The Gashi Family

LONG Winter

We've had a long winter in many ways. First off it has literally been a long winter weather-wise. Snow has been on the ground for close to 2 months! Even yesterday morning, just as it looked like the snow was melting away, we got another snow. Thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon and melted most of it away. Although that brings mud, I'm still thankful!

It has also been a long winter in other ways for our family. Mommy and Gabriel didn't go out for much other than church on Sundays for about 2 months. We walk most everywhere here and with snow/ice covered sidewalks and temperatures as low as -13 F it just wasn't reasonable to take an infant out. To make matters worse Gabriel developed bad eczema at the beginning of February. We saw 3 different doctors as all treatments were not work and he had a red rash literally from head to foot. We just received a box from the USA with Aveeno eczema therapy cream and oatmeal bath. We've been using it for 3 days, but we are seeing some improvement and are praying for no relapse. If they work we'll just need to figure out how to get more of the products here!

Ministry has been good, though. We have been throughly enjoying our new building! Before we went to the USA we were really just working hard to get it usable, so now we love using it! :) We have our 3 weekly meetings. Imir and the boys watch soccer games there often. We've begun a monthly women's meeting that I love planning. In March we are starting an weekly exercise class for women, monthly Teenager's Meeting, Guy's Meeting and Couples' Meeting. The missionaries had already begun English classes. There are 6 classes a week. There is still some time that the building isn't used, but we have more plans in mind, so I'm sure before too long that place will be hopping most waking hours!

God continues to fill our lives and our home with people to love on and minister to. Pray that we will be ready for each opportunity he places in front of us.

Heading Home

We will soon be headed back home to Kosova. We leave on Monday the 7th. Although we are very excited to get back to our church and ministry, it's difficult to leave family and friends here. We have throughly enjoyed our 4 months here and have been blessed abundantly! Thank you to everyone who loved on us, prayed with us and blessed us with gifts. Our hearts have an even stronger tie to each of you because of this special time.

As you know we packed up and left our huge home in Kosova before we came to the USA. We are so happy to say that we now have a new home to go back to. Imir's dad looked around for a good apartment and has found one less than 400 meters from the church! We looked at pictures, thought and prayed about it and made a deal with the landlord. It's now ours for at least the next 6 months. We'll post pictures when we get it all set up.

Our last volunteer missionary has arrive in Kosova. Our dear Gillian is now looking for an apartment and jumping right into friendship evangelism, discipleship and other ministries. We are blessed by the stories we hear coming out of Kosova and are excited to get back and see everything ourselves. God is using the missionaries and the Kosovar believers to really reach out into the new community where the church is located. Keep praying for more people to enter the building and begin to build relationships with the church family.

Pray for my (Janette) Mom & Dad. We've been living with them for 4 months and they've seen Gabriel on a daily basis for 8 weeks straight, it's going to be hard when we leave. Pray that God will provide peace for them and many opportunities for good skype conversations.

Hopefully I'll have time to update shortly after we get settled in.

Introducing...Gabriel Gashi

Our precious son, Gabriel, arrived on Monday, September 5th at 11:55 p.m. looking quite handsome with a head full of dark hair! He weighed 7 pounds 7.6 ounces and was 21 inches long.

I had been having contractions for awhile. Sunday evening I had consistent contractions every 10-20 minutes for 6 hours. They stopped about 2 a.m. or at least lessened enough for me to sleep. The next day (Monday) I was scheduled to see the doctor at 5 p.m. as she wanted to induce me on Tuesday morning because she was going out of town. We had prayed really hard that I would go into labor naturally before then. Contractions started again around 9:30 a.m. By about 2:30 p.m. they were every 5-7 minutes. Imir and Mom encouraged me to shower and go to the hospital.

I drove Imir and myself to the hospital and arrived about 4:30 p.m. The nurse told me that my contractions couldn't be intense as I was still walking, talking and smiling. My doctor checked me at 5:30 p.m. and said I was dilated to "a good 5, almost a 6". The nurse, in shock, said, "You should not be smiling!" Mom, Dad and Elissa headed to the hospital and Imir and I got settled into our room.

My doctor chose to speed things up around 8:30 p.m. by breaking my water. Contractions quickly got more intense. I had decided against any pain medications, so Elissa began breathing with me (which she continued for the next several hours) while Imir and Mom massaged me. I was able to start pushing at 11:05 and 50 minutes later our son was placed on my belly. He was perfect!

We took Gabriel home on Wednesday afternoon and had a rough night. The next day we took him back to the doctor and determined he was jaundice and not getting enough food. He spent the next 3 days "under the light" using a blanket, but thankfully that was administered at home. He then developed a mild case of thrush and is just now getting over that. We are now trying to get a sleeping/eating schedule of some sort figured out. Last night he slept from 10:30-3:30. I woke up thinking there must be something wrong, but he seemed fine, just a bit hungry. We'll see if this continues. I sure feel better when I get 5 hours straight of sleep! :)

We are enjoying getting to know our little boy and loving each day with him! Pray for us as we all get used to this new life. Also pray for us as we decide about things like vaccinations and when to head home to Kosova. We want to make wise decisions.

The Time Is Close

There are only 19 more days until Baby G is due to arrive! At 34 weeks they did a sonogram and told me that our son is weighing big...about a week and a half big. I'm hoping that means that he'll arrive a bit early! :) Sunday morning a friend told me that it looks as though I've dropped. The next day the doctor confirmed that I have dropped some. This has given me some occasional lower abdominal pain and gets me up every hour during the night to visit the bathroom.

All of his clothes are washed, the stroller is put together, the car seat cleaned and our hospital bags are packed. Now all we need to wait for is for his Daddy to come back to Kansas! Imir has been in Boston since Wednesday. Today is the wedding that he is helping to perform. He flies back Monday night. So come Tuesday I'll be trying to "walk this baby out". :)

We have been blessed over and over during our time here. Churches and individuals have been generous and welcoming. We've received so many gifts for Baby G and for our ministry expenses. People have encouraged us and we trust that we have been an encouragement to others as well! We've enjoyed many hours with family and friends just catching up and loving on one another.

We do, however, miss our friends/family and ministry so much. As I mentioned last time we are thankful for the volunteers that are there taking care of so much, but our hearts still miss doing what God has called us to do. I put a "status update" on facebook saying "It's strange and almost frustrating how when I'm in Kosova I desire to be with my family in the USA and then when I'm in the USA I miss all my Kosovar friends/family/ministry! But this is my life and I'd might as well get used to it and enjoy each moment wherever I am!" With God's help, that's what I've decided to do, enjoy each moment and just be wherever I am.

Please keep praying for Kosova. Pray that God would give wisdom to the Kosovar leaders as well as the missionaries. This is an amazing time to start new ministries and activities in our new church building! If we were there we'd be doing so much, so pray that others will not "drop the ball". Please also keep praying for Baby G and his health. Pray that God will give me the strength I'll need for labor and delivery and that Imir would have wisdom on how to help during that time. Pray for these special moments with our family and friends here and that many memories will be made.

Back in the USA

I think my habit of only posting once a month or less really needs to stop! One big reason is that then I have way too much to write about! So, here it goes. :)

We finished packing up everything and tying up loose ends in Kosova. It was very difficult to leave with all the transitions and new things happening, but this is life. We've heard great things about what is happening back in Prishtina! The new volunteer missionaries have really taken on everything and we are SOOO grateful that they are there! They are organizing meetings, leading them, planning extra activities and spending lots of time getting to know the believers and their neighbors. We are very happy with their hard work and passion. We also heard that last Sunday an older couple from the community came to church. Please understand that #1-People don't just stop by the church uninvited. We want them to, but that just hasn't ever happened before. We don't even have a sign out yet saying who we are and #2-Older people rarely if ever enter a church! The man had a Bible and said that they would be back next week and would bring people with them. We are so encouraged by this! God is moving in the hearts of those in our new community! It of course makes it harder to be away when these exciting things are happening, but it's also a sign for us that God is taking care of His church!

We arrived in the USA on the evening of the 28th, after more than 4 hours of delay in DC, totally exhausted and sleep deprived. It took us much longer this time to get over jetlag, but we managed to get a bit closer to on track after a week. It was great to be with my family again and hug them! A year away always seems so long.

We came up to Kansas City for Imir to fly to Idaho the weekend of the 10th. Things went really well there and he genuinely enjoyed his time with the folks in Nampa. He got to do quite a bit of sight seeing on top of updating the church on what is happening in Kosova. They blessed us with a generous love offering and gifts for Baby G!

I stayed with my Aunt Bretta while he was gone and then we spent a couple days in the KC area after he returned. Thursday we met up with my parents and drove to Iowa to spend several days with my brother and his family. It was so nice to all be together again as my other brother drove up there too. It's usually only once a year (or less) for a short period of time that we are all together. So those times are very special.

Now we are back in the KC area for a few days. We've been able to see some friends and meet the new volunteers that will be going to Suharekë, Kosova in September. It's been a joy to meet them, get to know them a bit and answer their questions. Please pray for John & Katie as they finish preparing for their big move across the ocean.

Sunday we have 2 speaking engagements in 2 cities. Then we'll be driving back to Caney, KS. Pray for us if you think about it.

God is faithful and Baby G seems to be doing well. I went to the doctor here the week after we arrived and she said everything looks good. I'll go again this coming Monday and hopefully we'll get good news again. He's been moving a lot and growing fast. I feel bigger everyday.

Busy Times

Our lives have gotten busier the past month or so. But the reasons are exciting so we are taking it all in stride.

First of all a month ago Imir signed a rental contract for a new place for the church! This is a huge answer to prayer! We've been looking for and praying for a new space for more than 2 1/2 years! We immediately started renovating the place in hopes of being moved in quickly. Imir worked so hard for 2 weeks straight! He was there by 10 or 10:30 am each day and didn't leave until 10 or 10:30 pm. With the help of some others he painted every single wall (covering the bright orange paint), built a wall to make an extra room, installed lights, patched up holes, laid carpet, shopped for all kinds of stuff, cleaned and did all the little touch up things. The first week I tried to keep up with him, but my body quickly showed me that was a very BAD idea for me to do pregnant. I felt so bad as many days he was working alone and if I hadn't been pregnant I could have been working along side of him. But God has blessed us with this child and I knew I needed to protect him.

We had our first Sunday morning service there on June 5th. It was a lovely service! The church looked full with around 40 people. Imir's entire family came for the first time and we were so blessed to see them there! The place is not complete as some carpet still needs to be taped down, lights installed, furniture moved in, but it still looks great and it's OURS! It's amazing how at home we feel there! We've never had a place of our own to use 24/7 and it feels wonderful to finally have that! Of course we get it just as Imir and I are headed to the USA for 4 months. :(

We've hosted people in our home for over a month straight. It was good to have them since they are guests we host each year as they come to do ministry in Kosova, but it was a bit overwhelming at times as well since we were focused on the church and then quickly turning our focus to packing up our HUGE home. We've decided to leave the house I've called home for 4 years now for a few different reasons. One reason is that it will save us $1600 in rent while we are in the USA. That will pay more than 2/3rds of our insurance deductible. Another reason is that it's soooo cold in this house in the winter and we didn't want to have a baby in a cold home. Also, we are 'expected' to host people since our home is so large and with a baby on the way we decided it wasn't something we wanted to continue. We want to focus on the church ministry and our little boy. All that to say, my house is a disaster as we are trying to sort through things and pack everything up. Imir is amazed at how many things we have to take with us! :) A week from today we will be moving all the boxes to Imir's village to store them while we are in the USA. When we return we'll find an apartment close to the church.

Baby G is growing everyday and moving more and more! He woke me up last night around 5 am just jumping around. I don't know if he's ever moved so much! I've been feeling good the past month and a half which has been a huge blessing! We are both enjoying the different stages of pregnancy and especially watching our boy move around in my belly. :) It's an amazing thing! We've decided on a doctor in Kansas (or at least one to start with). Her name is Dr. Sohaei and she's Iranian. I think I'm really going to like her as she sounds very similar to my doctor here. She only delivers in Independence, KS, though, but it's not that much further away. At my last appointment 6 weeks ago, I'd gained 8 pounds. I'll go to my doctor one more time the day before we fly out. She'll give me a release to fly and check everything out. Although I get annoyed with the limitations that being pregnant puts on me, I feel very blessed that God has protected this life inside of me and I'm trusting Him for His continued protection and grace.

Things are changing missionary-wise in Kosova now and then while we are gone. The Mann family that has been here for a year and a half will be moving to Bulgaria. This was all unexpected for everyone. A new volunteer family has moved to Prishtina this week and will be spending the next couple months getting settled in and adjusting to life here. The Nobles are still here, but very busy with their 'tent-making' ministry. They've also been asked to take on the responsibility of overseeing the other missionaries that come to Kosova. In September a young couple will come to work in Suhareka. And finally the end of October Gillian, our Irish beauty, will come back to work with us for a year. We are excited about all this help, but are a bit anxious about being gone for 4 months as all this is taking place.

We head to the USA on June 28th at 5 a.m.! Please pray for smooth and safe travels. Pray that I'll have wisdom on how to make the traveling a bit easier for Baby G and I. We already have our entire month of July scheduled out and Imir has another event in August (I'll be staying close to the hospital from August on). We are trusting for a blessed and restful time in the USA with family and friends and believing in God to take care of His church here. It's hard to leave with so much happening here, but God knows what He is doing and all we can do is listen to Him and trust Him. It's His church, not ours!

So, this update has been a bit long, but hopefully I'll have more time in the USA to update so each entry will be a bit shorter. Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. God bless!

Baby G's a BOY!

We are excited to announce that I, Janette, am 20 weeks pregnant with a precious baby boy! He's fondly called Baby G until we can settle on a good name that works both in English and Albanian!

The first 14-15 weeks were quite difficult for me as it was very cold and I was struggling with nausea, indigestion and fatigue. Our living room couch and I were very acquainted by the end of that time! I've felt much better the past month, but am feeling the indigestion coming back as my belly grows and pushes my stomach closer to my throat. Oh the joys! :)

We've found a doctor that is genuinely caring and kind (unlike the stereotypical Kosovar doctor). She treats me like her daughter and makes me feel very comfortable. We feel blessed by her! She doesn't have a 4D ultrasound in her clinic so she sent me to a colleague of hers for that scan. He also did a fantastic job of looking into the skull at the brain, finding every organ and checking them as well as capturing a few pictures and videos for us to treasure.

We have decided to stick to our word and return to Kansas for the delivery. We will arrive there on June 28th. The due date is September 8th so we are planning to return home sometime in October (when Baby G is about 6 weeks). We haven't settled on a doctor in the USA and are open to any suggestions from those in the SE Kansas area.

Please join us in praying for a healthy pregnancy, baby and delivery!

Update

So, more exciting news will be coming in a couple weeks, but I thought I should at least write some kind of update for those who check our blog. :)

Life has been changing a lot for us and we're excited as we look towards the future, but there is so much happening right now too! We have a team from Perth, Scotland that will be coming this Saturday. They'll be ministering with us for a week and we're excited to see what God is going to do through them! 13 of the 16 people will be staying in our home and that means I have a ton of work to do before they arrive on Saturday. 3 bathrooms to clean, a water heater to fix, 5 bedrooms to clean, 6 beds to make and TONS of laundry. WHEW! I'm tired just thinking about it and the same will need to be done once they leave! Hopefully some of the girls (or even guys) from the church will help out a little when they have time this week. We need this to be a team effort. :) On top of house cleaning we have lots of final details to work out. But we are trusting their time here will be great!

Imir is in the final stretch of a 6 week theological class. He has this week and next and then he's finished. He's had a lot of work for this class, but he's really enjoying it so that helps.

Imir also will be headed to Bulgaria (providing he gets a visa) on the 15th. There is a leadership conference that he'll be attending. He'll also be leading one of the seminars and speaking about discipleship. I'm excited for him and wish I could be there to support him, but the long 10 hour drive just doesn't seem reasonable for my current situation.

Easter is coming soon and we've been focusing on Christ and the cross the past couple weeks (and will continue to). The weeks before Easter are always a blessed time! Imir is disappointed that he only has 2 weeks to preach on the Easter season. The first week another man preached, Imir preached yesterday and will preach this coming Sunday, the next we'll have Derrick from the Scotland team preach, the following Sunday Imir will be in Bulgaria and the one after that is Easter and we'll all have our joint Easter service with all of the Christians in Kosova.

We're both learning a lot about trusting God with everything especially what we can't see. We know in our hearts that God's plan is the best, so we must just rest in Him and His grace for each day. We are thankful for each of you who pray for us and support the ministry here. We often pray for you and ask God to bless you abundantly!

"What if..."

What If?????
I have spent so many years.....
Never recognizing gifts.....
Living everyday.....
Focused on "What If's?"...
What if I can’t do this?
What if God lets me fail?
What if I cannot stand?
What if my spirit becomes stale?
What if I cannot pay this?
What if the money well runs dry?
What if when I have plans....
God lets rain fall from the sky?
What if the car is broken....
And I cannot get from here to there?
What if when I am in need....
There is no one left to care?
What if my health should fail me....
What if God were to take me home???
What if this world becomes so violent...
There is no where safe for us to roam?
What if I fail my children....
What if I cannot train them well?
What if they begin to stray from God..
Will I be able to tell???
What if my husband's love should fail me....
Does he find me beautiful?
What if we become distant....
Our life together becomes dull??
What if tragedy strikes and God takes my child home....
Would I ever recover...would my heart become of stone?
What if I never heal.... from a broken heart....
What if from a loved one.... I am forced to part?
What if I cannot please them....
What if they expect too much from me?
What if I never become...
The woman I long to be??
What if they reject me...
What if they turn away??
What if I fall apart...
Or have no more words to say?

But..
What if I chose to trust you...
And believe in all that's true...
What if I hadn't any doubts....
Not even just a few...
What if I loved with all my heart...
And served with all my soul....
What if selfish ambitions...
never were my goal...
What if instead of worry....
for what I lack today...
I opened up my heart....
And gave it all away....
What if I learned to smile...
Even when I feel the pain...
What if like the sun...
I learned to love the rain....
What if my joy weren't dependent
upon the daily flow of life...
What if I spent each day....
trying to be the "perfect" wife....
What if I put my trust in God....
In all my parenting...
What if instead of complaints
God could hear my praises ring..
What if I chose forgiveness...
And let true kindness prevail....
What if I trust that love...
And ONLY love will NEVER fail....
What if instead of yelling....
I chose a gentle voice....
What if I accepted being angry...
Has always been a choice....
What if I stopped caring....
About what ALWAYS must be fair....
What if instead.... EVERYTHING I own...
I was willing to freely share...
Everyday a question... everyday a mystery....
Asking "What If" will never be the key.
I put my faith in you Lord.... I will trust you everyday....
To guide my every step... to guide me in your way...
How much time I have wasted... playing the "what if" game....
Worrying of things... that never even came.....
I pray each and everyday... for you to draw so near...
With you by my side... Whom is left to fear?
I shall not spend my life.... fearful of my death....
Rather I will choose to praise you.... for every single breath.

Christmas

So much happened during the Christmas season so I'll try to highlight them for you.

*Monday the 20th we made a quick trip to Skopje, Macedonia in search of turkey. We couldn't find turkey in Kosova for Thanksgiving and were determined to have turkey for Christmas! Thankfully, we were very successful and ended up buying four 6 pound turkeys! We also stocked up on oatmeal and tortilla chips. It was a successful trip!

*Tuesday the 21st I, Janette, spent the entire day baking Christmas sweets and making Christmas candy. Then we had Bible Study that Night.

*Wednesday the 22nd we had a Christmas Open House in our home. We love having people in our home and since we'd decided to do the church Christmas dinner at the Noble's home (since it's bigger) we thought of this idea to invite friends over during the Christmas season. I had a variety of Christmas sweets and homemade apple cider. Over 50 people came throughout the evening and it was a wonderful time of celebration. Imir's family even stopped by! We were so happy for that!

*Thursday the 23rd we bought over 150 Euros worth of food and hygiene products and took them to 5 poor families that Imir had met with an American a couple weeks before. It was quite an adventurous drive up the side of the mountain on the muddy, slippery and pothole filled road. We also took Christmas shoeboxes for the children. I was so blessed by the children’s reaction. Instead of getting excited about the candy or asking for a different box if they didn’t like the contents, they got excited about the pencils, pens and notebooks! It was nice to give the gifts that so many people had packed to children who really needed and appreciated them. We know that the food we took them won’t last them forever, but it should provide the basic ingredients for meals for at least 2 weeks. Our desire is that we’ll be doing more ministry like that over the next year (we’ll talk about that vision another time).

*Thursday evening we had our church Christmas Party. We set up tables with all kinds of games and invited our friends to come and join us. Lots of sweets, snacks and drinks were provided as well. There were a few guests and it was fun to meet new people. We sang a few Christmas songs and Imir shared the meaning of Christmas.

*Friday the 24^th we had our church Christmas Dinner at the Noble’s home. I baked 2 turkeys, made coleslaw and took a ton of sweets to add to the stash of food. We had a wonderful meal and time of fellowship! For the last 3 years we’ve had the dinner in our home, but as our church kept growing our living room kept getting tighter. It was wonderful to be able to spread out in the Noble’s large home. All 40 (or so) of us felt comfortable and enjoyed our time together.

*Christmas Day we opened our gifts from my family. It is always fun to have gifts from them to open! Then we went to the Noble’s for lunch. Next was coffee with a couple friends and the day ended with the KPEC Youth Christmas party. Imir and I were again responsible for this activity and I think it was better than last year. We had a fun location, live music and great fellowship. It was a good evening celebrating with youth from all over Kosova.

*Sunday we had our Christmas Service and lunch together. It was, as always, a great time together worshiping our Lord.

That was our Christmas week. We trust that you and your family also enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world!

Substitute Teaching

I, Janette, was asked to volunteer substitute teach at an American High School here in Prishtina for a week and a half. Although I don't enjoy teaching, I knew that the school was in great need as the current teacher needed to go back to the states due to some major health issues. So, despite my better judgement, I said yes, took a deep breath, got up early and headed to the school.

I was asked to teach high schoolers Pre-Algebra and Algebra I, definitely not my forte. I don't know the last time I thought of Algebra. I took college Algebra my first semester of university, but that was over 9 years ago (wow, that makes me feel old!). This was also not anything like my previous substitute teaching experiences. I would fill in at Tyro Community Christian School (the school my church has) off and on for the year and a half between Sicily and Kosova, but pre-school and elementary students are completely different from high schoolers!

The school is an international school, but the majority of the students are Kosovar Albanian. We all know that I love Kosovars, but they are a bit more...hmmm...I don't know any other way to say it than down right disrespectful. They had had many different subs throughout the semester as their teacher had been sick almost the entire time. They were fed up with new faces and teachers who couldn't truly teach them the subject. Needless to say we were all in for a long week and a half! Many nights I would tell Imir I just didn't want to go the next day, but I'd always get up and drag myself to the classroom. We all survived and they now have a new permanent teacher who really knows math! :)

I don't think I'll accept the next time they call and ask me to sub, but we'll see.

Scotland

I haven't updated in way too long so I'm just going to add several "journal entries" today. I'll start with Scotland since you've been able to enjoy the pictures for several weeks. :)

A church in Scotland (Perth to be exact) had been asking us to visit them for almost a year now. We'd hoped to go in May, but then there was a lack of communication so that didn't work out. We were finally able to make it happen the end of November. We have dear friends who live there and minister at the church. Derrick & Dayna Thames lived in Kosova for 9 months in 2007 and we became good friends. They were a blessing to so many during their time here and are still fondly talked about often. Their continued love for Kosova helped spark an interest for a partnership between their church in Scotland and our 2 churches here. The purpose of our visit was to solidify that partnership and meet the church in Perth. However, our purpose expanded as the District (who paid for our airfare) wanted us to visit as many churches as possible during our time there. In the 8 days that we were there we had 7 different speaking engagements at 5 different churches. Although we were tired of hearing ourselves speak and were in the car more than any other place, it was a blessing to be able to share with so many congregations about His work in Kosova! Our partnership with the Perth church is stronger and we are excited that they will be bringing a group to us in April. As you can see in our pics we did squeeze in a little site seeing on a couple mornings. Scotland is absolutely beautiful!!

Psalm 34

We have been through some very difficult things the past week and a half. Please pray for us. But, today I have been encouraged through Psalm 34. I hope you will too as you read it.

I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out and the Lord heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

Come, you children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life,

And loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil,

And your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good;

Seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

And His ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

He guards all his bones;

Not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked,

And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,

And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Burial

Yesterday we attended a burial service of a 16 year old Christian girl. We didn't know her personally, but we know 2 of her brothers that live in our city. She'd been sick for 3 months and was unable to get the medical care that she needed and unfortunately was unable to fight off the disease on her own.

It was an emotional afternoon. We traveled about an hour and a half from Prishtina to the village she was from with some other believers from our city. We waited near the cemetery for the family. A truck came down the hill from her house carrying her brothers and close male relatives in the back with her casket. They were followed by a mass of women relatives with white head scarves carrying flowers. It seemed as though the entire village was there as well as all of her high school classmates (2 buses full of students). The imam performed the Muslim rituals of burial even though her entire immediate family are Christians. We believe they did this out of respect for the many Muslim family members and friends who are also mourning the loss of this young life.

After they put her in the ground and finished all the rituals the family carried on with something that I know was unusual to many of the hundreds of people there. First her aunt who is a believer spoke some words of remembrance on behalf of the family. She was followed by the principal of the high school and a representative of the young girl's class. Then Pastor Artur from Prishtina who is the head of KPEC, Kosova Protestant Evangelical Church, spoke some words of encouragement as a friend of the family and read Psalm 23.

There was hope at this burial. There was a lot of sadness and tears, but in the midst of it was this ray of hope from those who know the Truth and have everlasting life. Please pray for the family as they continue to mourn their loss. Pray that God will strengthen them and give them opportunities to use this tragedy to share with others the hope they have within them! God can bring good from this tragedy.

A Small Struggle of a Missionary

Maybe some of you have already heard me say this before, but it's hitting me a little hard this evening so I'm going to say it again. I'm not a typical missionary for many reasons but especially since I'm married to a Kosovar and spend most of my time with Kosovars. Yet, I'm not a Kosovar either. This struggle of identity here has made it very difficult to make close friends. When I lived in the states I didn't really think that I relied on my girlfriends that much, I thought that I would be fine halfway across the world from them with my best friend, my husband (who is absolutely amazing!). However, the past 2 years especially have shown me how much I need the companionship of girls. I genuinely enjoy time with my Kosovar girlfriends and missionaries, but there is just something missing in our relationships. I share this with you to simply ask you to join me in the prayer I've been praying, that God would provide at least one really close friend for me here. Thanks for letting me share this personal need with you.

Quick Update

I haven't taken the time to update in awhile, sorry! Let's see what's been going on.

Our friends, Selim & Edona, had their first baby about 3 weeks ago. It's a baby girl, Anika. She's absolutely beautiful and we love spending time with her!

Imir's family moved to Prishtina. They are now just a 20 minute walk from our house. We see them at least once a week. At first his mom and brother didn't really like it here, but I think everyone is getting used to it.

Imir & I completed all the homework for our Old Testament Prophets course. Now we are taking another course this week about the college we are attending. Imir took the TOEFL exam to place his English skills. He did quite well with a score of 609 out of 680. Now he can take any class he wants in English! Hopefully this will help him to advance quicker.

Starting tomorrow we'll have house guests for 3 weeks straight. We have a doctor team coming for one week and as they leave Jon & Harriet who used to live with me (Janette) will be coming for 2 weeks. I'm praying that the weather stays warm enough that we don't need heaters. It's so expensive to heat here!!

We've been helping Glenn with the Genesis Technology Center when we have extra time. Wednesday we took a few people from church and spent the afternoon painting, cleaning, carrying things, moving equipment... It's looking really nice. There is still a lot to get done before we can open for business, so please pray for God's wisdom to do the things that need to be done.

Not everyone is back to Prishtina for university from their homes, so church attendance is still down, but we are looking forward to having more people back. We have had several guests, though. It's always good to see new faces.

The rest of our time is spent meeting people for lunch and coffee, having them to our home, doing discipleship and working on getting a building for the church (this one has taken the majority of our time the past month and a half). We are hoping that Monday will be a deciding day about a particular property for the church. But from there we have a lot of work to do. We have recently been informed that for some crazy reason the law doesn't allow religious institutions to own property (although all the mosques do...hmmm...). So we are going to have to hire a lawyer to help us get all this figured out. We have been encouraged to fight for having it in the name of the local church even if it doesn't come to pass. We are the 1st generation of evangelical Christians and what we fight for now will lay the ground work for future generations. Oh the joys! :)

Well, enough for now. Hopefully I'll have more to say soon.

Why?

Why does God sometimes choose to heal and other times choose to not heal? Why has a beautiful mother and wife been taken away from her family at the age of 30? Why have our prayers for her healing to allow her more time on earth not been answered? How will these 3 little children deal with the loss of their mother? How will Ryan continue without his life partner? I don't have an answer, not one.

Kaci Ronne, a former missionary to Albania, died today after battling brain cancer for about 6 months. Our home is very quiet this evening as Imir and I both are grieving and praying and thinking. Tears keep coming to our eyes and questions to my mind. As Imir prepares for church tomorrow he thinks of what he will say to the believers who have prayed for Kaci's healing for many months. And I (and he I'm sure) think about Ryan, Tate, Mya and Jada losing their wife and mother. I think of little baby Jada who will never really know her mom. Mya won't have her mom there to give her advice about all the girly things and to kiss her cheek on her wedding day. Tate will have many questions in the next few days as he can understand a bit more of what is happening.

Why, God? This one I just don't get. But, I chose to trust you. I still have a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes and questions in my mind. But, I chose to trust you. I still don't know how I will answer the believer's questions (as I'm sure Ryan is having a hard time answering the questions of his children). But, I chose to trust you. You are a good God, the one true and only God and I chose to trust you.

http://theronnes.blogspot.com/

To the States and Back

So, we've made it to the states and back. It was a wonderful month there! As you can tell we were trying to take a break from everything, even our blog. :) Sorry for that, but we're back now. :)

June 30th we boarded a plane for London, spent the night there then the next morning continued on to Texas then finally arrived in Tulsa late that evening. It was great to meet my parents there!

Highlights:

*Family vacation at Beaver Lake in Arkansas. It was the only time that we got to see my oldest brother. We spent a "Girl's Day Out" getting pedicures and lunch at the Olive Garden. This year was the most relaxing as the kids are older and all know how to swim.

*Partnership meeting in Houston, Texas. Imir spoke about Kosova and our need for a church building. One church district has committed to give $100,000 and others are getting on board too! We are excited about how God is going to bring this all together. Especially after getting back and being reminded of how bad the place we currently meet in is.

*Anniversary in Kansas City. We loved our time there! It was fun and relaxing.

*Lots of time with Dad & Mom and my brother's family. Every day is so special with them!

Time really flew by, but it was a good trip!

We came back to Kosova with our wheels spinning before we touched down. And unfortunately I was sick (literally) almost the entire trip. I couldn't eat anything and had a hard time eating for the first couple days in Kosova. Imir's family met us at the airport and came to the house. The very next morning (Thursday) we went to his parents' home to see family that was visiting from Germany and stayed until 11 p.m. Friday I spent the afternoon shopping for decorations for a friend's wedding and came down with some kind of sinus/throat issue. Saturday I helped decorate for the wedding while Imir helped paint at Glenn & Jill's (the new missionaries). That evening Selim & Edona came to stay at our house. Sunday was church and the wedding (until 10:30 p.m.). I was supposed to sing at the wedding, but because of a sore throat I couldn't. :( Our guests stayed again that night. Monday we cleaned all day and then went to Doug & Jen's for dinner. Guests again that night. Yesterday Imir helped Glenn with customs documents for the container they have shipped here while I had coffee with a couple friends and went to get the car registered. Bible Study was last evening. Today Imir has gone with Glenn to Albania to get the container and I've got to clean our bedroom and bathroom before they get back. Once they get back to Kosova we have a huge semi-truck to unload into their house.

Whew! I get tired just typing all this! God has given the strength for each day and we're trusting that He'll continue to do so!

Busy Life

We've been overly busy the past few weeks! Several house guests, lots of time away from home, an intensive week course, broken things in the house, a weekend of meetings away from home, lots of cleaning, 2 trips to Macedonia for Imir's visa and finally...the Noble Family has arrived!

We were overjoyed Wednesday when Imir was granted a 3 year multiple entry visa to the USA! It will be such a blessing to be able to travel to the states whenever we need to, without problems, for the next 3 years!

The Noble family arrived yesterday and we are leaving for America on Wednesday. We have a wedding tomorrow (Saturday), church and fellowship on Sunday, Monday Imir wants to go see his family again and then Tuesday is the only day to get everything together for our trip back to Kansas. I can't wait to get there and RELAX!!! I need some "time off".

Please check out our calendar of events, keep us in prayer and come see us if you are close by.

His Grace Is Sufficent

Aren't you glad that God's grace is sufficent and His mercies are new every morning!? I am!

God has been faithful to provide strength for each day and wisdom in difficult circumstances. He also provided a veteran Pastor's wife to come to (and get stuck in) Kosova just to share great wisdom with me. God is our provider! Thank you for praying!

The Noble family has informed us that they will be arriving here on June 24th! We are excited that God, in His timing, has answered our prayer for their return! Pray for them as they prepare to leave and then head this way.

By looking at our online calendar you may realize how busy our lives are getting. It quite likely will be crazy right up until we leave for the USA. Please pray that God will continue to give us strength for each day! We want to be sensitive to His leading in our lives!

I'm not ready!

God has allowed something very challenging to enter our lives this past week. Today I feel overwhelmed and unsure. The situation is hard to describe and probably shouldn't be put on the 'world wide web' as of yet, so let me just tell you that I am coveting your prayers right now! I need wisdom way beyond my years and beyond my understanding of this culture. If I was in the states the situation would still be difficult, but I would have a better idea of how to proceed forward. But, concerning a situation as this, this culture is very very different and I don't know where to step next. I fear for our ministry and reputation...actually I fear for Imir's reputation. How can we stand beside a nonbeliever, who is dealing with the earthly consequence of sin, in front of her family? How can we relay to them that we and our faith do not approve of the situation, but that we are committed to loving and helping her when they probably won't stop to listen and will only judge? How can we not 'damage' the name of our Lord yet give her what she asking? How can we be Jesus to her? I'm not worthy nor strong enough! Jesus didn't worry about his reputation or ministry when he reached His hand out to the prostitute. Jesus didn't walk away when things got complicated. But I'm not Jesus! 'Lord, empty me of myself and fill me with you! I can't do this, You have to!'

Good Friends

Last night we were so blessed to have Brian, Stacey & Judah Gibson come and spend the evening and night with us! We both wish they lived in our city, but are happy that they are only 45 minutes away!

Surprisingly or maybe not surprisingly...I don't know, one of the hardest things for me has been finding close friends. We have lots of friends, Kosovars and Internationals, but I'm not Kosovar and I'm not a typical international here either. I feel like I'm "out of place" in every group. It seems my friendships with most people only go so far and then plateau. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I long for something deeper.

The Gibsons are an amazing blessing to us! Often, it's hard to find a couple that both the husband and wife genuinely enjoy and feel close to, but both Imir and I love spending time with them! They are so real, open and honest. We can talk about anything with them and we can encourage each other in our lives, ministry and walk with the Lord. I'm praying that God doesn't call them back to America anytime soon!! :)

God created us to live in community and I'm thankful that God has placed the Gibsons in our lives!

Marriage Retreat...(and beyond)

We had a wonderful time last weekend away from Prishtina at a marriage retreat in Gjilan, Kosova. Imir & I put quite a bit of work into getting everything ready for that weekend, but it all paid off as we really enjoyed our time there! The location was amazingly beautiful, the hotel was brand new and wonderfully furnished, the food was delicious and served in abundance and the sessions and fellowship were refreshing!

Wednesday we went to Imir's parents' home and stayed the night. We got back to Prishtina yesterday in time for Prayer Meeting. It's really beautiful out in the villages as everything is beginning to grow! However, it sparked my allergies. :( Just as I was getting over a cold. I feel a little out of it today as my eyes just want to close!

Today we are "hanging out" at Baki, the official VW representative in Kosova. We discovered that our car was past due for a service, so we made a trip out here today. Unfortunately we arrived right as their lunch break began and now it is supposed to take another 2-3 hours for them to complete the service. If they were inside the city it would be no big deal, we could walk or take a bus home, but since they are quite a ways outside of the city we are a bit stuck. Thankfully they have wireless internet and we're able to get a bit of work done while we wait.

We went with Imir's dad to look at a building the company he works for is building in Prishtina. It's in a good location, not far from the center, but on a bit of a hill overlooking the city. The first 2 floors will be store fronts (the 2nd floor being cheaper...and more secure). Above that they are building apartments. We are very interested in looking into this a bit more. The dream has always been for us to live very close to the church and maybe this is an answer. :) It makes us feel better to know the builders and know that they will do a good job and that they would potentially work with us on a good price. Anyway, please keep praying that God will provide a place for our church and give us wisdom as to if this is the place He has for us!

I guess that's all for now. I need to work on our bi-monthly newsletter!

Cough, Sneeze, Medicine, Sleep!

Being sick really stinks! A week ago tomorrow I got a sore throat and that was just the beginning. :( Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday I didn't even leave the house! I feel quite a bit better today, but I'm beyond ready to be healthy again!

This morning has been really nice though. Yesterday we finally got our bed frame and last night was the first time in 6 months that we didn't sleep on the floor. So this morning we've been relaxing in bed and watching what seems to be an "According to Jim" marathon! Imir just ordered pizza, so I think our "lazy day" is going to continue. :)

The volcanic smoke over England has our marriage retreat speakers stranded in London. They were supposed to do a marriage retreat in Bulgaria this weekend, but that has obviously become impossible. As soon as the smoke clears they will be rerouted to Kosova, so we'll probably have them and our field directors for a few more days that we had planned. That means I'd better get to feeling better so I can clean the floor of the house that they will be using!

Waiting

I'm sitting here waiting for my wonderful husband to arrive home and debating on if I should cook myself some dinner. :) Imir has been gone since Thursday morning. He was attending a conference in Albania, which is about 7-8 hours of traveling on some not very good roads! FAR! I've really missed him and am ready for him to be home again! I've kept busy though with friends, cleaning and a bit of traveling within Kosova.

Doug & Jen Mann have arrived back. We cleaned their house on Wednesday before they arrived and went to pick them up at the airport. They were gone for 3 months and 2 guys from church were living in their house and taking care of their dog. It took us over 4 hours to get all the cleaning done! But to see them walk into their clean home with great excitement and appreciation made it worth it. Even the kids (1 and 3) were very happy to be back in their own home. They were discovering all the toys they had left that they had forgotten about! It was cute!

Today we had church without our pastor. :( It was quite different, but everyone did a great job of taking on extra responsibilities! I enjoyed going out for coffee with a few of the believers after lunch. It's always different when Imir isn't with us...they talk to me more. :) :)

Last week was the joint Easter service. We had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection of our Savior with about 500 other Christians. The next day was the annual soccer tournament with many of the churches from all over Kosova. It was a crazy day as Imir was in charge of everything and I was recruited to help him out. It was better than last year, but I get so disappointed with the way people get extra competitive and cause trouble. Is it the same way with church league softball in the states? Maybe so. I wish they would just come and have a good time of fun and fellowship...maybe I'm naive.

I'm not sure what all this week will hold for us, but there are always things going on. Have a blessed week!

<>< Janette

Church Family Easter Celebration

Today we celebrated Easter together with our church family. We enjoyed wonderful worship, testimony & prayer time and sermon. Then we had lunch together at the church, complete with little marshmallow peeps from America that Glenn brought. Next Sunday all of the Kosova Protestant Evangelical Churches will be meeting together to celebrate as One Body.

We had 8 visitors at church this morning 5 of them were all from one family! What an amazing blessing and encouragement it was to see a Kosovar family...Mom, Son, Daughter, Sister and Aunt all worshipping the Risen Lord together! I think it gave new hope to all those who have been praying for their families for many years. Our prayers are heard and we believe that one day they will be answered!

It was obvious, though, that it was also a bit uncomfortable for the believers this morning. Unfortunately they have gotten so used to just our small group that they didn't know how to act with so many people they didn't know and that were not their age. I guess I was quite disappointed that I, as the American with still limited Albanian, was almost the only one making conversation with them. Please pray that God will put a great excitement in all of us when new people come and that we will all welcome them with open arms!

Tonight is Imir's final exam for the Intro to the Old Testament Course. Tomorrow we are going to get our new bed frame so we can get our mattress off of the floor. Then in the evening we've been invited to take part in a Messianic Passover Seder. We're excited to spend that time together with other Christians reflecting on how Jesus Christ, our Lord, fulfills this ancient Hebrew Feast.

We pray that you all will take time this week to reflect on the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

I'll try to do better!

I know I have been terrible at updating other blogs that I've had, but I really am hoping to do better with this one! Imir set this one up, so you may even hear from him once in awhile! I HOPE!

Life in Kosova is still going well. We've had spurts of busyness, but in general our winter hasn't been too overwhelming.

I got to visit my family in Kansas for a couple weeks over the new year! That was such a blessing. I couldn't believe how big the kids had gotten!! I don't think I can go another year and a half without seeing them!

Most recently, since February, Imir has been quite busy with an online theological course that he is taking on top of all his normal church and university responsibilities. He's had to watch 6 hours of lectures every other week, read almost the entire Old Testament and the textbook as well as do 3 different papers and online conversational posts. It's been a lot of work. This Sunday is his final exam and although he really has enjoyed it, I think he'll be happy to be finished! It seems that there are always extra meetings Imir needs to attend or a seminar here or in other countries that he has to go to. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how he will ever find the time to finish his engineering degree, but we both know it's really important for him to finish what he has begun so please pray for wisdom and strength.

I have been helping with a business development initiative by being a mentor to those who are writing business plans. It's been nice to be able to use my business experience just a bit. I've also been organizing the logistics of a marriage retreat that we will be having here in Kosova the end of April. My discipleship girls and I don't always meet every week, but we are continuing to meet as much as possible. I've even gotten Imir's sister, Edita, to agree to start meeting with me to study the Bible together!! Please pray for this special time together and especially for my language as she doesn't know much English. Keeping the house clean, laundry done, my husband fed and our guests entertained sometimes fills more time than I'd like. But, I really believe that my first ministry is to my husband and since he loves being home and having guest here (as do I!) I am content to spend my time in this way.

I'll close by asking you to join us in praying for Kaci and the entire Ronne family. They were volunteer missionaries in Albania and a tumor on her brain has been found. The preliminary tests are suggesting that it is benign, praise the Lord! But her journey is not over yet. You may read their blog at: http://theronnes.blogspot.com. Blessings to you all!

The Gashi Family - gashi

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2009-10-01

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