If you missed Days 1&2, they are located here <<<<<

~DAY 3~

Aldo calls to find outwhere the kids are. We had a Coffee planned with a couple of kids who were way past Albanian time ;)
*Albania time is the set time plus 30-45 minutes*  
..So if you're from a fast-paced background..you might shoot yourself or you need to work on your patients ;)
Aldo was calling to check for us. They arrived and we had a great discussion about God's character and who Jesus is.

 

Photo by Lauren Dean

The idea was thrown around to teach a photography class and it was another good chance to interact with the kids. I didn't have long, but I explained fundamentals of Exposure triangle: (ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed). Once learned, these could work with any of their cameras to improve their photos. The staff acquired a Canon camera. This was good for them to learn and to utilized for future ministry efforts. 

Danita was my model for the class right before it started to rain. Good times

We played a lot of games.

Kuddos to Will for bringing over the Canon for the CRU team to use to capture what they need for this week and going forward. It is a great investment!

Choose wisely!

#Homies

These 3 girls: Jonida, Hyrije, and Elsina were a joy to listen to in study and helped me with translating. Above that, they were hilarious.

Being silly!

Skerdi was a big help to the camp and was always helping or willing to. Thank you Skerdi! 5 points if he winked at you HAHA!

Ermal is a very funny guy. "Is this a bad neighborhood?" :) 
Jokes aside, Ermal was great at interacting with the kids and pointing them to Jesus.

Hyrije

Blerina and baby Amanda

My favorite part of taking these quick photos was Amanda never stopped looking at the camera.

We went out to eat most of the nights and this little Italian place had wonderful pizza. I never remember the names, just what I ate.. That Chicken Parmesan pizza was very good! :)

Shocker, I sometimes appear in my photos too.

Restaurant cat. Hey! It's Albania

I am truly blessed by each of these guys during this trip. 

~DAY 4~

We kept seeing the ads for Aldo's night gig! haha

I'll pass on that chicken, but it was funny to see AFC!

This was the view on top of the Sky Lounge in Tirana where we had coffee. It is a pretty place indeed. 

Matt and Bryan singing about Coffee Americano

This is one of my favorite photos from this trip

The photo bombs are priceless

We popped into a Greek Orthodox to see the building, inside. It was a pretty place. There is a couple of photos on Facebook of my snapping upwards. This is what I was getting. I really like the ambient light coming in. 50mm 1.8 1250

We stopped off for ice cream and it was dim. I did not want to use a flash in there so I went with my 50mm 1.8 and took this one. 
*Tip* The smaller your gear, the less obvious you will be in the street photography photos you're trying to capture. I however stick out regardless due to height.

"Dub`ya" came to visit Albania several years ago. The Albanians said that George said he felt safer there than at home.

Team Photo
*Jeff Welskopf not shown

 As always, a fun photo with our traditional Jazz hands :)
*If you come next year, I will show you how Jazz hands just might save your life while crossing the street.

Klejdi did a great job keeping the media going. I know it's not an easy job, so we are thankful even with computers decided to stop working.

The Judges.
Jeff was the British personality if you were wondering

Funny skit the kids acted out

Andrew and Dionis

Here we are at Coffee. Coffees took place 1-2 times a day for about an hour and a half. The purpose was to connect with the kids, but also engage more with them on what they know, believe, and are trusting in. For the believers we encouraged them as well. These times were my favorite part of the trip. 

Matt teaching dance. The last night was Texas Night!

Andrew playing the Ninja game

Bryan as MC for the night and Aldo embracing the Texas theme.

Gordon explaining the balloon game. You tie a balloon to your ankle, on a string, and try to stomp the other person's balloon. Last balloon wins.

In Photography, timing is very important

Not sure who that is ;)

photo by lauren dean

In America or around the world, Danita will always be sassy.

Eugen is a fun guy who speak English very well. He is my friend. We had coffee together the last day. We talked about Jesus, who he was, why he died, and his trustworthiness. He is one of a few that I sat down with to talk about the love of God through his son Jesus, and why we would fly half way around the world to share why we would put our faith and trust in a sinless carpenter who died 2000 years ago. I hope to see Eugen and the rest of the kids again.

The castle we ate at the last night in Albania. It was a beautiful place. I was impressed by every part of the building.
I took a long exposure of about 60 seconds. f22, 160iso, and on a tripod. The moment I walked up, I knew I would get soemthing pretty like this. This is a combination of 2 images.  

It was nice to sit and talk to AlBa and Renis. #Newlyweds 

I am blessed to know these men. They all did a great job of teaching and loving the kids through out the week. And yes..that is a Tootsie pop in Gordon's pocket.

One last long exposure. This time 30 seconds at 320 iso. Yes, that is Renis and AlBa.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and reading about the 10 from Texas went to share Jesus with 150 teens and build relationships with the Campus Crusade staff there in Albania. I am thankful for the Hungarians and the Iowa team who invested a much longer time there and established a large chunk of ground work before we arrived.


To those who supported our team in prayer and financial support, we can not thank you enough. This trip was a big stepping stone for many who will come back as well as share what God is doing in Albania through Campus Crusade. We are all very saddened that we had to leave and are continuing to talk about the trip. If you have any questions about the trip, I hang out at Watermark Community Church with this team, and my email address is on my contact page. Feel free to reach out to me.
Keep an eye out for a video of the camp as well. 

*Please Note* There was a side trip to Rome that was not included in the blog. The reason for this was this trip was made possible by support of others and the side trip to Rome was piad completely by us and not of the support raised. I will provide another photo blog of Rome and a few beautiful photos I took there.

If you missed the link to day 1 & 2 of this trip, the link is here >>>>>>