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Matt 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
NIV
John 20:10-16
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside
the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and
saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the
head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they
have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,
but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him
away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means
Teacher).
NIV
NIV
Learn More
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Kevin and Allison Morrill have moved to Korca. |
The church in Korca began in the summer of
1993
When a couple came to Korca and baptized three people who had studied WEI
lessons. In 1994 James and Barbara Jones, of Nashville, TN., came to Korca
and stayed about three months before returning to the USA. They returned
after a short period. During 1994 and 1995 an unknown number of others
were baptized. Their names are unknown. James and Barbara left Korca in
Dec. '95. In Sept. 1995 Bill and
Nancy came to Korca and have lived there since. In June and July
of 1996, three girls were baptized of which two are now out of Albania.
The third, Bruna, is still active with the church. She has helped Nancy
with the children's classes. Bruna says a school to teach the Bible needs
to be started. To do that we would need more money and more teachers, but
it is a good idea. Bill and Nancy stayed in Korca during all the trouble
of 1997, and because they stayed many people called the Saltsman
heroes. This has also helped in their teaching. Roger Michael has worked
with Bill in Korca. Roger has worked in Eastern Europe for several years.
He was in Korca in the summer of 1995. His home is in the Nashville area. |
Feb 08
Mar 08
To view
photos of the church in Korca.
Korca Archive |
|
Mission contact:
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Kutia Postare Nr. 11
Korca, Albania, Europe
Our email: morrills@fastmail.us
Website:
www.churchesofchrist.org/gallery.html
Sponsoring Congregation:
Maryville Church of Christ
611 Sherwood Dr.
P.O. Box 5293
Maryville, TN 37802-5293
Tom England (Chair Missions Committee)
Email: tpengland@comcast.net
Phone: 865-856-0731
Website:
http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/myalbum.html
|
February 2008
This month has flown by. It is hard to believe that it is the middle of
March already. We have been very busy with our normal daily schedule, but we
also welcomed two new sisters into Christ, welcomed
Roger Michael back from the United States, and celebrated
Kevin’s birthday.
Aurora’s Baptism:
We understood the idea of reaping where we have not sown this month with the
baptism of Kevin’s student Aurora on
February 22. Kevin has been teaching Aurora for about five months now. They
are working through the Advanced World English Institute course. Aurora
studied the basic course with Bill and Nancey
Saltsman and Roger Michael.
She lives in the dormitory of one the high schools in Korca. The best and
brightest of the students in the villages surrounding Korca are invited to
live in the dormitory and attend the city’s high schools. Aurora is a senior
in high school from the village of Erseika about two hours from Korca. She
goes home every weekend to her village, so she will have difficulty
attending worship. She had been interested in baptism and had been talking
about it for a couple of months, but she needed to get permission from her
parents. Aurora’s family is Muslim, so this was a big decision for the whole
family. Aurora’s parents gave their permission after seeing some pictures of
other baptisms and understanding what it entailed. Unfortunately, they could
not attend because of the distance. One of Aurora’s friends was able to
attend so Kevin explained what was going
to happen in Albanian. He asked Aurora if she believed that Jesus was the
Son of God, still speaking in Albanian. She looked at Kevin and in English
said, “If I didn’t believe I would not be here.” We smiled to have such a
heartfelt and blunt confession of her faith. Please pray for Aurora because
it is difficult to be a new Christian without the possibility to worship
with a body of believers. We will do everything we can to make it possible
for her to attend when she is here on Sundays.
Diana’s Baptism:
Diana Zhuleku,
Allison’s student, was baptized into Christ on Women’s Day March
8. Diana and Allison have been studying
and translating a book about baptism, and she surprised us with the news
this last week. Diana told Allison a couple of weeks ago
that she had a surprise for Women’s Day, and we were so happy that this was
her surprise. Diana wanted to be baptized on this day because it was on this
day last year that a long-time boyfriend told her that she would have to
make the decision between him or Jesus. She chose Jesus and wanted to be
“married with Christ” and baptized into His name on the same day she chose
to follow Him last year. It was very meaningful. Diana has been attending
worship for many months now. She is the cousin of
Altin Plasa.
Car Registration:
One small victory we had this month was getting our vehicle registered. This
is a short process in the States, but in Albania it is a day long process
including a vehicle inspection, pictures, and lots of documents. We were
grateful to have Altin here at the beginning of the month to help with this.
We can do some things ourselves, but a native speaker really helps, and
Altin knew some of the officers who do the
vehicle inspections and paper work. We hope that future inspections will be
easier since we have gone through the first.
Welcoming Roger Michael Back:
Roger Michael is an invaluable asset to
the work of the church in Korca. He had been working with the
Saltsmans for many years and will now
continue to help us. Roger returned to Korca in the beginning of the month
and will be working with us until August. He usually spends about six months
in the States and six months in Albania every year. Roger has many
connections in the city of Korca, and it has been nice to hear his insights
about the work.
Albanian Lessons:
We have begun our Albanian classes five days a week. It is both a joy and
challenge. The joy is that we have an amazing teacher that is kind and
gentle, but serious about our learning. She wants to have a class where we
can talk as colleagues and does not talk down to us. The challenge is
homework every night that sometimes takes hours. Please pray that we have
the stamina to continue with these lessons. The church members and our
friends are noticing our improvements. It will be a slow process, because
the Albanian language is very difficult and we need to re-learn and unlearn
lots of things. Our teacher’s name is Mira
and she told us before that she is an atheist married to an atheist, but
today she said she believes in God just not in ceremonies. She also has her
doctorate in Philosophy. Sometimes we digress in our lessons and talk about
our faith, which is good practice for us. She is interesting to listen to
and has a somewhat open mind. She says she has respect for all faiths they
are simply not for her. She brought home a children’s bible for her
granddaughter. We hope that spending this much time together will be a
benefit to her as well.
Thank you again for your continued prayers for this work. We ask that you
keep Aurora and Diana in your prayers this month.
Thank you so much to those who have already been praying for Diana.
In Christ,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
|
March 2008
Greetings in Christ from Korca, Albania. This month went as normal. The
beginning of the month was busy with activities most of which were talked
about in our February newsletter. We are sorry for the lateness of this
newsletter; we promise that our April report will come in a more timely
fashion.
Book Opening:
This month we went to the book opening of Mira
Meminaj. Mira was the teacher who was electrocuted in late May of
last year. She had been a translator, helper and member of the church in
Korca. After her death, Mira's mother Rosa
collected all her poetry, members of the church put the book together, and
it was published. It is a tradition in Korca to celebrate new books with an
opening party. Rosa invited Roger and us
to this party. It was a special but very sad time. There were speeches, some
people read from Mira's poetry, while others shared memories of Mira. Roger
spoke for the church in Korca. We sat next to Rosa and supported her. Mira
was a teacher in a village nearby and some of her students came to the
opening party, which took place the day before the national teacher's day,
March 7. This is a big day for both students and teachers. Mira opened her
heart in her poetry. This book will allow others to learn about her faith in
God and her love for people.
Rosa:
We have started the tradition of eating with Rosa,
Mira's mother, at her home every Sunday after church. This is a
benefit to both Rosa and us. We practice our Albanian and we get a chance to
have some Albanian home cooking. In the two to three hours we stay there;
there is at least half an hour of bible study, and
Kevin began to share his lesson from church. As is to be
expected, Rosa is still having a real hard time, but she says that we are an
encouragement. Rosa's son, Edi, had the
possibility of being released from prison this month, but it did not happen.
He will be released in August, and we are praying that we can have a good
relationship with him.
Ridvan:
Thank you for your prayers for Ridvan.
He has been attending church every Sunday and coming over to our home for a
coffee every week. He has helped with the Lord's Supper, led prayers and
done Bible reading. It is wonderful to see his growth. We visited his home
and met his wife and children this month. Ridvan's
wife was very welcoming and excited we new some Albanian. We
spoke Albanian most of the time we were at their home. In the second hour of
the visit, she had some questions
about faith and why we believe what we do. We have plans to go on a picnic
together when the weather gets better, and they have invited us to walk with
them on evenings in the summer. We hope that this will be the beginning of a
friendship. Ridvan's wife is very busy
like many Albanian women: she is responsible for house work, taking care if
their two boys and is a full-time nursing student at the university here in
Korca. We are encouraging Ridvan to encourage his family to attend with him.
Road Construction:
The road between Pogradec and Korca is under construction. This has made our
biweekly trip to Pogradec very interesting. The landscape is very beautiful
and we can really notice it as we travel at speeds between 5 and 35 miles
per hour. Our new
vehicle has proved itself very sturdy, it has "off-roaded" many times and
gone through foot high water. The road changes every time we drive it.
Allison has not gotten behind the wheel yet, but Kevin is getting very good
at dodging potholes, watching for new construction, and above all driving
slower than most other motorists. In all honesty, the road between Elbasan
and Pogradec was this bad a few years ago and now it is perfect. This part
of the construction is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2009.
Prayer Requests:
Thank you again for your continued prayers for the work and the Christians
here. God has been blessing us as we work for Him here. Please continue to
pray for Ridvan, Diana and Aurora as
they are new Christians and are growing. Please pray for the continued
growth of the body here. We are excited about the growth and want so much
for it to continue and to be contagious. Also, pray for us. We are on the
other side of the country from most of the churches and it is easy to feel
isolated. In Korca, we are as close to Thessalonica as we are to Durres or
Tirana. We are working to get the church in Korca connected to the rest of
the body of Christ in Albania, and
this is a challenge.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some pictures of March go to: (click the link)
http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.html
We are sorry that we have not been as good as we would like to about keeping
up the website. Our internet connection is a great blessing when it works,
but it has only worked about two weeks this month.
In Christ,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
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Newsletter April 2008
Summer Campaign:
We will be having a campaign this summer, and we still have many open weeks. If
you are interested in working with us this summer, we would love for you to
come. If you are interested please reply to this e-mail and we will be more than
happy to give you information or answer any questions. If this summer is not an
option please think about the summer of 2009.
Aurora Attended Worship:
We were so excited to have Aurora in worship this month. She did not go home for
one weekend, so she was able to attend worship. She loved it and wanted to make
it a habit when she is in college next year. She hopes to “win university” in
Tirana the capital and we promised to attend with her, if this happens, and
introduce her to the Christians there. The amazing thing is that there are
churches in all of the cities where she may go as a student. Please continue to
pray for her as she grows in her faith.
Kid’s Class:
This month we had many more kids attending Sunday morning bible class. During
the winter, we had about four children, but on the second weekend in April we
had fourteen. This was a real encouragement. On the next weekend we were down to
eight, but this is still a doubling of our numbers. This core group seems a
though they will continue coming. Most of the kids are from the neighborhood or
are relatives of our landlord, but some of them attend beginner’s classes for
WEI. We hope that this is a sign of larger numbers for the summer. We were also
blessed with another translator for this class. We can speak to adults Albanian,
but with children, we use a
translator. Adults can understand and correct our mistakes, but because children
are learning the language themselves, they cannot understand us as easily. The
interesting thing is that both of Allison's translators are Muslim. We hope they
are learning along with the children.
Trip to Greece:
This month we visited Greece with Roger Michael.
Roger treated us to two nights in a hotel in Kastoria, Greece. This is a small
city close to the boarder of Albania. We were very blessed to have a couple of
nights in this city. Kevin was able to find
shoes (It is hard to find his size in Albania), and we also found corn syrup
something else that is not used in Albania. The city reminded us of Albania and
Macedonia. It has a lake and lots of walking paths. It was peaceful because we
were not in tourist season. Allison looked
for a new winter coat, but has some “sticker shock” when the coat she tried on
was about 1000 dollars. Needless to say, we did not find a coat. This city is
known worldwide for furs and leather jackets and there was nothing like a Walmart
or a Kohl’s. We have heard for furs it is really cheap, but far outside our
price range.
Youth Day:
The National Youth Day was April 26 in Tirana, Albania. We went with a group of
16 teens from Pogradec and Korca. It was a blessed but very tiring day. The
“teens” ranged in age from 22 to 11. We are practicing being flexible because
some of the
teens have never learned about deadlines and sign up sheets. We thought that it
would be a good introduction to the church for the teens and a way to peak
interest in a youth class we hope to start this summer.
Kevin drove seven of the teens, 6 coming from Pogradec, in our car
and Allison rode in a van we rented with the
rest of the crew. We are learning how to organize vans and did not pay any above
the normal fare for the trip. This was a real outreach opportunity. The teens
from Pogradec were children of Christians there and cousins, none of these teen
attend on a regular basis, and some not at all. We wanted to show them that
there are kids there age who believe. Out of the group from Korca, none of the
teens is a Christian yet. Only Ola, a Muslim high school student who helps
translate for kids class, attends church regularly.
Easter:
There is a challenge in Albania to decide how and when to observe Easter. This
year Catholic Easter was at the end of March and Orthodox Easter was on April
27. We decided to observe this holiday this year on April 27 because on this
date most of the people of Korca were thinking about Jesus. We remember Jesus’
death and resurrection every Sunday with the Lord’s Supper, but we wanted to
recognize the celebration with the people of the city and welcome our visitors,
so we had a small party after worship. We had visitors from the church in
Athens. Sonila Leka, wife of
Beni Leka, and their son were able to attend
on Sunday. Koseta was also here because she
was back from Tirana for the weekend. One of the teens
Armando, who attends the kids class, also stayed for worship which
was encouraging. We had 13 in attendance, and it was a lot of fun to have that
many voices singing and praising God.
Songbook:
Our long awaited songbook is finally finished. This is a combination book that
has songs from Korca, Durres, and Tirana. It was a lot of work because Kevin had
to re-type the songs from the Korca book in order to bring these books together.
We are so happy to have all of these songs in one place.
Pictures:
If you would like to see some of our April pictures just click on:
http://www.korcachurchesofchrist.com/gallery.htmlPrayer Requests:
This has been a blessed month and we are certain that is because of your
continued prayers for our work. Thank you so much.
-We ask that you keep our Albanian language study in your prayers. Our teacher
wanted to teach us for about another month or so. She wants us to get through
the second grade. We hope to encourage her to continue, but she is really busy.
It does seem like we are taking one step forward and two steps back sometimes,
but we know we are improving.
-Please pray that we will have an impact on the community and see ways we can
help.
-Pray for Rosa and the church on May 24th because that is the one year
anniversary of Mira’s death.
In Christ,
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Contact Information:
Kevin and Allison Morrill
Kutia Postare Nr. 11
Korca, Albania, Europe
Our email: morrills@fastmail.us
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