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