After:
- 1 bus ride
- 5 flights
- 3 continents
- 4 countries
- 3 days
- 1 night in New York
- 1 stop in Target
- Over 25 hours on a plane
- And many skymiles later
- … We made it to Albania
Santa Cruz – Miami – New York – Istanbul – Tirana
after 3 days of travel and very little sleep.
This month we are working in the capital with Campus Crusade’s high
school ministry and I love it.
Everything about this country and the culture are awesome. The people here are very warm and the culture
is very lively and relational. Being
here reminds me of being with my Italian family back home.
with high school students and it’s a perfect culture to do that. Albanians would rather spend their time at
the café drinking espresso or cappuccino with their friends or family all day
than anything else, even eating…so we spend a lot of time at the café drinking
coffee and eating at very strange times throughout the day.
70 – 80% of Albanians are Muslims, but it’s not like the
Middle East kind of Muslims. We don’t
see women walking around in burkas or hear the call to prayer throughout the
day. Albanians are Muslim by heritage
and for the most part they don’t practice Islam, but it is still a Muslim
nation. Originally Albania was a
Christian nation but later became a Muslim nation after they were conquered by
the Turks. After WWII Albania fell into
communism and all forms of religion were banned. Mosques, temples, and churches were all torn
down. Since the fall of communism 20
years ago, religion is beginning to flourish.
The people here are eager to know more and are so receptive to the
Gospel. Most of the Christians here are
first generation Christians and are usually the only Christians in their
families.
