Greetings from Tirana!  

As we start our fourth year of ministry in Albania we want to fill you in on some exciting things ahead of us this fall that need your prayers! We want to share six specific requests. Three for LinkAcross and three for our local church.

LinkAcross
You may remember that one of the ways we are seeking to see the Gospel flourish in Albania is through Jeff’s work with LinkAcross, a Christian development organization whose ultimate vision is to see the church in the Balkans impacting all segments of society through disciples living out an integrated faith. 

After a year of preparatory work - networking, building key relationships, registering with the government, setting up an office, hiring a full-time Albanian employee, translating materials, and countless other details - we are excited that LinkAcross Albania is launching three projects this fall.

1. Jeff and his colleague are organizing a monthly meeting of Albanian Christian lawyers. Given Jeff’s background as a business lawyer, he’s had the opportunity to interact with many lawyers in Albania, including a number of Christian ones. Practicing law in Albania as a Christian, however, is not easy as corruption and shady deals abound. Last week, a group of Albanian Christian lawyers gathered for the explicit purpose of fellowship, encouragement, and prayer. We were quite encouraged by the turn-out and feedback. Please pray that our monthly times together would be used by the Lord to strengthen these ambassadors in this difficult field. 
    
2. In late October, LinkAcross Albania will hold a 4-day training with the help of 3 American businessmen to help Albanian entrepreneurs start values-based businesses. Below is the advertisement for the training. The goal of this project is to provide Albanians with the training, mentoring, and financing needed to become successful business owners. The economic opportunities available to most Albanians is very limited - especially if you don’t use bribery and/or connections to open doors. As such, this project will meet a real felt need. Of course, it is also our desire that this project draw non-believers to Himself, challenge Christ-followers to actively integrate their faith into their business, and leverage their businesses for Kingdom purposes. Please pray that the right people would sign up and that Gospel relationships would be developed.
    
3. In late November, LinkAcross Albania will be hosting David McIlroy, a British banking lawyer who regularly writes and speaks on the interaction between finance and ethics, the origins and nature of human rights, and about corruption and integrity. We will be organizing many meetings and events for David in Tirana and next door in Kosovo and North Macedonia. The purpose of David’s visit will be to encourage believers to integrate their faith and their work and to challenge non-believers to think about the basis of morality, ethics, and justice. Please pray for the logistical legwork that is required to successfully organize multiple events in three different countries. Please also pray that God would use David powerfully for Kingdom expansion in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia.

1. ESL Outreach. Our church will be offering an English course throughout the fall to adults in the community. Below is a picture of Jeff, Olivia, and some friends from church handing out flyers for this course. A team from Woodridge Community Church in Wisconsin will be arriving on September 27th to kick off this outreach with a week-long ESL intensive.  We will then continue to teach the class two evenings a week through Christmas. Please pray for our prospective students, the team and that we can build upon and establish new relationships in the community. This Sunday our church will hold a baptism for a couple whose initial exposure to the Gospel started with an English course our church held two years ago. Please pray for similar fruit for this outreach!
    
2. Individual Discipleship. Both of us will have the opportunity to engage in individual discipleship within the church this fall. Please pray for our meetings with these growing believers and for continued growth in our Albanian language skills as these heart-to-heart conversations require a rather advanced language ability.  
    
3. Home Groups. As a church we will be switching from meeting all together once a week at church for a Bible study to smaller groups that meet in homes.  Please pray that this would be an opportunity to grow in depth of fellowship together.

Family Update
Olivia and Jude started school a few weeks ago at an English speaking Christian school here in Tirana. This was a transition for Olivia as she has attended an Albanian school for the past three years. So far she has had no problem with the switch both linguistically and socially and loves 5th grade. Jude is also thriving in third grade. Liam is continuing at the same Albanian kindergarten he attended last year. He’s enjoying making new friends and of course the snacks and soup they feed him every day! 

We had an eventful weekend after the strongest earthquake in thirty years hit Tirana, followed by a couple of days of aftershocks.  Thankfully our family and home are OK and the overall damage and injuries throughout the city could have been a lot worse.  The shock of the quake and some sleepless nights through tremors have left most people in the city a bit on edge and anxious.  Praise God for His protection and please also pray that God would use this to soften and open hearts to Him.

As always, we thank you for your love, interest, and support of our ministry. Your partnership in God's work here is a continual source of encouragement to us. 

Blessings,