by Richard L. Bowman
May 21,
2014
May 20, 2014
May 19, 2014
May 18, 2014
May 16, 2014
Old Spots and New Places
Yesterday started out with rain even though the forecast had not indicated it, but rain is no stranger to us in our four months in Lezhë. In fact I have learned that I must keep looking down to miss rain puddles but also to miss uneven spots in the roads and sidewalks. Here are just a few examples of some old spot "friends."
Rainy Stree Near of Our Apartment (26-Apr-14; Richard L. Bowman)
A Large Rain Puddle (29-Apr-14; Richard L. Bowman)
A Sink Hole of Some Kind under the Sidewalk (29-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
In the midst of photographing my litany of puddles, I spotted the soccer team from Lezhë outside of the stadium.
Soccer Team Waits Outside of the Stadium (29-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
While many of the roads are well repaired, there are many with potholes that fill when it rains.
Rain Puddle Collects in a Pothole (29-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
And the rain clouds are overhead.
The Rain Clouds Collect Overhead (29-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Another old spot is the train station and the trains. Once I finally found out when the trains run and where the station is, I visited twice. Here are some photos from the second visit. (I captured my first set of photos the Thursday before Easter.)
This Train Came from Shkodra (30-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
The End of the Last Car (30-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Graffiti Painted on a Train Car (30-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Trainman Signals My Photographing Is Fine (30-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Yesterday we also visited a new spot--the Joshua Center--a pre-school primarily for Gypsy children. Norma Teles, a missionary from Brazil, is the director with several other women helping her.
Norma Telees at the Joshua Center (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Below are a few photos showing some of the activities the children are involved in. The Center also provides a meal for the children around 9 a.--sometimes the only meal the child might get in a day.
A Small Girl Proudly Blows up a Balloon (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Children Line up to Go Back to Their Classrooms (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
The Oldest Children Are Getting Ready for School (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Younger Children Find Time for Creative Play (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Norma and Volunteers Ponder Next Steps in Improvements! (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Norma Continues to Envision New Changese (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Outside the door to the Joshua Center are a number of potted plants growing. To me they are symbolic of the purpose of this ministry--to build healthy lives for children who might not otherwise have them.
Examples of the Beautiful Plats Growing Outside the Center's Door (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Our other new find yesterday was the location of the center for making and selling fabric crafts by women from the Zadrima region of northern Albania. About 20 women come from several villages on the weekends to this center and make the fabric and sew the purses and other crafts. This seemed like a very appropriate development project.
Workroom for Zadrima Women Making Fabric Crafts (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
One of the Looms for Making Cloth (20-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
There are lots of places that God is working here in Lezhë, and it has felt very good to be part of his mission here and to learn about how others are involved. Our prayer is that God's kingdom would continue to flourish here.
May 20, 2014
A Walk Around Lezhë and Good Conversation
On Thursday, Lisa Mast picked up her parents, Daryl and Miriam, and uncle and aunt, Marvin and Lee, at the airport. They came for a two week visit and to help out where they can at Lezha Academic Center. Since Lisa has to teach her classes, I readily agreed to show Daryl and Marvin some of the shops in Lezhë where I have learned to know people.
After getting some Lek for the visitors, we stopped at the appliance store run by the parents of two of our students. Mr. Xhari and Mr. Mast were glad to meet each other since, if plans continue, Irene Xhari will be attending Hesston College (Hesston, KS, USA) in the fall. Hesston is not too far from Mast's home.
Mr. Xhari and Mr. Mast Meet (19-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
I have been curious what one vendor is selling whom we have passed every day as we have walled to LAC. Marvin suggested it might be cut tobacco. So I asked the man, and that is what he is selling. While there are a number of places that are now "no smoking" establishments, smoking tobacco has a long history in Albania. Hopefully its use will continue to decrease.
A Tobacco Vendor along the Street (19-Ma-14; Richard L. Bowman)
One of the road signs I forgot to point out to Daryl and Marvin was this one reminding persons that there may be pony or donkey carts travelling near the market.
Watch Out for Donkey Carts (1-Mays-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
And so the other day on a different street, I did get a photo of a pony or donkey cart. My first impression was that it was a donkey cart, but as I looked at the photo it seems to be pulled by a pony.
Here One Comes! (2-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
One shop I did tell the visitors about is the ice cream vendor with whom James Bergey shared the family recipe for ice cream when he and Mary lived in Lezhë some years ago. But to my regret, we did not visit that shp yesterday. (sigh) However Elsie and I have visited it a couple of times.
Time for Ice Cream--Bergey-style (2-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
With Daryl's experiences in Bangladesh and interest in missions and development work and our experience in Belize and now Albania and our commitment to missions, our conversations were never daull. While we walked, while we ate lunch at Kristi's and even as we came to the end back at LAC, there always seemed many more conundrums we could explore and share about along the lines of how to effectively share Christ and support local churches and Christians and how to do economic development that is appropriate and uses local resources and enhances local initiative.
Daryl and I Deep In Discussion on Appropriate Missiology (19-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Then later in the afternoon, we visited with more people. We need more time to do these visits and definitely more time to learn the language so we can communicate more fully.
May 19, 2014
Our Last Sunday in Lezhë and More
One of the joys for me of our time here in Albania was to be involved with the installation of Rafael Tartari, missionary with Virginia Mennonite Missions but from Brazil, as the pastor of the local Mennonite congregation (Guri i Themelit). This happened on Sunday (May 18) during our morning worship service. Allen Umble, VMM team leader and I, overseer with Virginia Mennonite Conference, led in the service. Rafael has been serving as the de facto pastor, but this service formalized the congregation affirming his service through the agreement of the church council to this official move.
I apologize for the poor quality of these two photos, but they are significant to our stay here in Lezhë, so I have included them. (When I brought my camera to church, I did not check the settings. And apparently the ISO and other settings were way off. Now if only I can remember to always check the settings!)
Prayer of Consecration for Pastor Rafael Tartari (18-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
Below is a photo of the worship service which has generally had full seating during the time we have been here--since January 21.
Store-front Church Is Full (18-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
Since evening at 5 p.m., I had coffee with Pastor Rafael again. I is always good to chat about our roles as Christian ministers and as missionaries. He brings questions and wisdom, and I hope I do the same. Below is a photo from our May 8 meting.
Coffee with Pastor Rafael (8-Mays-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Another good conversation over coffee occurred on Monday, May 5, when Dini took me with him to Tirana on some school business, and I got to meet with Niko Hyka, a medical physicist and PdD student. It was good to talk physics with another practitioner. In any future return to Albania, I hope to connect more with the physics community including professors.
Coffee with Niko Hyka, a Medical Physicist, in Tirana (5-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
One of the tasks for LAC, that Dini and I did on that Monday was to drive to a printer on streets that we were told had been asphalt paved at one point in time. They were now rocky and rutted.
An Unpaved Street in Tirana (5-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
On the way home when we stopped for coffee, Dini pointed to the distant foot of a mountain further to the east where the Church of Saint Anthony could be seen through the viewfinder of my camera. For an interesting view of this memorial to the saint from the twelfth century, read this article in the Taipei Times form 2011. Its story matches the theme of what Dini recounted.
Church of Saint Anthony, Laç, Albania (5-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
On a sunny day a few days later, the teachers and staff milled around as we waited for Lisa to arrange us for the annual photo of us all. We really did not mind.
Faculty and Staff Wait for Our Photo to Be Taken (9-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Other Faculty and Staff Also Waited (9-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
People! They are what life is all about! Amen!
May 18, 2014
Children and Other Friends
I like photographing children and other happy people, so let me show you a few photos on this, our last Sunday in Lezhë, for now. These all were taken at church--before or after--on Sunday two weeks ago. Enjoy!
Always Happy and Smiling (4-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
Observing His World (4-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
Everyone Loves the Pastor's and His Wife's New Baby (4-Mays-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Older than Two and Younger than Twelve Enjoys Life, too (4-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Who Doesn't Like Ice Cream--Especially after Church! (4-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
People! They are what life is all about! Amen!
May 16, 2014
It Was a Significant Day but Not Always an Exiting One!
Our time here in Lezhë has felt right and good, so yesterday (Thursday) being last official day at Lezha Academic Center felt weird. We are eager to see family in the US again but not eager to leave here!
We gave a few thoughts at the all-school assembly in the morning. Here are are first two "slides." The others were all photos from our time here.
First Slide to Our Presentation, "Lezhë Collage" (15-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
God Give Us His Grace Because He Loves Us (15-May-14; Richard L. Bowman)
God has taught us a lot here in Albania about patience, about letting others serve us in times of need, and most of all about trusting God when we don't have the answers. He has also blessed us with good friends and good experiences. All of this is part the grace he has offered us and which we have accepted.
Below is the last photo of our presentation--the steps up to the formal entrance to LAC. We used it to talk about unknown futures but how God is willing to offer us grace for the hourney.
Stairs to LAC Formal Front Door (30-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
While yesterday was the last official day of my teaching, it was the day I gave the students their final exam in physics.
My Physics Final (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Giving an exam that lasted the whole 90-minute block period was not the best way to say good-bye. So that must be rectified next week sometime. We can return tto the school to give back the exams and other material from the cfourse and to say a better good-bye to students and staff.
Earlier this week while I was taking some photos of the students playing after school, several wanted a photo with me. This is one way of showing friendship in Albania, so I felt honored. Below are three students that are in my classes.
Danoldo and Me (12-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Below are two sisters whose Mother and Father we have met and talked with.
Armelda and Me (12-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Irena and Me (12-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
And here are two photos of students at play, which is why I went to take photos that day.
Student Kicks the Soccer Ball (12-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Student Demonstrates His Skill (12-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Of course the LAC teachers and staff are subjects of my camera.
Justin Close Up (25-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Jordan Close Up (25-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Merlin Close Up (25-Apr-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Mona Close Up (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Mirela with Her Flower Arrangement (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Klodi Close Up (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Flora Close Up (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Tonie Close Up (14-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
I have always been enamored with the small shops that populate much of Lezhë's business sections. So when our grandson, Luke, asked for a picture of a shovel from here in Albania, I got him the one below.
A Small Hardware Shop (13-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
An example of the friendliness of the people of Lezhe is the shop keeper pictured below. I needed some fishing line to replace the nylon cleaner for my hearing aid tube. So while we could not really understand each other's language, we communicated just fine. So when I lost the string again, back to this shop we went, and we soon had the right size of line. Both times he would not let me pay for the fishing line.
A Very Friendly Shop Keeper (15-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
For weeks we have been walking past aa seamstress' shop where she works on an ancient Singer sewing machine. It looks very close in age to the one my mother used until she died eight years ago this past February. So finally last week I stopped and asked if I could take this picture.
A Seamstress Swes on an Old Singer Sewing Machine (6-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Our congregation, Guri i Themelit, here in Lezhë has been another good spot for us. And again, the young children catch my attention.
A Friend and His Nephew (11-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
On Mothers' Day in the US, May 11, Rafael had asked if I would preach--my second time in the foru months we have been here. I talked on the theme of each of us being full of a myriad of possibilities in Jesus Christ. (I used one of my Game of Life simulations as a metaphor.) Xheoxhina once again did an excellent job of interpreting.
Sermon: "You Are a Possibility" (11-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
After church as some of us ate lunch together, Lisa gave Betsy and Elsie (the mothers in the group) a rose.
Roses to the Mother on Mothers' Day (11-May-14; © Richard L. Bowman)
Saying good-bye to friends and acquaintances is not easy. Part of us will be left here. Maybe God will have in store an opportunity to return, but we will to wait on his timing and direction. We will have to wait and see what LAC, Virginal Mennonite Missions and the church here says about our return, too. We will also have to see what our doctors in the US advise us, in particular with my leg and hip pain. So learn some more patience is in the offing!
We will be eager to get back to the US to see our children, our grandchildren, our siblings, and the pastors and churches there with whom we work. So our planned leaving has very mixed emotions associated with it.
--©2014, Richard L. Bowman
Response Form