Home Sweet Home

So I am back after a fabulous week and a half away! Just thought that I would summarise my trip into a blog - which will be pretty long so be prepared. I had such an amazing time growing in God and working for his glory. I made some awesome friendships with the guys we went in our team and with some of the people I met at the camp. I really cannot even begin to describe the effect it has left on me, but here goes...

DAY ONE

All on the mini bus

Arriving at Gatwick

We got onto a pretty crowded mini bus and made our way to the lovely airport of Gatwick. After loading up the many guitars and other musical items beyond my understanding, trying to get the plastic gun through check in, and having a pretty good meal we got on board the flight that was to take us to this new country. Work or pleasure??? That is a question often asked at the airport. It was a pretty tricky answer for us - on one hand we were working for God, but God's work can be pretty fun to be honest so hmm....

The hot air of Tirana hit us instantly as we got of the flight. We got into an even more crowded (probably illegal in English standards) minibus and drove through the beautiful, warm evening to Elbasan where we would be staying for the next few days.

DAY TWO

Heather & Me

The guys by their poster

Swimming...well

Saturday was a seriously hectic yet fabulous day spent in the city. The girlies on the trip were staying about 10 minutes away from the boys apartment so we walked to theirs for breakfast. We met the lovely Elsa and went with her to Klea radio station where she works with Dave, Lee, Matt and Stuart. The guys performed a really amazing acoustic version of Dave's new song 'The Light'. Lee and I were pretty blown away to be honest! We went to a swimming pool in Elbasan which was like a taste of heaven in the heat. We cooled off, chilled out and sunbathed and then rushed back to the theatre where we started to set up for our first concert. There were quite a few technical problems which was not cool at all but the band were still awesome, the drama was a hit and Lee preached so well. We all decided that the setbacks were just trying to put us off doing God's good works. 

DAY THREE

Leading worship @ Elbasan Church

On the Sunday we went to the Elbasan church where Ethos led worship. I was so moved by the way that we were welcomed into such a different culture. There was something truly special about singing to the same God in two different languages. Lee spoke as well which was really amazing. People came forward for prayer as well which was awesome. Some of the team went to visit a family who we had met Day two in the swimming pool. They were an English missionary family. I stayed at the boys apartment and spent the afternoon chilling out and getting to know some of the guys on the team better. We went out to a restaurant for dinner which was lovely. 

DAY FOUR

Amy, Arselda, Nerila, Paola and Me

The boys

Sam

Zak

On the Monday we travelled to Librazhd, a much smaller town than Elbasan, where we were due to put on another concert. We stopped at a cafe near the edge of the town where we met some of the girls: Paola, Arselda, Brisilda and Nerila. They were really lovely people and we had lunch with them after handing out leaflets about the concert in the town. We were faced with the pretty huge problem that the government was working on electrics therefore the theatre was in pitch black. We had an amazing team time of worship and prayer asking God to help us out and asking for him to basically sort the electrics out for us. Half an hour before the concert was due to start we realised we may have to change our plans. We started planning to do the concert outside instead. Then God came through miraculously - the lights came on 15 minutes before we needed to start the concert!!!!!! Was pretty tight but I feel it bought us all closer and it made us all realise that we definitely couldn't do this without God. The worship was the best I have ever heard the guys play! The drama was a hit again and so was the preach!

DAY FIVE

Pogradec

The Camp

At the lake in Pogradec

Stuart & Liam at the lake

On the Tuesday we travelled to Pogradec. It was soo beautiful!!!!! The scenery in Albania is actually stunning with gorgeous lakes and mountains. We were all pretty relieved at the quality of the facilities! We chilled out with each other in the afternoon, preparing for the start of the conference. We also had a quick trip to the lake which was beautiful. We went out for dinner which was fab. 

DAY SIX

Practising for the conference

Us girlies at the welcome desk

The morning was spent trying to get ready for the conference. People started to arrive. The meeting was absolutely awesome! Liam gave a great 'chains' preach, and the worship was so good!!! We met lots of new people too. The guys said that they felt that this year they had started how they had finished last year, which made us all pretty excited for the end of this conference!! 

DAY SEVEN

By the lake in Macedonia

The tortoise that the boys saved at the border crossing

On our trek to the lake

Day seven was started by a fab morning meeting. The seminars went very well which was a relief. In the free time we decided to travel to Macedonia which is about 20 minutes from Pogradec. We walked for quite a bit after crossing the border (despite Lee's claims that it was only 20 minutes!) The scenery was soooo worth the walk though. The lake was beautiful, although Stuart, Zak and Liam came across a rather large snake. It was such a good afternoon. We got to know some of the girls who we were sharing with a little better and prayed for healing for one of the girls too. After an amazing evening meeting we stayed up pretty late trying to get to know some of the Albanians a little better. The girls from Librazhd taught us some dancing which was rather hilarious and we played volleyball with them as well. Some of the other guys played football with them. It was a great way to get to know people better and we had great fun despite me being embarrassingly bad at volleyball and the dancing!!!!

DAY EIGHT

The evening meeting

The morning meeting and the seminars at the conference went well again. I spent the afternoon with a great girl called Erina. We talked about so many different things to do with Albania, friends, the band, England... It was really lovely and a great bonding session I feel. In the afternoon we decided to go down to the lake. Personally I didn't fancy swimming in the water, despite its beautiful appearance, so decided to go out on a pedalo. Boy was I mistaken thinking I wouldn't get wet going out with the guys!!! Sam and I got rather drenched thanks to Zak and Stuart's diving and bombing. It was great fun though. We had an absolutely mind blowing evening session. The worship was great, we performed the everything drama and Lee did an amazing preach on the holy spirit. Loads of people came forward for prayer! After the everything drama, Lee asked if anyone would like to become a christian. Thanks to God working through that drama - 12 people were saved!!!!! Holy spirit came powerfully that evening!!! 

DAY NINE

Saying goodbye 

Nerila, Stuart, Jona, Arselda & Xhulia

Everybody

Today was the last day in Albania. The morning meeting involved us all praying for the different churches who had attended the conference, including Kerith. It was kind of strange because they were all so grateful and said they felt so blessed to have us there yet we all felt blessed to be there. We had some laughs taking pictures with the people we had met and said goodbye to everyone. Then we started our travels back to Tirana airport. We stopped in Elbasan where we went to the swimming pool again which was soo nice! Then we piled onto the mini bus once again, and made our way through the beautiful country to the capital. We boarded the flight home absolutely shattered, laughing and giggling at the stupidest things and pretty excited about getting home. 

The whole trip was an amazing opportunity and experience that I feel so blessed to have been a part of. I genuinally feel that God worked powerfully in Albania whilst we were out there and know he worked powerfully in the teams hearts too. If there was one thing I could definitely take away from Albania, it would be relationships. I feel I have got to know myself better on the trip, I have built a stronger relationship with God and I have made some great friends because of the trip. I hope we will all stay close as a team because I was so honoured to have been a part of such an amazing group of people.