Our first Easter Sunday in Albania was very blessed. We had a huge turnout at EPC for our morning worship service. Over half of the close to 40 people there were visiting for the first time and most of them were students of our school. Ken enjoyed leading worship in Albanian (his second time ever). We ended our time together by all walking over to Balli and her son Gjergi's home for some refreshments, singing and a chance to hear Balli's amazing testimony. She shared about how God used Easter and a very brave teacher to reach out to her when she was young during the communist years and share the good news about Jesus. Her teacher risked imprisonment by sharing this truth and giving Balli a red egg (an old Easter tradition in Albania). Balli's family was Muslim traditionally but the story of Easter captured Balli's heart and she has followed Jesus ever since. Balli enjoyed handing out red eggs to everyone who came to her home. (see video to the right for pictures of our Easter Sunday and some video of Balli sharing her testimony and some of our singing at her house as well).
Jillian with a bucket-o'-eggs (we couldn't find any baskets).
Our family also enjoyed bringing some of our American traditions to Albania. Along with the many red eggs we were given, we also dyed some eggs ourselves and Jillian enjoyed going on a hunt in our courtyard. Click on the picture of Jillian to see pictures of our family Easter.