men. I have always been in female dominated spaces throughout my life and for that reason, amongst others, I often tend to just bond more easily and create more meaningful relationships with women. In this time I really came to appreciate just having guys there. These were men who were open an vulnerable to the point of tears, there were tears, and while pride reared its ugly head it was being torn down so that all that was left was a pride not in what I had or could do but in God for all that He gave us and does through us. I had men who genuinely cared about me and we didn’t have to worry about this performative aspect that unconsciously accompanies being around women. This was an aspect I did not become aware of until we left our most recent send off and I realized I was exhausted after having transitioned into this performative state. Being back alone with the guys is a breath of fresh air comparable to the feeling of taking out contacts after a long and dry day, or taking off shin guards after an especially sweaty practice. I don’t know what will come next but I know that where I am is a fleeting gift that I want to experience as much as possible of before the next present comes into being.
I just ask that y’all would pray for those who still reside in Vlora. Please pray for the family running the Baptist church, that they would steward and lead their body well. Please pray for the evangelical church, and that construction would be expedient, that the Lord would provide for them, even as they seek to provide for and serve their body. Intercede for the Mormons that we ministered to, that the Lord would cause His truth to take root in their hearts and that He would guide them into what is a true relationship with Him! Would you also please pray and intercede for my fundraising in action and in thought as I try to finish reaching my goal! I’m only $3500 from my total goal so please pray, spread the word, and if you feel so led by the Lord, please donate!
