Tyrone Emery is currently a student at Holy Cross and brings mission experience from a team that served in Tanzania. His comments about his Albanian missionary experiences are:
It was a blessing for me to have been a member of the 2007 OCMC Team which served the Church of Albania. We had the missionary effort of working alongside the local Albanian Orthodox staff in running the youth summer camp "English Camp 2007", the theme of the camp being "Love One Another". We also had several occasions to visit the children and caregivers of the Home of Hope Orphanage. The short time we spent getting to know these children had a powerful impact on all the team members. We experienced the image of Christ in every boy and girl. The small service we came to offer these children was transformed and multiplied into a joy and fulfillment greater than expected. To convey in words the joy and love that we received from these children is not easy. Our visit to the Home of Hope was my first time visiting an orphanage and every child there was truly a gift of God...as were the caregivers there. The experience was like visiting family for a joyous occasion. We told stories, sang songs, played games, dined, and worshiped together. As we were saying our final good-byes, one young girl came to each of us with a piece of paper asking to write down all of our names so she would remember us in her prayers. Thank you Lord for the privilege of meeting such beautiful souls and may thay remain in our prayers as well.
In addition to our work with the children, we had the unique opportunity to interact with and befriend many of the long-term missionaries in Albania: Nathan Hoppe and family, George and Pauline Russell and family, Dennis and Constance Louisi and family, Charles and Maria Linderman and family as well as Archbishop Anastasios of Albania. We thank them all for everything-- it was an inspiration to see firsthand loving Christian families answering the Lord's call to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28:19); and "You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth." (Acts 2:8) One special evening we had with the long-term missionaries was a dinner and bible-study over at Nathan Hoppe's house. This particular evening we examined 2 Pet. 1:3-21. One application of this verse to the lives of missionaries (and every Orthodox Christian is called to be a missionary, to offer witness of Christ to others) is to be reminded to be more diligent of the person that we are becoming. Sometimes we can get lost in the programs and the things that need to get done in our busy lives, but we are to remind ourselves to give first priority to the person we are becoming. "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." (2 Pet. 1:3) We are to make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. (2 Pet. 1:5-7) "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:8) and "if you practice these qualities you will never fall." (2 Pet. 1:10) Thank you Lord again for the privilege of meeting such beautiful souls who have left their own homes behind to be serving the ancient and long-suffering Church of Albania. May they remain in our prayers. Thank you Lord again for the privilege and blessing of meeting the members of the 2007 OCMC Albania Team. Thank you Lord for everything.
Please support and pray for the Church of Albania and the missionaries serving there. Please make a loving pledge of support for the "Run for Albania campaign--Running to Bring Food and His Word, to Albania." Accept the invitation to be a co-worker in this beautiful ministry unto the glory of God.
With love in Christ,
Tyrone-Stavros Emery
