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 [...]

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 [...]

Extreme Makeover, Albanian style

So we have been slowly making over the Loft!  As you may remember, we started with white walls and empty space. I posted a few of the before pictures below… it is quite a change! It is a process to create a friendly and welcoming space for teens on a tight budget!  Look at some [...]

Signs of life…

Yes we are still here!  After a few days of getting settled, recovering from the outreach and getting back to the world after several days of sketchy internet and then a few of NO internet, we are back among the land of the living.
The outreach was a BIG success!  We know that stories of God’s [...]

Hitting the ground running…. literally

Well we have arrived home now we are off and running!  Beginning today we are hosting a week of sports ministry outreach at the youth center, The Loft!  Nothing like playing sports in the heat when you are still jet-lagged.  :-)  Every night this week from 5-7pm (10am-noon CST) we are playing soccer, volleyball, basketball [...]

Story in Pictures

We are still getting the videos translated from the youth service last week (we have to subtitle them for you since they are in Albanian) but we FINALLY got some pictures so we could share. Our camera died just a couple of hours before the service…. agh! Luckily Jennifer had hers with her [...]

Look what you have done

When our pastor Clark sent us here in 2005 with a blessing from Journey Church to see if God was calling us to Albania, we came with open hearts to see what God was doing.  Missionaries call this a “survey trip.” As we looked around and prayed about if God could use us [...]

To see generations of Albanian Teens…

To see generations of Albanian teens begin an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ that empowers them to worship Him passionately, serve Him eagerly and share Him fearlessly with others.
This is the vision of our Youth ministry at Nxenesit e Jezusit Church (Disciples of Jesus). At our leader meeting in our [...]

Youth Ministry Network Conference

This past weekend I was privileged to speak at the 2nd Albania Youth Ministry Network conference held in Durres.   The focus of this 4 day event was creativity.  (I’ll share more on that another day.)  One of my dreams is to equip and train youth leaders in Albania as part of our vision [...]