This was a wonderful and busy month. It began with a week of travel and Bible study. Then, a great meeting and the beginning of our summer campaign. God has been so good to us this month. It was a month of answered prayers.
Trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina:
This trip was planned and unplanned. Allison was fortunate enough to be accepted to participate in a retreat for missionary ladies. The “Come Before Winter” program is a marvelous one that Allison was blessed to be a part of once before. In October of 2002, she took part in a meeting in Florence, Italy. In April, Allison began the process of applying to attend the Come Before Winter that was to be held in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was excited because a group of 12 was planning to go from Albania (Allison, Ellen Walker (Tirana), Ruth Byrne (Fiere), Deborah Stematis (International Bible Institute of Albania), and eight Albanian ladies from Durres and Tirana).
Deborah and Ruth had planned to fly, but the remainder of the group had planned to travel by van. A driver was found, prices were agreed upon, and a travel route was selected. Then the waiting process began; Albanians, you see, must have visas to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The week before they were scheduled to leave things seemed to be falling into place then they fell apart. All the Albanians were denied their visas; this, of course, included the van driver who had been submitted as part of the group.
Flying was out of the question as it would have cost about $600 for the tickets, plus hotels so that Allison and Ellen could arrive on time for the meeting. So, Kevin set about securing all of the papers to take our car outside of Albania. With two trips to the Albanian equivalent of the D.M.V. he acquired a “passport” for our car. A short trip to the insurance agent and we had a month of international insurance as well.
On Sunday June 2, shortly after worship, we left for Tirana. We stayed in Tirana resting and doing last minute odds and ends. Then, at one in the morning, we loaded Ellen’s things in the car and headed off into the night.
The drive was blissfully uneventful, in a good way, and we arrived in Jahoraina at 2:30 in the afternoon, half an hour before Allison and Ellen needed to arrive. Allison and Ellen enjoyed a week of fellowship and Bible study with ladies from all over the world; while Kevin enjoyed exploring Sarajevo, and some quiet time to himself to study and pray.
If you want to know more about our experiences, and believe me there is more to tell, visit our blogs:
Kevin www.kevin-morrill.blogspot.com
Allison www.allison-morrill.blogspot.com
A Wonderful Meeting:
On Saturday June 14, preachers and missionaries from all over Albania came to our home for a meeting. These meetings began about 6 months ago and take place about every two months. We were able to attend the last meeting in Elbasan in April and volunteered to host the next event. We were so happy to have more than 20 visitors: representatives from over five different cities. The theme of the meeting was “What Works in Your City?” Another encouraging aspect was the singing and praying with the brothers who are working for God like us. At the end of the meeting we had a fellowship meal with some of the members of the church in Korca. It was a blessed day.
Visitors:
Ruth and Steve Byrne missionaries in Fier, Albania stayed with us the weekend of June 13-15. It was nice to be able to show them the work, and they were able to stay for worship on Sunday. It was such a blessing to have guests.
Eddie Released from Prison:
On June 11, Rosa’s son was released from prison. He has been serving a sentence for a drug related offence. We don’t know all the details and have heard conflicting stories about what exactly transpired, so we are enjoying getting to know Eddie with no expectations. He seems to be very nice, and we look forward to building our relationship with him.
This past Sunday we enjoyed lunch with Eddie and Rosa. It was nice to talk with Eddie and listen to his plans. He hopes to stay in Korca only as long as he has to for his probation then his hope is to live with his uncle in another city, Saranda, to start a new life. Eddie has been open to hearing about God and the Bible and we hope that we can encourage him to attend worship. Rosa said that if he attends she will come too.
Campaign Starts:
There was an overwhelming response this month to our television advertisement for the World English Institute Course. We were getting nervous when there was only one interview the first week but since then we have had interviews every day. It has been great to see the new faces. We are blessed to have two friends from college, Sarah Day and Ginger Hodson, here to work with us. Ginger and Sarah came in the middle of the month and will stay for three weeks. This has been great for our students and for us to have more workers. They have been an encouragement. It is so nice to have the building full with six teachers. There is so much energy. This has also been great because a few of the students come accompanied by parent and grandparents. This gives us a chance to make more contacts with people we do not know. Our Albanian has come in very handy.
Second Sunday Service:
We are trying to be flexible with our work and to listen to the specific needs of the members here. In fact, that was one of the major comments of the preacher’s meeting: don’t plan so much that there is no room for God to work. About a month ago, Ridvan one of the male members, had to take on a second job to make ends meet. This meant that he was going to have to work Sunday mornings. We did not have an evening service on Sunday, but we brought this idea up to him and he really liked it. His only request was that it be in English. So, on Sunday June 22, we began having two services: the morning service in Albanian and the evening in English. The members thought that this might also be a draw to bring some of our students to church for the first time. We will continue to be flexible to see who can come to each service and how that group as a whole can be best served.
Prayer Requests:
Thank you so much for being so diligent about praying for our specific requests. It is humbling to know so many people are praying for us as we serve God here. Our prayer requests for this month are:
Eddie- Pray that he will find a new life away from drugs and will not fall into old habits and that he will continue to be open to God’s word.
Rosa- Pray that she will be supportive of Eddie and that she will open her heart to God’s word.
Summer Campaign- We are being introduced to many students and their parents. Pray that we will have an impact on these new families and that some will want to know more about God.
Language Study- We do not want to seem like a broken record, but the more we know about the Albanian language the more we realize we need to learn. Your prayers have been helping. It is getting easier. We are taking the summer off from formal language study, but we have promised our Albanian teacher that we will write her essays for her to correct while we share coffee. This was the best for our summer schedule.
In His Service,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Newsletter May 2008
Greetings, in the name of Jesus, from the workers and church in Korca, Albania! We are so thankful for your thoughts and prayers. The month of May was long, yet it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Here are just the highlights of our month.
Pogradec:
This certainly cannot qualify as a highlight, but it is a major event. The month of May saw the end of our scheduled teaching time in Pogradec. This is a decision that has come through great wrestling in prayer and many tears on our part.
We did not believe that either Pogradec or Korca was receiving a full portion of our time or abilities, and thus we were not giving the best that we could to God. Based on this we have consolidated or efforts and are now focusing on the work in Korca.
We will be continuing to work with some of our WEI students who live in Pogradec. The plan is for them to work on their own and call us when they either have finished a book or need to have some things explained in more detail. We will then plan a time to meet together so we can help them.
The church in Pogradec plans to continue meeting on a regular basis. They have decided to worship in the building that we were using for WEI lessons at least until the end of this year. We will continue to make visits to Pogradec and meet with the Christians there.
Lee and Artan Visit:
This was a great encouragement to the church as well as the workers here in Korca. Lee Allen, a member of the Maryville Church of Christ, told us he and Artan Xhaferi would visit Korca and that we should “plan a get together”. We set about telling our students and the church that he would visit and that he would like to meet as many of them as possible. We figured on twenty to forty people at the most. Imagine our surprise when between eighty and ninety people arrived to meet Lee and share pizza with us.
Lee addressed the crowd and we made several announcements about worship and WEI classes. In fact, one of the Christians, Alket, made an announcement about worship. This made us feel very good as Alket, though willing to lead singing and help with worship, is generally shy and quiet around large groups.
We want to extend a special thank you to Lee and Artan for their visit and encouragement. We especially want to lift Artan up as he jumped in and helped to ensure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. Without a doubt, he demonstrated his servant nature, and loving heart.
Anniversary of Mira’s Death:
Mira Meminaj was a member of the church here in Korca; she also worked as a translator and WEI teacher with Roger Michale and the Saltsmans. She was an amazing young lady that we had greatly anticipated working with. Tragically, she was accidentally electrocuted as she warmed up dinner at her home just a few months before we moved to Korca. We spend about three hours every Sunday with her mother Rosa, she seems to have taken us on as children and feels that we are a bright spot in her life. Mira did a wonderful job teaching her mother about Jesus, we only pray that she will find the power to act on what she knows to be true.
On Saturday the twenty-fourth of May we observed the one year anniversary of Mira’s death. This entailed making a visit to her mother’s home and sharing some time with her family. On Sunday the twenty-fifth of May there was a memorial meal in Mira’s honor. We sat at the same table with the family, a place of honor that made us feel a little uncomfortable, as we had only met Mira a few times. However, it was a comfort for Rosa to have us close by, and since we know that Mira is in a much better place now we were there mainly for Rosa.
Preparing for Campaign:
We have begun running an advertisement to fill the schedules of the teachers who will be working with us this summer. It is hard to believe that our first teachers will be arriving in just a little more than three days. We are very excited about the coming campaign as are the members of the church here in Korca.
We still have opportunities for those who would like to come and teach with us. If you would like to make a trip to work with us here in Korca and have a more flexible schedule we encourage you to consider coming to work with us in the fall or early spring, traditionally times when airfares tend to be lower. We are open to having fellow workers throughout the year, so if you are interested please let us know and we can begin working together to plan your time here in Korca.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some of our pictures just click on: http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.html
Prayer Requests:
Please keep in your prayers:
1. Our continued growth in the Albanian language. We will be continuing with our teacher indefinitely, though we are cutting back to three lessons a week for the summer.
2. Growth for the church, both spiritual and numerical.
3. Safe travel for all who will be coming to visit and work with us here in Korca this summer.
4. An Albanian minister to work with us here in Korca.
We thank you again for your support. It is comforting to know that you have read this letter and spent just a small part of your day thinking about us. We pray that you have been encouraged by what the Lord is doing through our hands in Korca.
In His Service,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Pogradec:
This certainly cannot qualify as a highlight, but it is a major event. The month of May saw the end of our scheduled teaching time in Pogradec. This is a decision that has come through great wrestling in prayer and many tears on our part.
We did not believe that either Pogradec or Korca was receiving a full portion of our time or abilities, and thus we were not giving the best that we could to God. Based on this we have consolidated or efforts and are now focusing on the work in Korca.
We will be continuing to work with some of our WEI students who live in Pogradec. The plan is for them to work on their own and call us when they either have finished a book or need to have some things explained in more detail. We will then plan a time to meet together so we can help them.
The church in Pogradec plans to continue meeting on a regular basis. They have decided to worship in the building that we were using for WEI lessons at least until the end of this year. We will continue to make visits to Pogradec and meet with the Christians there.
Lee and Artan Visit:
This was a great encouragement to the church as well as the workers here in Korca. Lee Allen, a member of the Maryville Church of Christ, told us he and Artan Xhaferi would visit Korca and that we should “plan a get together”. We set about telling our students and the church that he would visit and that he would like to meet as many of them as possible. We figured on twenty to forty people at the most. Imagine our surprise when between eighty and ninety people arrived to meet Lee and share pizza with us.
Lee addressed the crowd and we made several announcements about worship and WEI classes. In fact, one of the Christians, Alket, made an announcement about worship. This made us feel very good as Alket, though willing to lead singing and help with worship, is generally shy and quiet around large groups.
We want to extend a special thank you to Lee and Artan for their visit and encouragement. We especially want to lift Artan up as he jumped in and helped to ensure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. Without a doubt, he demonstrated his servant nature, and loving heart.
Anniversary of Mira’s Death:
Mira Meminaj was a member of the church here in Korca; she also worked as a translator and WEI teacher with Roger Michale and the Saltsmans. She was an amazing young lady that we had greatly anticipated working with. Tragically, she was accidentally electrocuted as she warmed up dinner at her home just a few months before we moved to Korca. We spend about three hours every Sunday with her mother Rosa, she seems to have taken us on as children and feels that we are a bright spot in her life. Mira did a wonderful job teaching her mother about Jesus, we only pray that she will find the power to act on what she knows to be true.
On Saturday the twenty-fourth of May we observed the one year anniversary of Mira’s death. This entailed making a visit to her mother’s home and sharing some time with her family. On Sunday the twenty-fifth of May there was a memorial meal in Mira’s honor. We sat at the same table with the family, a place of honor that made us feel a little uncomfortable, as we had only met Mira a few times. However, it was a comfort for Rosa to have us close by, and since we know that Mira is in a much better place now we were there mainly for Rosa.
Preparing for Campaign:
We have begun running an advertisement to fill the schedules of the teachers who will be working with us this summer. It is hard to believe that our first teachers will be arriving in just a little more than three days. We are very excited about the coming campaign as are the members of the church here in Korca.
We still have opportunities for those who would like to come and teach with us. If you would like to make a trip to work with us here in Korca and have a more flexible schedule we encourage you to consider coming to work with us in the fall or early spring, traditionally times when airfares tend to be lower. We are open to having fellow workers throughout the year, so if you are interested please let us know and we can begin working together to plan your time here in Korca.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some of our pictures just click on: http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.html
Prayer Requests:
Please keep in your prayers:
1. Our continued growth in the Albanian language. We will be continuing with our teacher indefinitely, though we are cutting back to three lessons a week for the summer.
2. Growth for the church, both spiritual and numerical.
3. Safe travel for all who will be coming to visit and work with us here in Korca this summer.
4. An Albanian minister to work with us here in Korca.
We thank you again for your support. It is comforting to know that you have read this letter and spent just a small part of your day thinking about us. We pray that you have been encouraged by what the Lord is doing through our hands in Korca.
In His Service,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Newsletter April 2008
Summer Campaign:
We will be having a campaign this summer, and we still have many open weeks. If you are interested in working with us this summer, we would love for you to come. If you are interested please reply to this e-mail and we will be more than happy to give you information or answer any questions. If this summer is not an option please think about the summer of 2009.
Aurora Attended Worship:
We were so excited to have Aurora (Kevin’s WEI student who was baptized in February) in worship this month. She did not go home for one weekend, so she was able to attend worship. She loved it and wanted to make it a habit when she is in college next year. She hopes to “win university” in Tirana the capital and we promised to attend with her, if this happens, and introduce her to the Christians there. The amazing thing is that there are churches in all of the cities where she may go as a student. Please continue to pray for her as she grows in her faith.
Kid’s Class:
This month we had many more kids attending Sunday morning bible class. During the winter, we had about four children, but on the second weekend in April we had fourteen. This was a real encouragement. On the next weekend we were down to eight, but this is still a doubling of our numbers. This core group seems a though they will continue coming. Most of the kids are from the neighborhood or are relatives of our landlord, but some of them attend beginner’s classes for WEI. We hope that this is a sign of larger numbers for the summer. We were also blessed with another translator for this class. We can speak to adults Albanian, but with children, we use a translator. Adults can understand and correct our mistakes, but because children are learning the language themselves, they cannot understand us as easily. The interesting thing is that both of Allison's translators are Muslim. We hope they are learning along with the children.
Trip to Greece:
This month we visited Greece with Roger Michael. Roger treated us to two nights in a hotel in Kastoria, Greece. This is a small city close to the boarder of Albania. We were very blessed to have a couple of nights in this city. Kevin was able to find shoes (It is hard to find his size in Albania), and we also found corn syrup something else that is not used in Albania. The city reminded us of Albania and Macedonia. It has a lake and lots of walking paths. It was peaceful because we were not in tourist season. Allison looked for a new winter coat, but has some “sticker shock” when the coat she tried on was about 1000 dollars. Needless to say, we did not find a coat. This city is known worldwide for furs and leather jackets and there was nothing like a Wal-mart or a Kohl’s. We have heard for furs it is really cheap, but far outside our price range.
Youth Day:
The National Youth Day was April 26 in Tirana, Albania. We went with a group of 16 teens from Pogradec and Korca. It was a blessed but very tiring day. The “teens” ranged in age from 22 to 11. We are practicing being flexible because some of the teens have never learned about deadlines and sign up sheets. We thought that it would be a good introduction to the church for the teens and a way to peak interest in a youth class we hope to start this summer. Kevin drove seven of the teens, 6 coming from Pogradec, in our car and Allison rode in a van we rented with the rest of the crew. We are learning how to organize vans and did not pay any above the normal fare for the trip. This was a real outreach opportunity. The teens from Pogradec were children of Christians there and cousins, none of these teen attend on a regular basis, and some not at all. We wanted to show them that there are kids there age who believe. Out of the group from Korca, none of the teens is a Christian yet. Only Ola, a Muslim high school student who helps translate for kids class, attends church regularly.
Easter:
There is a challenge in Albania to decide how and when to observe Easter. This year Catholic Easter was at the end of March and Orthodox Easter was on April 27. We decided to observe this holiday this year on April 27 because on this date most of the people of Korca were thinking about Jesus.
We remember Jesus’ death and resurrection every Sunday with the Lord’s Supper, but we wanted to recognize the celebration with the people of the city and welcome our visitors, so we had a small party after worship. We had visitors from the church in Athens. Sonila Leka, wife of Beni Leka, and their son were able to attend on Sunday. Kozeta was also here because she was back from Tirana for the weekend. One of the teens Armando, who attends the kids class, also stayed for worship which was encouraging. We had 13 in attendance, and it was a lot of fun to have that many voices singing and praising God.
Songbook:
Our long awaited songbook is finally finished. This is a combination book that has songs from Korca, Durres, and Tirana. It was a lot of work because Kevin had to re-type the songs from the Korca book in order to bring these books together. We are so happy to have all of these songs in one place.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some of our April pictures just click on: http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.html
Prayer Requests:
This has been a blessed month and we are certain that is because of your continued prayers for our work. Thank you so much.
-We ask that you keep our Albanian language study in your prayers. Our teacher wanted to teach us for about another month or so. She wants us to get through the second grade. We hope to encourage her to continue, but she is really busy. It does seem like we are taking one step forward and two steps back sometimes, but we know we are improving.
-Please pray that we will have an impact on the community and see ways we can help.
-Pray for Rosa and the church on May 24th because that is the one year anniversary of Mira’s death.
In Christ,Kevin and Allison Morrill
We will be having a campaign this summer, and we still have many open weeks. If you are interested in working with us this summer, we would love for you to come. If you are interested please reply to this e-mail and we will be more than happy to give you information or answer any questions. If this summer is not an option please think about the summer of 2009.
Aurora Attended Worship:
We were so excited to have Aurora (Kevin’s WEI student who was baptized in February) in worship this month. She did not go home for one weekend, so she was able to attend worship. She loved it and wanted to make it a habit when she is in college next year. She hopes to “win university” in Tirana the capital and we promised to attend with her, if this happens, and introduce her to the Christians there. The amazing thing is that there are churches in all of the cities where she may go as a student. Please continue to pray for her as she grows in her faith.
Kid’s Class:
This month we had many more kids attending Sunday morning bible class. During the winter, we had about four children, but on the second weekend in April we had fourteen. This was a real encouragement. On the next weekend we were down to eight, but this is still a doubling of our numbers. This core group seems a though they will continue coming. Most of the kids are from the neighborhood or are relatives of our landlord, but some of them attend beginner’s classes for WEI. We hope that this is a sign of larger numbers for the summer. We were also blessed with another translator for this class. We can speak to adults Albanian, but with children, we use a translator. Adults can understand and correct our mistakes, but because children are learning the language themselves, they cannot understand us as easily. The interesting thing is that both of Allison's translators are Muslim. We hope they are learning along with the children.
Trip to Greece:
This month we visited Greece with Roger Michael. Roger treated us to two nights in a hotel in Kastoria, Greece. This is a small city close to the boarder of Albania. We were very blessed to have a couple of nights in this city. Kevin was able to find shoes (It is hard to find his size in Albania), and we also found corn syrup something else that is not used in Albania. The city reminded us of Albania and Macedonia. It has a lake and lots of walking paths. It was peaceful because we were not in tourist season. Allison looked for a new winter coat, but has some “sticker shock” when the coat she tried on was about 1000 dollars. Needless to say, we did not find a coat. This city is known worldwide for furs and leather jackets and there was nothing like a Wal-mart or a Kohl’s. We have heard for furs it is really cheap, but far outside our price range.
Youth Day:
The National Youth Day was April 26 in Tirana, Albania. We went with a group of 16 teens from Pogradec and Korca. It was a blessed but very tiring day. The “teens” ranged in age from 22 to 11. We are practicing being flexible because some of the teens have never learned about deadlines and sign up sheets. We thought that it would be a good introduction to the church for the teens and a way to peak interest in a youth class we hope to start this summer. Kevin drove seven of the teens, 6 coming from Pogradec, in our car and Allison rode in a van we rented with the rest of the crew. We are learning how to organize vans and did not pay any above the normal fare for the trip. This was a real outreach opportunity. The teens from Pogradec were children of Christians there and cousins, none of these teen attend on a regular basis, and some not at all. We wanted to show them that there are kids there age who believe. Out of the group from Korca, none of the teens is a Christian yet. Only Ola, a Muslim high school student who helps translate for kids class, attends church regularly.
Easter:
There is a challenge in Albania to decide how and when to observe Easter. This year Catholic Easter was at the end of March and Orthodox Easter was on April 27. We decided to observe this holiday this year on April 27 because on this date most of the people of Korca were thinking about Jesus.
We remember Jesus’ death and resurrection every Sunday with the Lord’s Supper, but we wanted to recognize the celebration with the people of the city and welcome our visitors, so we had a small party after worship. We had visitors from the church in Athens. Sonila Leka, wife of Beni Leka, and their son were able to attend on Sunday. Kozeta was also here because she was back from Tirana for the weekend. One of the teens Armando, who attends the kids class, also stayed for worship which was encouraging. We had 13 in attendance, and it was a lot of fun to have that many voices singing and praising God.
Songbook:
Our long awaited songbook is finally finished. This is a combination book that has songs from Korca, Durres, and Tirana. It was a lot of work because Kevin had to re-type the songs from the Korca book in order to bring these books together. We are so happy to have all of these songs in one place.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some of our April pictures just click on: http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.html
Prayer Requests:
This has been a blessed month and we are certain that is because of your continued prayers for our work. Thank you so much.
-We ask that you keep our Albanian language study in your prayers. Our teacher wanted to teach us for about another month or so. She wants us to get through the second grade. We hope to encourage her to continue, but she is really busy. It does seem like we are taking one step forward and two steps back sometimes, but we know we are improving.
-Please pray that we will have an impact on the community and see ways we can help.
-Pray for Rosa and the church on May 24th because that is the one year anniversary of Mira’s death.
In Christ,Kevin and Allison Morrill
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