Lorraine writes- hearing sad news any time of the year of about friends and loved ones is hard, but it always seems harder when it around Christmas time!! Our thoughts and prayers go out to Craig & Karena MacKay and family at this time. We received word and have read Craig's blog regarding his beloved wife, Karena. She is in the last stages of cancer and we want to extend our love and prayers to them........Karena is an inspirational women of God, and has impacted many people, me being one of them. All our love to you Karena xx

Lorraine writes- the children in the day care are getting so excited about Christmas...WHY.... because Humedica give them every year a wonderful shoebox full of gifts!! As soon as the staff put the tree, decorations and lights up they all started singin 'Happy New Year'. This beautiful picture is of one of our children comforting her sister who is too young to attend day care, but often trys to creep in and join us!! The children love being in the day care and get so much out of attending....its a joy to see their happy smiles!!

Chris on location in one of the mountain villages whilst holding a medical clinic for Humedica. A doctor from Germany came to run the clinics for two weeks at the beginning of November. Nine villages where visited and over 400 patients were seen.

Chris writes: well we are now in December, Advent and thoughts naturally go to Christmas and friends and family. For us of course it is a little different so I guess only natural that feelings of homesickness creep in. How I would just love to be able to walk along the coast by the sea, or go bike riding or worship and listen in church in the English langauge...but those are some of the things we have given up by our choice to live in Kosova. We have now been here over a year and so maybe the romance and glitz...if there ever was any of being a missionary....is starting to wear off and I am starting to miss some of those simple things I used to take for granted! Today was difficult in our Albanian speaking church with little translation - Lorraine was away and I was not expecting translation just for me the only English speaker there! It really feels like we are at a crossroads - will we decide to carry on with our adventure here in Kosova or return to UK?? It feels that there is much for us to do here and our long-term future could be here but at what cost? Some days the cost seems minimal and other days it seems very high. Please do pray that we will make the right decision and stay in God's will. Thanks for reading and praying for us and standing with us in our adventure. Zoti Bekoft!!

Chris writes: well life is at last starting to settle down as winter sets in, the last of the doctors have gone home and all has been packed and stored away ready for next year. Things are going well with the jobs which had been piling up for me while I was out with the doctor and my to-do list is now quite a bit shorter than my arm!! Our second power cut (and third long one!) due to non payment by our neighbours last week did not help life here but fortunately only for 48 hours this time but thankfully the power and our sanity was restored as abruptly as it was cut off! The regular cold and dank mist in the morning and glorious sunny afternoon is becoming a pattern for the weather as we watch with concern the flooding back home in the UK. Life seems a little slower now and less frantic but that may not last long as we have the arrival of the Christmas packages just around the corner and then our second Christmas as missionaries serving in Kosova to look forward to. We are now starting to come to grips with some aspects of life here and starting to know what to expect which is good. Our learning of the language is growing but never as fast as we would like. As a couple we are trying to work together better and understand each other better..but still somedays are harder than others. The support, love and prayers from our friends and family is being felt by us both. We are also thinking and talking a lot about our future and hope to share this with you at sometime. Well lunch is calling so I'd best sign off and say thank you so much for reading and following our adventure here in Kosova. Much love

Chris writes: well it is hard to believe that we have been here in Kosova for a whole year tomorrow!! Our first birthday! At the moment life is sooo.....busy as we are in the middle of our doctor visit and my job is driving him out into the villages. In addition my job in the clinic has changed...i am not just registering the patients....but now i am sorting out the drugs - giving out the medicines as prescribed by the doctor!! It does mean i am much more involved in the clinics and much busier and all round better experience which i am enjoying. Naturally while i am doing the clinics all my jobs back in Krushe are piling up but that is ok and just means i will be busy for a few weeks to come! We are doing ok as a couple and our future here seems to be getting clearer but we were rocked by the news that two good friends of ours working out here could be returning home at anytime...this made me feel quite homesick and a reminder of the frailty of our existence out here. Please do pray for us especially during this busy time that we will be able to keep healthy and strong and we will not be affected by the attacks of the enemy. Zoti Bekoft and thanks for reading....we love you guys :)

Chris writes: we have now been back in Kosova around seven weeks and our summer in the UK seems along time ago. It has been very busy since we returned with the organising and preperation for the visit of our doctor and nurse from Germany who were with us for two weeks. This basically involves around four weeks of work in total...one week preparing two weeks actually taking them out and running the clinics in the villages and then one week clearing up and trying to get back to normal. In addition there is still the jobs and routine maintainence to catch up with when time allows! We are both still growing and learning..with the language..with working together in ministry and also the (possibly) temporary addition of a puppy! Sadly some Kosovars do not treat dogs very well and there are many strays wandering around or dead by the side of the road. Our desire is to be a witness in all things and should no less involve treating animals with respect. The puppy adopted us and we felt we needed to be a witness and so are trying to give him a good start in life. Have taken him to the vet and are currently looking for an alternative home for him. There are some reasons why we should not keep him and are praying for wisdom over this. Having him has brought up issues for us both which only further complicates life here but God knows and we are in His hands! We are also now in our second term here and are praying and fasting over our future...our desire is that our will is His will and His will is our will. Please do join us in this prayer and share any words you have with us. Thanks for standing with us in our adventures here...lol and Zoti Bekoft...(God Bless)