Last week, I wrote about my fears and concerns about starting MOPS Albania. If you didn’t get the chance to read it, check it out here. This week I want to tell you about what happened.
Thrilled to see MOPS Started
I met Nikki Doci on one of our kids’ first days at their new school. She threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug. She welcomed me. Then, almost in the same breath proclaimed, “I’ve been praying for MOPS to start in Albania for many years.”
I listened as she continued.
“I thought I or someone on our staff might do it. But you are the one.” She told me about her confidence in me being from Albania and having experience with MOPS in the US.
Nikki, from Fargo, North Dakota, came to Albania in the early 1990s and met her husband, Ylli. Together, they served students for many years. Before we returned to Albania, we wrote to anyone we could think of about MOPS. Actually, Josh had written them. I call him my prince charming! He calls himself my personal assistant, chauffeur, or agent. 😉
“We would be thrilled to see MOPS started.”
Guess who one of the two responses was from? Nikki! She wrote, “We would be thrilled to see MOPS started and flourishing in Albania.”
With all the changes involved in an international move—including trying to avoid getting into fights with shopkeepers—and getting the kids started with school, I had forgotten about Nikki’s email. After meeting at the school entrance that day, we jumped right and got to work.
MOPS Albania is Born!
I had one person at my side from the beginning—my cousin Blerta.
Blerta had yet to go to America at that time.
She had never attended a MOPS meeting.
She needed to start out with the vision I had.
BUT Blerta was willing to jump in and serve. Without Blerta, I felt like a woman with a story and a vision. With Blerta, I was like a woman with a vision AND a wedding agency behind her! In the early days, Blerta prepared the venue, the food, the games, and the crafts. “Maybe your problem isn’t a problem, writes Mandy Arioto, “Maybe it’s an opportunity to have more fun.” That was Blerta!
Finally, the day of the first MOPS meeting arrived.
About twenty women were gathered together. Nikki had arranged for most of them to be there, and a few women from our church had come too. As we walked in and introduced ourselves to one another, there was an expectation, a curiosity, a buzz that filled the air. “What is this new ministry MOPS?”
I stood up at the front.
And I told my story.
I told about growing up in Albania just like each of the women.
We all had some shared experiences:
- Buying food with ration cards
- Waiting in long lines for bread and other food, sometimes for hours
- Marking our place in line with a rock when we had to leave
- And then come back to see where we were compared to the other stones others had left!
We had experienced the end of the communist regime and the chaotic transition to democracy. Well, most of us. A few of the moms were too young to remember that transition.
We had many shared experiences, but we were also each unique. None of these women had grown up in my family with my mom and dad. Some of them grew up with more affirmation. Sadly some with more abuse. We each had unique stories of the pain and challenges and how God had shown up.
“Heather told me words I’ll never forget, ‘Dear, I’m only a phone call away.'”
I told them my story.
Remember a few weeks ago when I told the story of the day Heather came to my rescue? That was the day Ben had been rushed to the hospital for a severe allergic reaction to peanuts. I was terrified and felt guilty that it happened while I was with Ben. Heather brought me flowers, Ben’s diapers, and everything I needed. When she left my home that day, Heather reassured me with words I’ll never forget, “Dear, I’m only a phone call away.”
As I told this story at that first MOPS meeting, I saw tears coming down the cheeks of a woman who looked about my age. Her name was Valmira, and she later told me, “I was so touched by Heather’s kindness to you.”
More than just a Meeting
As I left that day, I knew that something extraordinary happened–the type of thing that only God can do. I told my story, and Valmira was touched. I didn’t know that in the future, Valmira would start a group in a small town and then another group for moms of kids with special needs. Life after life would be touched.
It was more than just a meeting.
Something powerful happened.