Korça Stories

Homeless
Some stories are of success, others of distress and many more somewhere in-between. Our current
situation is of the latter kind, and we would like to share about it with you.
 
Barely a week before our month-long
trip to Lithuania, we found out that our
church and climbing gym building was close
to being sold. The sales contract wasn’t
signed yet, but the potential buyer assured us
we would still be able to rent it for several
months, maybe even until the end of the year.
However, once the sales contract was signed,
we were given notice that by September 1st
we would need to be out of the building. For
those wondering… no, rental contracts,
leases, etc. do not hold much weight in
Albania. It was non-negotiable. Thankfully,
Jordan and Kristiana (gym managers) took
upon themselves the colossal task of tearing
down the climbing wall and packing all the church’s items into a warehouse. They said the last two moving
days, when they had the help of several church members, felt like a family working together. The truth is, the
building had been up for sale for a while. Besides, it was falling apart, part of the roof was broken and the
water would seep down even from several stories above. So we knew our time there was coming to an end,
but we didn’t expect it to end so abruptly.
 
So here we are now, with the
climbing gym all packed away and the
church gathering in a forest on Sundays. We
are exploring the possibilities of renting,
buying or building. There are very few (if
any) buildings with ceilings high enough for
the climbing gym. The property and rental
costs are high and still growing. It is also a
time of trying to discern which direction the
church should take. Please pray for
guidance of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom
for the next steps. We don’t want to make
any rushed decisions, and we don’t want to
make our own plans. Times like these,
when one rightly feels homeless, are good
times to re-evaluate and redirect our steps.
Lord, please show us your way!
Would you please pray for and with us!