Albania 2 months on!

I have been in Albania now for nearly 2 months, which is the longest I have spent in any country since I started travelling. I have spent most of my time with Nick and Sar in Elbasan. Frankly, I have been loving it!
Albania is a vibrant place, with a lot of smiles, especially here in Elbasan. The people have been so kind to me, interpreting for me, teaching me Albanian, having coffee with me (this is a very Albanian thing to do, although I admit that I actually drink something other than coffee when I go out). I have had numerous invitations to people's houses, some of them in distant villages. I have not always accepted them because I have had other things to do, and I hope I'm not offending them...
Albanians seem to be generally very affectionate people. For example, the men often walk arm in arm (as do women), or stand with their arm draped over your shoulder. I have experienced this kind of thing from people I've only recently met.
Elbasan is surrounded by mountains, and with the clear skies, it is very beautiful looking out over them. Incidentally, the weather has got much colder over the last three weeks and there is snow on the tops of the mountains now. I have been considering what items to get to keep me warm, especially when I leave Elbasan. Currently I am borrowing one of Joshua's coats (he's 11).
My hair has grown pretty long as it has not been cut now for nearly 11 months. I have tried a couple of times to get it cut in the last few weeks, but I would like a translator to go with me to make sure I get the right thing, and the last couple of times there was some reason why it didn't happen. Because the long hair is also sun bleached, I look clearly un-Albanian! Sometimes when I have walked around town by myself I have had someone try speaking English to me, perhaps practicing the few words they know. I was more surprised the other day when someone spoke to me in quite good English and then told me that he spoke better French, so we had a conversation in that language!
I'm still saying I intend to go on to Macedonia; the weeks have passed quickly and I haven't left yet...
The church here is great. I have been getting involved in all sorts of things, like playing guitar, going on a visit to Paper village, which the church has links with. I have also been reading a book called "Christianity - A Ready Defence" by Josh McDowell. It is great because it looks at the various arguments against Christianity and scrutinises them against the evidence - historical, archaelogical, literary, personal, philosophical etc - and Christianity comes out excellently. I now see how the apostles of Jesus actually pointed to the evidence when they spoke to the people (Acts 1:22, 2:22; 3:16; 4:20 etc). In fact, I believe that those that come up with other theories or who don't believe have simply not looked at the facts. Another book I have been reading is "The Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel which looks at whether current scientific evidence points towards a Creator or away from one, and the conclusion is overwhelmingly that it points towards a Creator. I'd recommend these books to anyone who wanted to know whether Christianity was true or not. And of course, the Bible!

Work in Progress

I am still in Albania and have been in Albania for 5 weeks already. I am enjoying myself and the culture. As time goes on it all seems less unusual and more beautiful. The people have been very kind to me. The Wakeleys are very hospitable, and several of the Albanians from the church have been great with me, taking me under their wing, and showing me around town etc.

The weather here has been very good. Even though it's now November, the weather is still very warm. Last Wednesday it was 21C at 4:30 last Wednesday!

I have been really enjoying the church. The teaching has been great and I feel that I am being spiritually fed. I have also had quite a bit of time to read and study the Bible for myself which has been great. I wanted to learn about healing, especially because I have been around people who have been in need of that. So I prayed and set myself to study this topic. I have found out so much about it that I didn't realise before. For example, Jesus was commisioned to proclaim healing, and a consequence of that was that people were healed of all sorts of things. While I have been here I have seen at least 4 occurrences of instantaneous healing. On one occasion I was with the Wakeleys on a picnic. I had been having a very bad headache for a few hours and it was getting worse, like a migraine, and I was feeling a bit sick and dizzy too. They prayed for me but no apparent improvement at the time. Later I said I was starting to feel better, mainly because I wanted to make a statement of faith. And then I thought, well let's just trust God and I said I am better, and immediately the pressure at the back of my head went.

Another visitor from England is here as well now - Annie from Fareham, who I'd been to Albania with the first time I came. It's good having her around. She was also instantly healed - she'd been feeling quite carsick, but after praying for her and then thanking God for the healing, she immediately felt well again.

I have continued helping with various things in Elbasan. Nick wanted something done on the computer so I have been doing programming for him - it's great being able to use my skills to help out. I have continued with the School of Light. In fact we were on TV the other week, on the news! A local school had donated money and the TV company came to record it. The cameraman was someone I know, so he decided to get some footage of me, clapping my hands to some music!

Some other brief bits of news: Ramadan is going on at the moment, but there are not many signs of islam really. I went to a first birthday party the other week for Jonathan Wakeley. I'm currently at a conference in Tirane from Wednesday to Sunday. And I have finally found a country where there doesn't seem to be any McDonalds!

I've said I will finish things off for Nick, them I will be moving on. Maybe Macedonia next?