Peak Prayer

A couple months ago Dan and I joined nine christian fellas on a one day mountain climb. There were seven countries represented among us. We were led by a missionary from Korea. Men from Australia, Sweden, Nigeria, America, England and Kosova had come for a day of reflection in God's majestic creation.

Lyboten peak is 2,500 meters high, one of the highest peaks in Kosova. Dan and I were both wondering if we could do it. We drove to a spot about 2/3rds up the mountain (cheaters). It still took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to the top. While there, we took turns singing praises to God in our native language and prayed for each of our countries. Hearing praises sung in Nigerian, Swedish, Korean, etc. while sitting on a mountain top was a unique, spiritual experience. I'm glad there were three other english speaking guys - the Nigerian and Swede had to sing solos.

After reaching the top, the clouds came in around us. When Dan and I stood at a marker, he was in Kosova and I was in Macedonia. The peak is now covered in snow and we're hunkered down in our home for winter.

White Stuff

Our first snowfall was a doozie. We woke up to 6 inches, but by 9:00am it was 10 inches! Time to shovel the driveway…

We had planned a trip to our old stomping ground (Orllan) this weekend and it certainly paid off with beautiful, snow-covered scenes, some sledding for the kids and good times with old friends.

This week we’ll have a Thanksgiving lunch at school. Kosova doesn’t have a holiday like Thanksgiving, so we (teachers) enjoy letting the students know what the holiday means to each of us. After lunch we won’t watch Football, but we will have the finals of our annual Ping-Pong tournament. Gramos and Gent will be facing off for the title around two in the afternoon.

Congregations

October was a month for visiting congregations. Rruga de Pacqes (Way of Peace) church is located in Peja, about a 90 minute drive west from Prishtina. The church grounds include a sanctuary that holds around 100, an English school and a parsonage. It’s a big church for Kosova.

Jesus is the “bukë” of life. That was the message on October 12. We read passages from Mat, 1Cor, Phil, Prov, Ex, and John. The pastor spoke without an interpreter, so we had a lot of time to check the side notes and cross-references in our bible.

On October 26 we visited a church near us in Prishtina, http://ringjallja.com/en/index.html. Services were held behind a Christian bookstore (the only one we know of) in a small room that holds about 45. We particularly liked the music since some of the tunes were familiar, Because He Lives & My Jesus, My Savior to name a couple. It's inspiring to hear songs we know sung in a different language.

This service was also Albanian, but an interpreter sat near a group of "Anglisht only" folks. We know enough to follow the message and find the correct scripture, but often the congregation is laughing at the pastor’s humor or offering a moving “amen” and we’re simply out of the loop. Guess you had to be there – but we were there! Thankfully God speaks to us under any circumstances.

After the service we met an American that's here helping Kosova with their judicial system. He and his wife host a bible study each week for local couples. They're currently reading Gary Chapman's The 5 Love Languages.

Absen T. Palmer

In a dingy bag, mixed in with other diplomatic mail, sat our absentee voting ballots. Over the Atlantic to D.C., then off to the Boone County Clerk’s office to be counted today (we hope). We dropped them off a couple weeks ago at the US Embassy here. We had to pass through a security check, be escorted (2 at a time) to a room where we handed our ballots through a window to a pleasant Kosovar who joked about Julia’s Cuban heritage (we had to show our passports). Our adventure lasted 15 minutes…never saw an American.

Fortunately we haven’t had to deal directly with the political posturing, wardrobe attacks, UNBELIEVABLE promises and slapstick media coverage that accompany every presidential race. The amount of time and money spent on marketing deceit is condescending. Yet, there are checks and balances in our democratic society. Our government is run with a fair amount of transparency...well...translucency. People can be informed and active if they choose to be.

Here the government struggles against corruption. The EU supervision is coming in, and the UN supervision is going out. A government “in limbo” one magazine calls it. Checks and balances don’t work yet. One KFOR (Army) chaplin mentioned to me that he feels it will eventually take a massive statement from the people (there are only 3 million) to get leadership to govern for them, not themselves.