PHS Graduation

Here are a few pictures from last night’s graduation ceremony. The class of 2009 was Pristhina High School’s first. Six young men and one young lady. After congratulatory speeches from three guests of honor, John Chesnut gave the main commencement address. His message was built around “six words” – Dream Big. Work Hard. Honor God. Six words that work for us all, really.

Our seniors flipped their tassels and left the ceremony while “Who Let the Dogs Out” played on the sound system. Hugs, photos, smiles, hugs...then we all gathered back inside the hall for appetizers, music and dancing. Some danced more than others, and some (Xhim) did not dance at all.

When your graduating class numbers seven, you have a pretty good connection with each of them. I taught them all this year and got to know them fairly well, and because of this I find myself wanting to stay in touch with them and keep up with their college endeavors…I hope I can follow through on this aim. God’s speed to each of you. Thanks for your brief part in my life – it was a pleasure. No homework tonight.

So Mel and I are sitting on the patio of the HIB restaurant which is attached to the HIB gas station. Kenny Rogers is singing Lady on the radio. Boy that song has legs. Anyway, Joe Biden is why we're here. His caravan has traffic snarled and we can't get to the grocery store. He's making a 3-day tour through the Balkans to heal hundreds of years of ethnic turmoil. "You guys (Serbs, Bosnians, Kosovars, Croats) better find a way to heal past wounds or there will be more violence," Joe said (Gary paraphrased). Well thanks Joe for that new spin on things, now can I get to my eggs and paper towels? He also said that the US considers Kosova's independence to be "absolutely irreversible" which was a huge comfort to the Kosovars.

They do roll out the red carpet for high American officials. Kosovar Albanians are sincerely thankful for our friendship and support. I hope you saw our little country in the news and thought of us. Biden was within a few miles of our school. I tried to get him to come do some integration with me and my Precalculus class, but...well...he didn't bring his TI-83 calculator with him.

Old Man's Got Game (sort of)

We just finished a 3 on 3 basketball tournament at school. We would get 2 - 3 games completed at lunchtime, and after about three weeks there were two teams left standing. I happened to get picked up by the team that eventually won. I poured in 3 of our 17 baskets…my contributions were defensive, synergistic, intangible. My footwork was comparable to that of a young athlete half my age. It didn’t hurt that the best player in the school was on my team.

I really used the tournament as a platform to advertise mathematics.

First Graduates

We have about 5 weeks of school left. Our seniors only have about 7 classes left – they are almost free. They are a good group, two Americans and five Albanians, 6 boys and 1 girl. All are heading to college except for one who has chosen the Armed Forces in the US. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching them all this year and can’t wait to hear about their future endeavors.

Kosova was accepted into the European Evangelical Alliance last month. Several countries (some that have not accepted Kosova’s independence) were able to put politics aside and unanimously vote in favor of welcoming Kosova into this group whose desire, “is to serve the region by making Christ known and extending His kingdom both nationally and internationally.” Members hope, “…to help one another to be contemporary Christian communities which both transform and redeem our wider communities.” Our friends John and Ruth were honored to attend the annual meeting in Spain and witness Kosova’s induction.

It's nice to know that our school is advertised as a "gift" from Christians in America. We have several new teachers that have signed up to teach at Prishtina High School next year. Please pray for Maggie, Cindy, Anne, Sarah and McClain as they prepare to come to Kosova. Also continue to pray for more teachers to come. We especially need Science teachers.

Easter Greetings

Easter blessings to you. Melanie and I traveled to Gjakove today to worship with several churches from all over Kosova. We gathered together, 500 strong, and sang praises to Jesus our Lord and Savior. We both were moved by a crucifixion drama accompanied by a beautifully sung solo. The sermon was in Albanian, so we pieced together what we could with our Bibles and spiritual intuition. Jezusi tha: “Une Jam Ringjallja dhe Jeta.”

Visitors '09

We received our first visitors of the year. It is a blessing to share our endeavors with friends from the states, especially two friends from our home church, Lakeside Christian. Ken and Wrenda spent six days in our tiny country. They were able to spend time in Orllan, Prishtina and Prizren…a nice mix of village, modern and historical. They saw the work of several missionaries, namely those from comeNserve, Team Expansion and American Schools International. Their short week included witnessing a baptism after Sunday worship, lunch with our high school students, bible study with our staff, a few new dishes and lots of new experiences. Ken and Wrenda, we appreciate you taking the time to visit and encourage us smack dab in our living room. God bless you both.

One Week

On the first day of spring mother nature had produced 8 inches of snow as we picked up Dan and Donna Sipes from the airport. Donna is Julia's replacement. She and Dan are from Arizona, both retired - they left 80 degree weather the previous day and were greeted by a 20 degree snow storm. Dan will be helping the school with its compuetrs and network. Donna will teach the 7th grade class.

Well, that was a distant 7 days ago. Since then we've prayed for Gary's dad as he underwent open heart surgery on Tuesday, and we've prayed for Julia's dad who passed away on Monday. Julia flew out on Tuesday. Her family buried George on Friday. Daniel got the virus going around school on Thursday. Thank goodness for the snow day (no school) on Wednesday.

This morning is crisp and sunny. It is supposed to be in the upper 50's as we head to the airport to pick up a couple folks from our home church, Lakeside Christian Church. Wrenda and Ken are going to spend 6 days here in Kosova on a short term mission trip. They'll visit a few churches and ministries in various cities. We excited to have them join us here. It's a nice transition into a new week. Julia will return on Monday. We all look forward to seeing and sharing the many good things God is doing here in Kosova.

Gordon's surgery was successful, he hopes to be moved out of ICU today.

Praise and thanks to God for George's 86 years. We will miss him dearly.

Teacher 2 Teacher

Mrs. Palmer, what to do? Did you grade the test Mr. Palmer? Teacher, is this right? Yep, the second semester has started. We are full stride already and now we each come home with stories from our classrooms.

Julia has nine students in her 7th grade classroom. She has taken over for Mrs. Louderback, who returned to the U.S. to recover from injuries she sustained here in a car accident. Julia is enjoying relearning a lot of stuff we all forgot long ago (mitochondria?). We're both brainstorming about teaching strategies at the dinner table...or venting about a particular challenge. Fridays are a welcome sight these days.

While our endeavors in Kosova have been uniquely enjoyable and rewarding, we have decided not to return next school year. We'll be settling back into our home in Hebron. There are several reunions were are looking forward to, but our Kosova memories will not quickly fade. Right now, we certainly think of the teachers Prishtina High school will need for the '09-10 school year. Please join us in praying for next years teachers (wherever they may be)! God is preparing them as He did us way back in the winter of 2006.

Snow Fun

We understand the cold is gripping our hometown of Hebron, Kentucky. Well, we've had our share of snow and cold here too. We generally stay hunkered down in our living room with the wood stove blaring, however, last weekend we made it out to Orllan for some fun. Here we are (10 of us) sledding down a hill on a 20 foot McDonalds chicken nugget banner (which was sent from the states several years ago in hopes that it could be used as a tarp for the war torn villages). Can you find Mel and Julia?

Receiving End

There were thousands of Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes in our school's basement early last month. Maybe you packed one of them? Several of the local churches delivered the shoeboxes to children all over Kosova (which is the size of Connecticut). We did not get to join in on the final phase of the project as most of the boxes were delivered during school hours, however we can verify that these shoeboxes made many children smile ear to ear.

Gazuar Vitin e Ri

Happy New Year. We must catch up.

Winter has arrived and we are feeding our wood stove all day long. Our main room is cozy and we pass our time playing board games, watching TV, reading and jockeying for a spot in front of the computer.

We've had a wonderful Christmas break. The first half was spent in Egypt. We rode camels at the Pyramids on Christmas day. It was odd and awesome. We had to remind ourselves at times that it was indeed Christmas. A majority of our vacation we were able to enjoy with our dear friends, the Chesnuts.

We're told Egypt is mentioned in the Bible more than 600 times – this was important for us to keep in mind as we were often sitting in the worst traffic we've ever experienced. Cairo has 12 million people and all of them have a car (it seems). Alexandria was a little better and the Mediterranean Sea was refreshing. Part of our time in Egypt was spent with our dear friends, the Chesnuts.


We had a few friends (PHS folks) over to ring in the new year. Just before midnight we went to the top floor of the school and took in a fantastic 180 degree panoramic view of dozens of firework displays (and a spattering of gunfire).

We are revving up for the second semester. Julia has been promoted from aide (co-teacher) to lead teacher now that the seventh grade teacher, who had a serious car accident, will be returning to the states. Julia has a great relationship with the 8 students in her class and is taking the new assignment quite seriously. Pray for her enthusiasm and effectiveness. Mine too!

We pray God will bless your efforts as you make your way through 2009. Take time out for His service…for those close to you…for a nap. Pease pray for our work here.