Hello friends and family! God has been keeping us very busy! There are many new things happening that we would like to share with you!
As some of you may know, we recently opened a second church location in Gjakova. We call it “The Family Life Center”. This is a new adventure for us, and God has been showing us His great plans for this new location. Little by little we have been preparing this building for a training center for the Roma community where it is situated. From this location we believe God is leading us to train up families in kingdom living, hold practical life lessons for church members who are poor and under educated, and open a food distribution center. This building will also be a guest house for mission teams, a second children’s ministry location, cell groups, teen outreach, and soon a meeting place for weekly Church services.
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| Family Life Center |
When we first came to this building, it was a mess. The floors are unfinished concrete. The rooms were empty except for a few old boxes, a lot of dirt, and some not-so-friendly looking spiders that had moved in and taken up residence. Some of the windows and glass doors were broken and in need of repair. Much work was needed.
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| Main room for Ministry |
We are very excited about this vision God has given us and, we are working hard to get the ball rolling. Through your contributions we have been able to purchase enough carpet for one of the small rooms we are turning into a kitchen. This room is designed for fellowship, food distribution, and small, informal group meetings. We are slowly adding to the amount of furnishings in an attempt to make this Family Center more functional. We do still need blessings and contributions to pay for more furnishings. We have been blessed with the opportunity to purchase many needed items for a very low price. Please be in prayer for guidance in how you may help support this vision.
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| Training for Worship! |
In October we opened this new location with a second children’s ministry program. Since then, the number of children attending Saturday morning kids group has grown to well over 50 children between the two locations, and we expect this number to continue to grow! Each week, in addition to the large number of children ages 5 to 13, we see several teenagers who are milling about outside the gates, curious as to what their little brothers and sisters were doing. We see this as an open door for a youth ministry in the near future. Please be in prayer for God’s guidance in this area, as we are stretched for workers and funds.
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| Teaching Time! |
Your contributions have helped support the children’s ministry through games, prizes, sharing the Word of God and the love of Jesus enabling us to touch many under privileged children. It is such a blessing to our hearts to see their smiling faces and receive their hugs and kisses every time we see them; even when we see them walking around town! God’s work through us has made a visible impact on their lives!
Annual Women’s Day Outreach!!
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| Preparing for the Women's Day! |
Every year, Kathi puts together a special day for the women in the church, and as an outreach to their neighbors. Women are much under-appreciated in this culture, and a day especially for them is a very special event. On the last Saturday of November, and again on the first Saturday in December, we will be hosting our 3rd annual Women’s Day outreach. These are the kinds of events we plan to host in the new Family Life Center.
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| Queen for a day, dancing to the beat of the traditional tambourine! |
The annual Women’s Days include a crafts project, food, games, prizes, and a time of friendship and encouraging, usually hosting 30+ women at one time. This is a great blessing to the women. We put together gift packs, from donated items, for each woman to take home, with some basic necessities such as soap and shampoo, as well as some small gifts they may not otherwise get due to lack of income.
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| Craft time! |
We are very excited about these special days, and ask that you be praying for wisdom and direction how to best minister to these women.
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| Women from different subcultures working together! |
We want to thank you all for your continued support through prayers and finances! We know God has big plans for us in this place, and we look forward to what He will do next!
God Bless,
Al and Kathi Zickefoose
If you would like to support the work God is doing through Al and Kathi in Kosova, or if you are not yet on the newsletter mailing list and would like to be, please send your contact information to zotijubekoft@yahoo.com for more information. Please send tax deductible contributions payable to:
Heartland Christian Center, 1741 Oakhill Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691 and write Kosova-Z on the memo line.
