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Author Archives: jwheelis

Summer Ministry

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We have had a full year of youth ministry!  So many things we need to go back and fill in the pages from 2010-11!  But what are we up to in the summer?  While many ministries of the church gear down in the summer, the youth ministry gears up and goes full steam ahead!  Teens are out for the summer and have LOTS of TIME on their hands. Instead of our weekly Saturday morning meetings, we are meeting in the evenings at 6:00 as is begins to get cooler after the heat of the day.

Mondays- Worship Night

Wednesdays- The Loft Weekly Outreach Program

Fridays- Sports in the Park

Saturdays- Church

Our new Loft space is finally feeling like home after a team from our sending church in Norman, OK was here in May.  Thanks JOURNEY CHURCH for all you do to support youth ministry in Albania!  And special thanks to the team of guys who were here with us for 14 days of outreach, fun, messy games and helping at the Loft!

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A celebration of volunteers

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Our volunteer team at the Loft

Last Monday we had our final monthly meeting with our volunteers at the Loft.  These precious people have dedicated HOURS upon HOURS of time to ministering in the lives of teenagers.  Nothing that is accomplished for the sake of the kingdom could be done with out these people.  Here’s just a short list of what they have been doing at the Loft:

  • leading small groups
  • playing games
  • leading servant team (set up and clean up each week for the Loft meeting)
  • answering questions
  • leading the worship team
  • praying for the Loft
  • training Albanian teens for next year’s worship team
  • meeting with student individually for coffee
  • giving hugs
  • preparing snacks and drinks each week at the Loft
  • taking attendance so we know who is coming and who is missing that we need to follow up with
  • having conversations
  • talking with parents

Egli, Visi, Gretchen, Dovi, Jordon, Andrew,

Helena, Albana and Alicia….

well done, good and faithful servants!  We love you!

God has all the money

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Money…  this is such a tough thing for us to talk about in ministry sometimes.   And yet, really it is all God’s money.  We are just stewards of it, hoping to use it for building His kingdom and bringing Him fame.

We cannot tell you what an amazing journey it has been to live on the gifts given by others to cover our salary.  It has been a time of  learning to lean on Him for our every need.  We have learned a lot about trusting God for His provision.

Over the last four years 90% of our support team has remained the same.   A few have stopped giving for a variety of reasons and others have joined.   That means that of our original 85 financial partners (3 churches and 82 individuals and families) 76 of them are still giving!  That is AMAZING!!  You might be interested to know that our monthly gifts range from $10 to $500 in addition to everything in between.  God uses all those amounts of money to pay our rent, electric bill, car repairs, visa fees, school tuition, food on our table as well as money to help those in need that we meet.

This year we have 2 fund raising goals:

$800 new monthly commitments for the Loft center and Egli’s salary

$500 new monthly commitments for our personal salary

We will be meeting with groups and individuals LIKE YOU to ask for prayer and financial support.  Don’t feel left out if we don’t ask you personally!  If GOD is asking you to partner with us to bring the gospel to Albania you CAN!  If you would like to partner with us financially, you can visit our SUPPORT page and see the ways to give.  If you would like to receive our monthly updates send an email to Robertwheelis@gmail.com

HMA- Home Ministry Assignment

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Yesterday, we wrote about what is a furlough. Our upcoming furlough is called HMA by our sending agency, Frontiers.  We will be leaving the mission field for a period of three months in order to connect with our supporters and partners in ministry, share about ministry with churches and small groups, visit family (including meeting our new niece!), raise additional support for our personal funds and the youth center, and recharge and refresh – physically, spiritually and emotionally.  Our time will also include some health check ups since we don’t have the advanced medical care available to us there that we are blessed to have here in the US.

Some people have said “Wow, I wish I had a three month vacation from my job!”  We can assure you this is not the case!  While we do have a couple  weeks of vacation built into our time, most of our time will be spent working to keep us in Albania!  In order for us to be able to be on the mission field, a large part of our job is fundraising.   We are able to work and minister in Albania as a result of your sacrificial gifts.  We take the responsibility of reporting to you what God is doing with those funds seriously.  Without you, the advance of the gospel would not happen.   Our time will be filled with meetings with current supporters and partners, small groups, speaking engagements, as well as meeting with new friends and connections in order to raise additional support.

Check back tomorrow to read about our support needs and fundraising goals.

What is a furlough?

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If your like us, you may not have heard the word “furlough” many times in your life.   Before we came to the mission field, we did not personally know anyone who was serving in missions overseas long-term.  So we had very little knowledge about many of the ins and outs of being a missionary.

200 years ago, missionaries went to the mission field with their worldly belongings packed in a coffin, knowing that the only time they would return to their homeland would be after their death.  100 years ago, missionaries would return to their home country for a year once every 7-10 years.  The cost and length of time to travel was too great for returning more often than that.

Thankfully, times have changed.  Today, the length and frequency varies among churches, denominations, agencies and missionaries.  Anywhere from every year for a few weeks, every other year for a few months, or even every fourth year for six months to a year.

Even on our team, our team leader has given us the freedom to make a plan that works well for us and helps us remain connected to our support team and family and gives us a chance to recharge emotionally and spiritually.

Our sending agency, Frontiers, calls furlough HMA or Home Ministry Assignment.  Check back tomorrow for more about our HMA this summer!

Opening week at the Loft

Last Saturday we had our fall kick off at the Loft.  We have 11 (ELEVEN) first time visitors!  Yeah!  It was a crowded place.  Can we tell you that nothing worked?  Not the power point, not the videos… it was just one of those weeks where the team felt unprepared and just plain NOT READY!  But guess who showed up?  Yep, God.  Oh, how He does that.  Egli was able to share a simple gospel message in worship and our team was able to connect with all of the new students and begin building relationships!  One of our core values is that “Life change happens best in relationships!” It is getting to be a little crowded don’t you think?  We may need a new space!  Praise GOD!

Large group

Here they are.... all crammed in!

Orb of FUN- Thanks Amy!  We love this game!

Orb of FUN- Thanks Amy! We love this game!

Worship

Worship

Back from Thailand

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Hey there… we are back from Thailand!  Did you know we’d gone?  We went for our agency’s International Conference.  We may not have said the exact location to protect those who are in ministry in other places.  We had an amazing time.  It was good to reconnect with who we are and why we do what we do.  And we were so encouraged to hear stories from all around the world of what God is doing and how He is expanding His kingdom.  We met with three families that we went to candidate school with in Arizona three years ago which was such a joy to reconnect and hear what God is doing in their corner of the world!

So what did we do for a week?  We worshiped, we listened to conference speakers, we prayed for the nations, we talked and talked and talked, we got Thai massages, we rode elephants, went to the zoo, at unhealthy food at places like McDonalds and KFC.  And as Tyler told his grandma, we ate tons of doughnuts.  Which was fine for him as we were talking this week… since he has not an ounce of body fat! But God was so faithful to renew our spirits and minds with passion for HIM and for what we do.  Robert has spent the last week preparing and planning for our Strategy team retreat this weekend as we get ready to kick off a new year of ministry to reach teens in Albania!

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Here are a couple of links to our pictures, posted on Facebook if you have not already seen them!  Check out the vivid and amazing colors!

Chaing Mai Zoo Elephant Rides and Show Orchid Farm

The wonders of a week at camp

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Well with all that has been going on in our world these days you may be wondering if ministry has ground to a halt here in Albania.  The answer is most certainly NOT!  The wonder of training and equipping still works and God is all about HIS business here in Albania.  Last week 11 of our students went to a Christian camp in Erseke.  Those of you who have spent a sweaty, hot, uncomfortable, awesome, amazing, wonderful week with a group of teens at a summer camp anywhere in the world will know how life changing it can be in a student’s walk with the Lord.  But don’t take our word for it! One of our MKs (missionary kid) that Robert has been discipling this last year has started his own blog.

It seemed like I was hitting the whole spectrum [of emotions], but this past week at Erseke I wouldn’t trade for anything. It was through the harder times of this past week that I learned some very valuable lessons. I learned…
-the importance of reconciliation.
-that “love is patient.”
-that God is faithful.
-that life with Jesus is an adventure and a battle.
-that good things aren’t always achieved easily.

There were three guys in my youth group who I really felt like God gave me the chance to reach out to this past week and grow in my relationship with. God provided me with…..read more here!

It has been amazing to see God keep all about His work with out our involvement during this time Robert is healing.  He really doesn’t need us here, he just WANTS us here.  Isn’t that awesome???!!!

The road to Elbasan

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go with Robert to the neighboring town of Elbasan where he was speaking for a gathering of youth workers.   He was asked to share some thoughts and ideas on developing youth ministry to this group of 20, many of whom are volunteers and workers in small towns and villages.  That means that their ministry might look vastly different than ours here in the capitol city, Tirana.

But as I have said before, it is really all about stealing.  We have no great ideas for youth ministry here in Albania.  We just keep taking a little bit here and a little bit there, and we try it out to see if it works for this time, this place and this culture.  Some things hit, and some miss.  But the thing that stays the same is the “transferable principles.”  I don’t know who coined this term but it’s money.  Anyway… here are some photos of our time.  We spent time sharing about vision, mission and strategy and how to discover the principals that transcend to every ministry.   Our language is still not at a place where we can talk in front of a crowd but we were able to have individual time with people for questions.  Time well spent.

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Sajmir did a great job translating!

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It was a sunny but cold day, we wore our coats the whole time!

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The trip was worth it just for the views.  This is the view from top of the mountains on Rruga Elbasanit between the two cities.

HABITS come to Albania

Over the years, we have stolen many good ministry ideas from others.  HABITS is one of the best.  Developed by Doug Fields at Saddleback, HABITS is an acronym we use for steps to growth in our relationship with God.

H- Hang Time

A- Accountability

B- Bible Study

I- Involvement

T- Tithing

S- Scripture Memory

Well now, we are passing the idea on to new generations of teenage believers in Albania.

SHPREHI- is the new word.  It means a skill, developed by practice; a habit.

And look at the cool designs Wopsle did for each step along the way.  We just finished the new HABITS shack for the Loft.

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