Dave’s sabbatical

It was a real privilege for me to preach at The Rebirth of Kosova Church this morning, relying again on the excellent translating of Rrezarta. In my introduction I shared how it had struck me that the 50 year celebrations of a small step for (a) man on the moon were in contrast to the really giant step for humankind when Jesus walked among us 2,000 years ago. I also played the bass! I felt really at home, not least because of the genuine warmth of the fellowship here, just like at Hope Baptist Stourbridge. We then visited the capital, Pristina, and the famous Newborn monument which celebrates Kosova as a self-governing country. It was unveiled when independence was formally announced on 17th February 2008 and each year it is given a fresh face-lift to celebrate some issue of importance for the country. This year the issue is...? It's an issue that really needs to be addressed here. The beauty of those waterfalls we visited the other day is sadly in sharp contrast to the va...

Regular readers may remember that 2 weeks ago we went to church in Switzerland with our friends Dani and Ebi. That was the last time we attended a church service. On the wall of the Swiss reformed Church was written these words from John's gospel, chapter 14, verse 6: Jesus sagt, Ich bin der Weg, und die Warheit und das Leben. Jesus said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Today (Saturday), we travelled with pastor Jeton and worship leaders Helen and Ilir Dervishi to their church plant in Klina, a town 40 minutes drive away. On the wall of the small room where the church meets was the same verse in Albanian (above), part of a bigger poster which gives the 7 'I am' sayings of Jesus from John's Gospel. Jeton and I picked up five member of a large family to bring them to church, from a small village near Klina. They live in a rented house in the middle of a field. The house has no indoor plumbing and is in need of various other works. The family used to live in t...

The title is not a comment on any of those pictured! Over the last couple of days we've ventured outside Gjakova and experienced both the beauty of Kosova and its beastly past. This striking museum is at the centre of the Kosovan identity. It's in the small and seemingly insignificant village of Prekaz in the north west of this new country. It was home to Adem Jashari and his extended family of almost 60 people. With the exception of a ten year old girl, Besarta Jashari, they were all slaughtered in their homes, 5-7 March 1998. This is Adem's home, preserved in its bullet-ridden, mortar-holed and dilapidated state after the attack. Adem was a commander in, and one of the founders of, the Kosovan Liberation Army. The objective of the Yugolslav army and Serbian police was to find him and wipe out his family as a warning to other KLA fighters to stop their armed insurrection. It took 5,000 armed police and army personnel for their 'successful' operati...

This is my friend Edmir. I first met him this time last year at the church youth camp in the mountains not far from here. We were having a time of worship and prayer during which we were encouraged to go and pray for someone else. Edmir simply came over to where I was sitting, knelt down and prayed for me in Albanian. I have no idea of the content of that prayer, all I can say is that I sensed God's presence as a result. I will never forget this young man's simple faith that reached out to me when I was feeling like a fish out of water. Edmir's story is tough. For many years his family (mum, dad and 4 children) lived in an old army barracks after the 1999 war ended, not long after Edmir was born. Their home was made of flimsy materials including plastic sheeting, which regularly leaked. It was especially damp and cold in winter (and it gets VERY cold!). Young Edmir contracted many chest infections, all of which have adversely affected his physical development. The churc...

Here is the team after a devotional led by Jeton, strategy chit chat and prayer - and then we were raring to go. We set off in the church mini bus for a village just outside of town where we visited just over a year ago. It was great to catch up with this amazing woman and her family. Their story is heartbreaking and she has faced so many challenges, even in the last few weeks, all with that amazing smile on her face and strong faith in her heart. It was such a privilege to pray for them all again. Tears were shed and God seemed especially present. Jan particularly connected with the newest member who has recently married into this family. Hugs are an international language. We then went next door to another family we had visited last year. It was wonderful to see that a beautiful baby boy had grown into a lively toddler. We sang a couple of songs together accompanied by yours truly on guitar, one of which we sang in at least 2 different languages and in at least 2 diffe...

It's been a day of acclimatising, food shopping, getting reacquainted with the Gheg dialect of Albanian and reunions. This lovely statue of Mother Teresa is in a park in the middle of Gjakova where we posed for a selfie just over a year ago - nice addition of a bunch of flowers! Why is there a statue to this inspirational woman here? Mother Teresa's mother (?!) was born in Gjakova, though she gave birth to Teresa in nearby North Macedonia. Those who posed for that selfie with Mother Teresa were also reunited this evening! Great to see Diana and Rosemary safely arrived from Stourbridge, though looking exhausted after their journey here today. Margaret Lane, the third member of the triumvirate, was understandably too tired to venture out this evening, but we're looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. It was great to be briefly reunited with pastor Jeton as well. As we walked back to our apartment we were greeted by these wonderful musicians performing right in the midd...

Borders become tricky as soon as you move outside of the EU. We were very fortunate at this one, the Croatia-Montenegro crossing. We just happened to pick the right long line of cars and got through in 30 minutes when it often takes 3 hours. We still had to buy car insurance at the border as the Green Card you get from UK insurers doesn't cover you for non EU countries. We had breakfast in the ancient walled city of Kotor and then climbed 1,350 steps up the ancient walls to the highest point above the town. Well worth the climb, eh? That's the top, where the flag is flying. Glad we did it in the morning. The temperature went up to 31.5 degrees c. We later experienced 9 degrees c as we climbed up through the Dinaric Alps. Driving through these stunning mountains is slow and tough, which is why Montenegro is investing billions in this new road with tunnels and high bridges. Shame it wasn't finished in time for us. As the crow flies our journey was 115 miles. It tu...