"There are many in the world dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love." -Bl. Mother Teresa
GXP Smolenice, Slovakia

Albania Mission: June 19 - July 16, 2005

On June 19th, myself and my friend Tomas will be driving 7 people to Albania. Round trip from Vienna this is about 3,280 km or 44 hours travel. We will first stop in Medjugorje before traveling on through the rest of Bosnia, Montenegro, and through Albania. There we will meet up with about 13 other people who are flying to this mission. Working with the humanitarian aid organization HopeXchange and the Missionaries of Charity, we will work toward the integral development of people and the fostering of charity and justice in the world. We are committed to the advancement of marginalized people, to reduce poverty, and empower the weak and oppressed to become agents of change by:

• Building a road 7km long to the mountain villagers about 2 hours from Tirana city. The existing road is long, winding, muddy, and full of pot holes. It is dangerous to travel on and nearly impossible to take by car. Villagers often travel by donkey or on foot for hours a day.
• Distributing clothes, medication, and food items like corn, sugar, oil, flour, etc. to various villages.
• Doing evangelistic work for the youth. There is an elementary school which needs painting,english lessons, etc. As well as host a free health clinic.

Please pray for us! Pray that we will truly bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people we meet. Pray for our safety while driving through these East European countries and for good health for the team. Thank you everyone who has so generously given to help make this mission possible! More to come when we arrive back in Austria.

Blessed are they...

'Jesus looked at them and said, 'For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.' Peter began to say to him, 'We have given up everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.' -Mark 10:27-31

This gospel reading from Mark was the theme of my life last week and continues to be in this life as a missionary. Last weekend I was in Zagreb, Croatia working with our friends at the Good Shepherd community. We had a great weekend about evangelization. On Saturday afternoon, we challenged the community to go and evangelize in the city streets of Zagreb. There was a lot of fear and anxiousness about this because many had not pursued the idea of talking to strangers and telling them about Jesus. God broke through with His peace and the day of evangelizing turned out to be a great eye-opening experience. There was persecution but also an openess from some to receive the love of God.

After our time in Zagreg, our team was looking for a place to stay for a couple of days until some of the team had to drive on toward Romania for a YWAM central European conference. A woman from the community found out our need and said that she would like to have us come to her villa on the coast of Croatia for a few days. This woman who I never got to meet, was miraculously healed from some illness years ago and since has devoted her life to giving to those in need. So...this wonderful woman gave us a beautiful place to stay, exquisite food to eat prepared by our own cook, and a spectacular view of the Adriatic Sea for 3 days. The passage form Mark was the Gospel reading on our second day at the Sea.

After 2 days at the Sea, I had to travel back to Austria by myself to continue fundraising for Albania and help with the Alpha Course we are running in our town. I had an adventure traveling back by ferry and then an overnight bus from Split island to Vienna. At 5 a.m. I met a Jewish man from Israel who in 10 minutes, bought me a cup of coffee, listened to why I was a Catholic missionary in Europe, and gave me his telephone number while inviting me to come stay with his family in Jerusalem for a couple of days. Oddly enough, this non-practicing Jew was just attending the funeral of his mothers best friend who was a devout Catholic. We both agreed that it wasn't a mistake that we bumped into each other for even that small amount of time. God is so generous!

Ciovo, Croatia on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
GXP Smolenice, Slovakia