Bumps in the Road

Have you ever seen a dislocated finger? I happened to be looking at my own yesterday. While touring the new school (which is still a construction sight), I tripped and fell forward. In breaking my fall my finger got caught up in a piece of equipment. When I got up, dusted my pants and gathered myself I notice my right ring finger was bent the wrong direction (no photo, thankfully). So we got to experience a doctor's office much earlier than we wanted. I am now fine - the nurses and doctors were very nice, and it was a blessing having our friend Skender with us to translate when necessary. I had to get xrays before Dr. Debroshi "fixed" my finger and after. The whole ordeal took about 2.5 hours and cost 50 euros total - no forms. We're not in Kentucky anymore...


Gary

All Is Well

Greetings from Kosova. Thank you for your prayers because we completed our travel without any trouble what-so-ever. Our trip lasted 26 hours including the drive from Skopje to our home. All nine of our checked bags made it through four airports (four countries). God blessed our trip.

It is wonderful to be here. Several folks have pitched in to help our initial days be carefree and comfortable. Our landlords, Ishmael and Heidi, have been soooo welcoming. The Chesnuts drove us around Pristina Saturday helping us buy appliances and furniture. Don picked up cellphones for us. We are investigating internet and car options - both could be in place by Monday evening. Lots to do, but lots getting done in a short time.

We've met several people and actually got to meet (see) many of the villagers Saturday night at a karate tournament that was being held in Otown. It was great fun - our experiences are so new - new sounds, smells, tastes, customs, etc.

We feel especially close as a family - this is nice. We are all in good spirits and looking forward to settling in and learning to communicate better.

Kosov"a" or Kosov"o"

Kosova (Koh-SOH-vah), also known as Kosovo, is the disputed region between Kosova's Albanian majority and Serbia. Once an autonomous federal unit of Yugoslavia, in 1989 it was stripped of its autonomy by the government of Slobodan Milosevic, whose later actions would result in the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ensuing wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Kosova. Kosovo (KOH-soh-voh) is the Serbian name given to the region. This website (http://www.albanian.com/community/) has quite a bit of information about the Albanian community in which we’ll be living. It also has up-to-date information about the Albanians' efforts to establish an independent country.

A Life-changing Decision

God Calls
“Exactly where is Kosovo?” This question came to mind when we read the little blurb in our December church bulletin:

…we have received word from Don Tingle that they are embarking on the major undertaking of building a new church-sponsored high school in Pristina, Kosovo. They need teachers for the 2007-2008 school year. If you are interested…

So for the next four months we stewed over the possibility of living in south-eastern Europe and taking part in this exciting project. God consistently (maybe relentlessly) affirmed our ponderings. Many prayed for our decision. Finally, after Gary visited Pristina in April, and was warmly encouraged by the Kosovars he met, we decided to join Don and his team.

The Task At Hand
There are currently 10 educators involved. The school will be finished in early August (picture above). A few of the school’s goals are listed below:

• We want to offer a quality high school education that will make it easier for students to apply to colleges and universities in the United States of America, Europe and other parts of the world.


• Many Christians and churches in America have helped the people of Kosova rebuild after the war. We want to provide a healthy and productive way for these Christians and churches to continue to serve the people of Kosova in one of the most important areas of development—education.


• We want to provide students in Kosova with opportunities to learn in an American high school environment, receiving instruction from capable American teachers, using quality instructional methods, curricula, textbooks, technology and counseling services.


• It will be our pledge to make this high school the finest in Kosova. At the same time we want to work closely with the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology and other schools in the country to improve the general health of education for all of the country.

God’s hand has been more than evident as we prepare for our trip. Melanie and Daniel’s elementary music teacher will be renting our house along with her husband and two daughters. They will also care for our cats, Tux and Tiger. Gary’s employer gave him a one year leave-of-absence. Several teachers have helped with materials for Gary’s classroom as well as Julia’s home-schooling. Our church family continues to amaze us with their encouragement and support. It is quite obvious that we were meant to be part of this mission.

We leave August 9th. We are excited and apprehensive. Kosovo is trying to become an independent country, so there is a bit of uncertainty surrounding this. Learning the language (Albanian) will be a struggle, at least Gary gets to teach in English. Being immersed in another culture will bring challenges for everyone, but the Albanians are genuinely friendly people and the unhurried lifestyle will bring a simplicity we can only long for in the states.

Contacting Us
We will cherish your prayers and letters, however we do not have an address for you yet. Our dwelling does not have an address (tiny village), so we’ll be sharing Gary’s school address when we get that. The high school's website: http://phs-asi.org/