Nearing the finish line...

Well, I survived the last week of camps up in the mountains. We had another group from Albania come in and lead this past week's activities for the family camp. Keith and Pam had invited nearly 90 people earlier this summer and reminded them all of it this past weekend. It's foreign to me that people do so much on the fly here, but then again I am a huge planner and live by my schedule.

We ended up having around twenty people show up, mostly young boys and girls, probably around Jr. High age, plus one mom. I think that this week, if I were to sum it up in one word, was stressful. Because boys here are not disciplined, the campers were pretty wild...one-on-one they were nice, but you get them in a group and it was a huge competition to see who could push the limits more.

There may have been a few that finally made a decision to follow Christ, but we will see how that goes. With families very much disapproving of anything that is outside of their traditionally Muslim faith, most are controlled by fear of what will happen if they leave. One boy wants to come to church tomorrow, so pray that his decision is real. Another boy has already crossed the line of faith, but is asking that we do not say anything yet because of his family's possible reaction to it. Satan has a real stronghold on these people, but God can break through it.

Despite all of the cultural differences and my various illnesses, I really like it here in Peja. Shopping is cheap, but so is the quality. Everything is within walking distance and the city, about 150,000 people, is safer than any American city. One girl here from Holland said she's never been scared walking alone. It's nice to not need a car! From the Zellmer's house, it's really close to shops, the market place, church, and a lot of great restaurants/pizzarias with cheap food. My new favorite is a Shope Salad, which consists of tomato and cucumber chunks topped with shredded feta cheese, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. Yum! Tonight I shared a plate full of traditional food with Pam and Keith. It was interesting, but very good. I liked the meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves the best, I think. I'll have to look up the names and what was in them exactly...or maybe I don't want to know. =)