This week has been both a busy week but also kind of a slow week. The days seem to go by so slowly, but in the blink of an eye the week is over. Time is weird over here in Albania. We had some really cool mentors visit us this past week, Grace and Louis. I got to spend a good amount of time with them, whether it be through Louis joining us on our ministry day, or just hanging out and talking in the kitchen for hours while I was baking.

It was so encouraging seeing how these mentors really just loved Jesus. They loved Him with their whole hearts and it geniunly showed in their lives and the way that they talked and interacted with us. Every conversation that I had with them left me excited and filled up with joy and hope as they talked so much about loving Jesus and living life for Him. You could see that even through their hardships, God was always guiding them and giving them exactly what they needed. It was just so encouraging, and hopefully we'll get to see them again in Mexico!

Now God is teaching me some stuff recently, so I'll give you guys a little look into my life lately.

I'm learning to listen to even the smallest prompts from the Holy Spirit, it's it's been reminding me that His way is so much better than my own. Like I decided to head downstairs the other afternoon after hanging out in my room for a little. When I got downstairs I felt like I needed to pick up my guitar and play it so I headed outside to do just that. As I stepped outside some boys yelled over the wall and asked if they could come and play, so I said sure why not? They came and immediately wanted to play my guitar so after a little hesitation, I again said sure why not? We went on to talk a for a little as each of the boys took turns strumming on the guitar and showing me the one chord they knew. But then that led to me just being able to love on them, and if I hadn't listened to the Holy Spirit to pick up my guitar, then I wouldn't have had that cool interaction and the boys probably would've gone back home bored since no one else was outside to play. Now I know that's just a simple thing, but I think it points to the importance of taking time to walk in step with the Holy Spirit like it says in Galatians 5:25. Because the more I am in tune with Him, the more I can be involved with what He is doing and I can begin to further the kingdom of God. So it's been a lot of little lessons like that for me this week.

From learning to say yes to what God is doing, I also had the opportunity to do a bible study in a field with some of my squadmates on Sunday during our sabbath. I decided to get up a little earlier than I would on a sleep in day like sunday, but that ended up being an awesome decision because after I had my quiet time and ate breakfast, Ethan had the idea to go on a walk and find a spot somewhere to do a bible study, and after a little debating it I decided to join him and a few others as we went on a little adventure. We found a spot in a field somewhere, the weather was perfect, sunny with a little breeze, and we were surrounded my the beautiful Albanian landscape with some cows mooing in a nearby field. We read Psalm 119 and we all just shared what the Lord was highlighting to us as we read. After that Macy and I led some worship with the guitar and it was all just so simple, but so refreshing and life bringing. Again if I wouldn't have said yes to the prompting God had been putting on my heart to go, I would've missed out on what He was doing. Now I don't want to take the what ifs too seriously because I know that no matter what, as long as I am following God everything will work out for His good. But I do think it's just a good reminder to listen and be obedient to what I feel He is calling me to.

We also had squad church last night which will be a weekly thing now. But it was sooo good. One of our leaders Amanda preached and she spoke on hungering and thirsting after righteousness like it talks about in Matthew 5:6. She asked us three questions, 1. What are you hungry for? 2. What do you crave? 3. What will you eat? Now along this theme of just aligning myself with all that God is doing, this was such a good message reminding me to fill myself up with God and to seek first His kingdom. I want to be able to live in the overflow of all that God is doing, to be so filled up with Him that joy and love just flow from my heart and my mouth. But by no means am I even close to that, so Amanda's message was a great reminder to keep going and keep focusing on hungering and thirsting for God alone.

Now it is coming up on the end of another week, which means we have only two more here in Albania. These next two weeks will be filled with mentor visits, last times at our ministries, worship nights, and taking some adventure/culture day trips. I am so excited to see all that the Lord continues to do in our short time left here and I'll keep you guys updated next week!

Also I am still fundraising for the second semester, so if you feel led to give and sow into all that God is doing here, here is the link!

https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/spring-2026-journey-school-chiapas-mexico-and-guatemala/participants/jayna-hakoun7