Sometimes I think God has a really funny sense of humor. In every continent I have been to on the world race (besides Central America) I have thought it was going to be my favorite. I knew I loved Asia and thought that would be my favorite continent on the race, then I arrived in Africa and I was sure that would be the continent that would stand out to me the most on the race. Finally, I arrived in Europe excited for countries with more modern technology and to summer in Europe, I mean who doesn’t want to summer in Europe, but not expecting it to capture my attention and heart in the way that it did. I didn’t know how I felt about the country of Albania but in general I was just excited to be in a modern country and begin my transition back into North American culture. I expected to enjoy the continent of Europe but I didn’t expect to get so excited about a small country such as Albania.
I knew very little about Albania before arriving in the country. The only fact I knew about Albania is it does not have any McDonalds (thanks to my love for fun facts) but upon arriving in the country I quickly began to learn about the history and culture of this country. Until 1991 Albania was declared an atheist country- and fun fact Albania is the first country to declare itself atheist. Not only was religion banned during the Communist regime in Albania but people found practicing religion could be tortured, thrown into prison or killed. The slogan during this time was “religion seperates, patriotism unites. We are no longer Muslim, Orthodox or Catholic, we are all Albanians. Our religion is Albanian.” It was only after the fall of Communism in 1991 that religion was permitted back into the country. Because of this most of the country was raised without practicing in any form of religion and although many people will still identify with a religion (the majority being Muslim followed by Catholic) many of these people are non-practicing. This country is made up of first generation Christians with a majority of the Christian population being young adults.
It is so interesting to be in a country where in many ways the culture is so similar to that of North America but because of the religious history views are very different. While North America is experiencing a trend of people leaving the church Albania is experiencing a trend of people returning to the faith. The harvest is plentiful here in Albania. I have met so many amazing people this month who have been receptive and open to the gospel. Although it might not be a quick conversion story these people are genuinely interested in Christianity and want to know more information. One such guy I met was a guy named Ricardo who we met in a park with some of his friends. Ricardo is 17 years old and moved here with his family from Italy. We were able to talk to Ricardo about his beliefs and he pretty much stated he is accepting of all religions but doesn’t identify with any in particular. He wants to find love hoping that will give him meaning in life and seeks to make a positive influence on this world. That is enough for him- he doesn’t care what happens to him after death he is simply living for this life. We were able to talk to Ricardo for about 45 minutes and he began asking us a lot of questions about our faith and told us he had met a missionary from the States a few months ago. He still distinctly remembers his conversation with that missionary and it was evident to me the way God is working on this boy’s life and putting people in his path to help draw him into a relationship with him.
This month my team is doing a ministry called Unsung Heroes. This basically means we are not partnered with a specific ministry but instead spend our month connecting with different organizations that AIM might be interested in working with in the future. It has been an amazing month and I have been blown away by the people God has placed in our path. I thought this month was going to require a lot of researching and networking but it has required very little effort on our part in finding ministries. We have ran into people on the streets, in coffee shops, at fast food restaurants and through accidentally sending emails to the wrong people and through this we have found some amazing contacts. I will write about one such contact Caralee Loring in my next blog.
This month has provided freedom to travel. We started out in the capital, Tirana, and then moved to a beach town on the coast before coming to Greece for a few days and then we will be heading to the south of Albania and tentatively planning to end the month in Northern Albania. It has been great to see so much of one country and to really get a holistic view of it. I can’t believe there is less than 50 days until I return home! Thanks so much for your continued prayer and support on this journey.
