The team is beginning our journey from the U.S. to Albania

We are so excited to begin the adventure that awaits us in Albania! Team members from Washington State, Ohio (photo above), New Mexico, and Missouri are beginning their flight itineraries and are scheduled to land in the capitol city of Tirana on Thursday, just after 5:00pm, Albania time.

We will spend two nights at a family-owned hotel that is very near the Mother Theresa Airport in Tirana, where we will begin recovery from jet-lag (there is a 6-9 hour time difference for the team members, depending on their home time zone) and do some final in-country preparation, before we move up to Peshkopi for the duration of our stay in Albania.

Peshkopi is a beautifully rustic, mountain town of approximately 25,000 people. Serving as the capitol of the Dibër region of Albania, Peshkopi sits at just over 2,100 ft (651 km) above sea level, and is very near the North Macedonia border. It used to take over 4 hours to make the journey from Tirana, as the roads had not been improved since to fall of communism in 1991. Happily, vast improvements have been made with a new highway that is now 75% complete. It is projected to be completed within the next year and reduces the current travel time to only 1 hour 45 minutes. Once the highway construction is fished that journey should take just over an hour!

Ways You Can Pray:

• Safe travel, uninterrupted itineraries, and arrival of luggage
• Opportunities to witness/do ministry as we travel
• Ready hearts and minds of the students on Monday morning

Call to Action

Here’s how you can stay involved and what you can do!

Pray Continuously: Set aside time each day to pray for the mission trip. Pray for the team’s stamina and health. Pray for the people we will serve, and for the work God will do in and through us in Peshkopi and the Dibër region. Pray especially for the more remote village children and their families, who will join us. We hope many will join us and be impacted by the camps. Pray for people to grow in curiosity toward Jesus and His Good News.

Stay Updated: Follow along on our ministry blog for more updates and inspiring stories from the camp. Your comments and encouragements are greatly appreciated and help us feel connected to our church family back home.

Get Involved: to learn more about the Spiritual Orphans Network, navigate to: https://sonetwork.org/learn/connect/ and fill out the form to request more information.