At the church in Fushekruje we have had quite a few shifts in leadership as of late. Our regular worship leader is pursuing other avenues of service within his home church in Tirana. Alban’s sister Adda has stepped in to lead worship. Ervis has stepped into the role of being Pastor Alban’s right hand recently, and today even the pastor himself was not at church due to the addition of Abiel to his household. Vissy and I discussed the order of the service before we began. He also had me read Psalms 50 and 117 to prepare my heart for the day.
I rode to church this morning with Adda, her son Joshua, and a friend of theirs. After we arrived, the four of us had coffee at Buyar’s cafe where Adda extended an invitation to one of the patrons to join us for the service. The young man accepted, which meant that I would be preaching the first time he ever heard God’s word. To my surprise and great pleasure, Buyar also came to listen to the message. I found myself relying on my notes more than usual today, because I didn’t want to leave out anything important. Adda was my interpreter.
Following the groundwork I laid two and three weeks ago, I continued to preach on Romans. Chapter 1:16-20 was the perfect amount of scripture to cover. It is interesting to communicate through an interpreter. I have preached three times now and each time I have had a different person hearing, filtering, and speaking back my message to those I intend to reach. Adda and I got into a rhythm where we enjoyed the interplay with each-other and the audience in turn. On the way home she told me that Alban would have had to cancel church today had I not been able to preach. She also thanked me for delivering a good word and invited me to a day of fasting and prayer this coming Saturday. I told her I would think about it.
It is my hope that the people of my church will find the Bible relevant enough that they will read it on their own, becoming familiar enough with it to ask questions and to seek its many answers. After the service I felt a great peace. I didn’t feel either high or low, simply peace; like a glass-calm lake with neither crests nor valleys in its mirror-still surface. It is difficult to explain this, I haven’t felt it before. Mostly I felt like I was participating exactly as God would ask me to, and that felt like home.
albaniacalling 