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! 

We know that God is rejoicing in Heaven!

Sunday was a great day for us and a great celebration for both churches. We all came together for great singing, preaching and testimonies. The church was packed we had to add extra chairs to the front of the room. Several believers got up and shared encouragement to one another.

At the end of the service four people got up and shared why they wanted to be baptized two from Kavaje, Klaudia and Romina, and two from Durres, Jak and his brother Mateo. All four were ready to surrender their lives to Christ! Praise the Lord! We were very excited to be able to fulfill the great commandment,  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20. 






After church, many of the church followed us to the beach to witness the baptisms. We thank God that the weather cooperated with us this day and it was nice and sunny, even though it was still about 60 degrees. Arian said that the water was cold but it didn't matter at all because it was only about the plan of God for their lives. Romina was the first to be baptized and her and Jak have become friends. When she came out of the water Jak ran to the water and picked her up hugging her. It was precious to watch! They were so proud and encouraging to each other. This will be a day that they never forget! Now we have new brothers and sisters in Christ! 

Pictures of Baptisms:

Romina

Jak

Klaudia

 

 

 

 

Mateo

  





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 as she travels to the States April 2nd without Arian.


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! 

Growing, Growing, Growing!!!

March is here! Now in Albania the winter is coming to an end. The rain has stopped and it is getting warmer. Birds are singing and flowers are growing. This warmer weather and growth makes me excited to see what is going to happen next. We pray that you are also growing in your faith and walk with God.  We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3. 

Kisha Kristiane Durres

We are very happy to announce the growth that has been going on here in Albania. The church in Durres is growing with new people every week. We have had to add more chairs and find more space because there hasn't been enough room for all the people who are coming on Sunday. This is a fantastic problem to have and we are excited for the challenge. We are also praying for God to help us find a building where we can have more space.

Kids with Arian from Kisha Kristiane Kavaje

The church in Kavaje is growing as well. We had another new family this week. If everyone was in attendance we would have over 30 coming to church. Since we have moved into a building it has given us more room to grow. 

Not only are we experiencing physical growth but also spiritual growth! We have been praying for people to get serious in their faith and to grow in the Lord. We are having a baptism service on March 24th for both churches. There has been a growing interest in baptism so Arian started a class for non believers. Hopefully on the 24th we will have 5 or maybe more people being baptized in the sea! Praise God for this growth!

28 weeks

Our family is growing as well. Stefanie went to the doctor today and got very good news from the Doctor. David Samuel is now 1.4 kg or about 3 lbs. According to the ultrasound baby looks good and all is well. The doctor signed a release for Stefanie to travel to the States to have the baby. Stefanie will be coming April 2nd and David is due at the end of May. Arian will be joining Stefanie later in May. We are very excited that all is going well for her pregnancy. Please continue to pray for Stefanie and baby David and their travel. Stefanie will be visiting Atlanta, but mainly be staying in Dalton, Georgia where her parents live. She hopes to see most of you all soon!

 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 and baby David. 


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!   






 

Where is your home?

Home is something that I have been contemplating lately since I have been away from my family for 6 months. Where is my home? More importantly how important is your home to you? Most of us live in comfortable houses with electricity, running water, and bathrooms. These are things that we take for granted every day. We store up our little treasures and keepsakes in our homes. We make memories in our homes with our families. When it is time to move to a new home we feel a little sad about leaving our home.

We work with the poor children of Kavaje. They recently have been kicked out of their homes and had to start over from scratch. The government has given them a shell of a building to rebuild their homes in. They have to take what they could salvage from their old homes and build new homes. They don't have electricity, water, or bathrooms. 

Irena & Moza

Irena and her daughter Moza invited me into their home. They were very excited to show me what they had done with their house. One bed, one old sofa and a small shelf was all that they had but the house was clean and they were very grateful. We take lots of pride in our house. Ultimately our house is not here on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20, So, store up your treasures in heaven! 

Things are going very well with the ministry of Kavaje. We currently do not have a building to have the kids club in but we are meeting outside for now. Our main focus for the month is to help the families with physical labor and encourage them. Arian did take time this week to sing songs with the children and play a little bit of soccer with the boys. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time! 
The church of Kavaje is growing as well. We have for the past two weeks had 20 people attending the church service. They are growing in faith as well. It is amazing how this small church helps and serves each other. They treat each other like family. 

The ministry of Durres is going good as well. We have many people who are wanting to be baptized in the sea when the weather gets a little warmer. Praise God for the spiritual growth of the church! Thank you for your prayers!

Member Spotlight: 
This week our member spotlight is for Rozeta. Rozeta is very new in her faith and has been coming to the church in Kavaje for about a year. She is very excited to tell people that she is a Christian now. She has yet to be baptized but we are praying for her to know the Lord as her personal savior and be baptized soon. Rozetta lives with her brother and takes care of his two children Amanda and Veri. Rozeta always has a great personality, smile, and loves Jesus! Help us in praying for Rozeta and her salvation. 

Praises/ Prayers: 
* Pray for Ilir and his family they attend the church in Kavaje. Ilir's father passed away.  
* Pray for continual spiritual growth in the church. 
* Continue to pray for Juli, he is now in Turkey on the mission field. 
* Pray for Stefanie as she continues her pregnancy now 6 months!  


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!    

   

 

Puppet on a String

About a month ago we saw a street performer with a puppet singing and dancing. We stopped and were amazed of the creativity and talent of this street performer. The man holding the puppet had the biggest smile on his face as he made the puppet play the piano and even kiss a small child. There was so much fun and joy that you were fully captivated.
I want to be a puppet on a string for God. I want God to look down and smile because I am doing His work with His help and guiding hand. I want people to be captivated by what God is doing in my life. But sin causes us to break free from this love that God gives us and get caught up in the sins of this world. We get tied up and led by worldly strings. Even in our house we allow sin to creep in. Bad words, sex, and materialism fills our television screens every day. As you walk down the street in Albania you are bombarded by casinos and sport gambling. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith. 1 Peter 5:8-9 We all have a choice to make and I choose to be God's puppet lead by His loving hand!

God's hand is guiding us every step of the way and every day we see the proof! Every Wednesday we go to the old home to have a bible study with the residents. Usually we have 10 residents who come to the bible study. We go and visit the other 40 residents after the bible study and take them a snack and ask them how they are doing. Fatmir is one of the residents there and he has many muslim pictures and writing all over the wall in his room but we continue to tell him that God loves him. A couple of weeks ago he was having a problem with his bladder and one of the residents told him that he needed to ask Arian for prayer. That week when we went to his room he told Arian that he wanted prayer and please pray to Allah. Arian told him that he only believed in God and he would only pray to the one true God. Fatmire said ok and Arian prayed for him. Now Fatmir is asking more about our God and wants to know more and more. Praise God that a door was opened to speak the word of God to Fatmir. Please help us in praying for his salvation.

God is also blessing us with the growth of the church. Since many of the new people do not know about Christianity or the Bible Arian has started a new class about Christianity. We are very excited about this class and every week we have 1-3 people in attendance. Jako who is 15 has been coming very faithfully and is very interested in the word of God.

Member Spotlight:
This week I would like to tell you about Drita. Drita has been so faithful in letting us use her house for the home church in Kavaje. Now Praise God we are in a building but Drita is still very faithful and helpful in preparing communion and getting things ready for the church service. Drita has  two adult children Ervin and Ornella and a daughter Ana who is handicapped that is 18 years old.  She also has two grandchildren Romina and Jonny. Drita just had a birthday January 31st and turned 51. We are very happy for Drita and pray that God continues to bless her for many more years. We are very blessed to have Drita in the church!

Praises/ Prayers: 
* Continue to pray for Klara. She is still waiting on word from the doctor. She is currently in the hospital getting blood treatments. 
* Pray for continual spiritual growth in the church. 
* Continue to pray for Juli as he is in school, he will be going on a mission trip 
      to Turkey Feb. 17th.


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!