Benches

 

There is a nice courtyard outside where the church meets in Berat. There are maybe five benches in a little paved circle where old ladies sit and watch birds and children cut through kicking a ball from time to time. But the whole space is in a bit of disrepair and several of the benches are unfortunately unusable. This became more of a concern as the weather has become warm. Christians do not want to hang out inside our hot meeting room after we are finished, and there is nowhere for them to sit once they get outside, so they disappear rather quickly.

So, one of the church members volunteered to find materials and serve the church and the community by fixing up the benches. I came to help out, but aside from getting my hands covered in yellow paint, and squawking in a weird language, I don't know if I did anything of use. So, I also finger painted my phone yellow and took some pictures to document this simple, but enormous, act of service.

I'm excited to see this courtyard in use soon. I already have some other ideas of ways that we can fix it up to make it more comfortable. I realized while helping with the bench that people were watching and many approached and asked questions. Who are you? Why are you doing this? And the answer was always, "We are Christians and we are doing this for you." People were very appreciative. Several stayed and talked for a long time and were invited to visit us on Sunday. Some children came and practiced speaking English with me, and I called my girls to come to meet them.

Community service is tricky in a former communist country that had so many years of forced public labor. There are still stigmas and fears. But sacrifice is always noticed, and a city on a hill can not be hidden.