C'behet ketu? Mire? – “How is it going? Good?”
The first eight weeks of school here at Lezha Academic Center have come and gone. We have each continued to explore this experience and how we can best meet the needs of the students we are teaching. With all the different variables here the sense of routine is always limited, but as time goes by things seem to be slowing down.
This week of school was taken up by review, exams, and a lot of grading. English Foundations was completed with a final project on a contemporary issue of the students choosing such as poverty, pollution, women’s rights, or human trafficking. Each student had to apply this issue to their personal experience by explaining specific problems associated with the issue and what they could do to make a change through a brief essay, speech, and visual presentation. It was a lot of work and grading, but the students have definitely made progress toward more effective communication. We had a staff workday on Thursday and the day off Friday, which has given us time to finalize grades and plan for the coming quarter. Dini and I also made another trip into Tirana to commandeer some bookshelves for the school, which was nice because it gave us time to talk which has been a rarity with how busy we are.
The biggest change in class schedule will affect me directly. With the completion of my two sections of English Foundations, Mrs. Shahini has decided to continue this into a normal English class. This means that Miss Bontrager will be taking these two sections of students. Miss. Reinhardt will keep her section of students from English Foundations to continue into a more broad Communications class. This means that I will be taking over at least one evening class. I will also be taking on some responsibilities in updating the school website, starting a computer network, and supporting the formation of student clubs. I think I will enjoy the more varied experience and less responsibility in the morning. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to teach and form a relationship with all the students during the first quarter that should allow me to continue interactions with them throughout this second quarter.
One of the highlights of the past few weeks was receiving a shipment of supplies from home brought by Ron and Blanche Nice who were traveling through the area on their way to Montenegro. I am very grateful to them for being willing to take two extra pieces of luggage of supplies for the school and it was nice to fellowship with them briefly during their stop in Lezha. The most important items in this shipment were the converter chords that Miss Bontrager and I have needed to hook our computers to the projectors in our room. I also received a kit that will allow me to mount my projector to the ceiling. This means that soon I will be able to use a projector for classroom instruction and not have to constantly hassle with all the chords. While this should increase the effectiveness of my instruction, it also means extra time spent creating Power Point presentation, which I did not have to worry about before. However, this is an added responsibility I will gladly tackle because I will be able to use these presentations to build my curriculum for teaching in the future. It feels good to know that all my research and hard work planning will likely pay off for me in the future when I do not have to start from scratch.
At the end of last week I was very tired from a few days of work periods for English Foundation final projects. It was crazy trying to correct the work of every student while answering questions and maintaining a sense of classroom management. Many of the students seemed like they required full-time help, so it was difficult to move around and help everyone effectively. After the end of Friday, I was tired of being talked at and feeling constantly pulled from one place to another. I decided that I deserved to relax. In the shipment of supplies my mom had included some pretzels, cheez-its, and trail mix (personal staple snacks of mine not available here). So I grabbed these treats and sat down to finish a movie I had started earlier in the week. Four and a half hours later I had finished the first movie, proceeded to watch two more, and had eaten the majority of my snacks. I then Skyped a friend from and went to bed. That was an example of top-notch relaxation.
Since I discussed snacks, I will move into my food update. The last few weeks have brought no new discoveries in the food department, but I have indulged in some familiar treats with some outside help. In addition to the snacks sent by my mom, which really hit the spot, I also received a care package from my church containing candy corn. I shared some of these candies with the staff explaining and then indulging in this seasonal flavor. I was also the fortunate recipient of some carrot cake made by one of the other missionaries in Lezha, and against my better judgment, I ate all of it in one sitting. Finally, last Saturday night Dini and I stopped by the pizza place looking for the group of gentlemen that had invited me to eat with them earlier. I was disappointed to learn that they were not there and had not met since because they had not caught any fish to eat.
I am still struggling to adapt to having more free time. I feel that I have been able to focus on fulfilling all my school responsibilities, but that is not the only thing I want to accomplish. I am hoping to develop in many areas of my life and I need to find the discipline to forge time for learning guitar, reading, practicing Albanian, and spending time with Jesus. It was easier to distract myself from myself from planning by doing these activities before than it is to block time out of free time now. Time just seems to fly by; I don’t even know what I have done after school, but all of a sudden it is time for bed. I will need to enter into a time of evaluation to decide and commit to things I want to improve on.
Now that I am settling in it is also easier to think about home. I have been reflecting on the nature of some of my relationships that have been formed over the years and how they are changing in this post-college transitional time. This is an important time where I form commitments and habits that will carry me into my adulthood. However, these thoughts can distract from being here. I got an email this past week informing me that Souderton High School was looking for a long-term substitute to teach World History for the remainder of the year. If I was at home, this would have been an ideal situation for me to take advantage of. A great school, my favorite subject, close location, and the position would be perfect to ease me into a full time position. Also, a video game that I have anticipated the release of since last winter came out on Friday, but I will not be able to enjoy this activity with my friends at home. These events have given me new reasons to wish I was home, but I have to continue to trust that this is where I am supposed to be and that God has everything figured out.
The Saturday two weeks ago was full of events. In the afternoon, the two sections of tenth grade students came over to the school to set up for a surprise birthday party for Miss Hedrick. They had made a video thanking her and wishing her a happy birthday. The other teachers and I had figured out a way to get her over to the school and into her room where the video projector was set up. She thought that we were just showing her the video from the students, but when it was over, the students entered the room for a surprise. They had a cake, gifts, and some dancing. After the festivities were over, we prepared for a trip to Tirana that was planned without any awareness from Jessica. We took a van into the city and ate some wannabe McDonalds fast food, which was not as good but satisfactory nonetheless. Then we arrived at the local theater for the main event, an opera show. The show was at times great and at other times slow because it was a sort of competition. Each contestant had to be introduced with the host asking some pointless questions and some of the singers were great while others seem sub-par. All in all, it was nice to get out of Lezha and experience this type of new environment.
Earlier that morning, I woke up early to meet Rafael and Tori for a hike up the local mountain. We walked up past the castle, then took a long road all the way around the backside of the mountain and up a snaking path to the top. After nearly two hours of walking on the beaten path, I suggested that we just walk straight up the slope. My companions declined saying that they thought it would take longer than just using the road. I snickered to myself, then veered off to the right to begin traversing the slope saying, “We shall see.” After a short time I had reached the top and called the others to ask where they were…needless to say they still had a ways to go before reaching the summit. I began to explore the rocks around the sides of the cell phone tower facility that was built at the top. After getting a 360 view of all the surroundings, I joined Tori and Rafael who had signaled they had arrived. After some time eating fruits, looking over the city and ocean beyond, and discussing some local geography we headed back down, this time taking a more direct route for the first leg of the return journey.
Although walking on the path was less exhilarating than scaling the mountain, I really appreciated the journey. The road around the mountain led us to new scenery that I had not seen before. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed exploring more of the environment around us. Life on the mountain is different than in the city. The buildings were simple and all were full of growth. There were grapevines, pomegranates, and olive trees. As we continued to gain elevation the surroundings changed. There were no buildings and no trees, only patches of grass and shrubs where sheep were grazing. This environment reminded me of Israel and caused me to have a period of reminiscing. Rafael had mentioned earlier that one of his favorite stories in the Bible is about David and his small band of warrior who were running from Saul. On the way down, as we scampered down the slope of the mountain, I told him that he could not get much closer to living that story than this. When I suggested we continue directly down the slope, the other two thought it was not a good idea because the landowners may get mad. I responded by suggesting Rafael could where my kaffiya, pick up a stick that could pass for a spear, and then when the landowners began chasing us on the mountain, he would be living the story. We picked a bunch of pomegranates to eat on the way down while enjoying the company, surroundings, and the adventure of the journey.
I enjoyed this excursion so much that I climbed the mountain with one of my students again yesterday morning. We hiked up through a local village until we found a place to get onto the slope of the mountain and proceeded to climb straight up to the top. This trip presented different scenery as we encountered military bunkers, a difficult to navigate forest of head-high shrubs, slops of loose stones, and sheer rock faces. Now I have conquered that mountain in two very different ways, but both trips offered a beautiful day, views of the scenery below, and sheep.
Why do I like climbing mountains and other things? When I am climbing or hiking I often feel at peace. I look around at creation in wonder and know that we are in His hands. I also sense that I am released from much of the temptation and emptiness of the world that surrounds us every day. I realized something when talking with Dini on the way back from Tirana. Some of the closest connections to God have taken place on a mountain. Moses saw God and received the Ten Commandments, the Transfiguration, the Great Commission, when the Spirit of God passed by Elijah on the mountain in the silence, and the holy city of Jerusalem was built on a mountain with the Temple at its highest point. The mountains are referred to the dwelling place of the Lord throughout the Old Testament and Jesus withdraws to the mountains to pray.
If I would answer where do I feel closest to God, I would say in nature, particularly on top of a mountain. Dini described it as escaping a world of sin and rising above it to find God. I like to sense the freedom of leaving the world behind and reaching a height that I noticed in the distance. I do not want to be restricted by what is normal; I want to go where I feel led and forget about the cares of life. It feels great to exert myself in fulfilling a goal; to be thankful that I have the ability to explore and reach the heights that I seek. It is exhilarating to face the presence of fear (Mom, I try to be safe) and put myself out there trusting that I will make it. I don’t expect to come out unscathed; in fact, sometimes it makes the situation feel more raw if I get a couple scratches. I revel in the adventure of exploring and conquering; of pushing myself to reach that great view. I think I have had these types of feelings since I was young, but I had not realized the significance or how much I enjoy these adventures until a couple years ago.
Usually in life I do not find myself climbing mountains. I am more often going about my routine at school, home, or work. But when I step back out into the wild, that feeling returns and I wonder why it has been so long since the last time I broke free of the world. Now this experience has obvious parallels to life in general and I think this connection is part of the reason why I feel drawn to this adventure. Conquering my surroundings to reach whatever I am aiming for gives me a sense of accomplishment and adventure that one does not find in every day life. Men want adventure. I want to fight for something and overcome whatever gets in my way. But most of the time, I either don’t know what to fight for or I am pulled down by the realities of life. Even if life seems to be full of good things, I can have times where I wonder where the battle is. I want to be a warrior; why am I not fighting? Other times I feel that I have failed or forgotten the adventuresome goal that I had set during a time of inspiration. I lost my driving force and became complacent. However, things are much more simple during an excursion into nature. The goals and the obstacles are right before your eyes. It is easy to see progress and to overcome your surroundings with perseverance. If I decide I want to reach a point on the horizon, I set off and can easily measure my progress by seeing that point get closer.
Real life is more complicated. We are creatures of habit in a fallen world. It is so easy to lose sight of that inspiration that makes you yearn for something outside the ordinary. We want something more and believe there is something more fulfilling than what the world offers. However, we do live in this world; a world where wealth, prestige, lust, suffering, and bitterness are the most common realities. These realities surround us and pull us down into the sticky swamp of communal sin that has grown since the Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. How do we escape this dominating reality? How can I remain focused and empowered to “fight the good fight”? For me the only answer is faith in Jesus Christ. I have consciously followed Him as Lord of my life since I was young, so why do I still struggle with these questions? This is the why it is called a personal faith journey. There are highs and times where I live in close communication with my Savior, but these times are always broken by times of sin and complacency.
While I am not planning on overcoming these obstacles during my time in Albania, I am hoping to learn and mature in my faith. While this year in itself is an adventure, I can feel myself stray at times from being focused on God. When things are difficult and stressful I put my faith in God and depended on Him to get me through. However, as I begin to enter a routine and am growing more comfortable, I do not feel the need to depend on God as much. This is something I feel convicted about because I am here to be God’s hands and feet. How can I serve how He wants me to unless I am constantly in His presence? This mission will not be successful unless it is placed in God’s hands. These are things I will continue to struggle with and seek a solution for throughout life. I believe that the essence of faith in Jesus is that we strive to become as much like Him as we can, despite not being able reach this point. My desire is to continue to strive, rest, and trust so that when I pass from this life I will hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Thank you to all of you who continue to support us and our mission here in Albania. We need prayer particularly as we begin this new quarter with shifting responsibilities and expectations. Pray that each of us would settle into a productive routine that would allows us to make the most out of our time. Most importantly, continue to pray that God would show up in a visible way to these students and that we as staff could be conductors of the love of Christ to everyone we meet.
Live life abundantly.
