This has probably been the slowest month of ministry that I’ve had on the Race so far, but it’s understandable given that we had to switch course from Columbia to Albania in less than a week due to Covid related issues. I am currently with a new team working with Church of God in Polican, Albania; a small town tucked away in a valley in the southern part of Albania. There have definitely been some struggles here such as a lack of internal heating in the apartment we’re living in (although the weather here is much warmer here than it is in Minnesota right now), but there have been a lot of good moments in ministry here which has made it all worth it. These past three weeks have really instilled in me the idea that ministry is about building relationships and not trying to cram as many people into the church doors as possible.

Given that I come from a Western culture, it is very easy for me to put my worth in ministry as being results driven and not relational driven, but the Race has definitely shifted that mentality, slowly but surely. I believe working with Teen Challenge in Costa Rica was the first time that this idea was hammered into me, but the final nail in the coffin has really been being here in Albania. Since we haven’t had a ton of scheduled ministry, we’ve had to come up with our own ways to try and reach the community, and I believe the best way we’ve done that (and my favorite way) has been by going to the soccer field by the school almost every day to play soccer with the kids and teenagers. It has opened up a way for us to reach them in a non-church setting and to try and speak life into them without them feeling like we’re forcing God on them. We’ve been able to really connect with some of the kids and teens and I’m looking forward to seeing how that progresses as we’re here for another three weeks.

Other types of ministry we’ve done have been visiting the nursing home, running kids programs at the church, and helping out with church services (I gave a sermon about finding hope in suffering). It’s been a good time here in Polican and I’m excited to be here for the remainder of my time here in Albania. But that’s it for now! I would really appreciate it if you could pray for the people here to come to know God.

God bless,

Colton

Here is a picture of one of the kids services

Here is our host mom Moza preparing a traditional Albanian meal for us