Hello Praying Friends,

Monday morning we left Tirane just before 7am. We drove south along the Albanian Riviera to one of its most important tourist attractions, Saranda. There are two routes to Saranda and we took the scenic, mountainous one along the coast. The view was breathtaking and beautiful! There were red rock formations and canyons, enormous lush mountains, beach-side towns and quaint mountain villages, with the turquoise waters of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas always in view.

It was quite the ride however, and our driver was driving like he stole it, whipping us along the hair pin curves and narrow mountain roads. A few of our team nearly lost their breakfasts. Only once did our brakes overheat and smell like death on a steep decent.

Saranda is a cute little city on the Sea. A local pastor rented a street for our show. It was supposed to be closed off and eventually was on one side, but cars, motorcycles and bikes still shared our stage throughout the show. Our preshow audience was old men and mocking teenagers. We had a pretty fluid show crowd and though we had a few enthusiastic responders, the majority felt cold. A local TV camera crew showed up and videoed the first part of our performance. The Gospel was presented, people responded, literature was distributed and we helped promote the local church.

There was a tourist from Australia who connected with our Aussies. She stayed for most of the show and heard the Gospel. Pray she surrenders to Jesus. Katie talked to a guy named Adi after the show who has left the church, having been disillusioned by prosperity preaching and not seeing God as a reality in His life. Please pray Adi will realize his need for a Savior and see God at work in this messsed-up world.

Our second show in Saranda for Tuesday was cancelled. After applicable team devos on the parable of the sower and seed, we hit the road back to Tirana. This time we drove the inland route with only a few adventurous mountain passes to enjoy.

This wraps up our Albania tour. We all fly to Istanbul Wednesday morning. The Aussies will continue doing outreaches in Turkey and the rest of our team will do the same in Kyrgyzstan. Thanks for journeying with us around Albania through your prayers! God has heard and answered. Please continue to pray for the pastors as they follow up on new believers and contacts, and start and grow churches. Also pray for all the seeds sown to take root in good soil and then multiply!

Me Shprese (With Hope),
TACO Albania team