RV update - praise and prayer

It has been quite a journey, so to speak, with the RV situation. Thankfully, we are confident of God's sovereignty and provision in the situation.

Thank you to so many who have prayed and continued to ask and follow up with us regarding the RV and the results of the repairs. We have been blessed and encouraged by you all and the love you have shared with us during this minor bump in the road.

We are happy and thankful to say that the repairs are almost at an end. Kris was able to pick up the RV on Monday from the engine repair shop. It was a blessing that the engine issue was not as extensive as it could have been. They discovered that the govenor (?) needed to be changed as well as all the belts to the radiator/cooling system. After all was said and done (with a bit of haggling over an inflated statement of hours worked) the bill was a little over $3,000. This was much better than what we thought it might be if the engine had to be overhauled or something.

At this time, the RV is at the other RV shop (where the A/C was fixed and all other repairs done). They will replace the windshields and we should have the RV back by next week - just in time for our July 8th departure to Florida.

So, we are on track to finish our USA RV tour! We are looking forward to the trip...Well, I did have to convince the girls that it would be much more fun now that we would have A/C, we would be able to hear each other talk with the new windshield securely attached, and the engine all fixed so we could go faster than 55 miles an hour. Woohoo!! We are excited to spend time together in "The Beaver".

We are so very grateful to God for allowing us the privilege of trusting Him. It's funny that this all happened just a few days after we arrived back in the states. Having lived overseas, in Albania, where things just don't always go as planned (as a general rule of life you have to plan an extra half hour or more to accomplish things and you plan for the inevitable to occur - fluid flexibility is the rule of our lives), I was beginning to have an idealistic (idolistic?) view of how things go according to plan in the states. Whenever things would break down in Albania or it would take a reallllly long time for something to get fixed, I would think of how much easier it is in America to take care of things and how easily things go along. Well, God really wanted to show me that the issue was my heart. We had not been in the states but a week and God allowed all the RV problems, the uncertainties, the long wait and somewhat poor communication with RV places, and financial strains to keep me dependent on Him. He reminded me that no matter where I live, my heart that idolizes ease, security, order, control, and "my way", needs to be kept humble and dependent on Christ. God knows how to keep my heart in that state before Him and I am truly thankful for His mercy to me to show me these things.

Thank you for continuing to pray for our safety and sanctification along the way.

RV repair update - Prayer

PLEASE PRAY

In the days since we had the RV breakdown outside Ft. Stockton we have had the RV in for repairs here in Houston. We have just heard from the repair technician and wanted to pass on the information for you to be praying with us about the situation.

Initially, we thought that the issue was the radiator and the belts. As they were working on these problems they began to suspect that there was an issue with the engine itself (engine miss). However, this RV has a Caterpillar engine and it requires a special diagnostic tool to determine what the real issue is in the engine (that this RV repair place does not have). It may be that when the engine overheated it melted some of the gaskets or something like that. Anyhow, we will hear today or tomorrow where we need to take the RV for this diagnostic test for the engine. We are praying that the test will reveal that there is no problem with the engine.

If, in fact, there is a major engine problem we would need to re-evaluate our travel plans and furlough meetings in some states b/c we could not cover the cost of major RV repairs (we did have budgeted some funds for repairs but have almost spent that on tires and other small repairs). We would really covet your prayers that these repairs would not be too costly and that we would be able to have the RV fixed by July 7th so that we can head on to Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, and back to California.

We are not worried b/c we know that God is sovereign over all these details and has had our home assignment schedule planned out from the beginning of time. We just wanted to pass on this information b/c so many of you have asked us how you can be praying for us. We are so appreciative for the deep love and faithful prayers that you have poured out on us during our years in Albania and while we have been here these past 2 weeks. We are so blessed by you all - it humbles us greatly.

We will keep you updated on the situation. Thanks for the prayers.

Kris speaking in Albanian

Well, we are coming up on our 2 year anniversary of arriving in Albania. We are so thankful to God for these past months of language learning. We have been stretched and challenged in ways that we never imagined in this endeavor. It has been humbling, oh so very humbling, to stumble along and "butcher" this lovely language again and again.

June 14th was a historic day for Kris. He was asked to preach the Sunday message at a local church here in Tirana, and he did a portion of his introduction in Albanian! Even though this is just one small step for him, it is a huge encouragement to know that we are progressing in our language acquisition. God knew that we needed this milestone to encourage us to press on in this long and arduous process of learning the language of our new home country.

Enjoy listening to Kris as he begins his message speaking Albanian.


We appreciate your continued prayers for us to be diligent in studying and practicing Albanian. Even though we are done with our official language classes for the summer break we continue to work on maintaining and improving our vocabulary and grammar usage by meeting with our language coaches and visiting and having coffees with various neighbors and shop-keepers in our area. We are looking forward to having a bit more flexibility in our schedules over the summer to make impromptu visits for relationship building and language practice.

Pray for me, Chelle, as I have been interacting and having coffee with our local seamstress, named Reti. I told her and her two workers (Adi and Dita) that I am translating and working on my testimony (history of my life with God) and that when I am done I will share it with them. This is a very unique concept for them. They were quite interested in what I was talking about. My goal is to be able to communicate the gospel in the context of my life testimony by mid-July.

Praise the Lord that He gives us the ability to learn and use this language for HIS glory and the building of HIS kingdom.

Whitney's second surgical procedure in Greece - lessons in the fog

Precious friends and prayer warriors,

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Yesterday morning, as we drove out of Thessaloniki, Greece, we saw a spectacular sight. It was dawn, and the mountains surrounding the valley that Thessaloniki lies in were visible in the distance. The plane in front of us was lush green. In the distance the land was covered with a low-lying fog that ended as the purple mountains jutted out of the ground. The mountains were covered with sparkling white snow and behind these mountains God was painting a gorgeous sunrise with rich oranges and vibrant pinks. It was a breathtaking view! We all commented on how creative and magnificent God’s power is. Not long after that we drove into the mountain pass. Almost immediately we were surrounded by dense fog. We kept going on and on in this thick, cold murkiness. We began to discuss how easy it would be to think that the sun was not shining at all because the fog was so dark and we could hardly see the road in front of us. Every so often, the sun would penetrate the clouds allowing us a quick glimpse of the blue sky. We were thankful to know that the fog would end and that eventually we would come out on the other side of the mountain range to a sunny valley.

While we were in that fog, God reminded us of an important truth. These past months have been like that heavy, dark fog. There have been so many uncertain times and unknown endings. We have been moving forward in the vehicle of God’s protection, energized by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have not questioned that we were on the highway of His perfect will, but it didn’t change the fact that we could not see what was in front of us. It was even difficult at times to remember the majestic displays of God’s power that we have personally seen in our lives. Often we would find ourselves focusing on the dreary “sameness” of this small trial and our spirits would sag and match the grayness around us. But then God, in His lavish love, would break through that fog and pierces us with His Light at just the right time. It may just be for a short time and then we are back in the God ordained fog of a trial, but how merciful is that refreshing reminder that He is with us. His Light is still guiding us and He will bring us out of the darkness and into His glorious Light in His perfect timing. The profoundness of this visible lesson left us worshipping God, in tears.

This trip to Greece, for Whitney’s second surgical procedure on her right eye, has been like one of those breaks in the fog from God. We are overjoyed to be able to share with you what God has done! When we visited the doctor here in Tirana 2 ½ weeks ago the results of the visual acuity tests that he performed were not so encouraging. Although the hemorrhage was gone from her eye, Whitney’s vision was still at 20/200, the same as before the first procedure. We were told that Whitney’s vision might return to 20/50 where it was before the hemorrhaging began in early December. When we arrived at the ophthalmologist’s office in Greece on Monday, they performed this test again. How amazed and speechless we were when Whitney’s vision was confirmed at 20/30!!! This is the best vision she has had since the initial injury in August.

When the doctor performed the OCT scan of the retina, she said that Whitney’s results were very close to a normal, healthy scan. We sat there and looked at the healing power of God with tears in our eyes. Whitney’s retina and macula are still damaged and will always have residual problems (humanly speaking), but at this time she only has a slight myopia, or near-sightedness. And just to let Whitney know that He heard her prayer (she was the only one who prayed it), the doctor said that Whitney did not need that IV dye test this time. We all praised God right there in that office!

Whitney did have the second injection of Lucentis into her right eye on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, she also responded better to the anesthesia this time. We are praying that the combination of the three shots will continue to sustain the healing that God has brought about. We do not know how long these shots will maintain this level of eyesight, but we are thankful for the mighty work of God at this time in our lives.

Thank you for your faithful and fervent prayers for Whitney and for our family during these past months. He has answered your prayers in ways that are beyond all that we asked or imagined. We proclaim with David, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts,” (Psalm 145:3-4).

We are scheduled to return to Greece at the end of February for the last of this series of procedures. During the intervening weeks we will take Whitney for a follow-up visit to the eye doctor here in Tirana and continue to monitor her vision.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us. It has been a tremendous thing for us to see and experience God’s answers to all of our prayers. We are so grateful to God for each of you.

Bondservants of the King,
The Stire family

19th Update on Whitney - Greece #1

Whitney with her ophthalmologist, Dr. Brazitikos and his partner, Dr. Sophia. They were so kind to Whitney and she really felt comfortable with them.



Here is Whitney in her pre-op garb. They gave her some "yummy" syrup to make her sleepy before the procedure.



Our family had a special time of prayer for Whitney on the morning of her procedure. Whitney loves to spend time with Kris and his prayer for her was so touching and Christ-centered.



It was such a treat for us to take the girls to Applebees restaurant. We don't have any restaurants with that type of food and it was fun to hang out together.




Faithful prayer partners,


Greetings in the Lord from Tirana, Albania. We are back home from our trip to Thessaloniki, Greece for Whitney's eye procedure. We apologize that we didn't get this out sooner but due to Internet issues and Christmas, we were not able to send an update sooner.


The time that we spent in Thessaloniki for Whitney's medical care reminded us that God is sovereign over history and the intimate details of each of our lives. Watching the sun set over the same ocean that Paul stood by nearly 2,000 years ago inspired us to recall the Lord's tender care for His servants. We even saw some ancient archaeological arches; although the girls were much more interested in the "golden arches" of McDonald's.


On Monday, December 22, Whitney had her first appointment with Dr. Brazitikos, who is a professor of ophthalmology in Greece. He performed numerous tests and even did an IV angiogram of the vessels in her eye (he injected dye into her veins which then traveled to her eyes). We were then able to see very clearly the subretinal neovascular membrane that is affected by the hemorrhage in her eye. The doctor told us that he has high hopes that he will be able to treat her condition with good results because we caught the hemorrhaging in the early stages. We glorify God that He brought it to our attention when He did. The doctor's treatment plan is to inject a medicine for macular degeneration directly into the affected area of the eye for 3 months in a row. We will be driving to Greece again at the end of January and February for this surgical procedure. His hope is to avoid having to perform laser surgery which has the potential to cause more damage because of the close proximity of her injury to the vision center of her eye.


On Tuesday morning Whitney went to the one day surgical center for the first of these injections. The procedure took only a few minutes. However, we spent quite a few hours recovering in the hospital because Whitney did not respond well to the anesthesia she received. She was in quite a bit of pain and was disoriented. Thankfully the anesthesia was out of her system within a couple hours after she was discharged and she was feeling back to normal. Whitney's vision has not improved at this time, but we are praying that the combination of the three shots will reduce the hemorrhage and halt the degeneration of the affected area of her eye in order for her to recover some of the vision that she had two weeks ago. We will follow up with our ophthalmologist here in Tirana next week to monitor her intraocular pressure and to make sure there is not any infection.


Thank you all for your fervent prayers for our family as we travelled to and from Greece. God worked in a mighty way in answering our prayers at the border crossing back into Albania. We had been told that the line is sometimes 1-2 days long during this time of year! We were praying fervently and had a letter from Whitney's doctor that strongly suggested that Whitney be allowed to pass through the border quickly due to her medical issue. When we got to the border there were over 100 cars in line. After Kris spoke with three different Greek border agents, we were able to pass right to the front! We were in Albania in 45 minutes instead of the hours it would have taken. What a powerful God we serve. It was a tremendous opportunity for our girls to witness God's might, and to see first hand that He hears and answers our prayers.

We are so thankful for your continued prayer support. Here are some specific prayer requests regarding this situation.

* Pray that Whitney would not have any latent adverse reaction to the drug injected in her eye (like increased pressure in her eye or an infection).
* Pray that the hemorrhage and build-up of fluid in her eye would decrease, and that the medicine would have its intended results.
* Pray that the subsequent procedures in January and February would stop this degeneration of her macula so that she would not have to have the laser surgery.
* Pray that Whitney would regain some of her vision. Her far vision has not been greatly affected by this hemorrhage, but her near vision is severely reduced which affects her reading.
* Pray that we would have the opportunity to share the gospel with the Greek doctor and his staff since God has orchestrated that Whitney needs this continuation of care for at least the next 2 months.
* Pray that Whitney would not be afraid of or resist the next procedure due to the fact that this last one was rough on her and she remembers the post-op pain quite well.
* Continue to pray for Whitney's spiritual health and salvation.
* Pray that our insurance would cover all the doctor bills and hospital charges related to these procedures.


During our time in Greece, God used the situation to highlight His mercy to us and teach us some important lessons. Waiting rooms are interesting places. They strip away the veneer of our control and reveal our true heart and raw emotions. Hopelessness, fear, impatience, anxiety, relief, and joy are all displayed by those who find themselves in waiting rooms. Even with language barriers it's obvious to see the feelings that are common to human kind. While we were in the surgical waiting room as Whitney had her procedure we heard over the hospital sound system the familiar Christmas song proclaim, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room." Looking around at the peoples faces in the waiting room we could see every emotion but joy. At that moment thanksgiving and joy flooded our hearts in light of the reality that Christ had been born for US. He redeemed US through His death and resurrection. The peace that we were experiencing, sitting in the same waiting room with all of these other people, was only possible through Christ. In that waiting room, John 14:27 and 15:11 brought great comfort. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Our hearts were broken for all those "sitting in the darkness and the shadow of death" upon whom the Light of the "Sunrise from on high" has not yet brought peace and salvation (Luke 1:78-79). How undeserving we are to have the right to be called children of the King and co-heirs with the Light of the world (John 1:12), but we praise Him for His sustaining grace that brings us such joy and hope.


Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our family as we have the privilege of watching our great God work through this trial in our lives.



Bondslaves of the King,

The Stire family

18th Update on Whitney - lessons in trust

All the girls love to help with decorating the Christmas tree. Here is Whitney when we were all done with the tree and the stockings.








Whitney and the rest of the girls did a fantastic job singing and making melody to the Lord for their school Christmas program. Whitney loves to sing.



Loving family and friends,

As always, we are so thankful for your continued prayers for Whitney. We have been reminded again, this week, of how God graciously and magnificently intervenes in our lives to accomplish His will.

On Monday morning, when Whitney was doing her home eye test, we noticed that the vision in her right eye was significantly reduced. Our retinal specialist in Houston had told us to be on the look out for changes of this nature and so we contacted him immediately with this new development. He recommended that we have Whitney checked out by the ophthalmologist here in Tirana as our first course of action. However, our ophthalmologist in Tirana was out of the country for a few days and was not able to check her status until Thursday. During those intervening days God comforted us and encouraged us with Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do it.”

Today, Thursday, Whitney had an appointment with the Albanian eye doctor. He confirmed that her vision had indeed reduced from 20/50 to 20/200 in the past 3 weeks. Upon further examination he noticed obvious hemorrhaging in the eye and some fluid build-up behind the retina. After a thorough exam he recommended that we have a procedure done that would require an injection of medicine directly into her eye. We are unable to have this procedure done here in Tirana because of the lack of specialized care and equipment. The doctor was concerned that we have this procedure done as quickly as we could to avoid further damage to the eye.

Thankfully, we were able to contact the retinal specialist in Houston and e-mail him the photos of the new eye scan performed today. Praise God for Skype and e-mail! He agreed with the Albanian doctor’s diagnosis and treatment. The procedure that Whitney needs is a quite common procedure for adults, but is not done often on small children so there is more risk for her. The doctor informed us that this injection would most likely need to be performed two times, within a month of each other and that she may even need to have laser surgery at the second injection. If Whitney and I returned to the states for this procedure we were looking at a minimum of a 5 week stay. I have to say that I was not looking forward to leaving my family during Christmas and being gone for over a month after we had already been separated for a month just recently. Kris and I brought the whole situation to the Lord and asked for His wisdom and direction. What a privilege to watch the Almighty God at work!

He clearly directed our path to Greece. Our retinal specialist in Houston asked some respected, internationally renowned ophthalmologists if they knew a qualified and specialized doctor in Greece that they could recommend for us. Greece is a 10 hour drive for us and quite a bit less expensive than travelling to America. Those doctors all recommended the same doctor in Thessaloniki, Greece! The doctor in Houston even called the doctor in Greece personally to talk with him about Whitney’s situation and to find out if the doctor was qualified to perform this kind of procedure. Our doctor was able to recommend the Greek doctor with full confidence. What an answer to prayer!

So, on Sunday afternoon our whole family (yeah, we don’t have to be separated!) will drive to Greece. On Monday Whitney will have her pre-op check up and then on Tuesday morning she will have the surgical procedure at a superb eye clinic. The doctor said that if everything goes as planned and she has no complications, we will be able to leave on Wednesday morning and be back home to celebrate Christmas at our house. Wow!

We would ask that you continue to pray for Whitney. Here are some specific things to pray for:
• Pray that God would protect Whitney’s eye from further trauma and from increased pressure in her eye until we can get to the doctor in Greece on Monday.
• Pray that the hemorrhage would cease bleeding into her eye and that the fluid build-up behind her retina would not cause any problems between now and the time of her surgery.
• Pray that we would have safe and quick trip from Tirana, Albania to Thessaloniki, Greece. The roads in Albania are not very good and crossing the border can be notoriously difficult.
• Pray that God would give the doctor wisdom and skill to perform this invasive and dangerous procedure without any complications.
• Pray for Whitney’s spiritual redemption. Kris and I have been praying more and more for her as we see a general lack of spiritual interest in her. It seems God is drawing her with cords of loving kindness to Himself. Pray that she would submit to His call. What a tremendous Christmas it would be to see the life of Christ born in her!
• Pray for the salvation of the doctor and his staff in Greece. It seems that God has opened the doors many times for me to share the hope of the gospel with Whitney’s care givers. Pray that they would have sensitive hearts and that Kris or I would take any opportunity God presents to share the gospel. We will be in the ancient city of Thessalonica, Greece where Paul preached and a large number of Jews, Greeks and prominent women were saved (Acts 17). Hopefully, we won’t be run out of town like Paul was. :-)
• Pray that we would use this situation to highlight “God with us” for our girls. Kris and I have been praying about a way to refocus our family’s eyes on Christ during this season when it is easy to find satisfaction in things rather than in God Himself. God has answered that prayer.


Thank you so much for remembering us in your prayers during the next few days. We will send you an update after Whitney’s visit with the doctor in Greece.

“Morning by morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; morning by morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3

Resting in Him,
Chelle, for the Stire family

17th update on Whitney Stire

Dear praying friends,

Thank you all for your faithful intercession for Whitney and for our family. We have been encouraged by so many of you that have e-mailed us in the last month asking about Whitney’s condition and letting us know that you are continuing to pray for her. You are ministering to us in a mighty way. Thank you!

Last Sunday, November 30th, Whitney had her first check-up with the eye doctor in Albania since we returned home from America. Over the past 2 months we have been checking her vision every couple of weeks with a home eye chart and monitoring the blind spot in her central vision. The retinal specialist in Houston told us that Whitney’s eye would continue to heal from the trauma in the 3-4 months after the injury. His hope was that these past couple of months would bring increased vision and that the blind spot would disappear. It has been a little over 3 months since her accident and we are thankful that Whitney has the ability to see at all. However, her vision has not improved much since we left the states in October. She still has only about 50% of her vision in her right eye. This is such a blessing and we are truly grateful to the Lord for this mercy in her life because she could have been blinded so easily.

We praise God that although Whitney’s blind spot has not gone away, it is lightening up more. She says that in the light she can see some things through the spot. In low light it is still dark and obstructs her vision fully in the center of the eye. However, the ophthalmologist was encouraged that the hemorrhage in the retina seems to be dissipating, although slower than we had anticipated.

The eye doctor here in Tirana also took a fundus scan of the inside of her eye. The scar that is clearly visible in this scan has changed some since her last scan in Houston. The scar has thickened and widened some and is closer to obstructing her vision. At this point it is not causing impaired vision, but the doctor here and the retinal specialist in the states are recommending this scan to be done every 2 months in order to watch it closely for further activity. Thankfully, the scan is digital and we can send all the results to the specialist in the states for him to review. God is so good to allow us that extra measure of confidence in her care. Both doctors are encouraged that her vision is as good as it is, but want to maintain a constant watch on that scar in the macular area of the eye. We will also need to travel to Greece or to Turkey in April to have a specialized eye test done that we do not have available here in Albania.

All in all, we are happy to report that Whitney is doing great and her decreased vision is not dampening her activities or her spirits at all. We praise the Lord for how He has shown Himself to be our Sovereign Father and
Faithful Solace. We do appreciate your continued prayers for Whitney’s recovery. Here are a few things to pray about:
• Pray that the scar in Whitney’s eye would maintain its present size and density. If it remains as it is, Whitney will not have any repercussion from it. However, if it continues to grow or if any of the tissue grows up through the scar then she will have immediate decreased and distorted vision. This would require surgical care.
• Pray that Whitney’s eye would continue to heal and that her vision would improve.
• Pray that God would continue to use this situation in Whitney’s life to draw her into an intimate and saving relationship with Him.
• Pray that we would have the opportunity to share the gospel with the eye doctor here in Tirana. We will be seeing him every couple of months and do not want to waste this “appointment” from the Lord to share the hope of the gospel with the doctor and his staff.

Psalm 107:22, “Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy.”

On Thanksgiving I was reflecting on what things I was most thankful for over the past year. It may sound odd, but Whitney’s eye injury was right up there at the top of the list. God used these circumstances to remind me in tremendous and obvious ways how BIG He is and how sovereign He is over ALL circumstances and the plans and thoughts of man. I am truly grateful for the privilege of seeing Him work in my life and in the life of our family in such intimate ways.

I was reading in Hannah Hurnard’s book, “Hind’s Feet on High Places”, and came across this great quote. “As Christians we know, in theory at least, that in the life of a child of God there are no second causes, that even the most unjust and cruel things, as well as all seemingly pointless and undeserved sufferings, have been permitted by God as a glorious opportunity for us to react to them in such a way that our Lord and Savior is able to produce in us, little by little, His own lovely character…Every acceptance of His will becomes an alter of sacrifice, and every such surrender and abandonment of ourselves to His will is a means of furthering us on the way to the High Places to which He desires to bring every child of His while they are still living on earth.”

Joyful in the journey,
Chelle Stire (for the Stire family)

Building Leadership and friendship in Albania

Core leadership team for Young married and family ministry



A couple of weeks ago we invited to dinner the two Albanian couples who will be joining Kris and myself in starting up a young married and family ministry in the spring of '09. What a splendid time we had talking (in English, thankfully) about how we can glorify God in this new, and necessary, ministry at our church. Lenci, one of the young men who just graduated from SETS, and his wife, Alta, are a passionate young couple that want to make a difference in their country for the Lord. Nick, an Albanian man who studied in the states and has returned to Albania to reach his country with the gospel, and his wife Lizzy (an American MK who I met in 1990 in Nepal - another whole story in itself)are an amazing couple who have been serving faithfully in the church.

The purpose of the new small group ministry at church will be to establish spiritual friendships with the 15 or so couples that fit in this category at church. Kris has been teaching a discipleship class to the various small group leaders for the past month in preparation for a church wide small group ministry that will kick off in January of 2009. We are going through C.J. Mahaney's book "Why Small Groups?"

I am looking forward to the small group format where we will be able to focus in on applying the Sunday message and keeping each other accountable to taking the truth that we hear each Sunday and living in out through the week. I especially look forward to deepening the sweet friendships that God has begun with Lizzy and Alta.

Kris teaching at CCL




On November 10th, Kris had the privilege of speaking in a chapel service at the Center for Christian Leadership. This undergraduate Bible school, here in Tirana, offers a two year Bible degree for Albanians in Albanian. Their purpose statement is "Glorifying God by equipping spiritual leaders to become disciple-makers". It was so encouraging to see 6 young Albanian men and women committed to studying the Scripture and taking it back to their villages to serve in their local churches.




After chapel we had such a sweet time of fellowship together over a fabulous lunch in the schools dining room. Kris and I had a super opportunity to practice our Albanian over steaming bowls of Albanian chicken lemon soup and homemade bread. The body of Christ is an amazing thing. I love the fact that we can meet someone for the first time and immediately experience the bond of fellowship in the Spirit. We look forward to building on these new relationships.

We are so thankful that God has allowed us to begin new areas of ministry now that our first year of language learning is behind us. We look forward, with keen anticipation, to what God will do in us and with us for the sake of His kingdom.

16th update on Whitney

Our flight left Houston at 6:10 a.m. on Sunday, October 12th. We enjoyed one last McDonald's in the airport and then boarded a plane to Chicago. The Chicago airport has a really cool children's museum and play area. That was a blessing for us because we spent 5 hours at that airport. I had a great opportunity to talk with a woman and her husband, Michelle and Jim, in the seating area of that playground. He is a pilot and she is a pediatrician in the states. They are not Christians, but asked a lot of questions about why we chose to move to Albania.


Here is my first sight of home. Albania! After a super long delay of 7 hours in the Munich airport I was so glad to see Tirana. It looked so small compared to some of the other cities that we have flown into recently (Istanbul being the most massive - 12 million people!). I could not wait to get off that plane and into Kris's arms!


Here we are all back together again. After 34 days of being separated, we had so much to catch up on. Whitney got right back to school the day after we arrived. We took some time to go walking in the park down the way from our house. (Not the typical American park though - no playground equipment, broken hypodermic needles on the ground, used condoms in the brush, shattered bottles on the path, lots of trash around, animal and human feces to watch out for, and packs of dogs to beware of - just a nice walk in the park. LOL. Really, it is kind of pretty if you just don't look down too much. However, we are thankful for it because it breaks up the concrete jungle of the city.)



Kris was so happy to have all the girls back in his loving arms. They spent lots of time having daddy/daughter tickle time. He is such a super daddy! I pray that each of my girls marries someone as godly and terrific as their dad.


>October 17th

Faithful praying friends and family,

We are so thankful to God for His tremendous mercy to us these past weeks. We are so happy to be back home in Albania now. Here is a quick update on how things are going:

• Praise God that the doctor’s visit Friday the 10th was quite encouraging. Whitney’s vision tested at 20/50 (compared to the 20/100 when we first visited on Sept. 19^th)! She still has the “blind spot” from the hemorrhage, but the doctor believes it will dissolve over the next weeks and is not in danger or re-hemorrhaging at this point. Although she may recover some more of her vision in the next 3-4 months, corrective lenses will not help her see any better. The damage to her eye was to the retina and glasses will not help the vision impairment in this area of her eye. Thankfully, Whitney does not seem affected by this “disability” in the least. I praise God that He is giving Whitney the strength and maturity to handle this life change.

Pray that her eye would continue to heal and that the hemorrhage would dissolve quickly. Pray that Whitney’s vision would continue to become clearer in the next few months.

• Praise God that Dr. Khawly, the retinal specialist, will follow up with Whitney’s condition via the internet. It was so gracious of him to offer his time and expertise, free of charge, to confer with the ophthalmologists here in Albania and in Turkey until we see him again during our furlough in 2010. It is such a comfort to know that we can call or e-mail him with any further issues or questions we have. Also, the injection of steroids into the retina that he gave her in the surgical procedure, adds another level of comfort in being so far away from specialized care.

Pray that the steroids will protect her eye from developing any dangerous blood vessel growth to the injured area of her eye. The doctor said that if she begins to have some blood vessels develop in her scarred area in the macula that her vision would be affected immediately. If we can catch that soon enough we can have it surgically repaired in the states.

• Praise God that we made it back home to Albania safely on Monday afternoon. Kris and the girls picked us up from the airport in Tirana amid tears and hugs. What a joyous reunion! Even though I really enjoyed our time in the states, I was so excited to go home and be reunited with my family. God has blessed me immensely with an awesome husband who took care of everything in such a phenomenal way while I was gone. Praise God that he is feeling better as well.
• Praise God that I was able to give a copy of C.S. Lewis’s book, Mere Christianity, to the nurse Michelle at the doctor’s office in Houston. Also, during the 7 hour delay in the Munich airport I met an Albanian woman, Monica, who lives in the USA. She is a nominal Muslim, but has attended a Protestant church once with her kids in New York. God gave me the opportunity to talk with her about a relationship with Christ and how religion is different from a relationship with the Living God. She was very receptive and said that she would go back to that church when she returns home.

Pray for the salvation of Michelle and Monica.

• Praise God that Whitney is back at school and is settling in just great. Thankfully, we were able to keep up with her homework while we were in the states, so she is not too far behind her class. She was especially excited to get back to P.E. I talked with her P.E. teacher and it doesn’t seem that her vision problems are causing her too much difficulty with depth perception in sports. We are so thankful to God for allowing her to be able to be involved in something she really likes and excels at.

Pray that God would protect her eye from any further injury during her day-to-day life. We don’t want her to live in fear of vision loss, but to be aware and careful at the same time.

• Praise God that we can continue to monitor Whitney’s eye condition with daily updates on the blind spot and blurriness, monthly eye tests at home, visits to the eye doctor her in Tirana every 3 months, and a visit to Turkey every 6 months to see the retinal specialist. We are just so thankful that Dr. Khawly gave us some concrete things we can do to follow up with her recovery.

Pray for wisdom as we monitor Whitney’s vision. Since I am not a trained eye doctor, I need that extra wisdom from God to discern the slightest changes in her vision that could be really detrimental. Also pray that we would have a spiritual impact on the lives of the doctors and care givers that we will be interacting with often in the next months.

• Praise God that I had so many opportunities to talk with Whitney about God’s character and share the truth of the gospel with her. She does seem to have more spiritual sensitivity than before this “accident”.

Pray that God would continue to work in her heart and that she would become a young woman radically committed to the Lord and sold out for His glory to be known in the world.

Donald Grey Barnhouse once said, “Jesus is the God of detailed circumstances. Nothing has ever happened that has not flowed in the channel that God has not dug for it.”

I just love that! It has given me such comfort as I have reflected on its truth in our lives over the past few months. What a mighty God we serve! He is so deserving of our passionate and whole-hearted worship and thanksgiving.

God has called us to a new level of thanksgiving in the days of uncertainty, loss and pain. I have been meditating on these words in Psalm 50 recently. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving…Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me…He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me” (14a, 15 & 23). Many times it has been a hard and painful thing to thank God for Whitney’s eye injury. Sacrifice always costs something. What I “sacrificed” (self-pity, the distorted view that Whitney deserves to have good eye sight, a false feeling of control, a fleeting sense of security that comes from relying on human strength or wisdom, etc.) was a pittance with what God lavished on me in accepting my meager (and often weak attempts at) thanksgiving. The amazing thing is that what God commanded of me (“offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving”), He also gave me the strength and desire to do (II Cor. 9:8). Then, He rewards me with peace, joy, intimacy with Him and a confidence in the unchanging character of God. Wow!

There are really so many things to thank God for regarding Whitney’s eye injury and the circumstances surrounding it. As I look back at all the ways He provided for us, directed our paths, answered specific prayers, gave us amazing opportunities to share about Him with others, comforted us through His Word and the body of Christ, and grew our faith in Him I rejoice that He brought this “momentary, light affliction” (II Cor 4:17) into our lives. We certainly have seen that “He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal.” (Job 5:18). His purposes truly are for our good and His glory. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Well, I will not be sending out any more updates about Whitney unless something changes in her condition. Please feel free to e-mail us at stirealbania@gmail.com or check out our blog at www.stiretestimonial.blogspot.com for further information or just to keep in contact with us. Of course, you can hear about our whole family and ministry here in Albania monthly, in our e-updates. If you are not receiving those and would like to just contact us and we will add you to our mailing list.

Thank you again for all your faithful and loving prayers. We thank God for you and for the way He cared for us through you.

Seeking Him,

Chelle Stire (for the Stire family)

15th update on Whitney

October 8th, 2008



Whitney and mommy outside the surgery center on Wednesday, October 8th. We were all ready for this outpatient procedure that would help protect Whitney's eye from complicating factors of her injury in the next few months.



While we waited for her turn in the surgical room, Whitney worked on her homework. She has been able to get class work from Albania via the internet. Thank God she will not be too far behind her class when she returns. She has only been in school 2 days this academic year.



Here is my little trooper after her surgery. She did a great job. I don't think she will ever want an IV again though.



Dear prayer partners,

I just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know that Whitney’s surgery went very well today. Thank you all so much for lifting us up before the throne of God in our time of need.

Praise God that Dr. Khawly did not find any other injury during his examination of Whitney’s eye during the surgical procedure. He was able to inject the steroid into/behind the retina without any problems. She did have a decrease of heart rate during the surgery and needed a medication that boosted her heart rate, so she had a pretty nasty head ache in the recovery room. We are so grateful to the Lord that He protected her.

At this time she is resting on the couch with doctor’s orders to lay low for the day. He will see us for a post-operative appointment on Friday. During that appointment we hope to see that her vision continues to improve. We are still planning on heading back home early Sunday morning. Yeah! We can’t wait to be re-united with Kris and the girls. We have been away from them for 34 days during the last 5 weeks.

However, we can say with full assurance that “there is no one like the Lord, indeed there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.” (I Sam. 2:2). We are so thankful for this time of testing because we know that God has used it in all of our lives to conform us more to the image of His Son. There is a poem that has had a mighty impact in my life over the years and He has used it again in the past two weeks. I hope it encourages and challenges your heart during times of difficulty like it has mine.

“When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him

Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses,
And which every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out-
God knows what He's about.” Author unknown

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25)

Held in His grip,
Chelle Stire (for the Stire family)

14th Update on Whitney

Written on October 7th

Dear prayer warriors and friends,

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15

It is with a heart overflowing with joy and thanksgiving to God that I write this update. God worked in amazing ways at Whitney’s doctor’s appointment today. We have so many things to offer up as a sacrifice of praise.

1. God gave me the privilege of sharing the gospel with one of the nurses, Michelle! Thank you for your faithful prayers for the opportunity to be a witness and for the hearts of the doctor and care givers. Michelle is a non-practicing Catholic. She has just recently bought a Bible, but has not begun to read it yet. It was a true joy to be able to share the hope of the gospel to her and to encourage her to read about the Living God in His Living Book. She had such a receptive and hungry heart.
2. Whitney’s vision was improved today! She was able to read most of the letters on the 3rd line and some of the 4th as well. God is exceedingly good to us!
3. The doctor was very encouraged by Whitney’s recovery up to this point and is anticipating that the procedure that he will perform tomorrow will greatly reduce her chances of developing the most dangerous problems associated with this injury – increased vascularization to the back of the eye that causes pressure, glaucoma and cataracts. I feel so relieved and much more confident to return to Albania on Sunday knowing that Whitney’s eye has this extra bit of protection for the next 3-4 months. Those months are the most important time of healing and would be the most probable time that she would encounter the vascular issues. The procedure tomorrow will involve injecting a steroid behind her eye, into the retina, while she is under general anesthesia. At this time, he will also be able to perform a more careful examination of her retina to ensure that she does not have any damage that has been overlooked.
4. God is again providing for us so graciously by having our insurance cover the cost of this surgical procedure. After the billing lady at the doctor’s office told me that piece of good news I was just having a little praise session in the room. When the doctor came in, and saw me in tears, I was able to share with Him how extravagantly My God had provided for us during this whole situation and how God had used him to be a part of His provision for us. I am praying that the Lord would use that testimony of the sovereignty of God to draw the doctor to Himself.
5. Whitney and I had a superb conversation today about sin and prayer. I was so encouraged that she began to specifically name what she had done today that was sin and then to ask God to help her know her sins so that she could ask God to forgive her. I am so thankful that God is opening her eyes to see who God is and who she is and how she should relate to Him.

We are so thankful for your faithful prayers. As we see God answering these prayers so specifically and spectacularly it causes us to say, “You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God” (Ps 86:10). Please continue to pray that:

1. God would protect Whitney during her procedure tomorrow. She is scheduled to be prepped for this out patient surgery at 9 a.m. and then undergo the procedure at 11 a.m.
2. Pray that she would respond well to the anesthesia.
3. Pray that God would give the doctor wisdom as he performs this very delicate procedure and that he would be able to determine if there is any other injury that needs attention.
4. Pray for the nurse, Michelle. Pray that God would grant her repentance and that she would respond to His call on her life with faith in His saving work on the cross.
5. Pray for Kris’s health. He is feeling some better, but continues to struggle with the flu. I am so thankful that God has encouraged Kris’s heart and taught him so much during these days of separation. I can’t wait to go home and learn from him all that God has been doing in his life.
6. Pray for Kaitlyn, Whitney and Sierra. They are definitely going through “mommy withdrawals”.
7. Continue to pray for Whitney’s heart to be soft to the Lord.

My own heart has been so impacted by this situation. God has cared for me and taught me about His love in such intimate ways over these past 5 weeks. I think that one night in Turkey will stand out in my mind for the rest of my life. As I watched Whitney wrestle with her pain, my heart mother’s heart cried out to the Lord. I knelt by her bed and wept and begged God to take away her pain because it was so hard to stand by helplessly as she writhed in pain. I wanted to take that pain on myself if she could be spared. It was as that moment that God’s perfect love for me became so real. I recognized that He watched His own Son in unspeakable agony on the cross. God the Father could have spared Christ from that pain in His absolute power, but He didn’t. He didn’t rescue His own Son, in order to rescue ME! That just rocked my world. I don’t know if I had ever realized before how great His love was for me, a totally unworthy and depraved sinner. It was a profound moment for me. I think it was even more amazing because over the course of this past year God has been stripping away the veneer of spirituality and self-righteousness in my life. To be honest, this past year has been a tough year for me spiritually. I have felt dry and isolated and it seemed that not only was I physically in a foreign land, but spiritually as well. It was God’s abundant mercy that brought me to my knees in Turkey that night. When I look back over the e-mail updates that I wrote during those days I have thought to myself, “Who wrote those e-mails with such trust and hope and joy because I know, more than ever, that I am riddled with unbelief, doubt and discontent.” It was God alone! He carried me and has continued to carry me through these days. If anything good or praiseworthy has come out of this time I am certain that it was “from Him and through Him and to Him…To Him be the glory forever. Amen!” (Rom 11:36)

At the foot of the cross,
Chelle Stire

13th update on Whitney

Written on October 3rd, 2008

Dear praying friends,

Yesterday Whitney saw the eye doctor again. After two weeks of healing time, he wanted to see how the hemorrhage was progressing and if her vision was improving. I went into the appointment confident that we would have a great prognosis. In the intervening days she had returned to her normal level of activity (playing with friends, doing school work and even swimming with the doctor’s OK). I have been asking her every day about the blind spot’s size and density and monitoring her level of vision. I was really encouraged that she seemed to be regaining her vision. I was even thinking that we might be able to return to Albania a week earlier than we had anticipated. Therefore, I was really surprised when the doctor tested her vision and instead of having 40% vision or better, she actually could only see one letter on the second line of the vision chart (about 20%). In order to check into this further, he had us go to another facility to receive a specialized test. The results of this test showed that her hemorrhage was smaller than two weeks ago. We praise God that when the doctor did his office exam he was encouraged that her eye actually looked better than it had at the last appointment and that the test corroborated this. It seemed that everything was pointing to better vision, not worse.

I have to admit that at that moment I began to wonder what God was doing. In God’s extreme goodness I had read these words from Jesus, to a parent whose child was sick beyond human intervention, “…All things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.’”(Mark 9:23-24) I still don’t understand what God is doing in this situation, but I am so thankful that “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who those who take refuge in Him.” (Nahum 1:7).

In response to this change in Whitney’s vision, the doctor has decided to give her an ocular steroid shot on Wednesday. This is an outpatient procedure that will require her to be under general anesthesia while they inject steroids behind her eye into the retina. The steroids will cushion the area of hemorrhage and inhibit increased blood flow and pressure to that area over the next 3-4 months. We will then need to go back to Turkey to have the OCT scan performed in order to make sure that the retina is fully healed. Next Tuesday we will see Dr. Khawly, in preparation for the procedure, and he will retest her vision to see if there has been any change.

God has been using other things, as well, to cause us to lean on Him and trust Him during these past two weeks. Ever since I left Albania Kris has been sick. God has been blessing Kris with extra strength to handle sickness, an intense work schedule, the girls’ schoolwork and carpooling, as well as all the housework. Thank you for your extra prayers for him.

In addition to these things, Whitney’s dog, Oreo, ran away from home last week. This was an especially hard blow for Whitney because she was so looking forward to going home to Oreo’s kisses. I praise God that I could use this loss to remind her that God is actively trying to get her attention. He has continued to pursue her and to call her to Himself. It is encouraging to hear her pray that God would bring Oreo home. I am praying that God would answer her prayer so that she would know that He loves her, He hears her, and He answers her prayers.

We do have a major praise and answer of prayer to report. The insurance company IS going to pay for the air ambulance to Turkey! This is a really big deal because they were originally not going to pay for this large expense because it was not a “life or death” situation. They will also cover the doctor bills and hospital charges, minus our deductible. God is our extravagant Provider!

We would appreciate your continued prayers for our family.
1. Pray that God would heal Whitney’s eye and restore her vision.
2. Pray that God would protect Whitney during her procedure on Wednesday. Pray for her to respond well to the anesthesia and the steroid shot. Pray that she would not have any adverse reaction to the invasive procedure.
3. Pray for our witness to the doctor and to his staff.
4. Pray that God would heal Kris and continue to be his support and strength.
5. Pray that Whitney would submit to the call of the Lord on her life.
6. Pray God bring a little lost dog home and magnify His glory to a little lost girl.

We continue to thank God for your love and support during these past weeks. We have been so encouraged by your faithful prayers for us and for the ways you have loved us so practically. Thank you.

Amazed at His goodness,
Chelle Stire (for the Stires)

12th update on Whitney

September 15th-16th



Whitney and I had a relaxing, but very long, flight to America. We flew from Albania to Munich, Germany and had a few hours in the Munich airport. Then we boarded a jumbo jet and flew to Washington D.C. Whitney thought the best part was having her own TV screen on the seat in front of her.



Here was are on American soil (the Washington DC airport) for the first time in 14 months. The first thing we did after we got off the airplane was stop at a Dunkin' Donuts and get a chocolate sprinkle donut and soda with ice. Woohoo! You can see the sign, "Welcome to the USA" in the background. It was great to be back in a place where I could understand all the conversations and read all the signs.



The day after was arrived in Houston we went to see Dr. Khawly. He is a retinal specialist. Whitney did a great job at the appointment and enjoyed playing in the exam chair.

Dear friends and prayer partners,

As I write this e-mail, Whitney and I are in Houston, Texas. We arrived here late Wednesday to see an eye specialist about Whitney’s eye injury.

Last week, when we left Turkey, Kris and I began praying about the possibility of taking Whitney to the states for follow up on her condition. We prayed that God would make it very clear if was His will for us to make this journey. Once in Tirana, we followed up with an eye doctor who has studied and practiced abroad. He actually performed an eye scan that was not done in Turkey that showed us very clearly the injury to the middle part of her eye and the hemorrhage involved. At the time of her appointment with him, 3 days after her last visit with the doctor in Turkey, Whitey’s vision had not improved at all. The doctor in Turkey had hoped that her vision would continue to improve past the 40% in the peripheral vision as well as the blindness in the center part of her eye that she had at discharge from the hospital in Turkey. After examining her, the doctor told us, with quite a lot of certainty on his part, that she would never recover any more vision than what she has. He also said that because of the “break” in one of the membranes in the macular (vision) area of her eye, that the membrane was weakened significantly. This type of injury (traumatic coroidal rupture) has the danger of further vision loss as the underlying membranes begin to push through the healed “break” causing macular degeneration, cataracts and other eye issues. He was also concerned about the hemorrhage and stated that she would not be able to play sports again. Actually, he said she could play the vigorous game of chess. This was quite disheartening for Whitney because she is the most athletic of all our girls. With all of this information building on what we learned in Turkey, we began searching out options for further care in the states.

In a way that only God can work, He had already moved in the heart of a family friend in Texas to pursue getting us in contact with the “best of the best” ophthalmologist in the Houston area. He said that if we got Whitney to Texas, he would make sure that we got in to see this doctor that he knows through his wife’s own extensive eye surgeries. While Kris and I were, and are, content if it is God’s plan for Whitney’s eye sight to remain at 40% or even to worsen, we also want to make sure that we being wise stewards of the daughter that God has given us to care for. Our prayer for clear guidance about whether we should leave immediately for Texas was very definitively answered by the severe hurricane that hit the Galveston/Houston area on Saturday, the 13th.

Well, on Tuesday morning, the 16^th, Whitney woke up and informed me that the blind spot in her eye was bigger, darker, was “blinking”, and that everything else was blurrier. After a whole day of praying, contacting doctors in London and Texas, and seeking the counsel of our family and our mission organization, Kris and I decided that Whitney and I should go to Houston for further care. Just to remind us of how intimately He is governing all our ways, God allowed us to get a special airfare because of Whitney’s medical situation. We had been looking at spending quite a bit on next day plane tickets from Tirana to Houston. To add blessing upon blessing, Whitney and I are thankful to able to stay with my family while we are in Houston to cut down on costs of food, transportation and housing. God is such a tender Father and our lavish Provider!

Yesterday morning, Thursday the 18^th, Whitney and I went to see the retinal specialist. He gave us a very encouraging prognosis.

• Whitney does NOT have a retinal tear as we had been told in Turkey.
• Whitney will, more than likely, recover more of her central vision once the hemorrhage fully dissolves in the retinal area. Based on where the injury occurred in the eye, he thinks that she will not ever recover full vision, but that it will be more than she has now.
• Whitney WILL be able to play sports as long as she has protective eye gear on.
• The doctor told us that the injury she sustained was a severe one, but that if the eye was to have this kind of injury the placement of the tear and the angle at which the stick entered her eye was the best possible scenario. The tear is only a millimeter from her eye’s vision center and if it had been any closer she would have been permanently blinded. No one can tell me that God isn’t sovereign in the details!
• Whitney does not need surgery at this time. There is actually no surgery that can help fix this eye injury.
• Whitney is very likely to have cataracts and some other eye issues, later in life, due to the tear in her membrane, but those can be treated if they are detected in time. He suggested that I do a monthly eye test, at home, to make sure her vision is not deteriorating and have her see an ophthalmologist every 4 months or so to watch out for any change in the membrane tear.
• Because Whitney’s eye is still more prone to be re-injured, she must wear eye protection at all time (glasses, sports glasses, sun glasses).
• In the next 4 months or so her eye should have recovered and healed as much as it will and at that time we will know what her life-long vision will be. Corrective eyeglasses will not enhance her vision, but may “crisp up” some of the blurriness.

WOW! We are just speechless at how God has answered all our prayers in such a magnificent and gracious way! And, just to be super extravagant in His blessing to us, God moved on the heart of the doctor to see us free of charge! I just stood in the office and cried. He is SO good to us!

As we were travelling to the states, uncertain of what was happening in Whitney’s eye, I read this verse in Psalm 17, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye, Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” (v. 8). The apple of the eye is a reference to the pupil of the eye. Although I have read this verse many times, it has taken on greater meaning to me now that we are dealing with Whitney’s eye injury and I have learned so much more about the eye itself. God used this verse to comfort me immeasurably that He is protecting us and caring for us as carefully as He created the whole body to care for the small and most delicate part of the eye. We are in the center of His watchful care! Although we can’t see clearly all the purposes of God in this situation we can rest securely with the knowledge that He sees and directs with perfect omniscience ALL our steps. I just love how God uses His Word to speak to us so specifically!

Our family has been so blessed by your faithful love and prayers in these past weeks. I know that God has used you in our lives to strengthen, comfort, encourage, and remind us of His special care through His body. Thank you for continuing to pray as we move forward with Whitney’s care. Here are a few specific requests to pray for:

• Continue to pray for healing – whether that be through the medical care given or through His miraculous touch. Our greatest desire is for God to be glorified and for His power to be magnified in our lives.
• Pray for Kris and the girls as they remain back in Tirana. The doctor told us to plan on remaining in Texas for 3 weeks so that he can keep watch on her hemorrhage and her vision recovery. It was very difficult for me to leave my dear husband. I know that God is giving Kris the extra strength and ability to care for 3 girls, but I know he would appreciate your prayers on his behalf.
• Continue to pray for Whitney’s spiritual eyes to be opened and that God would use this “trial” to bring her to repentance and salvation.
• Pray that the doctor and all care givers involved would see Christ in us. I don’t have a language barrier this time, like in Turkey, and look forward to taking every opportunity to share the hope that I have in Christ!
• Pray that Kris and I would learn all that God desires for us to learn during this time. We know that God never wastes pain. He has already used this to refine our faith and to recall us to focus on eternal things. He is not done working yet and we want to reflect Christ’s character more fully at the end of this time.
• Pray that Houston would have it’s power restored and that the city would recover quickly from the hurricane. It’s kind of ironic that Whitney and I are leaving Albania, where we are used to frequent power outages, to go to Houston where we will not have power at my dad’s house.

We will continue to keep you updated about Whitney and what God is doing through this circumstance.

Held in His grip,

Chelle (for the Stire family)

11th update on Whitney

Today, I was finally able to connect to my blog site and catch up on the updates about Whitney's eye injury. I added updates #7- #11. I will continue to keep everyone up to date on her progress and any other developments as they arise.

Thursday, September 11th


Here is Whitney in the Istanbul airport enjoying one last Starbucks. We had quite an adventure just to get to the terminal. In Albania, most people do not have an address and as yet, there are not any delivery trucks like UPS to peoples homes. So, many Albanians go to Turkey and buy a huge load of goods for novelty shops, box them up and bring them, on the airplane, back home. The problem arises when they get to the ticketing agent and try to get their 10 HUGE boxes checked in with a 1 bag, 40 pound limit. They try to get by this, by asking every person in the line to take one of their boxes and check it in under their name. I was approached by three different people to see if I would be willing to take some of their boxes to the check in. Thankfully, I had a friend tell me that this would happen and I was prepared to say no. I was still quite unbelievable.


Well, Whitney and I are finally on the plane home. It was quite an adventure that God took us on and I have a feeling that we are not done with it yet. However, it was a journey that I thank God for.




Faithful friends and prayer warriors,

We are so thankful to God for His immense mercy to us these last days. I have been overwhelmed by His tender love and the way He has cared for us through His all-sufficient Word and through the body of Christ. We have received so many e-mails of encouragement and prayer support, verses to focus our eyes on Christ, and offers of help. I am still sorting through them all and trying to get back to all of you who gave so much to us in those ways. Whitney and I are going to make a scrapbook with all the updates we sent out, the e-mails that each of you sent to our family, and also all the pictures that we took on our “adventure”. I think it will be a tremendous way for her to look back at God’s faithfulness towards her in the years to come.

Praise God that He answered our prayers for a safe return home. There were a few tense moments when some strange men in the taxi area at the airport tried to convince me that they knew the shuttle driver for our hotel and that they would take us to the hotel. I just prayed fervently that we would be safe while we waited for the arranged hotel shuttle to arrive. Through all the taxi changes, language barrierissues, bag checks, and travelling on 9-11, we arrived safe and sound into the loving arms of Kris and the girls. It is so good to be home!

Before our discharge yesterday, we had our appointment with Dr. Oram. He was very helpful and answered many of my questions. Here is some of the information that I received:
* The doctor was cautiously hopeful about Whitney’s returning vision. He said that he is encouraged that her peripheral vision is slowly returning (it is at 40% now). He thinks that there is the possibility that she may recover 60-70% of her peripheral vision, but he could not give any assurance of the recovery of the vision in the center of her eye.
* I asked the Dr. is he would tell me more details about the specialized eye test (OCT) that Whitney had performed last Monday. He pointed out that in the retinal area she has some blood build up. He also showed me that there was a definite tear in the retina. We will be consulting with a doctor in the states about the retinal tear and the ramifications of this injury.
* There remains, as well, the hemorrhage in the middle part (or visual area) of Whitney’s eye that is causing the blindness in the center of the eye. I tried to ascertain from the Dr. about the possibility of a surgical procedure to clear out this hemorrhage if it does not dissolve on its own. He is hesitant to do any invasive procedure in this very delicate and vascular area because of the possibility of doing more damage than good. He is thinking that it would be better for Whitney to live her life with her impaired peripheral vision and no vision in the center of her eye than to risk disturbing the hemorrhage with surgery. He will reconsider doing surgery if her eye or vision worsens over the next 3 weeks.
* There is still the real possibility that she can have a secondary hemorrhage that would cause more severe damage or complete blindness. During the next 3 weeks Whitney may return to school, but she can not participate in any vigorous activity that would cause this hemorrhage to burst. This will be a difficult task to accomplish; for Whitney, her parents, and her teachers.
* Our Turkish doctor has requested that we follow up with an Albanian ophthalmologist this Saturday who will examine her eye pressure, peripheral vision, and the status of the hemorrhage.

Whitney seems to be responding to her loss of vision quite well. She is mainly concerned with when she can go back to school and play with all of her friends. I am so thankful to the Lord for this acceptance on Whitney’s part. Many people have e-mailed with their own stories of vision loss and how they continue to lead productive and kingdom minded lives. These stories have been so encouraging to us as we look at the very real possibility that Whitney will never have her vision fully restored in her right eye.

As we prepare for the next three weeks of Whitney’s recovery time we ask that you continue to pray for these things:
1. Pray that the hemorrhage would dissolve on its own and that this would lead to the recovery of sight in the center of Whitney’s eye.
2. Pray that the hemorrhage would not rupture or cause any secondary effects as Whitney begins to assimilate back into her normal, 9 year old life.
3. Pray that she would remember the directive of the doctor to avoid vigorous activity, playing rough, and causing jarring movements to her head. All of these are fairly subjective so I don’t really know what her limits are.
4. Pray that we would be able to consult via email or phone with an ophthalmologist in the states to find out more about the retinal tear. We did not receive a satisfactory answer from the Turkish doctor about this aspect of Whitney’s injury.
5. Pray that God would give us wisdom to know if there is anything else we need to do to help correct or prevent more injury.
6. Pray that our insurance company would treat us fairly and pay the expenses that are truly covered under our policy. They have communicated to us that because Whitney’s injury was not “life or death” that some of the expenses incurred in her treatment might not be covered.
7. Pray that Whitney’s heart would continue to be softened to the Lord. In that same vein, pray that we would take the opportunities to reinforce all that we taught her and that we learned in the course of this trial. I don’t want her to just get past this difficulty and then go on business as usual.
8. Pray that each of our girls would see God’s glory and sovereignty through this circumstance.
9. Pray that Kris and I would not allow the day to day activities of life to drown out the lessons that we have learned during this time. We desire to continue to be as desperate for Him each day of our lives as we were during this time of crisis.

I wanted to follow up with some news about the nurse, Eylem. The last 4 days that Whitney and I were in the hospital Eylem was off duty. I never got to see her before we left, share the hope of the gospel with her, or give her the Turkish Bible. I know that God put that burden for her salvation on my heart and so I will continue to pray for her and make it a point to visit her when Whitney and I return to Istanbul in 3 weeks. Who knows, maybe God will use the intervening time to prepare her heart to receive the Word with gladness. Please continue to pray for her salvation.

As Whitney and I drove out of Istanbul I looked over the city horizon and saw an astounding amount of Muslim mosque minarets (the attached photo shows just a glimpse of them). My heart just cried out for God to save these people from the blindness that has gripped them. The darkness of that land is so great and it is evidenced by the mosques that are every few blocks. I did not see one church steeple among the minarets that covered the city’s landscape. When speaking to a local missionary I was not even allowed to say the name of her mission organization over the phone because it is illegal to be a missionary and their phone lines are tapped. Please pray for the missionaries in the country of Turkey as they share their lives and the hope of the gospel to the people of this dark land.

Well, seeing as we are returning to life as “usual” for the next few weeks, this is our last daily update for the time being. I have to admit that I am a little sad that I will not be able to communicate each day with you like I have been for the past 12 days. God has blessed me in so many ways as I read your e-mails and received such courage, hope and joy from the love you extended to us. But, I will be continuing to give regular updates on Whitney’s eye, her spiritual health (as well as that of the rest of our girls), and lots of other things on our family blog at www.stiretestimonial.blogspot.com. Also, I know that some of you began receiving these prayer updates through a friend or at church and you may not be on our regular e-mail list. We send out a monthly e-mail update about our family and ministry as well as a letter by US postal service quarterly. If you would like to be a part of our mailing list, please contact us at www.stirealbania@gmail.com and give us your e-mail address and mailing address and we would be glad to add you.

As I close this last update, I would like quote a prayer by Betty Scott Stam, a martyred missionary to China. God has used Betty’s example of steadfast faith and abandonment to God to challenge me many times over the past 18 years, and He did again during this time of testing. We lift these words up as a daily prayer:

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever. Amen”

Sustained by His gracious hand,
Chelle (for the Stire family)



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