Congratulations to 1st Gjakova Company on their 4th Anniversary!! Keep up the good work!
If you want to help support the new GB companies in Kosova then why not try donating through our International Project, Gifts with a Difference (there is a link on the right hand side of the page ———->)
Two weeks ago, Girls’ Brigade in Kosova celebrated its first birthday! And what a year it has been. The company attracts a large number of girls each week who come to hear more about God. Captain Emily Morina tells us more about the girls who attend GB Kosova and how they coped with a power cut on their first night…
We decided to start our GB in January 2009 in one of the meeting rooms at the church. The first meeting we had went really well and we had eight girls all keen and eager to see what was going on. We had a very unique first night as the power went out, still quite common here, so we held the second half of the meeting by candlelight! Each week after that the number of girls rose, until we settled at 10 to 15 girls most weeks. For a long time I was apprehensive at the thought of parents coming to the church to complain or take their girls away, but as yet we have no such problem. We are really thankful to God for this as we see how much the girls value this special time just for them.
Some of the members of GB Kosova
We had our first summer holiday club for a week in July last year and we were joined by the GB FIZZ team from the UK. This was a great week and all the girls really enjoyed the activities prepared by the team and the chance to do many different things with them. We had such a blessed time and we are so thankful to the FIZZ team for giving up part of their summer holiday to help us. After the summer for some weeks we were reaching 35 girls at GB which was quite a tight squeeze for us all to fit in the room, but great to see so many new faces.
Emily and some of the uniform that was donated by companies in GB Europe.
We have been very blessed as companies in the UK have donated uniform to our company here and that has been a real encouragement to me and the girls. They love feeling part of the group and as they don’t wear uniform in the schools here, it is something very special for them. We have also received many different items for craft work which has been a great help as there isn’t a lot here.
As I am still learning the language, it is necessary for us to work with translators when we meet and the girls who were able to help us at the beginning of the year are now heavily involved in their final year studies. So our biggest need at the moment, and what we are praying for, is a female translator. We are using some of the girls who have learnt a little English at school but we really need someone more fluent and with a heart for the girls. We would appreciate your prayers.
We can’t believe we have celebrated our first year anniversary already and there’s no better way to celebrate than by starting another GB in a village nearby. We are praying for this and are eagerly waiting to start! It’s been a fantastic year and the girls and I have really enjoyed all the elements of Girls’ Brigade. It has been a real blessing for our church here too, to see more girls coming and learning about the Lord. Praise God!
Please remember us and keep praying for us too!
Blessings, Emily x
Do you fancy meeting the girls in GB Kosova?
YES? The FIZZ team dates for 2010 have now been released! If you would like to get your hands on an application form and more information:
Want to get a taster of SMILE International’s work in Kosova? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQCzNYIaciI
Want to see what accommodation at the SMILE centre is like? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GXrAp9gzU&feature=related
Please leave your birthday wishes for Emily and the GB girls by posting a comment to this blog.
Last week, Girls’ Brigade in Kosova celebrated its first birthday! And what a year it has been. The company attracts a large number of girls each week who come to hear more about God. But who is Captain Emily Morina and what made her decide to start a GB company? Let’s ask the woman herself…
I have been coming out to Kosova since 1999 when we as a family felt called by God to deliver aid to the refugees in the refugee camps. This really touched all of us and led to my parents setting up the charity Smile International in 2000. Since then I have travelled to over 40 countries helping in all the aspects of the work of Smile International. Every year I would visit Kosova and I just loved it. It was my favourite country. In my final year of university studying Screen Production (documentary filmmaking), I decided to make a documentary about the widows left in Kosova today and their personal stories and experiences of the war here. While here I began spending more time with Astrit a local pastor of one of the churches here in Gjakova, where Smile is based, and just over a year ago we got married. We now live here in Kosova pastoring the church, working for Smile and trying to work on all the things God wants us to do here in Kosova.
My Dad asked me one day, before I moved over here, what I would like to do and I felt in my heart that I would really want to reach out to the girls in Kosova and have some form of ministry for them. He then proposed that I think about starting up Girls’ Brigade at the church. I have to be honest and say that I had absolutely no real idea about Girls’ Brigade, having not gone through it myself. That was my biggest concern at first but it felt so right as it was similar to what I had in my heart, a Christian group for girls. I thought and prayed about it for a while and then my Dad made contact with Ruth Gilson (Director of GB England and Wales) to see how she felt about the idea. A few weeks later we all had a meeting together to talk things through and discuss the next steps and we were all so happy for it to go ahead.
I received training from a great friend of ours and Smile’s, Diana Seeney, who has been to Kosova many times before and who was heavily involved in the work of GB for many years in the UK.
We decided to start our GB in January 2009 in one of the meeting rooms at the church and after advertising that a new group just for girls was starting up I waited to see if anyone would turn up. I was very anxious as to how it would be received as Kosova is predominantly Muslim and a Christian group for girls is not something that I thought would be very popular. I was wrong, praise the Lord! The first meeting we had went really well and we had eight girls all keen and eager to see what was going on…
Check the blog next Monday to find out about a typical night at a Kosovar GB and how the girls coped with a power cut on their first GB night!
Do you fancy meeting the girls in GB Kosova?
YES? The FIZZ team dates for 2010 have now been released! If you would like to get your hands on an application form and more information:
Want to get a taster of SMILE International’s work in Kosova? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQCzNYIaciI
Want to see what accommodation at the SMILE centre is like? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GXrAp9gzU&feature=related
In preparation for this trip, I attended the GB Europe conference and briefing, which was held in Glasgow during a weekend in June 2009. This weekend prepared fellow team members and myself for leading the GB Holiday Bible Club and distributing family aid that we would carry out whilst on mission in the city of Gjakove, Kosova.
We were accommodated at the Smile Centre in Gjakove, which is used mainly as a Christian conference centre. From this centre we travelled each morning to Eternity Church, where the GB girls who attended the club greeted us eagerly with a kiss on each cheek and a pleasant handshake. Each morning session began with worship, followed by a bible story, shared by on
e of the team members. The afternoon sessions involved crafts and games that were topical to the bible story of that day. We celebrated the end of a most enjoyable week by treating the girls to an ice cream sundae at a local Kosovan café! The young girls were so appreciative and eager to learn about the Gospel message we shared with them, and also about my life in Northern Ireland!
During this mission, I also had the privilege of being welcomed into the homes of some war victims. Although these homes were basic and deprived, the welcome and hospitality our team of 13 young ladies received was most welcoming and loving. Although these people have very little, they were extremely generous to share what little they had with us. I found this experience most humbling and truly amazing!
My trip to Kosova was very rewarding and worthwhile, developing a passion within me for the people of this war torn country. It was very exciting to be involved with the first ever Girls’ Brigade Company in Kosova/Balkans!!! It is my desire to create a strong link between Girls’ Brigade Kosova and Girls’ Brigade Norther
n Ireland. I hope to return and visit my new friends in the near future.
It was an amazing experience, and I would encourage anyone interested to get involved – prayerfully, financially…. or experience Kosovar life hands on!
Lauren Mulholland
(St. Pauls’ , 160th Northern Ireland.)
Want to get a taster of SMILE International’s work in Kosova? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQCzNYIaciI
Want to see what accommodation at the SMILE centre is like? Check out this video – www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GXrAp9gzU&feature=related
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