Hello.
I tell you the following tale to give you a bit of perspective into the world my team and I are working in here in Albania. We walked into a classroom day one met by students who had likely all had access to a hearty breakfast, some garnished with signature gold rings and wristwatches; definitely not students considered to be what Jesus describes in Matthew 25 as “the least of these.”
Welcome to Lezha Academic Center (LAC), a private school in Lezhe, Albania, where students from grades 7 – 12 come together to gain a better education and flourish in their English. Students who graduate from LAC even have the potential to go on to international schools (some are in the U.S. and others even in Canada).
My team and I are living at LAC this month and the bulk of our ministry time is spent with the students and teachers. We have been tutoring in Math, English, and assisting in various classrooms. We have been extra hands helping one on one with students as they prepare for their midterms.
A knock came on our door the other morning, not long after the day started, and it was requested that someone come and work with a student who had gotten into some trouble during class. Basically, the staff were looking for someone to sit with him until his parents came to sign him back into class.
I heard the words “trouble” and I was excited!
I wanted the pleasure to hang out with whoever this fellow was to figure out what was up and to see if there was anything I could do to help him.
When I showed up to the room where the student was – I was met by [let’s call him] Ivan, one of the boys who had been in a daily math tutoring group that another team member and I had been facilitating.
I already knew the trouble maker – so we were off to a good start.
Ivan and I started working on homework, while at the same time I began picking his brain to see what all had gone down so early on in the day, and to get a better idea of who this kid was. After all we are here to build relationships and get to know the students.
Ivan was surprisingly an open book – he answered all of my questions with ease, and throughout our conversation I got a lot of fun facts about Ivan and life in Lezhe.
At one point, I asked him about his hobbies, afterschool activities, and anything he enjoys outside of school. After pondering this question for a few minutes he began to tell me a tale about the time he drove a car around Lezhe; keep in mind, he is no older than 15 at the time of this story. He continued on, explaining how he occasionally takes his parents car for a spin around the town, and no one looks twice, except for this one time. One time while he was out, a police officer had the audacity to pull him over and advise that a young boy of his stature probably shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car, and that he should be escorted to the police station for breaking law.
As the story goes, Ivan then called his father (a prominent politician in the city) to get him off the hook. He proudly shared with me that his father made a few calls and the next day, aforementioned police officer no longer had a job.
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Related to this, in Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the Sheep and Goats; how in the coming day God will separate his people on two sides: those who reached out to those in need to feed, clothe, and care for them or those who rejected and ignored, and failed to clothe, feed and care for the least of these.
Coming into the race I anticipated serving the least of these – all if not most of the time.
I did not know that I would be serving in a well-to-do school where the students already have all of their basic needs met. These are all very educated students, some with more power and influence than the average high school student has, others with great potential to get out of some of the bondage their country has faced, yet do they really need someone like me?
As I sat with Ivan in a classroom for the majority of the day I was struck by how much the boys and girls here, most students like Ivan, still need to be invested in. They may not be the least of these, they may not need their basic needs met through the ministry we are working with, but they do need to see more of Jesus and as Matthew 25:40 says “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” This verse and story don’t leave out those who aren’t qualified as the least of these. I’m fairly sure that Jesus would love for us to be loving and serve all of those whom we come into contact with.
This month – I may not be serving children who haven’t had breakfast, I may not be giving love to the unloved, but I can still serve and give just as much of myself to the students here in Lezha. I may be working with a student laden with elaborate gold jewelry and teaching them what full life in Christ is like, or exemplifying a life of humility and grace to them.
The truth is – we can be planting seeds in all sorts of ways – in a well to do Albanian school, a village in the slums, a suburb school in North America, or frankly anywhere we live our lives as followers of Christ.
Whatever we do for the least of these, or even the not so least – we are still working at it for the Lord.
Stay tuned for more insights into the happenings in Lezhe, Albania.
Peace.
