Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Greetings from our family and churches to yours this blessed season! We pray that in the new year God continues to bless you abundantly! 

We have been busy the past couple of weeks preparing for Christmas. Christmas is a very busy time of the year that can often overwhelm you easily. Don't forget the true reason for this season. 

We were very anxious in the arrival of Stefanie's parents. Unfortunately they could not come at this time. Stefanie's dad had to have heart surgery and now is doing well. We pray that they can come again at another time. 

We want to send a big THANK YOU to all who helped us with sending toys to the children of Kavaje. A special thank you to CEF Albania, McDonough Christian Church, First Christian Church Dalton, Ga and Keswick, Va, Horsepasture Christian Church and Fruit Cove Baptist Church! It was such a blessing to share with the kids who don't get to experience Christmas.

Here's some pictures from our Christmas adventures. 

Worship and Youth Drama:

Dance to "I Love Jesus" Dr. Nikolla even joined in on the fun!

 

Youth and Kids Church Picture and Whole Church Picture:

Gifts for the Kids:

Praises/ Prayers: 

*We are actively seeking another church building for our church in Durres. Please pray that God will lead us to one we can afford to buy. 
*Pray that God continues to grow the church and His Kingdom in 2014 in Albania. 

Merry Christmas from The Kostas

We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 Durres, Albania

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!

Always give Thanks!

Always give Thanks!

Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Now in this season of Thanksgiving we think about all the reasons we are thankful. God, family, friends, and ministry top my list of the things I am most thankful for. When I think about this verse from Thessalonians I wonder what Paul was thinking. I honestly would like to change the verse to say: Rejoice as much as possible, pray every time you think about it,  give thanks in most circumstances. This is something I can handle. Those words all, always, and continually are very hard for me at times. It is hard for me to rejoice when people are negative, Pray continually all day all the time, and give thanks in circumstances that are stressful. I need the constant reminder of this verse to keep me on track. My husband and I have this verse hanging over our bed and also in his office. No matter what happens we are certain of God's everlasting love and grace for us and we are so thankful of all of the many blessings that God has given to us. I encourage you not only to be thankful during this time but also every day of your life that God has given to you! 

We have many reasons to be thankful! God is hearing us and answering our prayers. Please continue to pray with us and for us! We have been praying for a growth with the youth. Now we are seeing this in the church in Durres. The youth meet every Saturday evening for a time of worship, prayer, lesson with accountability, and fellowship. The youth have been attending church more often and growing spiritually as well. We are so excited about this growth of the youth. On Sunday one of our youth Jak brought two of his friends to church to hear about the word of God. We pray that God continues this growth of the youth! 

Juli leading the Kids in Kavaje

Another answered prayer that we have is that Juli is now on staff with us. We are excited to have him and excited about how he can help us with the church of Kavaje. Juli graduated Bible school in May and is from Kavaje. He is ready to serve! 


Our third answer to prayer is that on October 27th we had our first baby dedication service. We were very excited to dedicate David to the Lord just as Hannah did for Samuel. Arian preached on baby dedication and then afterwards Dr. Nikolla lead the baby dedication service. We were also very excited that Arian's parents came with us to church that day. We pray every day for their salvation.

Baby Dedication with Arian's Parents

 

Praises/ Prayers: 
* Praise God for the growth of the youth! 
* Praise God for Juli now being a part of our staff.

* Praise God Stefanie's parents are coming for Christmas and New Years! What a blessing to us!  

* Pray for help in Kavaje to be able to lead more Bible studies with the believers of the church and start another Kids club in another neighborhood.  
* Pray for a bigger church space in Durres. 

We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 Durres, Albania

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!

  

What kind of tree are you?

 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Matthew 7:17

Trees in the mountains of America are absolutely beautiful this time of the year. It is nice to go out and gaze at all the beauty that God put into a simple tree. Fall is the time of the year that I really miss. Albania lacks the pumpkins, colorful trees, fall festivals, bonfires, hay rides and candy corn. This time of the year we do have nice citrus fruits ripening to enjoy. It is nice to go and pick the oranges and mandarins straight from the tree. I thought that you could automatically tell the bad trees from the good trees because of their fruit. This is not the case. We have trees here that have the best looking oranges but they are awful to eat. 

I believe that we have this same problem in the church. We have people who come to church, say the right things, and look the right way but on the inside they are missing the true meaning of Christ. Maybe they come to church to meet with their friends or to check off coming to church on their list of things to do to stay in good graces with God. Sometimes they come to have something to talk about or complain about at work the next day. We had some friends Pete & Liz Jones come from England last week. When we asked the about the churches in England they said that they are people who go to church but the churches are Dead. It is time we wake up and produce some good fruit! 

We are working our best to produce not only good fruit ourselves but also to help others to produce good fruit. We are very excited about being able to share with the old home in Kavaje. Pete was able to go with us and see what God is doing there. The residents at the old home are very grateful that we share a message and a snack with them every week. We hope to be able to provide thick socks and gloves for them for Christmas. Here are a few pictures from the old home. 

Member spotlight: 

Nena Urania: Nena Urnania is one of the residents of the old home. She has lived in the old home since she was 16. She is blind and had no one to take care of her. There was no place to go so she ended up at the old home. She has such a sweet spirit. She loves to lead the singing in the service and tell Arian which song she wants to sing next. She likes hearing about the bible and believes in Jesus with all her heart. We pray that God will continue to bless her. We thank God that she is in a place where she can be with her friends who take care of her. 

Pete & Liz with David

Praises/ Prayers: 
* David is teething and sick with a cold this week.
* Praise God for Pete & Liz and their encouragement to us this week! 

* Pray for help in Kavaje to be able to lead more Bible studies with the believers of the church and start another Kids club in another neighborhood. 

* Pray for a bigger church space in Durres. 

* Arian's uncle passed away this past week, his wife died only 3 months ago. Please pray especially for their children. It is very hard on them right now. 

 

We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 Durres, Albania

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!

    

 

Imitate Me

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 
1 Corinthians 11:1

As new parents we are learning that babies learn by imitation. When we laugh, David laughs. When we smile, David smiles. We want to our best to imitate positive values, morals and standards for our son. He is always watching us to see what we will do next. 

The world watches us as well. Often when I am in the grocery store someone will ask me where I am from because of my accent. Then the next question is what are you doing here. I proceed to tell them that I am a missionary with my husband at Kisha Kristiane in Durres. One day I walked in and the lady announced loudly "There's the believer". No matter where I go or what I do, I want to lead people to Christ. I want to imitate Christ everywhere I go. I may not always be able to speak what I need to say but I want my mannerisms and smile to speak volumes for Him. 

This week I saw Christ being imitated in action. Every week a group from Durres (Shpresa, Romi, Arian and I sometimes) go to Kavaje to lead a Bible Study at the old home and to the children in the neighborhood. The children are very poor and have very little. 

We with the help of Juli have been able to find a temporary building for us to use for the children. This is great because winter is the rainy season and usually rains every day. Arian has been ministering to these children for 9 years. When they see him they run up to him and follow behind him.

We sing songs, tell them a Bible story, play games with the children and at the end feed them a snack.They love this time and love being little imitators. We pray that they not only imitate us here but in their every day lives. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Ephesians 5:1

Don't forget to imitate Christ and his love everywhere you go! 

 

Member Spotlight:

Denis: Denis is one of our newest members of the church in Kavaje. He has been in the church since he was a small child. He is a great encouragement to us. He plays the guitar a little and is a great artist. We are praying for his wife to know the Lord, she is not in the church. He has a two year old daughter as well (Fatma). Denis is praying for a men's Bible study to be started in Kavaje. We are happy that Denis is in the church with us! May God continue to use him! 

David with Nena Magdalena 93 years old!

Praises/ Prayers: 
* David is growing and healthy! 
* Pray for continual growth at the church especially the youth. 

* Pray for help in Kavaje to be able to lead more Bible studies with the believers of the church and start another Kids club in another neighborhood. 

* Praise! The church was full last Sunday in Durres! We need more space. 
  

We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Skenderbej AP:1043 Durres, Albania

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!

 

 

Getting back into the swing of things

Most of you are starting back to school or have children going back to school. Have you ever noticed that once you are out of the habit of doing something it is hard to get back into the swing of things? Getting up early to get the kids off to school, quitting smoking, and starting exercising are just a few of the things that come to mind. But on a spiritual note, reading the Bible and praying can be a very big challenge if you are out of the practice of doing it every day. Once you get back into the habit it becomes a normal part of your everyday life. You feel out of place if you don't do it. Don't forget to  pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Ephesians 6:18). Any good habit is worth starting and continuing! Today is a great day to start!

Now that we are back to Albania we are trying to establish many new routines. Some of those are trying to get David adjusted to the time, culture, heat, and people differences that make Albania unique. We have discovered that many people like to give lots of advice about how to care for your baby, some of which are very bizarre! We are trying to do what is best for our blended family. We above all else listen to the advice and direction that God is leading us. Please pray for us during this transition time. 

We are getting back into the swing of things with ministry as well. There will be much to update you on and many pictures to come in the next blog. We appreciate your patience. 

Member Spotlight
Ana: Ana is 18 years old and has the brightest smile in all of Albania. She is paralyzed and can not eat without help. Ana recently learned one word "AMEN". This week when Arian was preaching she was constantly shouting Amen! We Thank God for Ana! When she was younger her mother, Drita was trying to get help for her.  They found a handicapped school for Ana. Drita and Ana started attending this Christian school even though they were muslim. They started hearing the word of God. Because of Ana, now Drita, her father, and sister are now believers of our Lord Jesus Christ! Praise God how He works through children. We love Ana coming to worship with us in Kavaje she loves to dance while we sing and shout AMEN! 

Praises/ Prayers: 
* David is growing and healthy! 
* Pray for continual growth at the church especially the youth. 
  


We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Skenderbej AP:1043 Durres, Albania

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!  

Congratulations all around!

God has given us many reasons to celebrate!

Juli and His mom Nazmia

All the Graduates

Juli

On May 3rd, Arian had the privilege to travel to Pogradec to see Juli graduate from Bible school. Juli completed his second year and now will be working with us. He is preaching once a month and running the ministry of Kavaje while Arian is in America. We are very thankful for Juli and pray that God will continue to use him in awesome ways!


We also have another blessing. Arian arrived safely on May 13th and we were so excited to be united again with each other. On Memorial day, May 27th at 3:30 in the morning we were awakened with the breaking of the water. We rushed to the hospital to find out that my contractions were not strong enough to be active labor. They induced me with pitocin. After 18 hours of laboring I was only dilated 3 cm. They decided it was best for me and the baby to do a c-section. At 10:15pm we were blessed with the birth of our David Samuel Kosta. He was 8lb. 10oz or 3.9 kg and 20 1/4 inches long. Now we are at my parents house and trying our best to be the best parents we can be. We are praying that God will lead us and help us with the new challenges of parenthood. We are very thankful for Stefanie's parents who are helping us! Arian's parents and family are also very excited about the arrival of David Samuel and are anxious to see him in July.

Our first family picture

Praises/ Prayers: 
* Pray for the ministry in Albania as we are away.   
* Pray for the continual growth of David. 
* Pray for God to lead us to be Godly parents.  

Our United States Address: 
148 Wolfe St.
Cohutta, Ga 30710 


We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name, 
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Skenderbej AP:1043 Durres, Albania 

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!  

Seeing things from a New Godly perspective!

Dilaver and Xhuli Duda

Lots of times in our lives we are blinded by seeing God by our sins that separate us from Him. While Jesus was here on earth He healed blind Bartimaeus because of his faith. “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Mark 10:52. In ministry we are not able to heal the blind but we are able to help people with the sin that blinds them. One family in Kavaje Dilaver and his mom Xhuli (Julie) are now seeing things from a new perspective. Dilaver comes to Kids club in Kavaje and needed new glasses. Arian was able to take him to the eye doctor and get him the new glasses. Dilaver and his mom were very grateful for the new glasses and the help because they could not afford new glasses. Praise God that we were able to help him! We pray that Dilaver and Xhuli continue to come to the Kids club and will open their heart to God when the time is right. 

Marsida and her family

We are also very excited to tell you about another family. We have told you about Marsida in the past. She was so excited when she received her first bible and she reads it to her family. Marsida has been a delight to us with her enthusiasm to learn about God. She has been coming to Kids Club for many years. This week we were very excited when Marsida and her family showed up to the church in Kavaje. Marsida's mom seemed very interested in continuing to come to church. We pray that they continue to come and learn more about Christ. 

Staff and Mac

We also have a big change to tell you about in the ministry. After much prayer and discussion with our leadership board in America, our clinic is being reduced. The final decision was to keep Dr. Nikolla as our main doctor to continue the work of the clinic. After this summer Dr. Vangjeli and our nurse Zenel will be retiring. For the past several years there has been a greater focus on the church and less growth of the clinic. This is a very hard change for all especially since Dr. Vangjeli and Zenel have been with the ministry since it started 14 years ago. We know that Dr. Vangjeli and Zenel will continue to be a great help in the church. Please pray for them during this transition.

News from Stefanie: Things are going great here in the States. I am excited to be spending time with my family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ even though I am anxiously awaiting Arian's arrival May 13th! I have been able to visit with McDonough Christian and Hickory Valley Christian church so far. I hope to visit more churches soon. I went to the doctor this week and all is going well with baby David but they want to keep a close eye on him and I will have doctor's visits 2x per week. We want baby David to stay in as long as possible to make sure he is fully developed.
 
I was also blessed with a nice turtle themed baby shower for David from my close friends in Atlanta. Please continue to pray for strength and patience for Arian, Baby David and I.

Praises/ Prayers: 
* Continue to pray for Mara and Klara. Mara was back in Albania last week and they are still waiting for treatment for Klara in Italy.   
* Continue to pray for a new building for the church in Durres.     
* Pray for the staff and the changes coming. 
* Pray for Arian as he travels to the states to join Stefanie, May 13th. 


We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name, 
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Skenderbej AP:1043 Durres, Albania 

If you would like be added to our email list please email us! 

Food, Fun and Fellowship

Easter was a great celebration with lots of food, fun and fellowship. We enjoy spending time together in fellowship after church. Here are a few pictures to share with you. God bless you and your family!

 Praises/ Prayers: 
* Pray for us to find a larger space for the church in Durres.  
* Pray for continual spiritual growth in the church.  
* Pray for Stefanie, she is now in her 33rd week of pregnancy. 
* Pray for Arian as he travels to the states to join Stefanie, May 13th. 


We would love to hear from you! God bless!
Serving in His name, 
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Skenderbej AP:1043 Durres, Albania 

If you would like be added to our email list please email us!