SUMMER INTO FALL 2009

It has been a busy season filled with visitors, teams, joys, successes, sorrows, failures, injuries, fun, tears and laughter.  We’ve traveled the moutnaintops and the valleys, the dry places and the sweetest springs.  Here are a few views from along the way:

Doug, Darrell and Alban working on the fence started by ORU team.  It was hot and sweaty without the welding maching adding to the heat.  They all took turns and the fence that it produced is very nice.

 

 

Painting and maintenance of the kindergarten is a constant job.  Pat and Nick are repainting the kindergarten and preparing it for reopening on September 1.

 

Lee, Alban, Sarah, Nick and Pat are chipping up the old ceramic tile from the front terrace.  It was interior tile – slick and dangerous when wet.  It was a big job to remove the old tile.  The team furnished the funds for the new tile.  Thank you!

                                                  

The kindergarten runs eleven months per year. 

The children and staff are always happy to have someone new, especially when they are as fun as Sarah!

Lee Barrows taught the Bible School Seminar primarily to pastors and church leaders.  It was a rich time for these men and women.  Alban was the translator, and he did a superb job.  Thank you, Lee, for imparting of your grace to the leaders of the church in Kosova.

Lee also spoke at Eternity Church in

Gjakova.  His word was timely and refueling!

Pastor Lee and Pastor Driton

   The children gathered in Zatriq for fun and teaching.  Not sure who had more fun, the kids or the team. ( – :

Thank you, Great Falls Christian Center, for sending a superb team.  The kids are still asking for you!

City Church of Billings has sent several teams to Kosova.  Steve McKeever has been bitten by the Kosova bug, and he returned for his vacation this year with Susan, his wife and a long-time friend, Dale Landry.  They were here during our repair and maintenance days, and they accomplished an incredible amount of work.  They also took us to Greece for three days of a mini-holiday.  We enjoyed our time and cannot thank them enough for the hours of work and play.

The GFCC team repaired the subfloor.  Dale, Dave and Steve installed the new tile.  No more stubbed toes! Steve and his ‘shadow’.

Susan cooked, cleaned, organized medicines for medical team, painted doorframes, and anything and everything else that arose.  

The whole two weeks was filled with many different activities; they even got to attend a village wedding.  It was our pleasure and gain to have had Steve, Susan and Dale.  Seems the ‘Kosova Bug’ bit Susan and Dale, too.      For ten years we have had a storage area at the daycare; we always said we would get to shelving ‘someday’.  Dale bought shelves for this purpose.  Humedica bought the baskets, and Wow!  It is so much nicer!

The staff taught the children to put their outdoor toys away in the proper places after the free time play in the morning and exercise time.  It is a joy!

Thanks! Dale

 

Dale also left funds for our neighbor, Ahmet, to install the rocks on the wall for the fence started by ORU, and completed by GFCC.  Each team played a part in the beutiful finished product.  The front porch project with the ceramic tile has a fantastic result, too:

 

We were guests of Humedica at their 30th anniversary celebration in Kaufbeuren, Germany where we also attended the biennial International Director’s Meeting for long-term projects.  We were guests in the home of Jurgen and Barbel Fredrich, parents of Darja, our volunteer from last fall. 

After a five day mini-holiday near Thessalonica, Greece at the end of August, we returned to Krushe e Vogel in time for the opening of the kindergarten for the 2009-2010 school year.  Chris and Rainie flew back from the UK on 24 August, and did a fantastic job of the opening.  A medical team arrived a few days later, and again, Chris and Rainie organized the team’s outreach and did a great job. 

Korab was hired as an English teacher at the high school where he graduated.  It is a great honor.

Dave and Joy Lacey are a lovely couple from England that come to Kosova each year during the Muslim Ramazan month encouraging missionary families.  They spent a weekend with us in September.  It is always a joy to host them and receive refreshing from their kindness and love.

This takes us to the end of September.  Fall is now the season, yet it remains sunny and warm during the days.  The evenings have cooled off, so we are enjoying the break from the hot summer nights.

We are thankful for all the teams and the various ways they served up large portions of love to our friends and neighbors!

Prayer Request: The ‘valleys’ have been many with physical difficulties.  We know God is not surprised by any of this, and He has His hand of love outstretched with provision for all we need.   Praying this season is near its end and God’s protection and healing to be poured without measure.

If you know anyone interested in missions, Kosova, Europe, please plug them into this Blog.  God bless you!  Love, Dave and Cindy

Kosova in Our Heart

Dave is pictured with a good friend of eight and half years. He amazingly survived the massacre in our village. A fine husband, father, grandfather, uncle, friend, and neighbor – one man in our village everyone respected. He had simple surgery recently and died from complications. He was sixtyfour, yet strong enough to work in the field nearly every day. He worked in a thread factory for many years until the war. He always wore a black beret, summer and winter. I never saw him without it, and Dave only saw him twice without his signature beret.

It was our privilege to go a walking tour of our village with him two weeks before his death. He told the history of the
village and his personal story of survival. We will all miss Lutfi.

The team from ORU finished strong on their 2009 mission in Kosova. It was a pleasure to host them, and we hope to
have an opportunity to cooperate with them in the future.

Korab Lushi: College Graduate!!

Korab graduated from the University of Prishtina in Prizren with a degree in English Language. He will start teaching English in the public school in his village in September. He will continue to teach English courses for the business Alban started in the spring.
Congratulations! Korab

Chris and Rainie Milton will be headed back to the UK soon for fundraising to return the end of August for the 2009/2010 school year. Please pray for safe travel and great success in raising funds. They are a blessing to Krushe!

Prayer Requests:

• Unity among Christians in Kosova
• Smooth journey to Germany for Humedica work. Super smooth border crossings on the return, as a team will arrive the same day we will. ( – :
• Pastor Astrit’s kidney stones have not flared at all. Thank you!
• Strategic placement of upcoming mission teams
• Comfort for the family of Lutfi

Bring May Flowers

The first team to Kosova from Oral Roberts University came.  Five dedicated and ready missionaries arrived to serve up the love of Jesus in every imaginable circumstance.  They served the Humedica medical team, the English schools of Alban and Korab as well as Berti, the kindergarten with Chris and Rainie, work projects on the daycare/social center property, youth outreaches, children’s outreaches, and served faithfully for the month in our local home church, Eternity Church in Gjakova.  This team was a huge blessing to all they touched.  Each of them applied their talents as well as their strength to assist in the mission of KIOH.  We are thankful to their supporters, ORU, Regional Coordinator-Tyler Sterns, and their families for empowering and releasing them to sow in this field.

The brick wall behind the flowerbed was crumbling, so Toni and Grant sealed the existing wall and laid another wall of bricks.  Chris and Rainie planted peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, and beautiful flowers in the bed.  Matt was digging a trench for a short fence addition.  It was a hot day and a good feeling at the end of a hard day’s work for the team.

Dave and I were guests of Minister’s Fellowship Europe for their annual conference in Huddersfield, England.  It was a super time of fellowship, laughter, and being challenged to walk in God’s grace.  Huddersfield Christian Fellowship dedicated their new building, too.  It was a great week.  Alban led the ORU team in our absence and did a fantastic job!

Prayer Requests:

• Unity among Christians in Kosova

• A woman Don and Marti Denham have reached out to touch with God’s love has leukemia.  She needs a miracle healing.

• Pastor Astrit has kidney stones attempting to pass.  He has excruciating pain from this.  He asked for prayer the stone will pass quickly.

• Strategic placement of upcoming mission teams

• Good re-entry into life in the US for the mission team from ORU