I never realized how many emotions could fit into one week. Excitement, nervousness, joy, exhaustion, and gratitude are just some of the many feelings I have been experiencing. My first week in Albania has been a whirlwind, but I have already learned and grown in so many unexpected ways. 

A week ago, I left for my first solo flight to NYC. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my family, friends, and the home I had grown up in and known my entire life. Sadness overfilled me as my departure day approached, knowing I wouldn't see these people for a VERY long time. I will also admit, as much as I always spoke about wanting to leave Wisconsin, there is a little part of me now that misses the comfort of my own bed and hammock in the backyard. However, my excitement and anticipation for this new season of my life greatly outweighed the subtle negative feelings I felt. As soon as I stepped foot through security, without my parents and only my belongings, I felt an overwhelming sense of freedom and joy that I was finally embarking on the adventure I had been preparing for these past 8 months! 

Approaching our team’s meeting spot, I was once again filled with mixed feelings. Are they gonna be awkward? Are they going to like me? Is everyone going to get along? But when I turned the corner to see them sitting in a circle, with big welcoming smiles on their faces, my questioning thoughts disappeared and I instantly felt comfortable. I could already tell these people were gonna feel like family. Even now, after spending only a week with them, I feel like I have known them my entire life! 

This Christian community was also the aspect of the trip I was most looking forward to. From my past experience in getting into relationships with unequally yoked people and temporarily falling away from God, I know how important it is to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who are not only God-oriented, but also push and inspire me to deepen my faith. 

Proverbs 13:20 says, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” 

Even though we’ve just begun this journey, I’ve seen this play out in the way that people are assisting, comforting, and teaching each other through prayer, scripture, and worship. It is truly inspiring to witness how we’ve been holding each other accountable and demonstrating to each other the different qualities of Jesus that we should be working to adopt on a daily basis. I seriously feel so incredibly blessed and grateful to spend the next 9 months with these people and have been thanking God daily for answering my prayer of providing me with Christian friends. 

Don’t get me wrong though, this week has not been all sunshine and rainbows. Like I talked about in my last blog post, I have already had to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. Cold showers, walking everywhere, getting poor sleep, and eating foods that I never normally eat are some of the habits I have been getting used to.

Additionally, we have all been experiencing spiritual warfare of some sort whether that be sickness, temptation, or negative thoughts. Confronting this warfare has made me realize how important it is to remain in the word and in prayer while these challenges arise and especially to put on the full armor of God. 

This morning, I read from Ephesians 6 which talks about putting on the armor of God to stand against the devil’s schemes and to be able to stand your ground. This was a comforting reminder for me because it shows me it's possible to fight against the devil. With Jesus, we are not powerless and by putting on each piece of armor, we can remain strong in the Lord!

Furthermore, I’ve seen God move through experiences and our team this week. One example would be when our team was tasked to split up and do something called ATL which stands for “Ask The Lord”. This means we had to pray to the Lord to ask him to show us opportunities where we could show the love of Jesus to others, pray for them, and share the gospel. Me and 2 other girls walked around the city of Pogradec and were able to pray for a couple of people. It felt amazing to be able to plant little seeds in whatever way we could. But many people that we asked rejected our prayers saying “I can pray for myself” or just waving their hand at us to signal no. Please pray that the Albanian people would be open to our prayers for them and what we have to offer and share with them!

Moreover, I have loved seeing Jesus in each person here. It’s so cool how we are all unique from each other, yet we can still exhibit so many of the same qualities since we are all pursuing the same thing: Jesus. Some of the characteristics I have seen in many of us are kindness, humility, and joy. Cleaning up the dinner table without being asked. Saying words of encouragement to build others up instead of tear them down. Sharing our belongings and food with each other. And finally, lots and lots of laughing and worshipping of the Lord. 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NIV)

Joy is the emotion I want to remain over these next couple of weeks. Yes, we have stumbled over little hiccups here and there, but I know it's nothing like what we will face in the future once we jump into ministry and live in harder conditions. It's going to get tough. It’s inevitable.

We will get frustrated and annoyed with each other.

We will get stubborn and not want to resolve issues.

We will begin complaining about every little thing. 

But as long as we are able to remain joyful, to retain a deep-seated contentment and peace in the Lord that can persist through difficult times, we can get through anything together. 

Speaking of living in harder conditions, our team is moving to a different location TODAY from Pogradec to Kotodesh: a small eastern village of Albania. Starting tomorrow, we will be jumping into our new routine of activities including working on schoolwork, doing ministry, and spreading the gospel. I’m so excited for this next new adventure, but I would love prayer on this transition into adapting to more changing environments and being at peace with each other. From what it sounds like, this village is much more secluded than the area we are currently in, so there may not be as much entertainment for us to be occupied by. Still, I know the Lord is going to do great things through us. 

Thank you for reading my first update about Albania!! I’m excited to share with y’all more awesome news as it comes, but for now, I would appreciate it if you all continued to pray for me and my team. We NEED your prayers about giving us strength, courage, and patience! I love you all! God bless 

Hailey Stude