Firepit etching reminder of Bethany's past
Good Monday morning,
This image is of the Bethany firepit located on the Bethany premises close to the apple orchard. Look closely and you’ll see the name of Elum Hoxha written in the cement on the rim. The date is 1999 and the city of Kosava is added, as well. Kosava is the Albanian and original spelling of the city, also known by the Serbs as Kosovo. Who was Hoxha? Dick Heine, chair of Bethany’s Refugee Resettlement Team, remembers Elum and his large family, who received housing and other help here on Bainbridge Island. Bethany was part of that assistance. Hoxha was a young man. The family since relocated east, Heine remembers. The pit is close to the area where Bethany’s “South 40” group hopes to put affordable housing. The etching on the firepit perhaps is a reminder of this congregation’s long-held passion for helping refugees.
Rachel Pritchett, office administrator