Albania update from the Corin's - January 2012
SMALL BEGINNINGS - “Who despises the day of small things “ Zec 4:10
Greetings from us all in a very cold, beautiful and white Korce. We trust that everyone has enjoyed their Christmas and New Year celebrations. I can’t believe that we are at the start of another new year. We as a family had a quiet Christmas morning together, just enjoying time together. It was great to be able to chat to family and friends, thanks to Skype. This Christmas we were able to enjoy a lovely Christmas cake made by the children and our friend Sue. The kids also helped to make crackers and paper hats. They took great delight in searching for Christmas jokes. Their favourite been: What Christmas carol is a parent’s favourite ? The answer, Silent Night. The evening was spent with the church family. New Year in Albania however is a different matter. It is the main celebration of the year for both Muslims and Christians. It is more like our Christmas celebrations. Many people having turkey on New Year’s Eve, some may exchange presents, lots of fireworks and of course their traditional sweet, baklava. We saw the New Year in with our friends and neighbours Fredi and Marsela. We however had trifle instead of baklava as our friends prefer that. Some of you may have noticed I have given our newsletter a title this time. We have done this for a reason. Myself, Clinton, Edi and Artina have felt that through this year we have seen the beginnings of ministries to the poor through the church. We feel these beginnings maybe small but they are the start of things to come. We feel excited and encouraged to see how God is advancing His kingdom and impacting the lives of many.
Christmas Children’s Camp :
We continue to welcome children into the church on Sunday mornings. We did run a special two day Christmas camp on the weekend of 10 and 11 December. Much fun was had by the children as we played games, did a variety of Christmas theme craft activities and shared the Christmas story through use of drama and a quiz. We were also able to feed 30 children each day of the camp. This was wonderful to be able to provide a meal each day at the camp as we know that some of the children had not eaten anything that morning or the previous day. We are hoping that this year we will be able to feed the children weekly. We finished our year on the 17 December continuing with a Christmas theme and providing a small Christmas party. We restarted the kids work again on the 8th January. We are hoping to expand the children’s ministry this year to reach 11-14 year olds and under fives. We are also hoping to plan specific targeted training for the children’s workers.
Feeding scheme:
We would like to thank you wonderful people who supported our feeding project over this Christmas period. Together with Living Water church and the donations received , we were able to feed 10 families. We also have money to continue feeding some families over January and into February. This is truly wonderful. This winter is proving to be a harsh winter for many not only due to the weather but also economic problems faced by neighbouring countries. We are noticing that many of our market workers who have been able to support themselves reasonably well are now struggling to make ends meet. We would like to continue feeding those most in need at least once a month and we know that those who find themselves in crisis will only increase.
This is just a small piece of what we have been up to these past few weeks.
Prayer points:
1. Please prayer for us as we submit a proposal for funding for the children’s ministry and feeding project
2. We need more workers within the church community who have a heart and compassion for the poor and for children
3. Please continue to pray for us a family, for our health, family time, relationships and finances.
Thank you for all your messages and support. We really love receiving all your messages. Please note that if you want to contact us via mobile phone can you please use our Albanian numbers where possible.
Clint : +355695571436 or Jo :+355695571437.
Clint also has a new UK number +447795280240 Alternatively we can be contacted via Skype, you can find us by looking for the Corin family. Our e-mail address that we use most frequently is clintjo@hotmail.co.uk .
God bless
Clint, Joanne, Joshua and Emma
GREETINGS FROM THE CORINS IN ALBANIA - 27/11/2011
Hi there everyone,
We trust that you are keeping well. Thank you all so much for your e-mails, messages and prayers. They are always welcome, we love reading all you news…
Many of you will know that we have been jet-setting the past while. We enjoyed a break in England during the month of September only to find ourselves flying away again from Albania at end of October. We enjoyed a lovely and much needed break in Dubai. Our two children also enjoyed a break from mum and dad for a whole week. Whilst we were in Dubai the children spent time with some very special people, Mik and Sue. The children had a lovely time. Our time in Dubai was amazing. It was a time to just relax and unwind together. We did however attend a conference whilst there and really felt that we met with God. We came away from there feeling really encouraged and hearing from God. We have also made some wonderful new friends from different places in the world. Also a big thank you to our wonderful hosts; Tim and Coral.
We are now based in Korce for the winter and are looking to be in the UK again in May 2012. You may however see Clint occasionally in the UK for work purposes.
PLANS FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS:
Children’s Work:
We are having between 15-20 children each week, which is amazing! Parents often will not allow the children to come out during winter months when it is cold. So we find it really encouraging that so many children are attending each week.
Feeding scheme:
We are still helping to feed some of our families most in need in the church. Blessing three families regularly each month. We are hoping to bless between 8 -10 families this Christmas time as a church. The need within the church and the community it serves is at times overwhelming. One of the families we visit regularly will often only get food by rummaging in the dustbins after the market closes. She will come home with fruit and vegetables that have been throw away, she considers herself lucky. There are days when she may not have any food in the house. This is just one example.
Women’s meeting:
I am still currently meeting with 4-5 ladies and their children each week on a Friday. This has been a real time of blessing for us all. It is such a privilege to be able to share the word of God with these ladies, pray with them and just enjoy their company. Most of these ladies all find themselves in terrible situations, either widowed or with husbands in prison. They are often looked down upon by the community in which they live.
We do visit another two ladies in similar situations during the week when we are able to. We are hoping that in the future they maybe comfortable to join our Friday meeting.
Other things:
Clint is still very involved in helping Edi, pastor of Kisha Uji i Gjalle, with the youth work and spends a lot of his morning doing pastoral work amongst the men within the church body. He has been really encouraged of late to see some fruit of his labour,
especially in changes within the lives of men such as our nextdoor neighbour Fredi.
Prayer Points:
- that we will have the resources to bless 8-10 families this Christmas and that this work will continue to expand during the next coming year.
- finances to be released so that we will be able to see the children’s work expanded as well as firmly establishing a feeding scheme in the church.
- our own personal finances to allow us to continue to work in this nation.
- continue to prayer for our own personal health, that we will continue to remain healthy.
God’s richest blessings
All our love
Clinton, Joanne, Josh and Em.
(Psalm 121)
30th August 2011
Hi there to you all,
Sorry it has taken us a while to get around to write a brief update of some of news, guess we not the best communicators in the world. My side of the family (Joanne) are notoriously not the best communicators or letters writers at the best of times.
For those who do not know, we will be heading back to the UK in September for three weeks. Partly work and partly holiday. We are really looking forward to the time back in the UK catching up with family and friends. The children are very excited. It will be good to see my mum who is heading over to the UK during this time, unfortunately dad will not be joining her this time. The children are currently enjoying some time off school. There holiday beginning at the beginning of August.
It has been an interesting time the past few months and we have come to realise that our own plans are often not entirely God's plans at this particular time. We are still spending a lot of time doing pastoral visits with a small amount of health input. We are meeting mostly with women and their children who find themselves in very difficult situations and who are very needy; physically, emotionally and spiritually. We have three ladies who are attending our church currently and another two ladies who are not part of the church family. One lady has found herself in a rather difficult situation recently as her husband has been arrested and is likely to face a lenghty prison sentence if found guilty. She is a mother of seven children ranging from 1 year to 11 years of age. At the moment we are visiting her weekly in her home and just building up relationships with her and her lovely children. She has resorted to selling some of her beds for the metal found in the springs as well as rummaging through bins each day to collect cans which is then sold to feed the children. It is always very chaotic visiting there as the children are all trying to get attention from anyone who is willing to give it. When this lady is more relaxed she has the most amazing sense of humour.
Another lady, named Adelena, has recently joined our church and has been touched in such an amazing way by God. She is mother of a a little boy and her husband is also in jail. She has no support from her family at all as she will not divorce her husband so she struggles to sell second hand clothes to provide for her and her son. Her living conditions are appalling with no electricity or water supply to her home, she is affectively living in a condemned house as a squatter. The church has been able to provide her with a little gas camping stove so she can at least prepare her food without having to try and find wood for the woodburner. I am sure you can appreciate why one may not want to use a wood stove in the middle of summer when it is already 38 degrees outside and all you want to do is boil a little rice. Her life though has been changed through her new found faith and even though her circumstances have not changed she has a new hope and purpose in her life. We are really praying for a change in her husbands life. These are just two of the ladies we visit regularly and we are building other contacts slowly in the community.
We are trying to establish a feeding scheme through the church, encouraging members to bring a bag of rice or pasta, etc to the church as part of their giving, to help meet the needs of some church members and their families who find themselves in very difficult situations. We have managed to feed three families regularly and provide food for another four families once off. Adelena has benefited form food parcels herself and it has been a privelege to be able to bless her and the others in such a small way.
One of our big disappointments has been the failure to see the weekly women and children's group established as yet. It started at the beginning of the year and we saw some success. At one point we had 9-11 women coming regularly with many children. Due to a few circumstances the group has all but collapsed, one been the loss of our meeting point. It seems to be very difficult to gather women and if they are outside the church they are reluctant to meet at the church building. I now meet with 3 women regularly in a home with 1 or 2 women from the church occassionally. Due to the situation though in the home and the unsuitably of the house we can't meet as a big group there even though the lady who lives at that house is willing to open her home.
THE CHILDREN'S CAMP:
We felt lead to run a children's camp in the summer, even though the organisation who would normally run the summer camp would not be doing so this year. So in an amazingly short space of time we had organised the children's workers and extra helpers to run a three day holiday club including Pauline who came over from our UK church to help us. It was an amazing success, the first day we had 29 children, day two we had 35 and on the last day we had 44 children. The children had a lovely time and thoroughly enjoyed the arts and crafts. We were also able to feed the children each day with a sandwich and some fruit. We did work slightly backwards as we had roughly planned a Christmas camp but then did feel really prompted to run something in the summer. We as a church have decided to start running a weekly club. In our minds we had thought October after our UK break but the children's workers have decided to start this coming Sunday and the response from the children last night when the club was announced was encouraging. We had the lessons planned already by children's workers. The crafts are taking shape we just need to get a running programme and open the church doors and pray the children come. We have some ideas of events to invite their parents to later in the year... We feel the children will be like a bridge into a community!
THE YOUTH CAMP:
This has to have been one of the biggest challenges for us this year for a number of reasons which I won't elaborate on. We had the task of administrating the youth camp this year for 6 churches and a total of 150 youth. It proved a large challenge as organisation and albanians don't seem to go hand in hand. We got all the campers into beds including the extras and this was done by about 2pm; which according to Edi was an improvement on last year. We have learnt some important lessons and have some ideas for next year to help for a smoother running camp.
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
Some of the other things we are currently busy with is restructuring the welcome team at the church, hopefully it will improve the running of the team.
We are also continuing with english classes; which many people are enjoying. We are now running two classes at the moment on Wednesday evenings.
WAYS TO SUPPORT US:
I am currently trying to collect a variety of craft materials for the children's work, anything! Glitter glue, glue, ribbon, paper, card etc. If you are clearing out old children's craft boxes and are looking to throw things away please hang onto them. Let me know via e-mail and can then make a plan to collect them personally or alternatively pass things onto the lovely Val at Worthing hospital or Pauline at church. If you would prefer to make a small donation towards any materials or to assist with the church's small feeding scheme that will also be welcome.
Keep messages coming through on e-mail or via facebook, they are always welcome and appreciated.
Please keep praying for us as a family, especially the children as it can be hard for them at times and Josh has been unwell a lot recently.
Hope to see some of you very soon!
The Corins in Albania
15th June 2011
We were truly blessed to have the Haggar's here a couple of weeks ago. Thank you for all your encouragement and upliftment!
The past year has just flown by and at times admittedly has been tough, but we give God all the glory at His sustaining power and we are so thankful for a caring, praying and supportive church in Jubilee.....THANK YOOOOOOUUUU!! The contact and messages are well received and appreciated.
We are seeing God's hand in the church here and we thank him for the progress we are making in moulding the intercession team and welcome team especially. We have seen some people really grasping and appreciating the importance of prayer and their associated responsibilties with being part of a group. We continue to prayer for a greater understanding of God's grace and love to be displayed and learnt.
We have seen success in our conversational English classes and praise God have the chance of two more classes starting today- we pray that His hand will touch some people's lives as they partake in this.
Our pastoral visits and health care visits continue with varying degrees of success as one can appreciate with the traditions and culture so so bind many people's here, but we praise God for the lives we are able to touch and transform. We are particularly seeing success in the homes of the widows and their children.
We pray that God will continue to use us as an example family who display His presence and light. Joanne and the kids are doing well and the home schooling has been brilliant......tough at times with moods etc., but a good tool.
Yes, Rodney I have taken up your challenge......I am preaching in the church on the 26th for the first time ever! I would appreciate prayer against my nerves getting the better of me. Thank all and may God bless you all."
Clinton
CLINTON AND JOANNE CORIN IN ALBANIA 2011
" We were able to bless six families over the New Year with food parcels through the church in the community. We hope to do it again at Easter.
We have several opportunities to enter homes now and advise on health issues, also administer basic monitoring for diabetics and hypertensives.
We have been able to pray and share from the Bible in many homes."
What we are involved with now:
I - Clinton - am building relationships with the men of the church at the workplace or over coffee, sharing from the Bible and praying together.
We are assisting Edi and Artina with the admin and welcome in the church, trying to build a team, and planning for the Youth Camp in July.
Once a month we will be going to the church plant in Ohrid to support the work there and pray for a permanent missionary there.
We are teaching conversational English to people in the church to improve their language skills (at the same time as we are learning more Albanian!!!)
There will be a mother and toddler group starting soon.
There is a new home group in the home of Bledi; his family are still muslim. Praise God for this open door!
What we need:
We are looking for some way to help people directly in Kishe Uji i Galle with being able to attend training courses, but this is financially difficult for them. If you feel you could help in a small way (£10 can mean that a couple could attend a leadership training programme over 2 days.
We also need help for providing dental care to prevent serious health implications in life.
Emergency food for people in crisis; looking for ideas and ways to develop this in Albania.
Prayer needs:
Please pray for Clinton and Joanne to be able to encourage people in the church to begin to take responsibilities, and to grow in confidence, wisdom for them to lead well in grace in the areas they are helping and for more people to come to know Jesus through their involvement in the community in Korce.
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