november newsletter

In this newsletter I would like to share with you some things that I’ve recently been learning, and been challenged with spiritually. My hope is that you will be challenged to reflect on these things and how they affect your own life so that you would be drawn into a deeper love and passion for Jesus Christ.

I am being challenged to fully depend and believe what God says in the Bible—to hang my very life on it; also to believe that God is truly God, that His ways are far above my ways and that He is far greater than I can perceive or imagine. He wants to work on my behalf and be so much more involved in my life than I can ever imagine and will do so, if I will simply TRUST Him and have FAITH in Him. He doesn’t think or act in the same manner that I do. He is not motivated by selfishness. He is not capricious. I often think my perception of God is colored by my negative experiences with people; thus I wrongly assume that God will act or relate to me in a similar way. However, God can be trusted and what He says in the Bible is to be believed and lived out.

I have also been challenged in the area of giving more of myself, time, and finances to others. I am blessed to see how God has provided for my needs, especially since I began ministering in Albania. Regardless, I am being challenged to give more, and to give not just “within my ability” or to the point where I still have a financial “safety cushion,” but to give whenever there is a need to the point that it causes me to rely fully on God’s provision. It is so easy to give when assured that it will not have a great impact on my financial status, but I must give out of obedience, believing God to provide.

This issue of giving relates directly to my trust in God. Do I trust God to provide for my every need? When I truly believe what God says in the Bible, I can give without reservation because I am confident He will fulfill His word. My desire is to not just say I believe and trust God, but to live in a way that shows that faith and trust that is genuine and strong and that makes a difference in my life and the lives of others.

To explain everything I am learning and to make myself fully understood would take many pages of writing. Here are some of the Bible verses that blessed me; I hope they will bless you also and bring more clarity: Book of Job; Proverbs 3:9-10; Isaiah 29:13-14; Isaiah 55:8-9; Malachi 3:10; Mark 12:41-44; Luke 6:35; Luke 12:22-34; John 10:10; Romans 12:10-12; 2 Cor. 9:6-8; Ephesians 1:15-23; Colossians 4:2; Hebrews 10:23; James 2:8, 5:16.

THE FAST APPROACHING NEW YEAR

This year I have decided to return to the States for the Christmas season. My brother Miles, who many of you know has been stationed in Iraq with the US Army over the past two years, as well as my other brother and his family who live in California, will all be coming to Oregon so we can spend Christmas together as an entire family—this will be a first in a very long time! Although I was home at the end of May to attend Foursquare Convention, I was not able to visit the majority of my friends, family and supporters. I look forward to spending a couple of months visiting you who I haven’t seen in over a year and a half.

While in the States I also plan to raise financial support for my continued service in Albania. Would you consider continuing your support even during the months that I am back in the US? I more or less live on a month-to-month financial basis, so making such a trip, although essential, can be quite difficult.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Muchlove

Sean

british team to erseke - september 2005

On September 12, the U.K. Foursquare National leader, Kenn Baird, along with 5 other men and youth from the church he pastors, came to serve our church in the small town of Erseke. I drove the group of guys down to Erseke and for about one week they served the church and community in many ways. Erseke is a small town with a population of about 5000. Our church there is small in number as well, but its members are extremely loving and very passionate about showing their community and the surrounding villages with the love of Jesus Christ.
I highly anticipated this groups coming to serve the church because prior to this groups arrival, no short-term missions team has come to Albania to specifically serve and work with the church in Erseke. Often when a church is small in number the people can feel inferior to other churches or may often feel like they are overlooked. The team that came from England purposed to bless the people and serve them in anyway possible; I can confidently say they did much more for the church then I think any of us expected. The people of the church were very encouraged that a group of people would come all the way from England and give of their time, money and energy to bless them.
In addition to the various activities the team were involved in, they blessed the church with 2 brand new guitars (one of which the church decided to gift our church in Erseke), overhead projector, printer, and a significant amount of financial support for the pastor, church youth group as well as funds to be used specifically for poor families within the church who are struggling to support themselves. The fact that the team was able to give so much blessed tremendously both the church in Erseke and the team itself. The team comes from an area in England where unemployment is very high and a majority of the people have very low income. Because of this, their church in England does not have a lot of money to spare. The team continually spoke of God's faithfulness to provide more then any of them ever imagined. Through this teams coming, God's blessing and provision was seen in a major way and proclaimed from Hastings, England all the way to Erseke, Albania!
Below you will see some pictures from the time we spent in Erseke as well as some short descriptions of what we were involved in.

PAINTING THE CHURCH BUILDING

This was a great time when both the team and members of the church could work together and be encouraged by one anothers company.

CLEANING AND PAINTING ONE OF THE HOME OF ONE OF THE CITIES POOR FAMILIES
A very special day was spent cleaning and painting one of the poorest families in the town of Erseke. This poor family (a couple and their 15 year old son) lives in undescribably poor condidions. The father, which was not present when we visited, makes about $80 salary per month for the entire family to live on. Both the mother and father are mentally disabled, thus leaving an unhealthy situation for their son to be raised up in. Besides cleaning and painting there house, new kitchen ware was given to the family as well as a new bed and matress for the mother and father. We are working on getting a bicycle for the boy as well as getting him back into school. It was great to see the joy that a simple act of love brought this mother and son while we were there.

VILLAGE EVANGELISM
The church in Erseke for many years has been holding Bible studies and bringing aid to a small villaged called Taq which is located just a few minutes out of town. This particular day the team from England along with members of the church visited many families, delivering books for the children, Bibles for those who wanted them, as well as praying for those who wanted prayer. One girl made the decision to begin living her life for Jesus Christ and many other people heard of Jesus' love for them!

GUITAR LESSONS AND COMPUTER REPAIR/TRAINING
Jason, a very talented guitar player, had the opportunity to spend time teaching one of the boys (Ervin) who is one of the musicians on the churches worship team.
Two other guys from the team helped repair the church computers as well as taught a few computer courses to some of the youth of the community.

TRAINING FOR CHURCH LEADERSHIP
Pastor Kenn has many years of working with and training other pastors. The leadership of the the church had a great time of learning leadership principles from him as well as times of question and answer.



SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICES
For Sunday's church service, the team split up sending 3 of its members to our church in Korce, which is about 1 hour away, where one preached and the other two shared testimonies. The other 3 team members stayed in Erseke and led part of the worship time, shared testimonies and Pastor Kenn spoke for the main message time. It was beautiful to hear worship to the King being sung in two languages simultaneously! Below are some pics from the service in Erseke:

EVENINGS OF FUN AND FRIENDSHIP WITH THE CHURCH MEMBERS
Two very large parts of Albania culture is food and dancing. The team from England on two evenings joined members of the church for full-on Albanian cuisine and cultural dancing. I got my Albanian dance on a little bit as well!

INTERVIEW AT RADIO EMANUEL
As many of you already know, our church in Korce runs a Christian radio station which broadcasts to the entire region of Korce (which includes the town of Erseke) which has an estimated population of about 275,000. The team from england shared their personal testimonies of how they each came to decide to live their lives for Jesus, as well as shared about their time spent in Erseke, and their thoughts about Albania.



VARIOUS PICS FROM ERSEKE

summer camp - august 2005

In August Bledi (works at the Stephen Center, I teach him English, hopefully you remember who he is...) and I cruised down south to join our Tirane church for their youth summer camp. It was Bledi's first time leaving the Tirane region more or less. So brilliant it was to see his reaction to seeing and enjoying a part of his country he had never seen before. Bledi and I spent about 6 days at the 10-day camp. The day after we returned back to Tirane from camp, Bledi told me the entire trip was like a dream for him. I was really stoked to enjoy this experience with him and see him so happy. Bledi has recently made the decision to put his faith in Jesus Christ. This camp was not only lots of fun, but a time that Bledi was introduced to guys his age who also have decided to live their lives for Jesus Christ.

Here are some pics from camp....enjoy!

this is me and some of the boys from our tirane church. good times and laughs are always had.


is a caption needed?


myself, bledi and andi with the other kids from camp on a fishing boat heading to a nearby beach which is home of one of the most beautiful canyons in Albania (in my opinion).


the boat


redi, arti, sean


the canyon - gjipe, albania


bledi and i in the canyon. every time we travel to the canyon in gjipe we make the adventure of climbing up through the canyon.

On our way back from camp, Bledi and I along with two other friends stopped in the outskirts of the city of vlore. We swam at the private beach of the villa of former dictator Enver Hoxha.

bledi with the city of vlore in the background


bledi and i


bledi


bledi, noel, drini and i

summer in albania

I was anticipating a non-stop summer and since I have returned from the USA and that is exactly how it has been. In just over one month we have already had 4 different missions teams visit Albania.

Take a look...

MEDICAL/DENTAL TEAM- FRESNO, USA

The first of those teams was a medical/dental team from Valley Christian Center in Fresno, California. This team came to minister primarily to the handicap community here in Tirane. For approximately a week the dental team worked on teeth and the medical team helped to better equip a local handicapped center with equipment as well as consulted with families and individuals in better assisting handicapped persons in daily living. The medical team also fitted many people with new wheelchairs and other aid. For a couple of days towards the end of their time in Albania, the dental team, lead by Dr. K.O. Crosby, served the people of our church in Sarande. For many years K.O. has been bringing dental teams to work in Sarande. Both teams brought many smiles and much joy to the people they worked with.

YOUTH TEAM- FRESNO, USA

As the medical/dental team was departing, a team of 20 youth from the same church arrived to join our Tirane church youth for a 10 day summer camp. The 20 youth each shared testimonies and/or messages during the various daily meetings as well as helped to lead the times of worship. All the youth enjoyed a great time of fun and frienship.

Today's youth all over the world have so many things vying for their attention, time and energy, not to mention they are living amongst a generation in which it is not popular to be a Christian. We have seen these summer camps to be a time of great encouragement for both the Albananian youth as well as the foreign youth teams that come to join them. It is a time when they are encouraged to press on in their faith and a time when they realize they are all together facing similar temptations and challenges.

In this particular camp alone 15 youth accepted Jesus and 12 of them were baptised.

RADIO SPECIALISTS- N. CALIFORNIA, USA
Almost at the same time that the youth team arrived, a team of radio professionals also arrived to work in our Christian Radio station in the city of Korce. Over a period of 3 weeks this team increased the radio's transmitting strength and built a larger antenna tower which in turn expanded our radio coverage extensively. In addition to these major equipment upgrades, many in-studio upgrades took place as well as various additional training for the radio station staff. The staff of the radio is very eager to learn more as well as see the radio station grow and increase in effectiveness. Times like these when extremely gifted professionals come to invest time, money and their expertise is invaluable to us and the radio.

YOUTH TEAM- GORICHEM, HOLLAND

Just a few days ago another youth team, this time from Holland just finished their 10 day missions trip where they worked with our church in Sarande, the local orphanage there and our gypsy church in Cuka (a village near Sarande). Magdalena (the former missionary/pastor of the Sarande church) and I helped drive and lead this team during their time in the Sarande area. They were involved in helping one particularly poor gypsy family with home repair and the painting of their house as well as money to pay for the memorial of their son who was just murdered. This act of love brought great joy to the family in during this hard time. The team also painted the church building in Cuka, held children's activities and programs and lead the weekly church service there as well. The team lead the church services at the Sarande church as well. They also spent a day at the local orphanage playing games with the children, performing various dramas and puppet shows and singing songs with the children. Probably the most amazing impact the team had was on the gypsy people in Cuka. To have foreigners come from abroad just to spend time with them, play games with their children and help them out where possible, speaks much louder than mere words. Seeing the smiles on the people's faces and seeing how they responded to the team proves the importance of what the team did.


So that is how our summer has been thus far. We have 2 more teams scheduled to come and 1 individual whom will be coming to serve with us for 3 months. In the midst of the various teams, our Albanian churches having different summer activities, mainly summer camps, which are a major way the church reach the youth of their communities.

PRAY
Please continue to PRAY for the upcoming summer activities. PRAY for the strength of those people leading and organizing the various teams and activies. PRAY also for the teams that they would not only be blessed themselves but that God would work through them in a powerful way to bless the Albanian people. PRAY also for all the Albanians who will be involved in these activities or in contact with the teams. PRAY for the existing Christians to have a greater passion and strength to persevere during difficult times spiritually. PRAY also for non-Christians that they will encounter and be open to the life-changing love of Jesus through these various summer activities!

a visit to the USA without seeing the family.... not possible

me, my brother jay with his daughter Anna, and my brother Miles

Prior to convention in Chicago I made a short detour to Oregon to visit the family and friends there. After all, how could I return to the States and not visit the family? Unfortunately time did not allow for me to see all my family (those in California as well as my sister Corrine who was away) but the time I did spend with my family in Oregon was splendid. I had the opportunity to see my niece, Anna, who for whatever reason will not stop growing while I am away. While I was visiting, she began taking her first few steps on her own! I also was blessed to be able to spend a couple days with my brother Miles. Because he is in the military, we thought he would be deployed back to Iraq before I got into Oregon, but thankfully they delayed his departure date and he was able to visit us! It was the first time I had seen him in about 4 or so years, so we most definitely had a great time together.

an unexpected visit to the homeland

During the end of May and first part of June I was blessed to be able to return to the USA. The primary purpose of my trip to the USA was to attend the International Foursquare Convention in the "windy city" otherwise known as Chicago. Foursquare Missions International blessed me and many of the other missionaries from around the globe by paying our way to attend.

The few days prior to the start of Convention, the Foursquare missionaries had meetings together. This was a time for the missionaries to get to know one another as well as to help strategize for the future. It was a pleasure for me to meet many of the missionaries I have never met before and to make new friendships. I was blessed to see several young people like myself joining the mission-field.

Convention was an amazing time of refreshment for me personally. I value the times I can worship in the English language! I also had the privelege of listening to many great speakers and attend valuable worshops. To be quite honest, most the time, from my experience, conventions of the sort are more for visiting the city in which they are held then for the convention itself. That is not the case with this convention. I personally and what appeared to be the vast majority of the attendees had an amazing time of encouragement and worship in the presence of God!

Besides a great convention, rest and visiting the great city of the Chicago, one of the best parts for me was my reunion with old friends. I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with many friends whom I have not seen since I graduated from LIFE Bible College in 2000. It is truly amazing to see the many places in the US and around the world God has taken myself and those friends I went to college with.

I am so thankful I was given this opportunity!

Sofia, Bulgaria

SOME OF OUR ALBANIAN CHURCH LEADERS WITH MAGDALENA WORSHIPPING DURING ONE OF THE CONFERENCE SESSIONS
from left: Bedro - Sarande church leader; Nedo - Sarande church leader; Magdalena - missionary to Albania from Malaysia; Lindita - Erseke church leader; Mariela - Korce church leader.

TOUR OF SOFIA
Chris Dakas (our director), Matt Firman (on a short term missions trip to Albania from the US), myself along with the rest of our group from Albania (mentioned in the picture above) were able to take a day to tour together the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia.

April 7-12, I had the privelage of driving a group of our Albanian church leaders and missionaries to Sofia Bulgaria for our denominations (Foursquare) European conference. There were 8 of us total which included 4 missionaries and 4 Albanian leaders. Unfortunately none of our male leaders were able to attend the conference because of previous committments in their churches and work. Those of us who did attend had a very encouraging and restful trip. Taking our Albanian leaders to such conferences as this is always such a valuable time as they get are encouraged by and worship together with Christians from countries in Europe. For us missionaries it is also a very valuable time as we get to worship in ENGLISH and meet with the other missionaries working throughout Europe as well as church leaders. Not only are great friendship made, but also plans and strategies for helping eachother reach Europe more effectively with the love of Jesus.