January 2011 Newsletter

(click on each newsletter page to view a larger readable version)

would you like to support the translation and printing of a Bible in the Albanian language?

My wife and I have a dream: to see the "Jesus Storybook Bible" translated and published in the Albanian language.

This Bible for children is unlike any other Bible we have seen. From the amazing illustrations/pictures to the wording, it is simply brilliant. Beyond those, it is not simply telling Bible stories but each and every story, both from the Old and New Testaments, points to the main story of the Bible...our Savior and Lord Jesus!

Since I was introduced to this Bible a couple years ago, I have said it is my favorite Bible! We read this to our six-month old daughter and believe it would be an amazing resource for Albania.

Here is a description and a link to the website:

The Moonbeam Award Gold Medal Winner in the religion category, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the Story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. From Noah to Moses to the great King David---every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle---the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God's great story of salvation---and at the center of their Story too.

http://www.jesusstorybookbible.com/

Here is a link to what some think about this Bible: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2009/12/28/what-the-bible-is-not/

I have been in contact with the author as well with the owner of the international copyrights who is based in the UK. If anyone is interested I would love to discuss how we could partner to get this published in the Albanian language.

We have no experience of translating or publishing a book and our interest is not about anything other than getting this out as a resource for Albania. We strongly believe this is the BEST Bible for children we have ever seen...in all aspects.

Please take a look at the websites above and see for yourself how great this Bible is! Send us an email if you would be interested in partnering with us to get this published in the Albanian language!

Prayerfully hoping to see this published in Albanian,

Sean & Vita Mason

Mission Emanuel Church-Korce

a belated Merry CHRISTmas & Happy New Year!

We hope you are all doing well and recovering from all the end of the year festivities! More so we hope that Christmas brought you deeper meaning in life through a greater understanding and awareness of Jesus who came to earth for us all. We hope too that through Him you have found greater hope for this new year!

We spent the 4 Sundays of December celebrating Advent with our church. Each Sunday we celebrate a unique theme to Christ's coming to earth. On December 24th, as a church we were blessed with the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with the residents at the local home for the mentally and physically disabled. Our church although though we have very little income was able to gift to the center a brand new clothes dryer. Although the center is run by the Albanian government, it receives only a small portion of all the support they need. We as a church have been learning to give generously as Christ gave so generously to us. We are learning to give even when we have little. We are learning to recognize the needs around us and give to those. We as a church do not want to exist for ourselves but to bless others and make a difference in the city of Korce. Finally, on December 26th we had our final Advent/Christmas service where the youth of the church lead us in Christmas songs and shared with us a drama they had prepared. After service we celebrated Christ's birth together by eating "petulla", a typical Albanian deep-fried desert, sort of donut like, served to friends and family at the birth of a newborn.

The New Year quickly approached and in Albania it is always the larger of festivals of the year. Of course it is a great time with family and friends and worth celebrating, but we always try to make our greatest celebration Christ's birth, whom without we would have no new year.

We wish you a happy new year and that more than ever before you would experience Jesus, the one who came to be God with us.

Much love and thanks to you for your prayers and generous support!

Sean, Vita & Eva Grace