“Let the little children come to me. For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I tell you anyone who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” then he took the children in his arms; he laid his hands on them and blessed them (Mark 10:13)
It has been a wonderful time in the village of Gorre so far! We arrived in Albania last week and we were greeted warmly by the family and village folks here!
We went to a school in the village on Tuesday and met with the children and youth on their break. They are very friendly and I observed that these children are very intelligent and really embrace education. One little girl had a rather large book under her arm, when I took a closer look it was Anne Franks biography! I was amazed at how well they speak English and have a really good knowledge of what is happening in other nations. This is so challenging, when we think of the West and how easily we can take education for granted.
On Wednesday, the boys played football outside and I hung out with the girls. Little did I realise after opening up the church just how many kids were coming! When I saw the large group I had a moment of doubt…. How will I be able to cope with so many kids at once? I must say that I was totally blown away by the respect these children have for adults and they wanted to learn and join in with things so intently. I taught the older girls a dance and then we sang Christmas songs with the younger girls. I really enjoyed listening to their Albanian songs and it was really delightful to spend time with these dear children.
On Thursday one of our leaders Cinta, shared the video story ‘You are special’ and told them her own testimony. Four of these girls gave their lives to Jesus!
Throughout the week the girls have been coming round to Elmar and Nertilla’s home and we have had the pleasure of spending time with them. On Friday it was my turn to share and at first I was a little nervous as I’m so used to sharing my story with adults, and wasn’t quite sure how to adapt this to children. However, I was reminded of when I was a little girl and a Vicar came to my school and taught us an action song ‘Who’s the King of the Jungle?’ Even tho at that point in my life I didn’t know Jesus, I always remember the loving kindness of that Vicar in my community and the fun we had singing that song.
I taught the children the dance and shared this with them. I felt to encourage them to get to know Jesus while they are young and to tell them about Christmas and how God became the gift for our salvation and lives. I prayed for these sweet girls and then took a cup and passed it around the circle, when it got to each girl they had the opportunity to pray a loud and thank God for at least one thing. To my amazement every single girl took up the challenge and prayed 🙂
This morning at church Kaylee, Cinta, CeCe and I met with the girls and they were very happy. They all did the dance to the rest of the church and we had a wonderful time with them. My prayer for these kids is that they will be encouraged and grow in the love of God. I will always remember how God was pursuing me from a tiny age and I smile as I see how He is using us to share His heart for these precious children!
