New country. New continent. New people. So many changes have happened in the past week and a half! As much as I miss Asia already, I am absolutely in love with Albania! The weather here is nothing but amazing. The air is so fresh and everything is so green! It reminds me of spring back at home. Nice and cool in the mornings and evenings and perfect temperatures during the day. We’re surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains with houses going up the sides of it and in walking distance of a gorgeous lake where you can see Macedonia across the shore. There’s adorable little men EVERYWHERE in their fedoras or cab hats either sitting in the park playing chess with one another or riding along on their bicycles and you’re greeted with kisses on each cheek from sweet Albanian women. It has truly been a nice change of pace for all of us!
So, we are getting to work alongside Claus and Marie Hoffman this month. They partner with Christ for the Nations and run a bible school, discipleship program, church, missions training and community outreach. Their church is called Open Doors that, just like the name says, is open to anybody that wants to come and learn about the Lord and they have 2 locations. One location is in walking distance from the school, right in the town of Pogradec and the other one is in a nearby village called Piskupat which has been opened for about a year and a half now. There are 8 interns from the bible school that we get to also do life with everyday this month. We all sleep at the same place, we eat all of our meals together, we do ministry together, wash dishes and clean the school together, literally everything. It’s so great! We’re like one big happy family!
Ministry looks a little different everyday for each of us. 2 of my teammates have degrees in physical therapy and so their skills have been put to use a lot this month. There are only 2 physical therapists in the country so you can imagine the need for it. Several of the staff members and people within the church have either had surgery or have muscle/joint pain so they get to work with them every morning. Another one of my teammates is a teacher so every morning she gets to teach English to several of the interns and the rest of us spend the mornings cleaning the school and doing whatever tasks they give us whether that’s weeding, painting, sweeping, mopping, cleaning chairs, cleaning windows or cooking.
In the afternoons, our team is normally split into two groups because there isn’t enough room for us all to go to the same place. So half of us go to Piskupat to teach Bible stories, share testimonies, and play games with children and youth while the other half of us go to the church here in Pogradec to attend a prayer meeting with some of the church members. On Tuesday’s, we rotate groups each week and attend a cell group at one of the intern’s houses in her village. The rest of the week, half of us attend a women’s Bible study in Pogradec or lead a youth bible study in Piskupat. Some of us also go to Piskupat another day of the week to lead a women’s Bible study. So this month has involved a lot of giving messages and sharing with each other all the cool things God is doing in each one of our lives.
We have been a little spoiled this month, I will admit. We have actual beds (you have no idea just how amazing it is) and hot water for our showers! Praise the Lord! I really can’t even begin to tell y’all just how incredible this month has been so far and how wonderful these people and this ministry is. There is SO much joy and laughter every single day that goes on in this place between everyone and they have definitely welcomed us in and loved us so well like we’re part of them. I’ve really enjoyed seeing Christ shine through each one of these people!
Here’s some history/facts about Albania:
- Albania was controlled by Germans during WWII. Once WWII ended, a new ruler came in and made Albania into a communist country.
- During the communist times, for 25 years, the country outlawed any type of religion and was an atheistic state. As a result of it being an atheistic state, tolerance among the Albanians developed. Once religion was allowed again, and with everyone being tolerant of each other’s beliefs, a muslim child could convert to Christianity and not be disowned or shunned by the family as is custom and very common in other nations.
- Communism lasted from 1946-1991. The ruler at the time got sick and passed away so his assistant took over and in 1991 the people of Albania got so fed up and wanted to leave the country that a big revolution took place and thousands of people (students) started bombarding the embassies. They say that during the time of communism in the nation, it could have been compared to North Korea’s extremism. The dictator completely isolated the nation and cut off all means from other countries leaving the country extremely impoverished.
- Albanians are fiercely independent and are very proud of their history! It’s even a country that’s talked about in the bible as a place that Paul went except its name was Illyricum at that time. (Romans 15:19)
- Even though Albania was under German control during WWII, Albania is the only country that refused to give up their Jews. They hid them in the mountains and the ones that fled from Macedonia, they considered as guests. They now have a really good relationship with Israel.
- 1912 is when Albania gained independence. Their history is full of dominance from other nations which has affected the people’s way of thinking. They’re used to dictatorial style leadership.
- There are approximately 20,000-30,000 believers in Albania and only about 12,000-15,000 are actually active in the church.
- There’s really no such thing as “dating” here. If you like someone and they like you, you get ENGAGED.
- Albanians are very hospitable and also love cleanliness. They “spring clean” every single day. (Which is nice since we didn’t experience much of that in Asia)
Prayer Requests-
- Our hosts, Claus and Marie, have a home in Oklahoma they’re trying to sell. They’ve been here for 6 years and have rented it out but the renters have moved out and they need to sell it as soon as possible. We’re praying that the Lord will have it sold by the end of this month!
- That the Lord continues growing our team in unity. This is only month 2 together so there’s still learning taking place.
- Also, we hit our HALFWAY mark a few days ago! Wooooo!!!! So, just be in prayer that this 2nd half, I’ll be just as present, if not more, and really press in to what the Lord is going to do.
Love and miss you all!!!
-Leah
