Merry Christmas! Our Lord and Saviour is born!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

On December 20th we celebrated Christmas with both Churches. These are pictures from Durres. We had a wonderful time of service and fellowship afterwards. 

 

In Kavaje we had a packed house with over 60 people. It was nice to see new families and celebrate Christmas together. It was amazing how we had only planned for 50 people but some families brought extra food and we ended up having enough for everyone. This was our second week in our new building and we are very thankful God provided a bigger space for us. 

 

 We have also been very busy this week. We sang Christmas Carols to the old home and bought them each a pair of winter socks. One resident was upset because the old home doesn't allow them to have electric heaters and her gas heater was out of gas. We went and refilled her gas so that she could be warm. 

 

We have also been blessed with Christmas boxes this year from Team Hope (like Samaritan's purse). We were able to distribute them to children in both churches, poor neighborhood kids in Kavaje, and we partnered with another church in Rrogozhina to take boxes to a daycare. All total we gave about 200 Christmas boxes. 

 

Romi, Shpresa, Arian, David, and I also went for our 1st annual Christmas Caroling. We visited 7 houses singing to them and wishing them a Merry Christmas. The families enjoyed the visit but wanted us to stay longer and all of them gave David many treats. 

All in all it has been a very rewarding and blessed Christmas time. We pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas and New Year as well! 
God bless! 
The Kostas


 

 

 

We have lots to be Thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Even though Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here in Albania, we were still very Thankful. We are the most thankful for our family, friends, and prayer partners. We are very happy to see what amazing things that are happening here. 

New Home: We are happy to announce that we are moving the church in Kavaje. We have been praying and the Lord has directed us to a new building. Hopefully we will be celebrating Christmas in our new home. We will be able to use our new home for the Kids club meetings as well. 

Serving at the Old home: Our weekly visits and Bible Study took a new level this past week. We were able to bless the residents in different ways. Shpresa cut Nene Antoneta's hair, we bought a set of dominoes for the men to play, and we even washed some dishes for a resident while we were there. We are thankful that God put us in the right place to serve. 

Help for Klara: We have been informing your about a little girl 3 years old named Klara with a crooked spine. We have gone lots of places trying to get her help and we haven't gotten very far until now. Klara stayed in the hospital this past week and was able to get a CAT scan and an MRI on her spine. The doctor said that one of her vertebra (L4) was misshapen and causing the rest of the spine to be crooked. Good news is that it is not affecting any of the nerves in her back. We should hear what the next steps are next week. We are very excited that we are finally making progress with getting this sweet girl some help. We took David to visit her one evening in the hospital. David was very concerned about his friend Klara being sick. Keep praying that she will get the surgery she needs soon. 

New Babies: We were delighted to make a visit to Meri and Tani to see their twins that were born in October. They are very overwhelmed but happy as well. We can't wait to welcome Brigel and Brajen in the church! 

 Praises and Prayer Requests:
*Pray for Stefanie this has been a very tiring pregnancy for her. She is now 20 weeks. David is very excited about mommy's growing tummy.  
*Pray for strength and unity in our staff and growth of the Kingdom of God here in Albania. 

We are Thankful for you! 

Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta 
Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043
Durres, Albania
email:kkdurres@gmail.com  

Follow us on Facebook: Kisha Kristiane Albania 

Donation address (tax deductable):    
 *****Please put ALBANIA in the Memo line on the check*******

Make check to McDonough Christian Church

McDonough Christian Church,
Attn: Lisa Thomas-Albania 
2000 Jonesboro Rd.
McDonough, Ga 30253

Jealousy an acceptable sin.....

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:3-4

We have many blessings to count and no time for jealousy here, even though it sneaks up in the church from time to time. Jealousy comes in the smallest forms and turns in to envy. I really like this quote above and I will lead people to counting their blessings instead of looking at others. 

Matt Scott preaching Juli translating

A church full in Kavaje

Group photo at the Old Home

Diane encouraging Miri

We are truly blessed! We spent a wonderful 10 days with six of our most cherished mentors. Mike and Lisa Thomas, Mac and Diane McClintock, Dennis Temple, and Matt Scott sacrificed time and work to come spend a week with us. They dove into helping us with the ministry head first. We didn't even give them time to worry about jet lag! Their encouragement and advice we truly cherish! We thank God for these wonderful co-workers helping us to advance the kingdom of God here in Albania. We are also thankful for Colonial Hills Church of Christ who sent lots of craft supplies and Crosspoint Christian Church that sent shoes for the children we serve in Kavaje. Thank you very much! 

A dinner with Dr. Nikolla

Cheese! Mac and David

The children in Kavaje singing to the group

Dennis' new buddy David

 





Things are going great with the English Classes at the church in Durres. Stefanie has started a beginners English and intermediate English class on Thursday night. The average is about 6 students in each class. All the students are new to the church. 

Mamisa and Enes

Stefanie is still working with the babies in Kavaje. We are thankful for Hickory Valley Christian Church and the women's group for their support and help in this new project. Stefanie and Shpresa go together on Wednesday and encourage the moms and invite them to church. Hekuron's mom Ana has been coming to church in Kavaje for the past three weeks. We are very excited about this! 

Praises and Prayer Requests: 
*We had two families give birth to babies this month. The babies and families are doing well. Pictures to come soon! 
*We are growing out of our building in Kavaje. We had 30 in church this past week and 12 of them were children. We are excited that whole families are coming to church. We praise God for the growth and pray that he will provide all that we need for this growth. 

*Our family will be gaining another Kosta in April. Stefanie is in her 3rd month of pregnancy. We are praying for a little girl.  
*Pray for strength and unity in our staff and growth of the Kingdom of God here in Albania. 

We covet your prayers, encouragement, support, emails and letters! We would love to hear from you! You are in our hearts and prayers as well!  

Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta 

Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043
Durres, Albania
email:kkdurres@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook: Kisha Kristiane Albania 

Donation address (tax deductable):   

*****Please put ALBANIA in the Memo line on the check*******

Make check to McDonough Christian Church

McDonough Christian Church,
Attn: Lisa Thomas-Albania 
2000 Jonesboro Rd.
McDonough, Ga 30253

We are immigrants just passing through

All that has been on the news lately is immigration. Many people from Africa and Syria are packed into boats and dying trying to get away from their country in hopes of a better future elsewhere. Even Albanians are fleeing to Germany thinking that they can be better off there. When people find out that I am American they are shocked to see that I am living in Albania. I think that the world's dream is that "the grass is greener on the other side". My philosophy is "bloom where you are planted". God has a greater plan and purpose for you no matter where you are. We are just temporary beings here anyway. True Christians are ready to be immigrants with our Lord Jesus Christ one day in Heaven.  

Baptism!!!! 
We are happy to announce that on August 9th we all went down to the sea had some worship time and Evi was baptized! We are so proud of Evi our new sister in Christ! What a wonderful celebration we had!

This summer has been the hottest on records and has been miserable for the past two months. In this summer heat it is very hard on the elderly. We are very saddened to announce the passing of Nene Zadia. She was a stable presence in our weekly bible studies at the old home. Nene Zadia was 59 years old and had lived in the old home since she was 16. She will be greatly missed.

We were very excited to have our brother in Christ and Arian's cousin Nikolino preach for the first time in Kavaje. Nikolino is a member of the Church of Christ in Durres. He did a great job preaching. We pray that God will continue to bless him as he serves the Lord with all his heart!  



Shpresa and I (Stefanie) are trying to reach the mothers of new babies in Kavaje. This week we met a child sitting by himself and playing in the trash with no clothes on waist down. When we went to find the mother she complained about him being sick with an infection in his mouth. The mom said that he was one year old and not eating any food because of his sickness. She had taken him to the Dr. once but he still was not getting better. The baby was still breastfeeding so I encouraged her to eat healthier and to feed the baby as much as possible. I will be checking back with this family next week and counseling the mother more. These families have horrible living conditions, but I just want to teach them how to better take care of their babies the way God intended mothers to do. 


Klara (12yr. old) is here for the summer and we have spent time with her. She still goes back and forth to Italy getting treatment for Megaloblastic Anemia (misshapen blood cells). She is such a sweet and encouraging girl despite her sickness.  We were excited to see her and pray with her. Photo: Klara, Her mom (Mara), and her big sister Kejsi (Kasey).

Updates: 
*We are still praying for a new building in Durres. May God provide what we need at the right time.

*Klara (3yrs.) has an appointment for a CT scan on her spine in September. Pray all goes well. 

Praises/ Prayers:         
*Funding of a new Church home for us.
*Pray that more will come to Christ here in Albania.
*Pray for Turi (member of the church in Kavaje) he is having severe Asthma and heart problems. 

David's first carnival ride!

*Pray for Meri (Sabina's mom, Church in Durres) pregnant with twins. 
*Pray for Strength and Unity within our staff. 
*Praise: David was sick with an upper respiratory infection but is now doing much better! 


Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta

Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 

Durres, Albania kkdurres@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook: Kisha Kristiane Albania 

Donation address (tax deductable): 

Make check to McDonough Christian Church

McDonough Christian Church,
Attn: Lisa Thomas-Albania building Fund,
2000 Jonesboro Rd.
McDonough, Ga 30253

 

 

A Servant's Heart

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 NLT

As I watch our son David grow, I am amazed by the things he learns and imitates. He loves to serve. He loves to help wash the dishes, clean up, hang laundry and anything else. Living in Albania with lots of walking on the dusty roads you get very dirty feet especially now in the summer wearing sandals. One night David checked my feet and told me, "Mama feet dirty, clean up!" (in a mixture of half English half Albanian words). I went and got the bucket to wash my feet and he sat down on the floor and rubbed, washed and dried my feet. How easy it seems for my two year-old to be a servant. Why is it so hard for us to be servants as adults? We are called to serve. I pray that David continues to have this servant heart the rest of his life! How will you serve today? 

VBS in Elbasan: 

For one week, Arian and Jak (a faithful youth from the church in Durres) went to Elbasan to help two other missionaries (Mondi & Pino) lead VBS. This was a great experience for Jak. They enjoyed serving and helping other missionaries and teaching children about Christ. 

                                           
                                           Visit from North Ireland: 
We were blessed by a visit from a mission team from N. Ireland. They were very encouraging to us. A brother from the group George shared a short message to the church that Laura translated. 



Visit from Finland:
Our dear brother in Christ Milto also came for a visit. He spent the day serving with us in Kavaje. For several years Milto worked with the poor children and old home in Kavaje. We were very blessed by his visit and all the residents of the old home were happy to see him again. 

Resting in Heaven: 
It is bittersweet to announce that one of our faithful members of the church has now gone on to heaven. Nene Patra passed away last week. She lived a full 82 years and we are very sad to see her go. 

Updates: 
* We are still raising money for a building. We know that God will provide the right building at the right time. 

*We are still hoping and praying for Arian's parents. They have stopped coming to church. We hope that they will start again soon. This is something Arian has been praying about for many years now. 


*Exciting news coming!!! We will be having another baptism soon! Always exciting to have new brothers and sisters in Christ! 

*David is still growing and learning English and Albanian so quickly.

Praises/ Prayers:         
*Funding of a new Church home for us.
*Pray that more will come to Christ here in Albania.
*Pray for Arian's parents to come to Christ!
*Pray for all right now during this high heat in the 100's (F). It is very difficult for us.


Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta

Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 

Durres, Albania kkdurres@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook: Kisha Kristiane Albania 

Donation address (tax deductable): 

Make check to McDonough Christian Church

McDonough Christian Church,
Attn: Lisa Thomas-Albania building Fund,
2000 Jonesboro Rd.
McDonough, Ga 30253 

Choose Joy!

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15: 11

Choosing Joy is something that I have to do daily. Circumstances, difficult situations, and life try to steal our joy. I know that my ultimate joy comes through Jesus Christ. I want to share that joy with others and be a blessing daily.

Here are some ways that God is working and bringing joy here in Albania: 

 

Arian performed his second wedding ceremony to a sweet couple of the church in Kavaje. The wife, Lume is blind. Her husband, Artur was baptized last month. We had a quiet simple wedding ceremony outside. It was beautiful how much this couple love each other and love God! May God bless them for many years with a loving and faithful marriage! 

 

For four days Arian & I were privileged to attend a conference in Lecce, Italy, heald by Pino Neglia an Italian Missionary. The theme of the conference was the letter of Philippians and Joy. It is always a joy to see believers come together to learn more about Him and worship Him. Arian was asked to speak on Sunday morning and Mondi Gjoni another Albanian from Elbsan translated for him. The Anderson Family from Mt. Carmel Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio were there singing and were a great blessing to us as well. 

We are trying to get some help for Klara. About 6 months ago Klara was walking funny. Come to find out one leg is shorter than the other. We took her to do x-rays where they found out that her spine is very crooked. The opinion of one doctor is that she has spina bifida. After much bureaucracy we have finally gotten her an appointment for a CAT scan in September to see if her spine is open or closed. Please pray for Klara. 

We are needing scholarships for three poor children in our church who can not afford books. Petrit 16 is in Highschool, Denisa 12 is in middle school, and Bardha 9 is in Elementary. School is free here but you have to buy all of your books and that is very expensive for these families. We would like to see these children continue with their education. Books cost about $100 per child. Please pray for this situation and if you can help let us know. 


Stefanie is starting a new ministry to the poor women of Kavaje. It has been on her heart for several months now. The plan is within the next couple of weeks to gather all of the women of the communty who are pregnant and with babies under two years old. Stefanie will teach them about breastfeeding, caring for babies, and the word of God. There are many women who never have been taught about this and are struggling. Please pray for Stefanie for this new ministry opportunity.

Praises/ Prayers:         
*Funding of a new Church home for us.

*Pray that more will come to Christ here in Albania.

*Pray for Arian's parents to come to Christ!
*Pray for the ministry to be fruitful in all our endeavors.

Serving in His name,
Arian & Stefanie Kosta
kkdurres@gmail.com
Address: L3 Rr Egnatia AP:1043 Durres, Albania

Follow us on Facebook: Kisha Kristiane Albania 

Donation address (tax deductable): 

Make check to McDonough Christian Church

McDonough Christian Church, 
Attn: Lisa Thomas-Albania building Fund, 
2000 Jonesboro Rd. 
McDonough, Ga 30253