Chris writes: The busy busy fortnight has come to an end and with some sadness took our Doctor and new friend to the airport this morning and put him on the first flight out. Has been a challenging but interesting fortnight and now is the time to reflect. we saw over 450 patients during the period - people who would otherwise have had great difficulty or never actually made a trip to the doctor. Many of the problems are common, many where pretty mundane but all of them important to the individual. The two weeks has stretched us as a couple and there are some lessons we can learn. But through it all relationships are so important to the Kosovar people and it has been a priveldge to get to know and build friendships with them.
We have almost made our plans for our trip to the UK in the summer and hope to be able to see and share more with as many of you as possible - please contact us if you have not been in touch recently so we can arrange this. Thanks for your prayers and for sharing our adventure with us - Zoti Bekoft!

Lorraine writes- Have you every seen or heard about an old TV show called 'The GoodLife'?? it stared Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal. This couple left the employment rat race and became self sufficient; growing their own food, making their own clothes, things they needed; trading homegrown goods for milk and other things they couldn't make. Well its safe to say that I feel a little like our life has become like that!!! The art of cooking was not my strong point, but I have learnt so much since I've been here. We have now even turned our hand to growing. We have planted lettuces, peppers, strawberries, melons and tomatoes. Trying to make my own rather than buying food has become the favoured choice. I have been fortunate too, to be have been given a sewing machine with the intention of making items we need like clothes or things for the house. Having bought some lovely fabric, I have successfully made 5 cushion covers!! may be simple and not much to shout about, but for someone who has never sewn before a good start!! Many things in our life have changed; somethings have taken a while to adjust to, somethings we embraced straight away and some things are ongoing challenges. Its such great character building thought; my beautiful Mum (who sadly is no longer with us) always said how important it was to allow God to change and mould us; to see every challenge as an opportunity to grow. I know I want to better myself; to learn new skills, and being in Kosova is definiatly helping with that!! We really value our family and friends; messages sent from individuals are a real blessing; and we especially value prayers!! Newsletter due to be sent out soon!! Keep reading :-) x

Chris writes: just a few days into the busy fortnight! When we were back in UK we never would have realised just how busy these times get! Going reasonably well with a few slip-ups - well at least the vehicle is legal now! Great building the relationships with people in the villages and hope to be able to build on these in the future. Still struggling with some of the same problems and some new ones mainly generated by our busyness would appreciate prayers for improved communications! Thanks for reading and be blessed x

Chris writes - has been a busy few weeks but really enjoyed having my parents over with us. Think they really enjoyed their time here and were pleasantly surprised - as it was not what they expected! We visited some of the neighbouring countries and also went to a wedding and were invited out by one of the families in the village for a traditional meal. It was amazing how much we managed to pack in but as usual we ran out of time and did not get it all in. It was encouraging though as everyone told us that we would suddenly be aware how much we have learnt since we came here just over six months ago and also how much we have changed and how accepting we have become to the driving and lack of electricity and so on. Well we are now preparing for a busy few weeks with a medical fortnight and a mission team here for a month. We will then be flying home around mid July for six weeks in the UK so the next few months already look busy! Things are going well generally and getting better at working together as a team, language is growing but very slowly - still practice helps to get better!! Thanks for reading and Zoti ju Bekofte!!

Lorraine writes- seeing the sun set over the day care fills my heart with hope for this village. After a week of emotions running high, and low for the villagers, we long to see them feeling this hope too. It was very humbling for us to see and be there for the 10th anniversary of the killings. To see and hear the tears flowing just made our hearts melt. To see one of our staff members grieving over the body of her brother just returned 10 years on, that was being buried on the anniversary, makes you wonder what is happening in this world we live in. Praying for the people and this land seems all we can do, but boy what an amazing and great opportunuity, we need to do that!!!

Chris writes - Friday and the end of a rollercoaster week of emotions. The daycare has been closed all week for the school holidays so we took the opportunity to get away for a few days and went to Peje which is north from where we are. Had a good time relaxing and reading and practicing our langauge - which is coming along very well - what an answer to prayer! We visited a Serbian historic Church in Peje which is, after ten years, still guarded by NATO. We even had to hand our passports in to visit the place. It made me wonder for how much longer they would be guarding it. One of the locals i spoke to said NATO should leave and just 'let us get on with our lives now'. Sadly it seems that emotions are still strong however. We returned home on Wedneday. The medical team are not coming at the weekend so the pressure for us is off now. Yesterday it was the 10th Anniversary of the massacre in Krushe and our friend and staff members' brother who was killed in the war was buried in the village. After 10 long years the family have only now got an opportunity to see him at rest. The amazing thing is that they are actually the lucky ones. Their pain and grief is only eclipsed by the other families in the village for whom the bodies are still missing. There are 26 people buried in the graveyard but there are still a staggering 90 people still missing. These families cannot move on - everyday living with the hope that their loved one could walk through the door at any moment. It is so easy at times like this to become very anti-Serbian and want to see revenge and justice for these families - our friends and neighbours. Please do pray for us for grace and wisdom in abundance! On more mundane matters - today we have been in Prishtine trying to sort out the path for the medicines to come in. What in UK could be done over the phone or by post has to be done here in person. In addition we have now booked our flight back to the UK in July (we hope to see some of you!!) and our flight back here in August! It seems that 'Kosova is in our hearts' and will continue to play a large part in our lives for the forseeable future! Thanks for reading. Zoti ju Bekofte!!

Chris writes: today I am glad to say is Friday and the end of a busy week! We are looking forward to a weekend relaxing. We have one more week before we get a week off and then the fun starts! Medical teams and my parents staying with us will keep us busy almost until May. The last few weeks have been good - preparing for Dave & Cindy to return from USA - which they did this week. It is good to have them back and hand back the 'mantle' and start preparing for the summer here in Krushe. We are also talking about our return to Krushe which we both feel is right to do. In the midst of us talking about our life and the next few months, our future and our vision for our time here - the pain of the people in the village is still as raw as ever. This week one of the staff very couragously shared with us that the body of her brother would be returning to the village to be buried in two weeks time. She has wrestled with this for sometime and also with oppostion from others in her family as her brother is the only body which will be returning and whether it is right just for one person. Her pain of not being able to see her brother at rest and of trying to think of the feelings of other people in the village must be quite intense. This is our priveldge to be able to support her through these days. This morning we found out that there was a meeting in the village yesterday to discuss bring charges against the people who rioted in the village in 2006 when the UN brought some Serbian people through the village. At times like these it is easy to flare up and protest for justice and mercy. Please pray that we will have wisdom in doing what Jesus would have done. Thanks for reading.