“Our boys basically lived in the pool all summer.”

Marsela* lives in Kosova with her husband and three children. What seems like a normal description of her children’s summer takes on new meaning in context. Marsela, along with her husband Saban, is a recipient of a greenhouse funded by Nazarenes in the country. This project helps families with economic need grow food to eat and sell. Each member of Marsela’s family live with hearing loss that impacts their job prospects and access to education. A pool would normally be an unattainable luxury item for families like theirs, but receiving a greenhouse changed their family’s story. 

The program is vital for each family involved. More than half of the population in Kosova struggle with poverty. The war they endured in the late 1990s stole the future from an entire generation. The daily necessities of life—feeding a family, keeping a home, clothing, healthy medical coverage, education—continue to be challenges in this country still dealing with an infrastructure ravaged by war.

The Nazarene church in Kosova set out to build greenhouses first in 2016. The hope was that the project would help families find new sources of food and income. The ministry established a system that would help more families have greenhouses and greater yields of food: recipients would initially give a portion of their earnings back to the church to fund greenhouses for more families. To date, 22 greenhouses have been built in Kosova for families who had been struggling to see a way out of poverty. 

Generosity continues to be a hallmark of the project. Marsela received a greenhouse due to the generosity of another recipient, Albana, who lives in the same neighborhood. Albana received her greenhouse in 2017. The steady income produced by her crops helped her family find stability. Wanting to share what she had received, Albana began to advocate for Marsela and Saban. She helped the family prepare their land for the installation of the greenhouse and shared her gardening knowledge so they could count on successful harvests. 

Thanks to the profits from their crops, Marsela and Saban were able to purchase a small inflatable pool for their children. This simple joy of summer would not have been possible without the greenhouse program, and churches and individuals working together to lift up their neighbors. 

Read more about Albana and Marsela in the most recent issue of NCM Magazine.

*Names have been changed for privacy.