by Wilma de Vries
As I write this blog (early July 2023), I have just well and truly been living in Tirana, the capital of Albania, for four months. On 19 February last, I was dispatched from my home church with these words:
But my God will fulfil according to His riches all your needs, in glory, through Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:19)
The mission service was the conclusion of a long search for where I may pass on the grace I receive to others who are so much less fortunate in life than me. The conclusion of an intense period of preparation. The mission service was also a marker: God has led wonderfully and He will continue to do so. Of that I was and am convinced. The mission service was also the start of a new period. A period in which a lot will be new and different: learning a new language, getting to know another culture, new field of work and so much more.
Encouraged and with this rich promise, I was allowed to go. And now I may take you, the reader, with me in the experiences here. Well, not in my experiences, but in how God makes the promise I was given come true again and again.
Wilma de Vries
Not easy
Such a first time is not easy. I spend a lot of time on the language. This is not really very enervating, but it is necessary to be able to be a listening ear, a shoulder to lean on for a while and, above all, to be able to point towards the throne of grace. A small part of my time is spent working in a small Christian health clinic. Sometimes we go on outreach to small villages without proper health care. In the future, my occupations in Albanian health care will be more extensive, but for now I am still learning.
The first year on the mission field, and perhaps even longer, is actually still part of the preparation period. A period when the desire to get started, seeing the many poverty and other needs can clash with the need to invest in learning language, culture and need first. I experience that sense of clash on a regular basis. But what often I have to sit on my hands, as it were. I would much rather go to the people than be busy with the language books. Being practical for people in need gives me much more satisfaction than spending hours studying. Then the danger lurks that I allow myself to be led by my own feelings and satisfaction, rather than going the way that has been pointed out.
Promise
The promise I was given in the mission service applies not only to the time when I will be fully engaged in the task for which I have been called, but also in the run-up to it. God will provide everything I need. What I need, He knows much better than I do. He also knows what I need to struggle through boring and tough grammar rules and keep my motivation alive and kicking. Again and again, He fixes my eye on Christ Jesus. My great Example and Inspirer.
Meetings
During His time on earth, Jesus met many people. These people found genuine attention from Jesus. He had an encouragement, a wise lesson, reprimand or healing for them. When I read about these encounters, it strikes me again and again that Jesus really sees people. He sees people and He sees people's needs, often even before they have been expressed. Although I have only lived in Albania for a relatively short time, I am discovering more and more how people here also yearn to be really seen. Often it is short, unexpected encounters that show me something of the need there is. Encounters in which a listening ear can mean so much to others. I would like to take you to one of these encounters.
I was on my way to a tourist spot. On a dirt road, I drove at a snail's pace to avoid the many potholes. Every now and then I saw a small house. In a place I wouldn't expect there was a stall. A girl, I estimated her about 10 years old, was waving happily from behind her merchandise. I resolved to buy something from her on the way back. And so I did. After enjoying beautiful nature, I stop in front of her stall. I pick out something and try to have a chat with her. I think I understand that she lives here with her father, mother and two sisters. She goes to the school a long way away. The vegetables and fruit she sells come from their own garden. She visibly enjoys our chat there. I settle the bill and give her a few cents extra. When I want to get back into the car, she comes after me. She is so happy with the (not even) 50 cents extra that she wants to give me a bracelet and ring she made herself. When I really want to leave, I ask her to greet her parents. Suddenly a tear rolls down the face that at first seemed to be beaming. I appear to have misunderstood her: she lives here with her mother and two sisters. First also with her father, but not so long ago he was killed in an accident. I ask if she misses him. A small nod I see, but mostly I hear her tell me that life has been so hard since then. She has to help in the family now, spending hours on the road. I ask her what makes her happy. 'When people stop, buy something and have a chat'.
I have such a suspicion this may have been the first but not the last visit. Bringing a little light into her life, looking for an entrance to tell about Jesus. And I know: He will give everything I need to do that. What a wonderful, dependent life life as a missionary diaconal worker is!
