Albanians love coffee. I love coffee. I fit in nicely.
I can’t believe I’m already one month into my Race. My first month was filled with laughter, friends, coffee, early mornings, pig poop, long walks, chess, sickness, celebration, Bible studies, worship, good food, more coffee, and most importantly, an intimate walk with Jesus.
Our team made it to Tirana safely and we have started our next ministry. This is the ministry we will be doing for the remainder of the time we are in Albania. My new host’s name is Erion and he connected us with a couple at his church from New Zealand to help show us around the city and learn the ropes of Albania. Their names are Murray and Fey and they’ve been like parents to my team which really helps us all feel more at home.
Coffee is everywhere. Seriously. Everywhere.
There are coffee shops on every street. People here hang out at coffee shops, they meet up at coffee shops, they basically live at coffee shops. And a lot of the coffee shops are open 24/7 because people work the graveyard shift and want to have their coffee beforehand. It’s a custom I think America should adopt. I don’t think you can truly understand the phenomenon until you experience it first hand; it’s a 10 out of 10, would recommend.
Our new ministry is pretty rad. Erion is trying to start up a course called “Christianity Explored” to begin to explain the Gospel to nonbelievers and to bring in new people to the church. Our job is to meet new people and form relationships with them and eventually teach this course to them. We call it “coffee ministry” because we mostly just go meet people at coffee shops or stores or wherever and then meet up with them again over coffee. We’re making friends and relationships with the people here which is pretty stinking awesome.
We go out every day and pray before we get into town. Then we pray as we walk and go about trying to meet the people God places in front of us. It can be a little intimidating, walking up to perfect strangers and trying to make friends (especially in a foreign country), but God gave us a spirit of power and not of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Sometimes you just have to be bold, like Philip.
Philip was a pretty cool guy, and totally underrated. He was bold. He just went out and did what the Lord commanded him. I want to be like Philip.
After Steven was stoned to death in Acts chapter 7, the church was scattered and persecution was ignited with a vengeance. Philip went to Samaria to preach the Gospel. I don’t know if you remember this, but Samaritans and Jews don’t exactly get along. He was in hostile territory, but he just did it. He went out and performed miracles with the power God had given him through the Holy Spirit and he started a huge movement in Samaria – a movement so big that the apostles in Jerusalem heard about it and sent Peter and John (two of the ‘biggest disciples” came to check out Phil’s work, that’s crazy) to help him out since there were so many new believers.
Philip started this movement through the Holy Spirit, and then God told him to start walking south on the desert road. I’m sure it was hot and he probably did not want to go. I wouldn’t want to go, I’d complain about the heat and the not knowing where I’m going or how long I’ll have to walk, and probably about being hungry or thirsty, and a whole score of other things (complaining is easy, right?). Again though, Philip just goes. He does what God tells him without questioning it.
Phil starts walking down this road and he sees an Ethiopian eunuch who is kind of a big deal and has a lot of influence in Ethiopia. God told him to stay next to the chariot as it goes along, and again, Phil just does it. The Ethiopian is reading Isaiah 53:7-8. He was hung up on this passage talking about how Jesus, the Son of God, came and lived as a human, lived a perfect and blameless life, and was murdered, taking on all of the sins of man. The passage stirred something in him, but he didn’t know what to do about it.
Phil heard him reading the passage and asked him if he understood what he was reading. He didn’t start by preaching a sermon, he didn’t start by going into a spiel about the gospel, he started by asking the guy a question. He took interest in the other person; he cared for this Ethiopian. And because Philip cared about him, the man was open with Phil and invited Phil to come sit with him and talk about this Jesus guy.
Philip started with that passage in Isaiah and then went through the Gospel with the Ethiopian. Philip cared about this man and talked to him as a friend and that’s what got the message to the man’s heart. The spirit worked through Philip and the Ethiopian was so moved by the spirit that he stopped his chariot and was baptized by Phil.
I want to be like Philip. I want to just go when God tells me to go. Phil didn’t question God or ask God for a sign to confirm that it was what he was really supposed to do, he just went! The Bible is full of people second-guessing God when He tells them to do something; take Gideon with the fleece, or Moses being insecure about his speech problem. There are also several people who try to run away from what God told them to do, like Jonah. But good ol’ Phil isn’t like that. He is faithful and finds his courage in Christ. He knows the Father’s voice and follows it. I want to have as much faith and courage as Philip!!
It’s my prayer that I step out in boldness like Philip as I do this ministry. I want to go where God tells me and speak to who God tells me to speak to. I want to talk to these Albanians the way Philip spoke to the Ethiopian; with sincere care for them as a person, not just as somebody else to try to evangelize – I want to hear their story and help them go on an intimate walk with the Lord.
I hope you get a little inspiration from Phil and how he listened to God and talked to people. I’m not the only one on mission here; Jesus told us all to go out and make disciples. I may be in Albania, but you’re on the mission field too.
I pray you, too, have the courage and the eagerness to step out in faith and make disciples wherever you may be.
