A "Simple" Project...

We have officially survived our first week of the “summer project”! True to Albanian form, NOTHING turned out as planned! The original goal….

Along with a group from San Diego, the youth of the Libonik church was going to break into teams and either work at the church building a patio and play area, or, would go to a neighboring village and do evangelistic children’s programs, followed by open air evangelism in the afternoons.

Well….scratch the evangelism and the children’s programs! The patio/play area project demanded MUCH more time and people power than anybody was expecting. Had we been in America, this could have easily been done in two days, but Albanian culture presented many unexpected problems. A week later, and we’re still trying to get the “simple” project finished. Here are some of the building hardships…

- the land that was supposed to be leveled by a tractor, wound up being leveled by hand

- the second shipment of “dirt” turned out to be hard clay mixed with old trash (and the driver DEMANDED payment)

- bags of cement were left out in the rain

- The brand new, hand made, wood cover for the well was vandalized! Sigh….

Through this, we’re learning more about the Albanian culture. Most of the laborers we’ve dealt with (those outside of the church) take very little pride in their work. The first time they do a job, they do it well in order to get hired again, but the work quality quickly goes downhill from here.

Anyways, the project wasn’t really a loss. The youth spent time serving; the team built relationships, and there are the beginnings of an incredibly beautiful patio and play area behind the church! In the end, we all agreed that everything worked out for the best. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that sometimes we make the plans, but the Lord directs the steps. A big thanks to Shadow Mountain Church for providing the means to create this place of fellowship for our church! We’ll post before/after pictures soon!