Albania Team 2003 -- Final Report From California

May 10th, 2003
10:39 PM

Dear Simi Covenant Church Family

So the team arrived home safely after a very busy travel day. We left Tirana on Friday at 5:15 pm and landed in Vienna Austria 1 and ½ hours later. Saturday morning (after being put up in a hotel courtesy of Austrian Airlines) we caught a ten hour flight to Washington DC, and then a five hour flight to LAX. I am still on Albanian time as I write this at 10:30 pm Saturday night: 7:30 AM Sunday.

Friday May 9th was a very hard day for the team, as we got ready to leave this country that has so profoundly affected our lives in just a week's time. In the morning Eli took us to a statue factory where we viewed the statues of a number of leaders of the communist era--Lenin, Stalin, Hoxja. These statues are no longer on public display, but are shown to children of Albania who need to know the history of their country and especially a very difficult part of their history. Eli told us that we were the first foreigners to visit these statues in this factory.

Next we had a wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant. We walked through the open-air market one last time. Then we packed our bags, and left for the airport.

Getting through airport security was easy, except for Rebecca. She bought a souvenir for her dad, not anything illegal, but certainly something that draws attention. So as we are standing in line paying our airport tax, an Albanian Customs Official asks which one of us is Rebecca, and before I know it she is whisked away to another building where her bags were searched. I tried to follow her, but I was not allowed. The guard did say everything was okay, and soon Rebecca was back with the group.

We flew to Vienna - this cultural hub of Europe. We spent the evening doing the best we could to take in this incredible city with its beautiful churches, buildings, parks, coffee, plazas and shopping areas. It was a day of great contrast--Albania a very poor country, the poorest in Europe, and Austria, a very wealthy country. These countries are only 1 1/2 hours apart by air, but so very different.

We come back to the US with a deep burden and love for Albania. This country has captured our hearts. We have said over and over that Albania is a country of miracles--it is so very true.

We as a team are so grateful for this experience. It has changed our lives. We will share in detail about our experience on Sunday evening June 8th. And we will be strategizing as a church regarding our next steps of involvement with the church and the people of Albania.

Blessings on you all

Kurt Fredrickson, for the team