Bubbles of Heaven

While in Elbasan, Albania for ministry, my team and I walked upon a building called Project Social on the outskirts of the city center. This is where we met Alketa and learned all about A2B (Aid to the Balkans). Alketa built A2B from the ground up with her friend Elona and they help the community in many ways: provide after school support for kids and teenagers, offer meals for the students and older folks, help families, specifically widowed mothers, with short and long term needs, and provide housing for some young adults (in a home called the House of Opportunities). They are incredible women of God, driven to love and help as many people as possible.

My team and I got the opportunity to partner with them for our last week in Albania. We got to play with the students in the after school program, get demolished by the old folks in dominos, help serve food, visit a near by village, help run a youth event, and hangout with the youth in the House of Opportunities. It was a packed full week with many sweet memories!

With all that, I want to talk about one of the many memorable moments. Right off the bat, I felt the push to help Alketa in any way she needed, as she was incredibly busy and definitely never let herself sabbath amongst the chaos. This initially included creating a pamphlet for A2B but then ended up being something so much sweeter. During the village visit, I realized that she was not doing well and asked if my team could pray for her. Soon after, she asked me to go on a walk with her along the land. Alketa told me many incredible God stories then we paused to observe the scenery and she shared a bit of what is going on in her life. She is beyond tired and walking through a handful of tough things at the moment on top of running A2B with Elona. I didn’t have the right words to share or anyway to personally take away the pain and burdens so I turned to the one thing that I know would work: talking to Jesus. We stood outlooking the sunset colored hills and asked Jesus to show us where he was with us. Then we asked him to speak to us and tell us what we needed to hear from him in that moment  and lastly, how he sees us. We were interrupted by the occasional tractor, but either than that, it was a quiet, blissful moment spent in the indescribable presence of the Lord. At the end of the prayer, I turned to Alketa and saw a weight lifted off her shoulders and a peace in her eyes. The Lord willingly takes all that you will hand to him.

““Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”” – Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Overall, I was once again reminded about how wonderful it is to sit in the presence of the Lord with someone else. An old mentor of mine refers to moments like these as bubbles of Heaven. I strive to find as many bubbles of Heaven as I can on the rest of this race, especially with my team.

A quick side story, I got to have a really sweet Google translate conversation with one of the boys, Stesi, that live in the House of Opportunities. Stesi paused mid conversation to mention how the Holy Spirit was there…and it sure was!! There are so many bubbles of Heaven all around us; we just need to make space for the Holy Spirit then open our eyes (: 

Thank you all for following along! God bless!