July 14, 1999 On the road to Kosovo
In a phone call last night Randy Richards and David Goolsby informed me that today they begin the long drive into Kosovo for a four-day survey trip. They have names and addresses of former Kosovar refugees who have returned home that they will visit. The object of the trip is to deliver relief supplies and to determine what we need to do to help the Kosovars live through the winter as they begin to rebuild their homes. Please pray for the safety and work of these good brothers.
Don Yelton
Things are beginning to calm down now as many of the refugees return to their homes with great joy. Hugs, kisses, and addresses are shared as the Kosovars invite us to visit them in Kosova. We send them off with a box of food and extra supplies to help them as they travel home. The number has now dwindled down to 30 to 50 families that we are feeding daily. We plan to continue to feed as long as necessary. Some of the refugees say they have no plans of returning home because they have nothing to which they can return.
The Richards returned home from Germany on Saturday with a 1995 Mercedes B100, nine-seat van for $10,000. It only has 45,000 kilometers and is in very good condition. They paid dearly at the Albanian customs in spite of them trying to negotiate a better deal and sitting in Durres for 8 hours. Anyway, we are now thankful that God has provided a van allowing us to drive in and out of the country. You may notice that the Operational Costs have gone up a bit in the past week and this is due to the van purchase.
We would like to give a special thanks to the Stuttgart congregation for all the help they gave the Richards while they were there buying the van. They stayed in the bedroom of the church building and the kitchen was stocked with food. Lane Lawrence had already scouted out several of the dealerships and Laurie spent a couple of days driving them all over town. They are a super congregation and truly shared the love of Christ by what they did.
So far this week we have been trying to get the vehicle registered and insured because on Wednesday we will make our first trip into Kosova to evaluate the situation! David Goolsby of Healing Hands International has been in Tirana since last Saturday and we (David, Artan, Artan, and Randy) will travel there together. We plan to be back on Saturday. We are packing as if we were going camping (sleeping bags and our own food) since we don't know what kind of situation we will find in Kosova. We will go to Prizren, Pristina, and Gjakova because many of the people we helped live in these areas. Please pray for our safety on this trip and that it will be a fruitful one. We look forward to the day the church is planted in Kosova!
For the Church of Christ in Tirana,
The Refugee Crisis Committee
Artan, Tom, Artan, and Randy