Dear Saints,
Well, No Shave November is almost up and you know what that means, I still have nothing to show for it. But that is ok. I cannot believe that I have been in Albania for 4 months now! Where has time gone? That is the Torchbearer time for you. We also only have two more weeks of first semester! The weather here has been sunny and in the 60’s almost every day for the past two weeks. It is November? Almost December? Wouldn’t have guessed.
Now that the greetings and weather is out of the way, lets talk about my past month. There has been so much that it is hard to think back and recall everything that I have done. We went to Sarande for travel weekend, had a pumpkin carving contest and costume night, have had three different teachers and four different subjects, the students had an outreach week, I went to Greece and lots of card games, food, and soccer in between. Wow that is a lot.
First, the travel weekend. It was great to get out and see Albania a little more. Sarande is on the west coast of Albania, on the Ionian Sea. The water was warm enough to swim in and we did. It was crystal clear and beautiful! During that time, we went to visit different sites, including a ancient Roman colony called Butrin and two castles. Only in Albania are you allowed to climb all of the castles and explore anything you want, so that is what we did. One of the best parts would have to be one evening, after coming back from Butrin, we stopped by a soccer field and watch some kids having their practice. We said hi then started talking to the coach and he asked if we could come and play, so we did. We ended up whomping them but we had a lot of fun. They were about 13 but still really good for their age. We were just a little bigger also.
The Friday after coming back, we had a pumpkin carving contest. It was a lot of fun seeing the different designs that people did along with the costumes that some put together. The Stoscher kids were really excited for this event and went all out with the costumes and pumpkins. I also put together a costume of my own. I brought out the Paul Bunyan in me and was a lumberjack with the flannel, work boats, axe, hat and beard (not a real beard but I drawn on one, I wish it was real).
As I have said so many times before, God is faithful. Since the beginning of the year, we were playing for the students to go on a week long outreach to Durres. Two weeks for they were to leave, there were some miscommunications and the organization that was supposed to have the students couldn’t do it that week anymore. This caused a big panic for us because we didn’t know what to do in that short amount of time we had. Doing the only thing we could do, we brought it to the Lord. And oh did He come through. Instead of going to Durres, the students went to three different places, Leskovik, Bilishti, and here in Erseka. In those three locations, they put on two different programs, one for older youth and one for kids. This was all planned by the students, they did everything with not much direction from the staff. I am glad we did this because we really saw them come together as a group and plan everything they wanted to do, even with two different languages being spoken. The first day was for high schoolers here. The core group from the church showed up a long with a couple of new comers. Then two days in Leskovik. Leskovik is a really hard place. Missionaries have been there for a long time and there still isn’t a big church foundation there. So the students, and the staff, we thinking that only 10 high schoolers and maybe 20 children would come. We could never have been more wrong. Expect the unexpected. About 60 high schools showed up the first day along with 90 children the next. God provided! Hear the students share about this brought one word to mind, miraculous. There is nothing other explanation to what happened besides God. Hearts were opened and almost ever child raised their hand to accept Christ into their life. I hope we are able to go back there to keep in touch with the youth and children that made a step in their life that day. The next day was here in Erseka once again with children this time. There were about 70 that time and I was able to sit in on the program and see the students at work. They work so well together and put on a great program. Then they were off to Bilishti, where Skender is from and a leader in the church there. They did a program on Friday for high schoolers then two on Saturday, junior high and children. They were also only expecting the core group for all of these programs also. And they did have only the core group for the high schoolers but not with the others. Over 100 junior highers and 140 children! Praise God! We do not know where they came from but they showed up. And on Sunday, a lot of the kids came back to church. Lavdi Zoti (praise God in Albanian). Overall, it was a miraculous experience for all of he students. They grew so much together as a body, through the good and bad, and depended on God the whole way.
Last night we had a huge Thanksgiving meal. The Americans were very happy for this. It was a great time of fellowship and food. The Stoscher kids also did a small program explaining to the Albanians how Thanksgiving got started, it was very cute. We also had a time to talk about what we were thankful for. I would like to share that with you. I am thankful for my family. I have two amazing parents who have taught me, through example, what is it like to love God and have a giving heart. They have given me so much and continue to do so, thanks Mom and Dad! I also have two wonderful siblings, Jon and Hannah, and I am very thankful for their hearts for the person of Christ as well. Jon and my relationship has continued to grow each year as we get older and I look up to the example that he is in my life. I continue to pour my heart and love into Hannah hoping that I can be as good of an example to her as Jon is to me. I see a young woman of God who is wise beyond her years and has such a compassionate heart for those around her. I am also very thankful for you guys, for praying for me, for giving out of the kindness of your hearts, and for the example of Godly men and women you are. God has sure blessed me with a great family of Christ all around me, all over the world. Who am I to deserve this? I don’t know but just thinking about that makes me praise God and brings me to tears. I am blessed to be a blessing and I pray that Christ can be that, through me, to everyone I come in contact with.
Looking ahead. In two weeks, I leave to Germany to spend Christmas at Bodenseehof with Peter and Gaby along with the other staff that will still be around. I am really excited for be able to sit around and relax and read. I now understand how important that is. I am also very happy that I will be able to make it to Advent International and a week of school back at Bodenseehof. It will bring back memories. Then, for a week, I will be skiing in the Alps once again for the annual ski conference. I will be teaching this year and am really excited for that.
Prayer requests. Lets see if I can accurately get them from my head and onto paper with them making sense. Pray for the last two weeks of the semester. Since it is only two weeks, the students, and myself, may want to take it easy and not do much. Pray that we can push through and finish strong in our homework and relationships. Pray for Christmas break as the students leave. Pray they won’t take a “break” from God but use this time to apply what they have learned the past 11 weeks to their life in travel. Pray God would bring people into their lives, whether on planes, trains, or automobiles, to share His grace and love with. And that we may further His kingdom at no matter what the cost. For me personally, I would greatly appreciate if you would pray, not necessarily for safety but that I may further His kingdom during my travels, no matter what the cost because I know that God has me in His hand and His will will be done. I know this may be hard Mom and Dad :) Since the year is almost half way over, I am now starting to think about life after Albania. I don’t know what to do, where to go, or how I am going to get there. Pray God will make clear His will for my life, as clearly as He did this past year. Pray that I can trust Him in my future and not only that, but in my finances. I need His help in my spending. When I am in Germany, I will see so many things I want because there isn’t much here in Albania. Pray I will trust Him to provide my needs not my wants. To be honest with you, I don’t know how I am going to get home. Since the beginning, I have just trusted that God would provide the money for me to get a ticket home when He wanted me to go home. Now that it is getting closer to April, I am getting a little anxious. Pray that I will truly be able to trust Him in that area. Last but not least, pray I would continue to grasp the life changing truth of Christ in you, the hope of glory. I am starting to understand it more, but on paper and in books. I want to know it in my life and experience it.
Thanks for the prayers and thoughts. Once again, keep me updated with life at home and things I can pray for in your life, along with what God has been teaching you. I love to hear about that. I do learn a lot from what you tell me about you life, past, present, or future. You can read other updates on my blog at abes08.blogspot.com
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" -Hebrews 12:28-29
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Faith says, "Thank you."
On this beautiful, sunny, cloudless morning in Erseka, Albania, I am sitting here thinking about what this day, Thanksgiving, should me to me as a follower of the person of Christ:
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus continually says, "I can do nothing with out the Father." Along with that, He says, in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, He will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." In other words, we can do no more without Jesus than He could do without the Father. And how much, than, can the Father do through Jesus? Everything! Because Jesus made Him self available to Him each and everyday. "It please the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." Colossians 1:19 In that sense, how much can Christ do through us? Everything! It all depends on how much of ourselves we give to Him to use! "For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ." Colossians 2:9-10 As Major Ian Thomas puts so well, "How may you be saved by His life, as you have already claimed to be redeemed by His death? This is the critical question of Christian experience, and the answer is simple "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17)." Faith. It is that simple. Faith that trust in Him. Faith that says, "Thank you" That makes me think about today, being Thanksgiving. We are told that today is a day to give thanks to anyone and everyone. But I believe it is so much more than that. Today should remind us that each and everyday should be lived by saying "Thank you". I am not meaning to say thank you to every living person, which wouldn't be bad, but to say thank you to our Father. Paul says it in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks!" In what? In everything.
With this in mind, shouldn't we say thank you to every situation that we are in? That is living by faith. Know that Jesus, in all of His fullness, can take care of our problem. He is bigger than our problem that we are facing at the moment. If you don't think He is, look outside at creation, look at the stars in the sky and think again. That is the true meaning of Thanksgiving. And should be carried on to our everyday lives. Start the day with this prayer, "Dear Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit. I yield my will to Him, and by His gracious presence I share Your life and Your victory. I know I cannot ... See Moreovercome the principle of sin within me, nor put my flesh to death, but I thank You that You can and You did, when You died upon the cross and I died with you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, for He alone can make this real in my experience, mortifying those deeds of my bod which have their origin in Satan. I am willing for You to invade my soul, to control my mind, to control my emotions, and to control my will, so that every decision within my soul will be in perfect harmony with my spirit, and my spirit in perfect harmony with You, so that my whole being may declare Your praise. Lord Jesus, I can't, but You can! Thank you so much."- Major Ian Thomas, The Indwelling Life of Christ.
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" -Hebrews 12:28-29
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus continually says, "I can do nothing with out the Father." Along with that, He says, in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, He will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." In other words, we can do no more without Jesus than He could do without the Father. And how much, than, can the Father do through Jesus? Everything! Because Jesus made Him self available to Him each and everyday. "It please the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." Colossians 1:19 In that sense, how much can Christ do through us? Everything! It all depends on how much of ourselves we give to Him to use! "For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ." Colossians 2:9-10 As Major Ian Thomas puts so well, "How may you be saved by His life, as you have already claimed to be redeemed by His death? This is the critical question of Christian experience, and the answer is simple "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17)." Faith. It is that simple. Faith that trust in Him. Faith that says, "Thank you" That makes me think about today, being Thanksgiving. We are told that today is a day to give thanks to anyone and everyone. But I believe it is so much more than that. Today should remind us that each and everyday should be lived by saying "Thank you". I am not meaning to say thank you to every living person, which wouldn't be bad, but to say thank you to our Father. Paul says it in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks!" In what? In everything.
With this in mind, shouldn't we say thank you to every situation that we are in? That is living by faith. Know that Jesus, in all of His fullness, can take care of our problem. He is bigger than our problem that we are facing at the moment. If you don't think He is, look outside at creation, look at the stars in the sky and think again. That is the true meaning of Thanksgiving. And should be carried on to our everyday lives. Start the day with this prayer, "Dear Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit. I yield my will to Him, and by His gracious presence I share Your life and Your victory. I know I cannot ... See Moreovercome the principle of sin within me, nor put my flesh to death, but I thank You that You can and You did, when You died upon the cross and I died with you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, for He alone can make this real in my experience, mortifying those deeds of my bod which have their origin in Satan. I am willing for You to invade my soul, to control my mind, to control my emotions, and to control my will, so that every decision within my soul will be in perfect harmony with my spirit, and my spirit in perfect harmony with You, so that my whole being may declare Your praise. Lord Jesus, I can't, but You can! Thank you so much."- Major Ian Thomas, The Indwelling Life of Christ.
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" -Hebrews 12:28-29
Thursday, November 19, 2009
One year ago
A year ago, I experienced something that changed my life and I would not be here in Albania today if I did not experience it. I went to Serbia on a week long outreach with my sing team and a few others. Taylor Remington wrote something about the experience after and it is a magnificent piece of writing that put into words something that I could not do myself. Here is it:
So this past week I was in Serbia doing an outreach for Gypsy kids. They are awesome kids who don’t know anything about other people in the world other than rejection. They are the most looked down upon race in the world. They are given no opportunity to go to school. Many of them do no know how to read or write. And if they do go to school, their parents pull them out when they are 10, to help them with their work. Many of the young girls at the camp, spend their days begging on the street. Going up to cars asking for money. They don’t beg because they want to, they are begging for their lives. For life. Some of the boys get up at 4 in the morning everyday and work all day, bringing produce to and from places. They wont get hired because they are Gypsy, they are kicked to the curb and are cursed by all society. But they are humans too. They get treatment that should disgust us all. Its one thing if a people are poor because of the lack of a stable government. But they live in the worst conditions because they are blamed for everything bad and were stomped down upon to poverty. Through the week at the camp we just communicated through love to all the kids. And on Wednesday 5 young men became believers. Then we went into Belgrade and saw where they lived. And what shocked me wasn’t the conditions, which were terrible, what shocked me was they were forced their to the place they live and they are the most overlooked race in the world. They have become completely forgotten. It’s disgusting.
In all sense of the reality of life, some things are more prevalent than others, some are good and some are bad. And in the scope of it’s meaning you try to detect what is the feeling you have received or gained, and though the sense of sight I believe we use cheaply. Through sight we seem to be ignoring the dark things in life even though they are screaming in front of our faces. Selfishness seeps through our bones without any thought of it, it goes unnoticed. It is not regarded and we desire to block out the reality of things we try hard to forget. Things all of us have heard about, but we blow it off and we worry about our own lives because we feel they are much more important, We think that reaching for money doesn’t come with a price tag in our own lives. And in its sense maybe it doesn’t, but it does have a price tag for those unseen. For those everyday who beg for money and scream for love. What is wrong with us? Our flesh takes over our Holy Spirit and consciousness. The ignorance is vaster than we can imagine. It fills the empty holes of the universe. And what will cause us to change? Maybe through a personal experience or something else. But it must involve the true love and testimony of Jesus. How can we say we are Christians if we forget those who are living in conditions worse than unimaginable? In a sense, we spit in their faces and don’t give them any chance to change who they are, or who they will become. Obama says our government needs to change in order to save America. But that is not where the change is needed. The change is needed in our hearts. We need to lift our selfish blinding shades and look to the poor and needy. Our failure to accept others as a body needs to change. No more judging and casting out those who we think are unworthy. We must reach out to the hurting in every way. Americans have everything to be thankful for, but we don’t do a thing. We moan and complain, we worry about or next meal, we worry about the next meeting, the next shorts/pants we want to buy. We all worry about our own selfish desires and we are all slaves to it. We are bound down by it like gravity and we don’t see it. And maybe that is why we have so many non following or weak Christians. The faith they learn is fake which makes them fake. We have no love, no Christ, no vision for helping others. It does not exist in the Church as a whole. We have shot the Church and have lost our beacon of light to the world. No doubt the Church of Jesus Christ should be different. The excuse that all religions are the same should not exist. Through love we should be separate. It should be as distinct as black and white. But our faith has just become salvation insurance. And that is not what God had in mind. He didn’t want it to be all about our own individual selves. Of course he wants us to be saved, but that should just be the beginning. We should be then acting upon it and loving others. In our group we had no verbal communication with the Gypsies, we could not understand each other. But through the love of Jesus Christ we were able to reach their hearts. When the kids had come home from the camp, they cried. They didn’t cry because they were coming home to awful conditions or cry because they were back to their old horrible lives. They cried because for the first time in their life they had been loved. Loved for just being alive and with us. They missed us.That generation of young men in that Gypsy community are going to start something new for the people their. Nothing can ever change who they are or why they lack so much motivation. They have been a defeated people for years and only God can change that. The young men are going to bring the love of Jesus there and they will change that community through Jesus. I have had a deep burning feeling the Church needs to change, unfortunately denominations, and non-denominations that are denominations within themselves exist. We are not bound together by Jesus as a whole, which we should be. We have to start loving and doing more through love. It begins and ends with love. For God so loved the world…. I know Jesus was smiling when he saw the smiles on the faces of the community of Gypsies. The Church in this present time is either going to go one-way or another. We are at a cross-roads yet nobody sees it. It will either spiral down into a sinful abyss that will present no hope for revival or change, Or we could revive now, people are hungry for love of Jesus and the understanding and meaning of life. We waste so much time trying to prove God through science or debate when we should be serving. As believers we should know that God created science and there is no need for that. Out reality of life is so simple we will never be able to understand the vastness and the complexity of all things in the universe. We have restrictions that are needed. We are held back in understanding just like gravity holds us down on earth. The only way people can believe now is the example of love and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in all of those who believe, and we need to start using it. The Word is of course is extremely important because God speak to our hearts through the word. And we can learn and grow from the Word. It is extremely vital to all parts of the Christian walk. But that doesn’t mean we should forget about the power of the Holy Spirit and love. The Holy Sprit shows the world something is out there we can’t see or control. And it shouldn’t be used for ourselves, to strengthen our own faith, but it should produce through our faith. God gives us gifts and we use them through the Spirit. We should always be using our gifts for expanding Jesus’ kingdom. But the church is dry. We shouldn’t be bickering and arguing about doctrine, about Revelation, predestination, mega churches, certain pastors. It doesn’t matter. God will control what is needed. We should be standing together in unity through Jesus, and then and only then will see true change. The movement of Jesus’ love can be so powerful. Enough to rock the middle east, enough for Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Hindus or whatever to start seeing there is a true living God. We don’t know the possibility it has. But why not strive for the impossible. God is on our side and He is here to help us. For me personally I don’t know where to start. Maybe going to Serbia was the beginning, and then from there to start serving and loving. Serving and loving are a start because words aren’t everything. Words are extremely shallow in every sense when communicating with others. The only things that they touch are our minds and maybe sometimes our soul. But love encompasses all, it binds everything together. Jesus came to the world to serve, and to save us because He loves us. All through love. He rebuked the knowledge of the Pharisees because they did not act upon what they knew. They did not serve at all. Jesus is screaming inside all of us to start acting upon our faith. Not to ourselves, or to the community of our own Church, but to the world, the people living in darkness all around us. Jesus wasn’t just talking about Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, when he said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” He was talking about us. How many us would give up everything we own to do what God wanted? We love possessions because we think we need them. But we don’t. We have Jesus and that’s all we need. For the believers we have conquered death, and now we must begin to save others. We need to unify the Church through love, the Holy Spirit and the Word.
So this past week I was in Serbia doing an outreach for Gypsy kids. They are awesome kids who don’t know anything about other people in the world other than rejection. They are the most looked down upon race in the world. They are given no opportunity to go to school. Many of them do no know how to read or write. And if they do go to school, their parents pull them out when they are 10, to help them with their work. Many of the young girls at the camp, spend their days begging on the street. Going up to cars asking for money. They don’t beg because they want to, they are begging for their lives. For life. Some of the boys get up at 4 in the morning everyday and work all day, bringing produce to and from places. They wont get hired because they are Gypsy, they are kicked to the curb and are cursed by all society. But they are humans too. They get treatment that should disgust us all. Its one thing if a people are poor because of the lack of a stable government. But they live in the worst conditions because they are blamed for everything bad and were stomped down upon to poverty. Through the week at the camp we just communicated through love to all the kids. And on Wednesday 5 young men became believers. Then we went into Belgrade and saw where they lived. And what shocked me wasn’t the conditions, which were terrible, what shocked me was they were forced their to the place they live and they are the most overlooked race in the world. They have become completely forgotten. It’s disgusting.
In all sense of the reality of life, some things are more prevalent than others, some are good and some are bad. And in the scope of it’s meaning you try to detect what is the feeling you have received or gained, and though the sense of sight I believe we use cheaply. Through sight we seem to be ignoring the dark things in life even though they are screaming in front of our faces. Selfishness seeps through our bones without any thought of it, it goes unnoticed. It is not regarded and we desire to block out the reality of things we try hard to forget. Things all of us have heard about, but we blow it off and we worry about our own lives because we feel they are much more important, We think that reaching for money doesn’t come with a price tag in our own lives. And in its sense maybe it doesn’t, but it does have a price tag for those unseen. For those everyday who beg for money and scream for love. What is wrong with us? Our flesh takes over our Holy Spirit and consciousness. The ignorance is vaster than we can imagine. It fills the empty holes of the universe. And what will cause us to change? Maybe through a personal experience or something else. But it must involve the true love and testimony of Jesus. How can we say we are Christians if we forget those who are living in conditions worse than unimaginable? In a sense, we spit in their faces and don’t give them any chance to change who they are, or who they will become. Obama says our government needs to change in order to save America. But that is not where the change is needed. The change is needed in our hearts. We need to lift our selfish blinding shades and look to the poor and needy. Our failure to accept others as a body needs to change. No more judging and casting out those who we think are unworthy. We must reach out to the hurting in every way. Americans have everything to be thankful for, but we don’t do a thing. We moan and complain, we worry about or next meal, we worry about the next meeting, the next shorts/pants we want to buy. We all worry about our own selfish desires and we are all slaves to it. We are bound down by it like gravity and we don’t see it. And maybe that is why we have so many non following or weak Christians. The faith they learn is fake which makes them fake. We have no love, no Christ, no vision for helping others. It does not exist in the Church as a whole. We have shot the Church and have lost our beacon of light to the world. No doubt the Church of Jesus Christ should be different. The excuse that all religions are the same should not exist. Through love we should be separate. It should be as distinct as black and white. But our faith has just become salvation insurance. And that is not what God had in mind. He didn’t want it to be all about our own individual selves. Of course he wants us to be saved, but that should just be the beginning. We should be then acting upon it and loving others. In our group we had no verbal communication with the Gypsies, we could not understand each other. But through the love of Jesus Christ we were able to reach their hearts. When the kids had come home from the camp, they cried. They didn’t cry because they were coming home to awful conditions or cry because they were back to their old horrible lives. They cried because for the first time in their life they had been loved. Loved for just being alive and with us. They missed us.That generation of young men in that Gypsy community are going to start something new for the people their. Nothing can ever change who they are or why they lack so much motivation. They have been a defeated people for years and only God can change that. The young men are going to bring the love of Jesus there and they will change that community through Jesus. I have had a deep burning feeling the Church needs to change, unfortunately denominations, and non-denominations that are denominations within themselves exist. We are not bound together by Jesus as a whole, which we should be. We have to start loving and doing more through love. It begins and ends with love. For God so loved the world…. I know Jesus was smiling when he saw the smiles on the faces of the community of Gypsies. The Church in this present time is either going to go one-way or another. We are at a cross-roads yet nobody sees it. It will either spiral down into a sinful abyss that will present no hope for revival or change, Or we could revive now, people are hungry for love of Jesus and the understanding and meaning of life. We waste so much time trying to prove God through science or debate when we should be serving. As believers we should know that God created science and there is no need for that. Out reality of life is so simple we will never be able to understand the vastness and the complexity of all things in the universe. We have restrictions that are needed. We are held back in understanding just like gravity holds us down on earth. The only way people can believe now is the example of love and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in all of those who believe, and we need to start using it. The Word is of course is extremely important because God speak to our hearts through the word. And we can learn and grow from the Word. It is extremely vital to all parts of the Christian walk. But that doesn’t mean we should forget about the power of the Holy Spirit and love. The Holy Sprit shows the world something is out there we can’t see or control. And it shouldn’t be used for ourselves, to strengthen our own faith, but it should produce through our faith. God gives us gifts and we use them through the Spirit. We should always be using our gifts for expanding Jesus’ kingdom. But the church is dry. We shouldn’t be bickering and arguing about doctrine, about Revelation, predestination, mega churches, certain pastors. It doesn’t matter. God will control what is needed. We should be standing together in unity through Jesus, and then and only then will see true change. The movement of Jesus’ love can be so powerful. Enough to rock the middle east, enough for Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Hindus or whatever to start seeing there is a true living God. We don’t know the possibility it has. But why not strive for the impossible. God is on our side and He is here to help us. For me personally I don’t know where to start. Maybe going to Serbia was the beginning, and then from there to start serving and loving. Serving and loving are a start because words aren’t everything. Words are extremely shallow in every sense when communicating with others. The only things that they touch are our minds and maybe sometimes our soul. But love encompasses all, it binds everything together. Jesus came to the world to serve, and to save us because He loves us. All through love. He rebuked the knowledge of the Pharisees because they did not act upon what they knew. They did not serve at all. Jesus is screaming inside all of us to start acting upon our faith. Not to ourselves, or to the community of our own Church, but to the world, the people living in darkness all around us. Jesus wasn’t just talking about Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, when he said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” He was talking about us. How many us would give up everything we own to do what God wanted? We love possessions because we think we need them. But we don’t. We have Jesus and that’s all we need. For the believers we have conquered death, and now we must begin to save others. We need to unify the Church through love, the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Update: October 2009
Dear Saints,
The school year is well underway by now! Praise God that all of the students made it safe and some with adventures, but from personal experience, those stories will be with you forever. The students arrived on September 25th and right away we were into things. That first week was more of a get to know you week. We played games, did activities, climbed a mountain, rock climbed a couple times, went canoeing and went camping for a night; no big deal. Hearing from the students, it was a great week and well worth with all of the achievements, despite all of the pain for some. For many, summating Gramozi was the best part. It took just under 9 hours but it was a great battle for most in the group, including me.
That first week flew by! And the next week we jumped right into lectures starting with Doni Lilo, one of the principals, and Mark Stoscher, the director, teaching that week. This was my first week to really know what my schedule would be like for the year. It was pretty relaxed! I could go to any of the lectures I wanted or stay in my room and read or go to town. I had to make sure that the students did their jobs correctly and do some odd jobs here and there. Overall, everything was, and still is, really relaxed for me. The week after that, the third week, the students had a cross-cultural week, meaning each students went to a different host families house and spent the week there. The students would go to their families in the afternoon, have dinner there and sleep. Then come back after breakfast for lectures and lunch. During this time, Mark had discussions (I say this because we all sat in a circle and discussed the different ways we felt culture shock, the different stories, and everyone shared their thoughts) on cross-culture. From what I heard after, the students really enjoyed this and still keep in contact with their families. Last week, we had our first guest lecturer and even though we had been in school for three weeks already, this is when it really felt like we began.
That is the past couple weeks. They were filled with lots of laughter, some late nights, plenty of card games, a lot of sweat, tons of stories, and, of course, Christ. Now looking forward. We have our first travel weekend coming up this weekend and we are going to a city called Siranda. It is on the coast of Albania and really close to Greece. From what I hear, it is beautiful. Then two weeks after that, the students go on a week long outreach to Durres. And three weeks after that, it is Christmas Break!! Time is flying by and will only get faster.
As I said earlier, my schedule is really relaxed. Although I now have more responsibilities, I do have a lot of time to myself. Since I have already been through a whole year of lecturers, some of the subjects are repeats to me. During these times, I spend most of them in my room, on my bed, with a book in my hands. I have grown to love reading even more. I am almost done with all of Joel Rosenberg’s books and have loved all of them. I would highly suggest those books. I have also spent time in prayer and in the Bible, as well as listening to lectures, and at times postcasts from Paul Allen on KFAN. God has really used all of these, Paul Allen as an exception, to “rock my world”. As I have asked God to do, He has really shown me areas in my life that I need to get ride of and fully depend on Him. He has also begun to reveal to me the mystery of Christ in you. This is something that I heard a lot last year but is not starting to make sense until now. It gives such excitement, as much as a sense of peace, to know that Christ indwells me. With this, it makes me realize how much more I need to get ride of those areas in my life that are hindering me, such as pride, unbelief, impurity and many more. If you could be praying for this, that would mean a lot to me. One verse that struck me this week was 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 "We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." It has been in my head since and had begun to humble me greatly.
This year, we have a great group of students. Each students brings something different to the table. They all have connected really well and from what I can tell, no one is left out. What an answer to prayer! This makes my life really easy. Although I have to lay down the law late at night sometimes, so far, there have not been many issues. Once again, an answer to prayer. I personally have felt like I have gotten to know some of the students pretty well over the past weeks, although that is something that I would like to improve. As I may have mentioned before, we have 11 students this year. I would like to introduce you to a couple with each newsletter:
Ben: He is from Chicago and the nephew of Eric Gundy, one of the principals. Me and him have something in common in that way, I too was the nephew of a principal. He is 22 and has had a couple years in University. He has a great heart and is really after God owns heart. He has a gentle spirit but can also get pretty intense in the soccer cage, a great teammate to have there.
Skënder: He is 42 and from Belishti, Albania. Although he is old enough to be my dad, he still acts like a kid at times and loves to mess around and have fun. He has a wife and two kids back home and travels back there on the weekends where he is also very involved with his church. A lot of the other students really look up to him for wisdom and advice. He also has a great volleyball serve. Recent news with him. While he was home this weekend, he wife became ill. They went to the hospital and found out that she had a urinary tract infection. Along with the stomach pain, she also had a bad head ache. Two years ago, she had a very serious surgery to remove some tumors in her brain and the doctors are afraid that the head aches may be connected to that. On top of all this, Skënder’s two sisters are in the hospital as well. Keep their family in your prayers. That would mean a lot to me and him as well.
Gretchen: She is from all over the world. Gretchen is a missionary kid and was adopted from Japan at a young age. She lived there for a while, then moved back to the states, where her parents are from, and actually moved back to Minnesota! She lived near Cambridge for a couple years then went back into the mission field in the Philippines. After some years there, her family moved back to Japan last year. Gretchen is a great volleyball player and loves to get people involved in everything, whether volleyball or card games. It is great to have another person from Minnesota here!
On October 22, I went with some high school students from the church here in Erseka to a concert in Elbasan put on but two singers from Albania who have been traveling around doing these and sharing Christ with young people. Even though it was in Albanian, I will wanted to go to be with the students and to see what it was like. It was about a 4 hour drive there and even though the concert was only an hour, meaning I spent 8 hours traveling for an hour concert, but it was still worth it. I used this time to listen to music, think and listen to some lectures from last year. One of them was Peter Reid’s lecture on Colossians. I came to a realization during this time. In the past letters, I have asked for prayer about what it means to be a RA and what I should do in that. That is still a prayer of mine but when Paul prays for the Colossian church, he prays that they will first be in tune with the will of God, second, walk with the Lord, and then third, bear fruit with all works. The process goes: will, walk, work. While I have been here in Albania, I have been so concentrated on the third step, work, while forgetting the walk part continually. I got an email the other week that touched on this subject but I did not fully think about it till now. “I would always look for “my fruit” which is exactly what got me into searching for it even more and more and then forgetting either my own personal relationship to Christ or the main reason I was there. In other words, if you feel like you only up doors, get balls for students, and make small talk at meals with them… don’t worry… if you are doing what you are called to do and doing it in right relation to Christ… then the fruit, the usefulness and all that is in his responsibility. Or as someone once said: be yourself.” That is my prayer now. That I would focus on the person of Christ. I would let Him control my every move, thought, and word. That I would not focus on my fruit like I have been doing.
Once again, I would love to hear about what is going on in your life back home and hear about what God has been doing. I am sure you have a lot of advice that you want to share with me also. And if you have prayer requests, please send them. That is way that I can feel connected to friends and family all over the world and back home.
“To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen”
Grace be with you,
Luke Abrahamson
The school year is well underway by now! Praise God that all of the students made it safe and some with adventures, but from personal experience, those stories will be with you forever. The students arrived on September 25th and right away we were into things. That first week was more of a get to know you week. We played games, did activities, climbed a mountain, rock climbed a couple times, went canoeing and went camping for a night; no big deal. Hearing from the students, it was a great week and well worth with all of the achievements, despite all of the pain for some. For many, summating Gramozi was the best part. It took just under 9 hours but it was a great battle for most in the group, including me.
That first week flew by! And the next week we jumped right into lectures starting with Doni Lilo, one of the principals, and Mark Stoscher, the director, teaching that week. This was my first week to really know what my schedule would be like for the year. It was pretty relaxed! I could go to any of the lectures I wanted or stay in my room and read or go to town. I had to make sure that the students did their jobs correctly and do some odd jobs here and there. Overall, everything was, and still is, really relaxed for me. The week after that, the third week, the students had a cross-cultural week, meaning each students went to a different host families house and spent the week there. The students would go to their families in the afternoon, have dinner there and sleep. Then come back after breakfast for lectures and lunch. During this time, Mark had discussions (I say this because we all sat in a circle and discussed the different ways we felt culture shock, the different stories, and everyone shared their thoughts) on cross-culture. From what I heard after, the students really enjoyed this and still keep in contact with their families. Last week, we had our first guest lecturer and even though we had been in school for three weeks already, this is when it really felt like we began.
That is the past couple weeks. They were filled with lots of laughter, some late nights, plenty of card games, a lot of sweat, tons of stories, and, of course, Christ. Now looking forward. We have our first travel weekend coming up this weekend and we are going to a city called Siranda. It is on the coast of Albania and really close to Greece. From what I hear, it is beautiful. Then two weeks after that, the students go on a week long outreach to Durres. And three weeks after that, it is Christmas Break!! Time is flying by and will only get faster.
As I said earlier, my schedule is really relaxed. Although I now have more responsibilities, I do have a lot of time to myself. Since I have already been through a whole year of lecturers, some of the subjects are repeats to me. During these times, I spend most of them in my room, on my bed, with a book in my hands. I have grown to love reading even more. I am almost done with all of Joel Rosenberg’s books and have loved all of them. I would highly suggest those books. I have also spent time in prayer and in the Bible, as well as listening to lectures, and at times postcasts from Paul Allen on KFAN. God has really used all of these, Paul Allen as an exception, to “rock my world”. As I have asked God to do, He has really shown me areas in my life that I need to get ride of and fully depend on Him. He has also begun to reveal to me the mystery of Christ in you. This is something that I heard a lot last year but is not starting to make sense until now. It gives such excitement, as much as a sense of peace, to know that Christ indwells me. With this, it makes me realize how much more I need to get ride of those areas in my life that are hindering me, such as pride, unbelief, impurity and many more. If you could be praying for this, that would mean a lot to me. One verse that struck me this week was 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 "We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." It has been in my head since and had begun to humble me greatly.
This year, we have a great group of students. Each students brings something different to the table. They all have connected really well and from what I can tell, no one is left out. What an answer to prayer! This makes my life really easy. Although I have to lay down the law late at night sometimes, so far, there have not been many issues. Once again, an answer to prayer. I personally have felt like I have gotten to know some of the students pretty well over the past weeks, although that is something that I would like to improve. As I may have mentioned before, we have 11 students this year. I would like to introduce you to a couple with each newsletter:
Ben: He is from Chicago and the nephew of Eric Gundy, one of the principals. Me and him have something in common in that way, I too was the nephew of a principal. He is 22 and has had a couple years in University. He has a great heart and is really after God owns heart. He has a gentle spirit but can also get pretty intense in the soccer cage, a great teammate to have there.
Skënder: He is 42 and from Belishti, Albania. Although he is old enough to be my dad, he still acts like a kid at times and loves to mess around and have fun. He has a wife and two kids back home and travels back there on the weekends where he is also very involved with his church. A lot of the other students really look up to him for wisdom and advice. He also has a great volleyball serve. Recent news with him. While he was home this weekend, he wife became ill. They went to the hospital and found out that she had a urinary tract infection. Along with the stomach pain, she also had a bad head ache. Two years ago, she had a very serious surgery to remove some tumors in her brain and the doctors are afraid that the head aches may be connected to that. On top of all this, Skënder’s two sisters are in the hospital as well. Keep their family in your prayers. That would mean a lot to me and him as well.
Gretchen: She is from all over the world. Gretchen is a missionary kid and was adopted from Japan at a young age. She lived there for a while, then moved back to the states, where her parents are from, and actually moved back to Minnesota! She lived near Cambridge for a couple years then went back into the mission field in the Philippines. After some years there, her family moved back to Japan last year. Gretchen is a great volleyball player and loves to get people involved in everything, whether volleyball or card games. It is great to have another person from Minnesota here!
On October 22, I went with some high school students from the church here in Erseka to a concert in Elbasan put on but two singers from Albania who have been traveling around doing these and sharing Christ with young people. Even though it was in Albanian, I will wanted to go to be with the students and to see what it was like. It was about a 4 hour drive there and even though the concert was only an hour, meaning I spent 8 hours traveling for an hour concert, but it was still worth it. I used this time to listen to music, think and listen to some lectures from last year. One of them was Peter Reid’s lecture on Colossians. I came to a realization during this time. In the past letters, I have asked for prayer about what it means to be a RA and what I should do in that. That is still a prayer of mine but when Paul prays for the Colossian church, he prays that they will first be in tune with the will of God, second, walk with the Lord, and then third, bear fruit with all works. The process goes: will, walk, work. While I have been here in Albania, I have been so concentrated on the third step, work, while forgetting the walk part continually. I got an email the other week that touched on this subject but I did not fully think about it till now. “I would always look for “my fruit” which is exactly what got me into searching for it even more and more and then forgetting either my own personal relationship to Christ or the main reason I was there. In other words, if you feel like you only up doors, get balls for students, and make small talk at meals with them… don’t worry… if you are doing what you are called to do and doing it in right relation to Christ… then the fruit, the usefulness and all that is in his responsibility. Or as someone once said: be yourself.” That is my prayer now. That I would focus on the person of Christ. I would let Him control my every move, thought, and word. That I would not focus on my fruit like I have been doing.
Once again, I would love to hear about what is going on in your life back home and hear about what God has been doing. I am sure you have a lot of advice that you want to share with me also. And if you have prayer requests, please send them. That is way that I can feel connected to friends and family all over the world and back home.
“To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen”
Grace be with you,
Luke Abrahamson
Joy
During this past 4 months, I have felt a lot of different emotions. Some good, some bad. A lot of times, I feel as though I am in a desert spiritually. But I rejoice in those times because I know that I am growing in my relationship with God and He is using that time to break me and humble me. I am not one who dwells on emotions a lot because I know that Satan can use those against you a lot of times. But right now, for the first time in a long time, I feel joy. After a weekend and couple days of immense struggles, the joy I feel now is such a relief and I know that it is only because of God. His timing is amazing. It is funny how He can use little things like packages in the mail to bring joy to your life, a long with a sunny day and warm weather. Thank you Lord for this time. It has given me renewed strength to fight the good fight and persevere to the end. Last night and today are nothing short of miraculous, there in no other explanation except for God. That is how the Christian life should be lived.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Worship
What is worship?
Ever since February of last year, I have been thinking about this question. And I still have not come to a conclusion. It is something that is so highly held in today's Christian culture. There are worship nights, worship concerts, lessons on worship, worship bands, everything. But what does it all mean? I am not saying that it is a bad thing at all. It is throughout the Bible but I just want to dig deeper and really figure out what the Bible says about it. When I was in Germany, at bible school last year, we would worship on Sunday mornings but it was really different than I have experienced before. We had an acoustic guitar, piano, a cajon and singers. We would sing a lot of hymns and older songs. I really began to think about the words I was singing and well in love with those older songs. I liked how it wasn't a production but something that was from the heart. Then when I came back to the states, the first week I experienced worship again at another church. I felt awkward. I didn't know what to do. I felt as though that everything was about "feeling" the presence of God. I heard people speak in tongues. There were a lot of lights. It felt like a production. And since that point, I have been really skeptical about worship. I started thinking about the words I sang. It was hard for me to do this thing called worship. And it has been that way ever since. Since then, when someone prays or sings a song, I really think about what they are saying, taking it into my mind and mulling it over, comparing it to the knowledge that I have and seeing if it was correct. This would happen everywhere. And it wasn't till this morning that I realized something. I realized how big my pride is. I think my way is right and everyone should pray the way that I think is theologically correct. All of the songs that are sung should be correct also. I am wrong in doing that. I should look at the heart of those words, knowing that the person who is praying or singing them means them. I need prayer. I need guidance but most of all, I need Jesus. Look what happens when I think my way is better than God's. I am still seeking what it means to worship but I have found something, I need to get my own pride out of the way to do so.
"I can't- He never said I could, but He can and said He always would."
Ever since February of last year, I have been thinking about this question. And I still have not come to a conclusion. It is something that is so highly held in today's Christian culture. There are worship nights, worship concerts, lessons on worship, worship bands, everything. But what does it all mean? I am not saying that it is a bad thing at all. It is throughout the Bible but I just want to dig deeper and really figure out what the Bible says about it. When I was in Germany, at bible school last year, we would worship on Sunday mornings but it was really different than I have experienced before. We had an acoustic guitar, piano, a cajon and singers. We would sing a lot of hymns and older songs. I really began to think about the words I was singing and well in love with those older songs. I liked how it wasn't a production but something that was from the heart. Then when I came back to the states, the first week I experienced worship again at another church. I felt awkward. I didn't know what to do. I felt as though that everything was about "feeling" the presence of God. I heard people speak in tongues. There were a lot of lights. It felt like a production. And since that point, I have been really skeptical about worship. I started thinking about the words I sang. It was hard for me to do this thing called worship. And it has been that way ever since. Since then, when someone prays or sings a song, I really think about what they are saying, taking it into my mind and mulling it over, comparing it to the knowledge that I have and seeing if it was correct. This would happen everywhere. And it wasn't till this morning that I realized something. I realized how big my pride is. I think my way is right and everyone should pray the way that I think is theologically correct. All of the songs that are sung should be correct also. I am wrong in doing that. I should look at the heart of those words, knowing that the person who is praying or singing them means them. I need prayer. I need guidance but most of all, I need Jesus. Look what happens when I think my way is better than God's. I am still seeking what it means to worship but I have found something, I need to get my own pride out of the way to do so.
"I can't- He never said I could, but He can and said He always would."
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Faith like Abraham
I got an email right now and in the body, it said this:
-I have been studying the story of Abram and Sarai this week. This is a story with which many of us are familiar. God makes many promises to Abram….promises that seem impossible to keep (a man fathering at child when he is 100 years old…..really?) But Abram is a man of incredible faith. He walks out in faith to a foreign land….as the Lord had told him. He waited and waited for a child….a child the Lord had promised would be born. And after waiting so long for this child to be born, he was willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac….as the Lord asked him. Through all of this, Abram was faithful and God fulfilled His promises to Abram. Paul has this to say about Abraham in the book of Romans: Romans 4:20: “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”-
In Hebrews 4:12, it says this, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." This verse in Romans did that to me. Looking back onto the life of Abraham and how God did bring him into a foreign land, made these promises and then came through with them when, at times, it did not look like He would. This really got me thinking about my own life. How God brought me into a foreign land. He brought me here to Albania, and looking back, it was only because of Him that I am here. He has always made promised to me, through the Bible, and will always keep them. But there is a way that I am nothing like Abraham. After God came through in giving Abraham a son, Abraham was willing to sacrifice Him. Looking into my own life, there are so many things that I am not willing to sacrifice. Why? Why can't I believe that God's way is better and just gives these things up in my life that are hindering my walk with God? If you could pray for me. Pray that I can find sufficiency in the person of Christ, knowing what I have IN Him and then appropriating that to my own life. I have EVERYTHING in Him! But I still think I need the things of this world. Pray that my faith cannot be MY faith but His faith. Pray that I may truly believe that His ways are better than mine.
There have not been a lot of times when a verse has brought me to tears, but tonight was one of them. I now truly believe that verse in Hebrews and have personally experienced it. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3
-I have been studying the story of Abram and Sarai this week. This is a story with which many of us are familiar. God makes many promises to Abram….promises that seem impossible to keep (a man fathering at child when he is 100 years old…..really?) But Abram is a man of incredible faith. He walks out in faith to a foreign land….as the Lord had told him. He waited and waited for a child….a child the Lord had promised would be born. And after waiting so long for this child to be born, he was willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac….as the Lord asked him. Through all of this, Abram was faithful and God fulfilled His promises to Abram. Paul has this to say about Abraham in the book of Romans: Romans 4:20: “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”-
In Hebrews 4:12, it says this, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." This verse in Romans did that to me. Looking back onto the life of Abraham and how God did bring him into a foreign land, made these promises and then came through with them when, at times, it did not look like He would. This really got me thinking about my own life. How God brought me into a foreign land. He brought me here to Albania, and looking back, it was only because of Him that I am here. He has always made promised to me, through the Bible, and will always keep them. But there is a way that I am nothing like Abraham. After God came through in giving Abraham a son, Abraham was willing to sacrifice Him. Looking into my own life, there are so many things that I am not willing to sacrifice. Why? Why can't I believe that God's way is better and just gives these things up in my life that are hindering my walk with God? If you could pray for me. Pray that I can find sufficiency in the person of Christ, knowing what I have IN Him and then appropriating that to my own life. I have EVERYTHING in Him! But I still think I need the things of this world. Pray that my faith cannot be MY faith but His faith. Pray that I may truly believe that His ways are better than mine.
There have not been a lot of times when a verse has brought me to tears, but tonight was one of them. I now truly believe that verse in Hebrews and have personally experienced it. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3
Update: September 2009
Dear Brother’s and Sister’s in Christ,
As I am sitting here at my computer, thinking about how to start this letter, the only thought that comes to mind is, “The Christian life in an adventure.” As I look back to the last month of my life here in Albania, that is a theme that is very evident in everything that I did. Though it is not always enjoyable, God used every situation to bring me more understanding of who He is and how He works. Let me start with my time in the mountains for the Extreme and Wilderness camps.
The word “extreme” may be a little deceiving here. We were not like Bear Gryles living out in the wilderness, eating bugs, drinking our urine, and sleeping in dead animals to keep warm. We lived in tents, had amazing food made by Ruth Stoscher, had running water and were only a 40 minute walk away from civilization. But for the medical students who have never slept in a tent before, this was a little extreme. The land that Udhkryq owns is about an hour drive from the town of Erseka, on a winding, pot hole, make-you-sick road. Then, after this drive, you pull up to a dirt road and have to hike another 40 minutes up a mountain to the land that we own. When you look at pictures of Erseka, you see a brown, foothills of Colorado like landscape and coloring. When you enter the mountains here, it reminds me a lot of the black hills in South Dakota with a lot of pine trees and big gray rocks all over the place. But enough about the landscape. We has two weeks up here with two different groups. The first was a group of medical students from Tirana, half were Christian’s and half weren’t. There were a lot of discussions around the camp fire late at night about various controversial subjects, although I could not understand them because they were in Albanian. God did a lot of work in the lives of the students as well as mine. Most nights, I would stand out in the open valley and look up at the stars, the portrait that God has painted for us. While doing this, I would often listen to a lecture from this past year at Bodenseehof or ponder questions that come up in my mind. This was something that carried on into the next week with the other group of college-age students. Every night, while Doni was giving a message to the students in Albanian, I would go off on my own, lay on my back, and stare at these stars trying to, as Ravi Zacharias says, “Recapture the Wonder”, all the while being recaptured BY wonder. During these weeks, I was thinking about prayer, the fear of God and true wisdom. After listening to one of the lectures, I realized that prayer is a life long journey and something to be learned during this time. So with this, if anyone has any advice on the subject of prayer that they would like to pass along to me, I would love to hear it and apply it to my life here in Albania.
After those weeks, I had some down time here in Erseka. I ate a lot of food and played a lot of volleyball and soccer. When that week was done, I went to Tirana to visit some friends that I met the first week I was here during the High School camp. I stayed with a friend, Egli and his wife, and they were very welcoming and hospitable. The travel there was, once again, an adventure that is worth telling. I was to leave on Monday, August 31 at 3 AM. So on Sunday, I got all packed and ready, then decided to play soccer at 10 PM with the guys, not a good idea. We ended up playing till midnight, I got back home at 12:30 and didn’t get to bed until 12:45. Then, after rolling around in bed and not sleeping, my alarm went off at 2. I got up, grabbed my back and was at the place where I thought I was to be picked up at 2:20 (later found out that I was at the wrong place). After waiting for 40 minutes and seeing cars without license plates, the van finally showed up. I ran up to the van, asked if it was for Tirana then hopped in. It was packed and I was in the front seat. After driving for about ten minutes, there was a van pulled over in the dark ahead of us. We pulled over and the driver said something to me in Albanian then reached over me and opened my door. I didn’t know what to do so I got out and walked to this other taxi. The driver grabbed my stuff and threw it into the trunk of the van and motioned me into the front. Having no clue what was going on, I just followed. I squeezed into the front between the driving and passenger and we were off. During the drive, I was dozing off when we finally pulled over for a break. I got out and went to get an espresso inside. We were there for about 20 minutes then I saw the driver start heading back to the car. I followed and he said something to me as I was getting into the car but I did not know what he said. I told him, “I don’t understand” in Albanian. The guy standing next to me said, “You don’t speak Albanian? Do you speak English then?” I said yes and we started talking. He told me that they thought I was Albanian and just assumed that (I passed off as an Albanian!!!). He told me he was from Erseka and that he knows Mark and Ruthie and goes to the church here. That later helped because after getting to Tirana early, I was able to use his cell phone to call Egli and tell him I was there already.
So after getting no sleep that night and a long travel, I was finally in Tirana. It was a great week and I was able to connect with some friends and make those friendships better. I also got a cell phone while I was there so if you ever want to call, my number is +355694609299. I saw the sites around Tirana and had a relaxing time. After this, I went to Durres for a Missionary Conference with Mark and Ruthie. It was for three days and we were in a very nice hotel right on the beach of the Adriatic with a pool as well. I was really excited for this because I wanted a time to be still, listen to teachings and have some good fellowship with other missionaries. This is what I expected but once again, life is an adventure and the unexpected happened. I was asked to help out with the children's ministry. I did not like this idea but said yes because I couldn’t just say no. I was caught off guard because I did not expect this at all. At first, I was really bitter because I did not want to be busy the whole day with children. After the first day though, I realized that I was being really selfish. I wanted everything for me and was not thinking of these kids. So I changed my attitude and gave my all into these kids. There were 14 and 12 were boys. We wrestled, made crafts, sang songs, and played in the pool. I had a lot of fun but was getting tired by the last day. Although I may not have liked it at the time, I look back and it is satisfying knowing that I did God’s will and listened to Him when it would have been easy to say “no” and done my own thing.
While at the retreat, I met three of the students that will be here this year and Bob and Linda Osborne were there. Bob and Linda are the house parents here at the school for the year. They are from Fresno California and have been coming here to Albania for over ten years now. They are now my adopted grandparents because of the relationship we now have and how much they look after me. It has been great getting to know them these past couple weeks and am excited to see how much this relationship grows in the Lord. I will be working closely with them this whole year. I mentioned they look after me. After getting back from Durres, I got sick. It started with a sore throat then moved into my head and I thought I would only last for a couple days. Nope, it lasted for 10 days. Luckily, there were no students here at the school, we had a while before any got here and I was able to take it easy. Looking back, physically I was sick, and I was also sick spiritually. During this time, I tried to live on my own strength, the little I had. I wanted to get over this sickness so bad. I completely neglected God. I stopped having my quiet times, stopped praying, and stopped reading the Bible. Only did I realize this after the fact last Friday night. I was feeling down and in sort of a desert. I realized I needed to get back to Jesus. And that is what I am trying to do now. I would ask for prayer in this area. I want to completely depend on Him and bring my need to Him.
Well, the students come tomorrow and then the school year gets going. I am really excited for it to start. The students that are coming are: Ben from Chicago, Richard from Canada, Anthony from California, Klajdi from Albania, Skender from Albania, and Festim from Kosovo. The girls are: Jen from Omaha, Sarah from Germany, Gretchen from Japan, Ymrije and Hana from Kosovo and possibly Berta from here in Erseka. The staff I will be working with this year are Mark, Doni, Eric, Asimi, Beta, Monika, Bob and Linda. If you could keep these people in your prayers as the year goes on. I would also ask if you could pray for the staff. Pray that we can work together, be transparent with each other, and be Godly examples to these students. And as I am a new member, that I could fit in well with the others and be accepted, and I feel that I already am. Another, pray that I would not be intimidate by the other students. I am the youngest person here. Most of the students are at least two years older and one is 42. I want to live out what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
Once again, thank you for the support in prayer. And as I said before, I would love to start a correspondence with who ever wants and please send me prayer requests of your own and let me know what is going on in your life. What a great and indwelling Lord that we have! “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” Philippians 4:20
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
As I am sitting here at my computer, thinking about how to start this letter, the only thought that comes to mind is, “The Christian life in an adventure.” As I look back to the last month of my life here in Albania, that is a theme that is very evident in everything that I did. Though it is not always enjoyable, God used every situation to bring me more understanding of who He is and how He works. Let me start with my time in the mountains for the Extreme and Wilderness camps.
The word “extreme” may be a little deceiving here. We were not like Bear Gryles living out in the wilderness, eating bugs, drinking our urine, and sleeping in dead animals to keep warm. We lived in tents, had amazing food made by Ruth Stoscher, had running water and were only a 40 minute walk away from civilization. But for the medical students who have never slept in a tent before, this was a little extreme. The land that Udhkryq owns is about an hour drive from the town of Erseka, on a winding, pot hole, make-you-sick road. Then, after this drive, you pull up to a dirt road and have to hike another 40 minutes up a mountain to the land that we own. When you look at pictures of Erseka, you see a brown, foothills of Colorado like landscape and coloring. When you enter the mountains here, it reminds me a lot of the black hills in South Dakota with a lot of pine trees and big gray rocks all over the place. But enough about the landscape. We has two weeks up here with two different groups. The first was a group of medical students from Tirana, half were Christian’s and half weren’t. There were a lot of discussions around the camp fire late at night about various controversial subjects, although I could not understand them because they were in Albanian. God did a lot of work in the lives of the students as well as mine. Most nights, I would stand out in the open valley and look up at the stars, the portrait that God has painted for us. While doing this, I would often listen to a lecture from this past year at Bodenseehof or ponder questions that come up in my mind. This was something that carried on into the next week with the other group of college-age students. Every night, while Doni was giving a message to the students in Albanian, I would go off on my own, lay on my back, and stare at these stars trying to, as Ravi Zacharias says, “Recapture the Wonder”, all the while being recaptured BY wonder. During these weeks, I was thinking about prayer, the fear of God and true wisdom. After listening to one of the lectures, I realized that prayer is a life long journey and something to be learned during this time. So with this, if anyone has any advice on the subject of prayer that they would like to pass along to me, I would love to hear it and apply it to my life here in Albania.
After those weeks, I had some down time here in Erseka. I ate a lot of food and played a lot of volleyball and soccer. When that week was done, I went to Tirana to visit some friends that I met the first week I was here during the High School camp. I stayed with a friend, Egli and his wife, and they were very welcoming and hospitable. The travel there was, once again, an adventure that is worth telling. I was to leave on Monday, August 31 at 3 AM. So on Sunday, I got all packed and ready, then decided to play soccer at 10 PM with the guys, not a good idea. We ended up playing till midnight, I got back home at 12:30 and didn’t get to bed until 12:45. Then, after rolling around in bed and not sleeping, my alarm went off at 2. I got up, grabbed my back and was at the place where I thought I was to be picked up at 2:20 (later found out that I was at the wrong place). After waiting for 40 minutes and seeing cars without license plates, the van finally showed up. I ran up to the van, asked if it was for Tirana then hopped in. It was packed and I was in the front seat. After driving for about ten minutes, there was a van pulled over in the dark ahead of us. We pulled over and the driver said something to me in Albanian then reached over me and opened my door. I didn’t know what to do so I got out and walked to this other taxi. The driver grabbed my stuff and threw it into the trunk of the van and motioned me into the front. Having no clue what was going on, I just followed. I squeezed into the front between the driving and passenger and we were off. During the drive, I was dozing off when we finally pulled over for a break. I got out and went to get an espresso inside. We were there for about 20 minutes then I saw the driver start heading back to the car. I followed and he said something to me as I was getting into the car but I did not know what he said. I told him, “I don’t understand” in Albanian. The guy standing next to me said, “You don’t speak Albanian? Do you speak English then?” I said yes and we started talking. He told me that they thought I was Albanian and just assumed that (I passed off as an Albanian!!!). He told me he was from Erseka and that he knows Mark and Ruthie and goes to the church here. That later helped because after getting to Tirana early, I was able to use his cell phone to call Egli and tell him I was there already.
So after getting no sleep that night and a long travel, I was finally in Tirana. It was a great week and I was able to connect with some friends and make those friendships better. I also got a cell phone while I was there so if you ever want to call, my number is +355694609299. I saw the sites around Tirana and had a relaxing time. After this, I went to Durres for a Missionary Conference with Mark and Ruthie. It was for three days and we were in a very nice hotel right on the beach of the Adriatic with a pool as well. I was really excited for this because I wanted a time to be still, listen to teachings and have some good fellowship with other missionaries. This is what I expected but once again, life is an adventure and the unexpected happened. I was asked to help out with the children's ministry. I did not like this idea but said yes because I couldn’t just say no. I was caught off guard because I did not expect this at all. At first, I was really bitter because I did not want to be busy the whole day with children. After the first day though, I realized that I was being really selfish. I wanted everything for me and was not thinking of these kids. So I changed my attitude and gave my all into these kids. There were 14 and 12 were boys. We wrestled, made crafts, sang songs, and played in the pool. I had a lot of fun but was getting tired by the last day. Although I may not have liked it at the time, I look back and it is satisfying knowing that I did God’s will and listened to Him when it would have been easy to say “no” and done my own thing.
While at the retreat, I met three of the students that will be here this year and Bob and Linda Osborne were there. Bob and Linda are the house parents here at the school for the year. They are from Fresno California and have been coming here to Albania for over ten years now. They are now my adopted grandparents because of the relationship we now have and how much they look after me. It has been great getting to know them these past couple weeks and am excited to see how much this relationship grows in the Lord. I will be working closely with them this whole year. I mentioned they look after me. After getting back from Durres, I got sick. It started with a sore throat then moved into my head and I thought I would only last for a couple days. Nope, it lasted for 10 days. Luckily, there were no students here at the school, we had a while before any got here and I was able to take it easy. Looking back, physically I was sick, and I was also sick spiritually. During this time, I tried to live on my own strength, the little I had. I wanted to get over this sickness so bad. I completely neglected God. I stopped having my quiet times, stopped praying, and stopped reading the Bible. Only did I realize this after the fact last Friday night. I was feeling down and in sort of a desert. I realized I needed to get back to Jesus. And that is what I am trying to do now. I would ask for prayer in this area. I want to completely depend on Him and bring my need to Him.
Well, the students come tomorrow and then the school year gets going. I am really excited for it to start. The students that are coming are: Ben from Chicago, Richard from Canada, Anthony from California, Klajdi from Albania, Skender from Albania, and Festim from Kosovo. The girls are: Jen from Omaha, Sarah from Germany, Gretchen from Japan, Ymrije and Hana from Kosovo and possibly Berta from here in Erseka. The staff I will be working with this year are Mark, Doni, Eric, Asimi, Beta, Monika, Bob and Linda. If you could keep these people in your prayers as the year goes on. I would also ask if you could pray for the staff. Pray that we can work together, be transparent with each other, and be Godly examples to these students. And as I am a new member, that I could fit in well with the others and be accepted, and I feel that I already am. Another, pray that I would not be intimidate by the other students. I am the youngest person here. Most of the students are at least two years older and one is 42. I want to live out what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
Once again, thank you for the support in prayer. And as I said before, I would love to start a correspondence with who ever wants and please send me prayer requests of your own and let me know what is going on in your life. What a great and indwelling Lord that we have! “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” Philippians 4:20
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
Update: August 2009
Dear friends and family,
I ended my last letter that I wrote with the verse from 1 Thessolonians 5:24 “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” I will start with that verse at the beginning of my first news letter. This is what I have experienced over the past months. Whether with relationships with friends and family, or finances, or travel, or prayers, God has been faithful through and through.
My departure date was July 8th, 2009, and it all went to plan. My parents left the same day as me and we arrived in Frankfurt three hours apart then made our way down to Friedrichshafen. That trip was interesting because we took a slight detour, which was my fault in not paying attention to the roads. The trip that should have taken us 4 hours took 6 hours. Whoops. But it was worth it because we got to go through the black forest, which was beautiful. The next two weeks, we had a vacation, but this one was different because we didn’t plan anything so it was a lot of relaxing and resting. My parents left July 21st. I spent another couple days in Germany at Bodenseehof after they left. At this point, I had not purchased my ticket to Tirana, Albania yet. I had been looking but finally decided to get the ticket the week before. This caused a little problem because when I finally sat down to get my ticket for 9:30 AM Friday July 24, that ticket was sold out. So I looked for Saturday the 25th. The cheapest ticket that day was the earliest flight, 7 AM from Stuttgart. So I thought I would save money and just get that ticket. I would then stay with a friend there, who so graciously offered his house to me, and leave in the morning. Well, the earliest train from his house to the airport left at 5:17 and I needed to be there by 5. I would get there almost an hour late. I was just trusting God that everything would work out. One Friday, I was getting ready to leave to Stuttgart for the night when I thought I would look at my e-ticket again. Right before this, I had prayed that God would work everything out for getting there on time. When I checked my e-ticket again, it said that my flight left at 9:30 AM instead of 7. I don’t know how this worked out, and still don’t, because when I was looking at those flights, that flight was more expensive and I purchased the cheaper one. Once again, God is faithful in unknown ways.
On Saturday morning, I was brought to the airport early and everything worked out there, thankfully. I checked in my bags, which was a hassle with two big bags when they only allowed one bag, and made my way to the gate. While I was waiting there, I saw a big group of people saying goodbye and thought I would walk by because I was curious. I listened carefully when I passed and heard that they were speaking English. I thought this would be a great opportunity to talked to some people so I asked a young man what they were doing here in Germany. He was caught off guard but told me they were on a student exchange program from Michigan for three weeks and are on their way home. Then he asked if I was on the flight going to Budapest (I had a transfer there). I told him I was and he said that one of his friends was also on that flight. He called him over and introduced himself and asked if I was going to Tirana after that. I thought this was perfect and said I was. He was very thankful that another person who spoke English was on the same two flights as him. All I could think about was what a great opportunity God presented me with to show this boy God’s love. We talked for a while waiting for our plane and I found out he grew up in Tirana and spoke Albanian and was going back to visit family. It was nice having someone to talk with during the flights and during our layover. I was able to tell him about what I was doing here and what I did last year in Germany. His name was Rasheed.
We finally made it to Tirana at 3 PM Saturday. After getting my bags, I walked out and a guy was holding a sign with my name on it. He took my bags and brought them to his car. He introduced himself as Luli and we tried to talk with him not knowing English and me not knowing a single word of Albanian. This did not work so well but it was fun. I was able to talk to Mark (the director of the school I am working at) at this time and he told me that this guy would bring me to another taxi who will bring me to his house 5 hours away. Luli drove me through Tirana while we tried to communicate. He was showing me different buildings and we came to this sketchy street by a soccer stadium. He pulled down the street and parked in the parking lot asking me to get out. We both got out and he started walking towards this building. I did not know what was going on, and for the first time I was a little nervous as to what would happen to me. I blocked out those thoughts and prayed, telling God how awesome it was that if something were to happen to me, it would be His will and if I were to get killed, I would be with Him. A sense of peace came over me and I was fine with what ever we did. We walked to this building and it was a cafe. He orders coffee and we sit there for 30 minutes just hanging out. Finally, he got up and I followed him to a van, where he put my bags in the trunk. He told me to get in and I just sat there, in 100 degree weather, in the sun, with three other people who did not speak English, waiting, for another 30 minutes. I was sweating profusely. I realized then what the driver was doing, getting as many people as he could to make the trip more worth it. We finally got going and I sat tight against the window with my bag pack on my lap. After dozing off for about 2 hours, we made a pit stop to use the bathroom then were on our way again. We came to this bigger town as it was dusk and the van stopped. The driver got out and started taking my bags out. I was confused but just sat there not going what was going on. A girl motioned to me asking if I was getting out. So I just got out and the driver took my bags and gave them to another guy who put them in this taxi. The driver of that taxi told me to get in. The peace that I had was some what wearing off but I kept reminding myself that what ever happens, happens for a reason. With this driver, he took out his cell phone and I was able to talk to Mark once again who assured me everything was under control and I would be there in an hour. This helped and I was able to relax, kinda. The Albanian roads are pretty turny through the hills and are very narrow, and at night, they are very dark because they do not have lights. Well, we were driving at night. Every turn we made, I was sure that we were going off the side. After an hour of these turns, we got to Erseka and to Mark’s house. This was quite the adventure but worth it because it makes a good story.
Now, I am here. These past two weeks have been different from what I expected, mainly cause I didn’t know what to expect. The first week, we has a high school camp here with about 100 high school students. It was big but I am really glad I showed up for the camp first. The kids were great. Even though they were wild at times, a lot of them spoke English and I was able to connect with them. I worked the ropes course in the morning and the climbing wall in the afternoon/evening. I was able to make some good friends this week and will be visiting them later this month in Tirana.
This past week, we had a junior high camp. Before it started, I was told that it would be a harder week because 70 of the 80 came from an organization called World Vision, therefore, a lot did not know Christ or anything to do with church. And a lot would be coming from Muslim backgrounds. I thought about it and thought this would be a great time to connect with these kids through activities and show them Christ through my actions. When they first arrived, I did this. We played soccer, basketball and volleyball and I tried to give these kids attention and show affection towards the boys, meaning giving them high fives and hugs. They loved this, a little too much. It was a growing week for me because I was trying to find a line between showing them Christ’s love and getting time for myself because they would constantly be calling my name and the other Americans names. At times, it was overwhelming because they were constantly hanging on us and calling our names. My job for that week was a little different, instead of doing the ropes course, I was the camp photographer and in charge of making the slideshow for the end of the week. I was super excited about this because I love taking pictures and using iMovie to make videos on my computer. This also made things overwhelming because I would always have a camera and the kids knew this and would be asking me to takes pictures of them at all times. All together, this was a week where I really sought out God’s strength to get me through each day. But I really enjoy taking pictures and hanging with the kids.
These next two weeks, I will be at what we call Wilderness Camp. It is located on another piece of land the camp owns about an hour away in the forest. I have not seen it but I guess the area is beautiful and since we have been getting a lot of rain, it is really green. We will be having a group of about twenty medical students from Tirana at the camp so they will be college age, most being older than me. I am excited for this because it will be a good chance to connect with some of those people since most speak English. After this week, we will have another group there for Extreme Camp. I do not know what this entails but I will find out soon enough. It will be a great time to be still and witness God’s beauty all around me.
Right now I am reading a book called Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne. It is a really good and thought provoking book in which everyone should read. It has made me rethink my view of the American Empire in which I was born and raised in. All my life, through school, tv, movies and many other things, I have been made to believe that America is the best thing on earth, that patriotism and great and we should have pride in our country. I was taught to say the pledge of allegiance at an early age without thinking of what it really meant. I thought it was great that our money said “In God we trust” and we had political leaders and presidents that said “God bless America”. But after reading this book and being in another country, a poorer country, I have began to realize that I was mislead as a child and up until I got here. How can I pledge allegiance to the american flag and the american empire and say that I give me all to Jesus, that I pledge my allegiance to Him? How can I serve two masters like that? How can I support a country that takes so much pride in killing people to “make them free”? There are a lot more questions that have come to my mind as I have been reading this book and then looking at the Bible and reading it with new eyes. I realized that I have read the Bible through the eyes of the America rather than read America through the eyes of the Bible. This may be hard for a lot of you to hear but I am really beginning to rethink who I am pledging my allegiance to.
My heart broke in an experience I had last week. We were having the high school camp and at the end of the week, someone pulled me aside and wanted to tell me something. It was hard for her to get the words in English but this is basically the idea of what she said. She told me that a lot of Albanians see Americans and think, “I want to be like them. They have everything and are perfect. We Albanians feel less than you and have messed so many things up in our history.” I almost broke down in tears when I heard this. People see America and think it is amazing. Is that not what happened with Rome back in Jesus’ time? And how many times did He warm not be of this world, meaning Rome, but only in it. I don’t want to be seen as something better than these people. I want to be seen as Christ! As a little Christ, being clothed in Him and imitating Him. Not an American.
Here is something very interesting that I read and it is my prayer request. Although it is concerning the empire of Constantine, it can still be applied today with the American empire. “ During the reign of Constantine, another movement developed in Christianity- an underground of sorts. People left the centers of power and wealth and headed to the desert. Some of these monks described their society as a shipwreck, and folks swam into the desert to find God. They began to rethink what it means to be Christian, and their life on the margins called everything relevant into question. The desert became a place where clusters of people rethought their faith and culture. Some of them wrote that there was such an exodus of imperial misfits, the desert became a city filled with criminals and saints, none of whom saw the empire as a good place for the saints. They were not just fleeing society; they were going to the desert to save society, or at least themselves.” This is my prayer. That while I am here in Albania, some of the time being in the margins, that this would be my desert, where I can rethink what it means to be a Christian in the Empire that is called America. There is a better way to live, there is a better way to love, it is clearly spelled out in God’s word but I have been reading it through the eyes of America and have been blind to it. It will not be easy, I will have to give things up that are comfortable to me, but that is something that will have to happen.
Another prayer request is this: during the past couple weeks, during my quiet times and devotional, something God has really stuck out to me is the fear of the Lord. I have not really known what this means and have really been seeking wisdom and knowledge in the Bible about this. I would ask that you pray that I will find out what it really means to fear God, because that is the beginning of knowledge. Also, pray that I will be able to learn the language quickly so I am able to communicate with more people around here, and pray for the students for the Bible School this year, that God will prepare their hearts and also my heart.
Thank you for supporting me with your prayers and I hope this will help you know what I am doing here in Albania. I would ask that this is not just a one way communication though. While I am here, I will have a lot of time to pray and talk with God. Please send me prayer requests and updates on life at home. I want this to be a start of a correspondence with who ever wants to participate with me. I would greatly appreciate this.
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
Here is an address where you can send mail:
Qendra Udhekryq
7 Rruga e Rehoves
Erseka, Albania
“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.” Psalm 31:19
I ended my last letter that I wrote with the verse from 1 Thessolonians 5:24 “The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.” I will start with that verse at the beginning of my first news letter. This is what I have experienced over the past months. Whether with relationships with friends and family, or finances, or travel, or prayers, God has been faithful through and through.
My departure date was July 8th, 2009, and it all went to plan. My parents left the same day as me and we arrived in Frankfurt three hours apart then made our way down to Friedrichshafen. That trip was interesting because we took a slight detour, which was my fault in not paying attention to the roads. The trip that should have taken us 4 hours took 6 hours. Whoops. But it was worth it because we got to go through the black forest, which was beautiful. The next two weeks, we had a vacation, but this one was different because we didn’t plan anything so it was a lot of relaxing and resting. My parents left July 21st. I spent another couple days in Germany at Bodenseehof after they left. At this point, I had not purchased my ticket to Tirana, Albania yet. I had been looking but finally decided to get the ticket the week before. This caused a little problem because when I finally sat down to get my ticket for 9:30 AM Friday July 24, that ticket was sold out. So I looked for Saturday the 25th. The cheapest ticket that day was the earliest flight, 7 AM from Stuttgart. So I thought I would save money and just get that ticket. I would then stay with a friend there, who so graciously offered his house to me, and leave in the morning. Well, the earliest train from his house to the airport left at 5:17 and I needed to be there by 5. I would get there almost an hour late. I was just trusting God that everything would work out. One Friday, I was getting ready to leave to Stuttgart for the night when I thought I would look at my e-ticket again. Right before this, I had prayed that God would work everything out for getting there on time. When I checked my e-ticket again, it said that my flight left at 9:30 AM instead of 7. I don’t know how this worked out, and still don’t, because when I was looking at those flights, that flight was more expensive and I purchased the cheaper one. Once again, God is faithful in unknown ways.
On Saturday morning, I was brought to the airport early and everything worked out there, thankfully. I checked in my bags, which was a hassle with two big bags when they only allowed one bag, and made my way to the gate. While I was waiting there, I saw a big group of people saying goodbye and thought I would walk by because I was curious. I listened carefully when I passed and heard that they were speaking English. I thought this would be a great opportunity to talked to some people so I asked a young man what they were doing here in Germany. He was caught off guard but told me they were on a student exchange program from Michigan for three weeks and are on their way home. Then he asked if I was on the flight going to Budapest (I had a transfer there). I told him I was and he said that one of his friends was also on that flight. He called him over and introduced himself and asked if I was going to Tirana after that. I thought this was perfect and said I was. He was very thankful that another person who spoke English was on the same two flights as him. All I could think about was what a great opportunity God presented me with to show this boy God’s love. We talked for a while waiting for our plane and I found out he grew up in Tirana and spoke Albanian and was going back to visit family. It was nice having someone to talk with during the flights and during our layover. I was able to tell him about what I was doing here and what I did last year in Germany. His name was Rasheed.
We finally made it to Tirana at 3 PM Saturday. After getting my bags, I walked out and a guy was holding a sign with my name on it. He took my bags and brought them to his car. He introduced himself as Luli and we tried to talk with him not knowing English and me not knowing a single word of Albanian. This did not work so well but it was fun. I was able to talk to Mark (the director of the school I am working at) at this time and he told me that this guy would bring me to another taxi who will bring me to his house 5 hours away. Luli drove me through Tirana while we tried to communicate. He was showing me different buildings and we came to this sketchy street by a soccer stadium. He pulled down the street and parked in the parking lot asking me to get out. We both got out and he started walking towards this building. I did not know what was going on, and for the first time I was a little nervous as to what would happen to me. I blocked out those thoughts and prayed, telling God how awesome it was that if something were to happen to me, it would be His will and if I were to get killed, I would be with Him. A sense of peace came over me and I was fine with what ever we did. We walked to this building and it was a cafe. He orders coffee and we sit there for 30 minutes just hanging out. Finally, he got up and I followed him to a van, where he put my bags in the trunk. He told me to get in and I just sat there, in 100 degree weather, in the sun, with three other people who did not speak English, waiting, for another 30 minutes. I was sweating profusely. I realized then what the driver was doing, getting as many people as he could to make the trip more worth it. We finally got going and I sat tight against the window with my bag pack on my lap. After dozing off for about 2 hours, we made a pit stop to use the bathroom then were on our way again. We came to this bigger town as it was dusk and the van stopped. The driver got out and started taking my bags out. I was confused but just sat there not going what was going on. A girl motioned to me asking if I was getting out. So I just got out and the driver took my bags and gave them to another guy who put them in this taxi. The driver of that taxi told me to get in. The peace that I had was some what wearing off but I kept reminding myself that what ever happens, happens for a reason. With this driver, he took out his cell phone and I was able to talk to Mark once again who assured me everything was under control and I would be there in an hour. This helped and I was able to relax, kinda. The Albanian roads are pretty turny through the hills and are very narrow, and at night, they are very dark because they do not have lights. Well, we were driving at night. Every turn we made, I was sure that we were going off the side. After an hour of these turns, we got to Erseka and to Mark’s house. This was quite the adventure but worth it because it makes a good story.
Now, I am here. These past two weeks have been different from what I expected, mainly cause I didn’t know what to expect. The first week, we has a high school camp here with about 100 high school students. It was big but I am really glad I showed up for the camp first. The kids were great. Even though they were wild at times, a lot of them spoke English and I was able to connect with them. I worked the ropes course in the morning and the climbing wall in the afternoon/evening. I was able to make some good friends this week and will be visiting them later this month in Tirana.
This past week, we had a junior high camp. Before it started, I was told that it would be a harder week because 70 of the 80 came from an organization called World Vision, therefore, a lot did not know Christ or anything to do with church. And a lot would be coming from Muslim backgrounds. I thought about it and thought this would be a great time to connect with these kids through activities and show them Christ through my actions. When they first arrived, I did this. We played soccer, basketball and volleyball and I tried to give these kids attention and show affection towards the boys, meaning giving them high fives and hugs. They loved this, a little too much. It was a growing week for me because I was trying to find a line between showing them Christ’s love and getting time for myself because they would constantly be calling my name and the other Americans names. At times, it was overwhelming because they were constantly hanging on us and calling our names. My job for that week was a little different, instead of doing the ropes course, I was the camp photographer and in charge of making the slideshow for the end of the week. I was super excited about this because I love taking pictures and using iMovie to make videos on my computer. This also made things overwhelming because I would always have a camera and the kids knew this and would be asking me to takes pictures of them at all times. All together, this was a week where I really sought out God’s strength to get me through each day. But I really enjoy taking pictures and hanging with the kids.
These next two weeks, I will be at what we call Wilderness Camp. It is located on another piece of land the camp owns about an hour away in the forest. I have not seen it but I guess the area is beautiful and since we have been getting a lot of rain, it is really green. We will be having a group of about twenty medical students from Tirana at the camp so they will be college age, most being older than me. I am excited for this because it will be a good chance to connect with some of those people since most speak English. After this week, we will have another group there for Extreme Camp. I do not know what this entails but I will find out soon enough. It will be a great time to be still and witness God’s beauty all around me.
Right now I am reading a book called Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne. It is a really good and thought provoking book in which everyone should read. It has made me rethink my view of the American Empire in which I was born and raised in. All my life, through school, tv, movies and many other things, I have been made to believe that America is the best thing on earth, that patriotism and great and we should have pride in our country. I was taught to say the pledge of allegiance at an early age without thinking of what it really meant. I thought it was great that our money said “In God we trust” and we had political leaders and presidents that said “God bless America”. But after reading this book and being in another country, a poorer country, I have began to realize that I was mislead as a child and up until I got here. How can I pledge allegiance to the american flag and the american empire and say that I give me all to Jesus, that I pledge my allegiance to Him? How can I serve two masters like that? How can I support a country that takes so much pride in killing people to “make them free”? There are a lot more questions that have come to my mind as I have been reading this book and then looking at the Bible and reading it with new eyes. I realized that I have read the Bible through the eyes of the America rather than read America through the eyes of the Bible. This may be hard for a lot of you to hear but I am really beginning to rethink who I am pledging my allegiance to.
My heart broke in an experience I had last week. We were having the high school camp and at the end of the week, someone pulled me aside and wanted to tell me something. It was hard for her to get the words in English but this is basically the idea of what she said. She told me that a lot of Albanians see Americans and think, “I want to be like them. They have everything and are perfect. We Albanians feel less than you and have messed so many things up in our history.” I almost broke down in tears when I heard this. People see America and think it is amazing. Is that not what happened with Rome back in Jesus’ time? And how many times did He warm not be of this world, meaning Rome, but only in it. I don’t want to be seen as something better than these people. I want to be seen as Christ! As a little Christ, being clothed in Him and imitating Him. Not an American.
Here is something very interesting that I read and it is my prayer request. Although it is concerning the empire of Constantine, it can still be applied today with the American empire. “ During the reign of Constantine, another movement developed in Christianity- an underground of sorts. People left the centers of power and wealth and headed to the desert. Some of these monks described their society as a shipwreck, and folks swam into the desert to find God. They began to rethink what it means to be Christian, and their life on the margins called everything relevant into question. The desert became a place where clusters of people rethought their faith and culture. Some of them wrote that there was such an exodus of imperial misfits, the desert became a city filled with criminals and saints, none of whom saw the empire as a good place for the saints. They were not just fleeing society; they were going to the desert to save society, or at least themselves.” This is my prayer. That while I am here in Albania, some of the time being in the margins, that this would be my desert, where I can rethink what it means to be a Christian in the Empire that is called America. There is a better way to live, there is a better way to love, it is clearly spelled out in God’s word but I have been reading it through the eyes of America and have been blind to it. It will not be easy, I will have to give things up that are comfortable to me, but that is something that will have to happen.
Another prayer request is this: during the past couple weeks, during my quiet times and devotional, something God has really stuck out to me is the fear of the Lord. I have not really known what this means and have really been seeking wisdom and knowledge in the Bible about this. I would ask that you pray that I will find out what it really means to fear God, because that is the beginning of knowledge. Also, pray that I will be able to learn the language quickly so I am able to communicate with more people around here, and pray for the students for the Bible School this year, that God will prepare their hearts and also my heart.
Thank you for supporting me with your prayers and I hope this will help you know what I am doing here in Albania. I would ask that this is not just a one way communication though. While I am here, I will have a lot of time to pray and talk with God. Please send me prayer requests and updates on life at home. I want this to be a start of a correspondence with who ever wants to participate with me. I would greatly appreciate this.
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
Here is an address where you can send mail:
Qendra Udhekryq
7 Rruga e Rehoves
Erseka, Albania
“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.” Psalm 31:19
This Past Year and After: June 2009
June 2009
Dear friends and family,
As many of you know, I have spent the duration of this past year in Germany. While I was there, I was attending a Bible School called Bodenseehof, which was in a town called Friedrichshafen in southern Germany. The past six months have been the best time of my life thus far. I learned so much about myself, but most of all, I learned a lot about God and the person of Christ. The time was also one of the hardest times of my life, mostly because of the convictions that were put on my heart; every individual day challenged me in my faith. I will give you an idea of what my average day was like: this school is a lot different than any university or college that students would normally go to. We didn’t have classes for math or science, but only lectures. Every week, we would have a new lecturer come in from around the world to talk about a different topic such as a book of the Bible, Matthew or Proverbs, or on a more general subject like the Holy Spirit or Abiding in Christ. Each week, we would then have about five lectures a day. Each lecture was a sermon in itself; so everyday we would leave having been challenged in some way. We would also have some homework, such as reading the whole Old Testament, writing a Bible Study on one chapter in the Bible, or reading different books and writing papers on those. This would keep us busy during our free time in the afternoons and if we weren’t doing that, we would hang out and get to know each other better. We also had sing teams and drama teams which were formed at the beginning of the year. With these teams, we would go on outreaches around Germany and other areas. In the fall, we had an all-school outreach for one week. During this time, every person at the school either went somewhere for an outreach or stayed at the school and held different camps there. There was one team that had the opportunity to go to Serbia. My sing team and I had the opportunity to go on this outreach.
Serbia was one of the highlights of my year, so when someone asks me what the most memorable experience was; this is the first thing that pops into my mind. To put it simply, it was life changing. For the first three days that we were there, we helped put on a retreat for Gypsies that lived in or around Belgrade. The Gypsies are the “untouchables” of Europe. They are the poorest of the poor and are spat on by most of the people that live in the countries where they are from. This was the best thing to do first because we were able to see the kids for who they were, not for where they lived. Even though we did not speak a word of their language and they only spoke a little English, we were still able to communicate through simple sign language and through love. This was only possible because of God. It showed me that you don’t need to talk to be able to love people and get to know them. During this retreat, we played games, songs, and activities. Also, we would have two messages a day that Heinz Spindler, who is the director of Bodenseehof, did with a translator. Everytime I say this, I have a smile on my face because all of the kids who were there gave their lives to Christ. It is amazing how God works.
After this retreat, we went to Belgrade. When we were there, we went to three different settlements. The first was an area about a half an hour outside of Belgrade. At this place, there was a little building where there was help available for schoolwork. In this little building, there were about 30 people packed in there seeking help. Outside of the building was a sports court with basketball and soccer. There a bunch of kids were playing so some others and I went to play with them. Right away, there was this connection between all of us. We were able to get to know each other so much in that half hour even though we didn’t speak the same language. This just shows how much these kids need the love of others. When we left, everyone left with tears in our eyes because we had to go so fast. This was really hard for me to see.
The next place that we went was about an hour away. This was where the pastor, who helped put on the retreat, started the church he pastors. After that, we went to the settlement where most of the kids were from. This was almost in downtown Belgrade. When we got there, we parked in the parking lot of really nice theatre and right across the street was the poorest place I have ever seen. This was crazy to see how great the contrast was from rich to poor. The settlement was put together under a bridge and the houses were made from scraps of wood, sheetrock, metal or anything else that was available to them. As we were walking through, my emotions were everywhere. I didn’t know what to think or feel. Seeing these kids in their home was hard for me. Seeing the living conditions was even harder. But what made things better was seeing how happy they were. They didn’t care that they lived there because that is all they knew. So they grabbed our hands and showed us around with smiles on their faces. They took us to their homes and lastly, their church. This church that they met in was no bigger than the living room in my home. It was put together by scraps of sheetrock and had holes everywhere in it, along with a dirt floor. Later that night, we put on the service there. Our sing team did a couple songs and Heinz spoke again. While we were worshiping with them, I was able to look out on the crowd because I was facing them. This was the most joyful sight that I have ever seen. These people lived in scrap metal houses, didn’t have much food or clothing, many didn’t have jobs, and they are hated by society, but none of this mattered to them at that moment. They were praising God for what they did have and for loving them. I couldn’t help but smile as my eyes welled up with tears. I learned so much from them. So often, I complain about what I don’t have, I don’t have the new phone or ipod, new clothes, a computer, and so often I complain about how I am hungry and yet I go to church and try to praise God but can’t, simply because of all these things that are on my mind. I have no clue what it is like to be hungry; they do. I have no idea what it is like to only have one pair of clothes for months; they do. I have no idea what it is like to live in these uncomfortable conditions; they do. Yet they praise God with more joy than I ever have. This night will be with me for the rest of my life and whenever I complain that we have no food in our fridge, I will think of these kids.
Before I left to Germany last September, I had no clue what I was going to do the following year. All I knew was that I did not want to go to school right away and I told myself that I would figure things out around Christmas time. Christmas came quickly and I had to make a decision. When I first got to school, I wanted to work at Bodenseehof or another Torchbearer’s center the next year such as Holsby Brun, in Sweden, or Tauerhof, in Austria, or Capernwray Hall, in England. After Serbia, I really wanted to work with Eastern European kids, but I didn’t know how I was going to do that. As Christmas came closer, I decided that I would have Peter Reid, my uncle and the principal of Bodenseehof, email different directors to see if they would need any help for the next year. When I asked him, he asked me if I ever thought of going to Albania or Romania to work at one of those centers because they needed a lot of help. I thought about it, then quickly dropped the idea because I didn’t want to go to one of those countries. After a lot of thought and prayer, that idea grew on me more and more. I realized that God was calling me to be uncomfortable and go somewhere where they needed a lot of help and these two countries fit that. So I decided to have him email those directors. Both responded quickly but the Albanian school seemed to interest me more and after a lot of prayer, I thought that one would be best for me. I emailed the director back and he told me I had the job there at the school. In the summer, I would help out with camps and when school started, I would be a RA (resident assistant). But before I went out there, I wanted to come back home and work for the summer to earn money and see family.
I got back home on April 2nd. It was wonderful to see my family and friends. When people at school would ask me if I was nervous and scared about going home, I would always say no because of the family and friends that I have there to support me and be there for me as I adjusted back to life in the states. I thought that coming back, I would just jump back into my group of friends, get involved in a church and do a bunch of outreaches around the cities that I really wanted to do. I wish it were that easy. The first two weeks being back were probably two of the hardest weeks of my life. From culture shock to seeing friends change. It was really hard for me. When I left to Germany, I jumped off the merry-go-round that was life at home and went onto different things while friends back home stayed on, which was not necessarily a bad thing. When I came back, a lot of them were still doing the same thing. Once again, not a bad thing. But since I changed so much while I was gone and learned a lot and grew in my faith, I figured that everyone would have done the same. A lot of people grew in their faith but some went different ways and this was hard for me to see and come back to. The staff at Bodenseehof told us when we left not to go home expecting things to be as they were at school. Well, I should have listened because I wanted things to be back to what I was used to. I felt myself trying to get things to go back to how I knew them and I kept catching myself judging people, which was not right of me. This is what made life coming back too difficult, but as the weeks go on, things get better and better. I realize that those friends that I have are there for me and have helped me so much in coming back.
When I left Germany, I had a job lined up and a bunch of outreaches in mind to do around the cities. I am now painting houses again like I have been doing for the past three summers and did my first outreach that I had in mind a couple weeks ago. The Lord has blessed my life back at home and will continue to bless it as I get ready to leave once again on July 8th to go to Albania. I am still challenged everyday in my faith and continue to grow, as well.
One verse that I read as I was getting ready to leave was Philippians 1:3-11. It reads: “3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
This reminded me of the people that I met a school and the way I feel toward them. As I was sitting in church this morning, the pastor said that Philippians is sort of Paul’s support letter to the church of Philippi. Then I realized that this is a great verse for my letter, as well. This is my support letter and I ask that if you feel led, to support me in prayer as I embark on this next journey in my life. It is going to be an adventure and will have lots of great times, as well as times where I may feel alone and down. It will be those times during which I will need prayer the most. So I ask that you would pray for me as I am getting ready to leave and as I am in Albania serving our Lord. Paul is thanking the Philippians every time he thinks of them and I do the same when I think of you, my friends and family. Some prayer requests that I have right now are: That I can trust in God to provide funds for this next year, that I can make myself available to Him everyday to do with me what He wants, that I can take advantage of this time I have now at home to build those relationships with friends and family, and that God would give me self-control and wisdom in how I spend my money because I have had a problem with that in my past.
Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, whether it be prayers or listening to me. I am blessed so much by God and that is so that I may be a blessing to others, which is what I am trying to do in Albania. I want start a newsletter while I am there and do that by means of email. If you want to be apart of that, email me (abes08@aim.com) and I will add you to the list. This way you can see specifics in what I am doing and what I will need prayer for. One more thing that I learned this past year was how important it is to be a good receiver. This is something that has been hard for me in the past but something that I am working on. If God has put it on your heart to give financially to this experience that I am about to embark on, I would be more than happy to receive support in that area also. Thank you again for everything and hope to be in contact.
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
Address:
4110 W 145th St.
Savage, MN 55378
“The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Dear friends and family,
As many of you know, I have spent the duration of this past year in Germany. While I was there, I was attending a Bible School called Bodenseehof, which was in a town called Friedrichshafen in southern Germany. The past six months have been the best time of my life thus far. I learned so much about myself, but most of all, I learned a lot about God and the person of Christ. The time was also one of the hardest times of my life, mostly because of the convictions that were put on my heart; every individual day challenged me in my faith. I will give you an idea of what my average day was like: this school is a lot different than any university or college that students would normally go to. We didn’t have classes for math or science, but only lectures. Every week, we would have a new lecturer come in from around the world to talk about a different topic such as a book of the Bible, Matthew or Proverbs, or on a more general subject like the Holy Spirit or Abiding in Christ. Each week, we would then have about five lectures a day. Each lecture was a sermon in itself; so everyday we would leave having been challenged in some way. We would also have some homework, such as reading the whole Old Testament, writing a Bible Study on one chapter in the Bible, or reading different books and writing papers on those. This would keep us busy during our free time in the afternoons and if we weren’t doing that, we would hang out and get to know each other better. We also had sing teams and drama teams which were formed at the beginning of the year. With these teams, we would go on outreaches around Germany and other areas. In the fall, we had an all-school outreach for one week. During this time, every person at the school either went somewhere for an outreach or stayed at the school and held different camps there. There was one team that had the opportunity to go to Serbia. My sing team and I had the opportunity to go on this outreach.
Serbia was one of the highlights of my year, so when someone asks me what the most memorable experience was; this is the first thing that pops into my mind. To put it simply, it was life changing. For the first three days that we were there, we helped put on a retreat for Gypsies that lived in or around Belgrade. The Gypsies are the “untouchables” of Europe. They are the poorest of the poor and are spat on by most of the people that live in the countries where they are from. This was the best thing to do first because we were able to see the kids for who they were, not for where they lived. Even though we did not speak a word of their language and they only spoke a little English, we were still able to communicate through simple sign language and through love. This was only possible because of God. It showed me that you don’t need to talk to be able to love people and get to know them. During this retreat, we played games, songs, and activities. Also, we would have two messages a day that Heinz Spindler, who is the director of Bodenseehof, did with a translator. Everytime I say this, I have a smile on my face because all of the kids who were there gave their lives to Christ. It is amazing how God works.
After this retreat, we went to Belgrade. When we were there, we went to three different settlements. The first was an area about a half an hour outside of Belgrade. At this place, there was a little building where there was help available for schoolwork. In this little building, there were about 30 people packed in there seeking help. Outside of the building was a sports court with basketball and soccer. There a bunch of kids were playing so some others and I went to play with them. Right away, there was this connection between all of us. We were able to get to know each other so much in that half hour even though we didn’t speak the same language. This just shows how much these kids need the love of others. When we left, everyone left with tears in our eyes because we had to go so fast. This was really hard for me to see.
The next place that we went was about an hour away. This was where the pastor, who helped put on the retreat, started the church he pastors. After that, we went to the settlement where most of the kids were from. This was almost in downtown Belgrade. When we got there, we parked in the parking lot of really nice theatre and right across the street was the poorest place I have ever seen. This was crazy to see how great the contrast was from rich to poor. The settlement was put together under a bridge and the houses were made from scraps of wood, sheetrock, metal or anything else that was available to them. As we were walking through, my emotions were everywhere. I didn’t know what to think or feel. Seeing these kids in their home was hard for me. Seeing the living conditions was even harder. But what made things better was seeing how happy they were. They didn’t care that they lived there because that is all they knew. So they grabbed our hands and showed us around with smiles on their faces. They took us to their homes and lastly, their church. This church that they met in was no bigger than the living room in my home. It was put together by scraps of sheetrock and had holes everywhere in it, along with a dirt floor. Later that night, we put on the service there. Our sing team did a couple songs and Heinz spoke again. While we were worshiping with them, I was able to look out on the crowd because I was facing them. This was the most joyful sight that I have ever seen. These people lived in scrap metal houses, didn’t have much food or clothing, many didn’t have jobs, and they are hated by society, but none of this mattered to them at that moment. They were praising God for what they did have and for loving them. I couldn’t help but smile as my eyes welled up with tears. I learned so much from them. So often, I complain about what I don’t have, I don’t have the new phone or ipod, new clothes, a computer, and so often I complain about how I am hungry and yet I go to church and try to praise God but can’t, simply because of all these things that are on my mind. I have no clue what it is like to be hungry; they do. I have no idea what it is like to only have one pair of clothes for months; they do. I have no idea what it is like to live in these uncomfortable conditions; they do. Yet they praise God with more joy than I ever have. This night will be with me for the rest of my life and whenever I complain that we have no food in our fridge, I will think of these kids.
Before I left to Germany last September, I had no clue what I was going to do the following year. All I knew was that I did not want to go to school right away and I told myself that I would figure things out around Christmas time. Christmas came quickly and I had to make a decision. When I first got to school, I wanted to work at Bodenseehof or another Torchbearer’s center the next year such as Holsby Brun, in Sweden, or Tauerhof, in Austria, or Capernwray Hall, in England. After Serbia, I really wanted to work with Eastern European kids, but I didn’t know how I was going to do that. As Christmas came closer, I decided that I would have Peter Reid, my uncle and the principal of Bodenseehof, email different directors to see if they would need any help for the next year. When I asked him, he asked me if I ever thought of going to Albania or Romania to work at one of those centers because they needed a lot of help. I thought about it, then quickly dropped the idea because I didn’t want to go to one of those countries. After a lot of thought and prayer, that idea grew on me more and more. I realized that God was calling me to be uncomfortable and go somewhere where they needed a lot of help and these two countries fit that. So I decided to have him email those directors. Both responded quickly but the Albanian school seemed to interest me more and after a lot of prayer, I thought that one would be best for me. I emailed the director back and he told me I had the job there at the school. In the summer, I would help out with camps and when school started, I would be a RA (resident assistant). But before I went out there, I wanted to come back home and work for the summer to earn money and see family.
I got back home on April 2nd. It was wonderful to see my family and friends. When people at school would ask me if I was nervous and scared about going home, I would always say no because of the family and friends that I have there to support me and be there for me as I adjusted back to life in the states. I thought that coming back, I would just jump back into my group of friends, get involved in a church and do a bunch of outreaches around the cities that I really wanted to do. I wish it were that easy. The first two weeks being back were probably two of the hardest weeks of my life. From culture shock to seeing friends change. It was really hard for me. When I left to Germany, I jumped off the merry-go-round that was life at home and went onto different things while friends back home stayed on, which was not necessarily a bad thing. When I came back, a lot of them were still doing the same thing. Once again, not a bad thing. But since I changed so much while I was gone and learned a lot and grew in my faith, I figured that everyone would have done the same. A lot of people grew in their faith but some went different ways and this was hard for me to see and come back to. The staff at Bodenseehof told us when we left not to go home expecting things to be as they were at school. Well, I should have listened because I wanted things to be back to what I was used to. I felt myself trying to get things to go back to how I knew them and I kept catching myself judging people, which was not right of me. This is what made life coming back too difficult, but as the weeks go on, things get better and better. I realize that those friends that I have are there for me and have helped me so much in coming back.
When I left Germany, I had a job lined up and a bunch of outreaches in mind to do around the cities. I am now painting houses again like I have been doing for the past three summers and did my first outreach that I had in mind a couple weeks ago. The Lord has blessed my life back at home and will continue to bless it as I get ready to leave once again on July 8th to go to Albania. I am still challenged everyday in my faith and continue to grow, as well.
One verse that I read as I was getting ready to leave was Philippians 1:3-11. It reads: “3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
This reminded me of the people that I met a school and the way I feel toward them. As I was sitting in church this morning, the pastor said that Philippians is sort of Paul’s support letter to the church of Philippi. Then I realized that this is a great verse for my letter, as well. This is my support letter and I ask that if you feel led, to support me in prayer as I embark on this next journey in my life. It is going to be an adventure and will have lots of great times, as well as times where I may feel alone and down. It will be those times during which I will need prayer the most. So I ask that you would pray for me as I am getting ready to leave and as I am in Albania serving our Lord. Paul is thanking the Philippians every time he thinks of them and I do the same when I think of you, my friends and family. Some prayer requests that I have right now are: That I can trust in God to provide funds for this next year, that I can make myself available to Him everyday to do with me what He wants, that I can take advantage of this time I have now at home to build those relationships with friends and family, and that God would give me self-control and wisdom in how I spend my money because I have had a problem with that in my past.
Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, whether it be prayers or listening to me. I am blessed so much by God and that is so that I may be a blessing to others, which is what I am trying to do in Albania. I want start a newsletter while I am there and do that by means of email. If you want to be apart of that, email me (abes08@aim.com) and I will add you to the list. This way you can see specifics in what I am doing and what I will need prayer for. One more thing that I learned this past year was how important it is to be a good receiver. This is something that has been hard for me in the past but something that I am working on. If God has put it on your heart to give financially to this experience that I am about to embark on, I would be more than happy to receive support in that area also. Thank you again for everything and hope to be in contact.
In Him,
Luke Abrahamson
Address:
4110 W 145th St.
Savage, MN 55378
“The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
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