MARCH 2006
After an amazing Christmas with my family and lots of traveling, I am now preparing to return to Albania. I would like to share with you where God is leading me in this next season of my service in Albania as well as some of the goals and plans for the future.
My prayer is that you will join me with your prayers and support in this journey of following God as He leads me in a new area of love and service to the Albanian people.
A TIME OF TRANSITION & TRUST
Beginning in March I will be moving from the bustling capital city of Tirane to a small mountain town in Southeastern Albania known as Korce. Korce is home to one of our churches (Mission Emanuel) as well as our Christian radio station (Radio Emanuel).
I have been asked to direct a ministry of the church known as “Family Care.” This project is a social ministry reaching out to the poorest of the poor in the Korce region. Currently this ministry sponsors 200 families. Apart from the business duties of managing the ministry’s finances, seeking for new sponsors as well as families to be sponsored, my job will be to visit the families in the project on a regular basis, bringing them much needed food and clothes as well as simply coming to visit them and lend them a listening ear, a prayer, a hug, or much needed friendship. So many of the people in this project live in isolated villages or have children or family members who are handicapped or ill and very often are in need of not just practical help but someone to show them they are loved and not forgotten.
Directing this project is an answer to prayer for me. I have been praying that God would bring me into a place of more focused ministry within one church or area. This sort of social ministry has always been a passion of mine and I look forward to loving
and serving this particular people who are in great need.
In addition to directing the Family Care ministry, I will help lead the Mission Emanuel Church in Korce. The church is still without
a full-time pastor, thus I will be there helping to train leaders within the church. The Korce church’s sister church, located 45 minutes away in Erseke, is also going through a time of pastoral transition. The Erseke Church is in a very small isolated village and the pastor and church members are in need of much encouragement and are very hungry to be mentored and trained. I look forward to being able to serve the Erseke church as well and help lead them.
As I venture into this new season, a lot of which is still unclear and unknown, I am filled with much excitement and anticipation for what is ahead. I covet your prayers for confidence, trust, clarity and wisdom to lead and go about these new challenges.
THE FUTURE
Talking about the future is difficult for me as it often is unclear and changing. Let me share with you a bit of what is brewing in my heart. I have been serving in Albania for 4+ years now and I believe this last year was a major turning point in my service there. Over the past 4 years I have been involved in a wide array of ministries, which has allowed me to get to know all the people who are associated with the Stephen Center and its ministries as well as the Albanian culture and language overall. In the past I have committed on a year-by-year basis which I believe has not allowed me to fully commit myself due to the fact that as the end of each year would approach my mindset would switch to trying to figure out where I was headed next, Albania or not, rather than pressing on with the commitment a long term vision/goal brings. Thus, I believe not only for my own sake but also for those I work with, I need to commit to a longer term. I believe the investment I have made in Albania thus far is a very significant one and that God is calling me to trust Him on a deeper level by committing to Albania long-term. I am not sure if that means for another 5 years, 10 years or a lifetime, but I can say I am committed to Albania and to trust God to lead me. I believe also that God is positioning me in a place to better focus on all of our Albanian churches for the purpose of assisting these pastors to better raise up leadership within their churches.
I am excited for the future and I hope you are as well! I thank each of you for your awesome support and commitment to reach out to the country of Albania with me! I pray you will understand your importance in this ministry!
Much Love,
Sean
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