The OM team first made a connection with Besim and his wife, Mirela*, through their two granddaughters, who attended the children’s programme at the Emmanuel Centre. The team at the Emmanuel Centre works primarily amongst the Roma community, sharing God’s love in both spiritual and practical ways. With the Albanian culture placing a huge emphasis on hospitality, the team regularly makes visits to families’ homes, where they are warmly welcomed.

One of these homes was Besim and Mirela’s. Through their visits both Mirela and her granddaughters had become believers, but Besim had not. “At that time, our team was all female,” explains Christine, leader of the Emmanuel Centre team. “Therefore, when we arrived at his house, Beism would excuse himself and leave the house.”

This all changed when Besim suffered his first heart attack. As he tells the story of the event, Besim humorously acts out the way he lay on the stretcher, unable to move. From the joy that he exudes, it is easy to see how his relationship with Christ made an impact on his life.

Besim received good treatment and was quickly able to return home. When he arrived home, the team came to visit. Being unable to leave his bed, he had no choice but to stay and listen. The team talked with the family about the gospel and what it meant to follow Christ. During this time, Besim came to realise that although he hadn’t known God, God knew him and had been watching over him, before and after his heart attack. This revelation led Besim to put his faith in Christ.

With prayer and support from his family and the team, Besim made a good recovery, but Mirela remained concerned for her husband, in case it should happen again. She didn’t want to leave him alone at home, causing an obstacle to her regular attendance at the Emmanuel Centre women’s meeting. The first week that she brought him along, Christine gently informed Mirela why she could not allow Besim to attend the meeting. “If I allow Besim to stay, then the other women may feel uncomfortable about talking openly, and their husbands will not like that a man is there,” explained Christine.

However, she did not want Mirela to miss out on the meeting, so Christine suggested that Besim could sit in the church, above the room in which the meeting was held, where he could read the Bible, pray and worship God.

At first, Besim was hesitant, due to still being young in his faith, but when Christine and Mirela returned to him after the meeting, he was captivated by the presence of God and was reluctant to leave. “Now, this has become a regular thing,” tells Christine. “Every week, he really looks forward to it, and his faith has become very strong.”

Growing in faith

After some time Besim suffered a second heart attack. His experience was like the first, except this time he knew God was watching over him. Before leaving the hospital, Besim was told by the doctors that they had put a stent in and, therefore, it shouldn’t happen again. So, it was unexpected when, recently, Besim suffered a third heart attack. At the hospital, he was surprised to learn that the time before, the stent had not actually been implanted, but was informed that this time it truly had.

Since then Besim’s heart has remained healthy. The OM team continues to meet with him and his family, and he continues to grow in his faith, with a desire to share it with others in his community.

Pray for Besim and his family. Pray for continued health and opportunities for him to share his faith with others. Pray too for the Emmanuel Centre team as they seek to show God’s love to the Roma community.

*name changed

But then things happened to silence those nagging doubts, like the time Saskia went to visit a Gypsy family in their home. Although her spoken Albanian was barely good enough to keep the conversation going, Saskia and the family ended up singing worship songs and dancing Albanian dances together. “The joy I saw in their faces that day reminded me why I am here,” recalls Saskia. “I might not have been able yet to tell them about God’s love, but He let me show it and let me spread His joy amongst His beloved children.”

One or two months later, at one of the first Roma and Gypsy youth meetings that she attended in Albania, Saskia met a teenager called Elira*. She had an indefinable ‘something’ which made her stand out from her peers. Although most of the girls who go to the OM meetings regularly attend school, Elira was in and out of school, living in one area and then another with various relatives. Would her earlier dreams of an education ever be fulfilled? More importantly, would she become a wholehearted follower of Jesus?

Fast forward about a year from meeting Elira, Saskia had learnt enough Albanian to be able to lead a discipleship group for the Roma/Gypsy teenage girls, and things were changing in Elira’s young life. After a failed attempt in going to school in Durrës, a coastal city in Albania, Elira was back living in her home town. She eventually started meeting one-on-one with Saskia to study the Bible after the other girls had stopped attending the discipleship group. In September 2018, Elira went back to high school and joined a newly-founded church in town, even getting baptised last October!

Saskia has now finished her commitment with OM, but what a privilege to have journeyed with Elira in this way, as the heart of this ministry is to see the lives of the Roma/Gypsy people transformed by Jesus. Saskia was amazed how God changed Elira in the few years that she had known her — transforming her from a troubled teenager to an excited follower of Jesus!

Please pray that Elira would finish high school and grow in the Word as she serves at her local church.

Pray for Roma/Gypsy girls like Elira and those who had been a part of Saskia’s discipleship group for God to be their first priority. It can be incredibly difficult for Roma/Gypsy girls once they are engaged or married to be as free to be a part of meetings or to pursue their education. Pray that Elira will one day marry a believer who will encourage her to pursue most importantly Jesus, as well as education or whatever path God is leading her towards.

Please pray that new OMers will have persistence and success as they study the Albanian language, which can be very difficult for foreigners to learn.

Praise God for times of encouragement which help them see that in His wisdom, God can use them anyway, however they feel!

*name changed

Saskia was, at that time, a new OMer from Germany working in the town of Lushnjë with the Roma and Gypsy community–a marginalised people group whom OM in Albania has worked with for over 15 years doing kids’ clubs, Bible studies, house visits, providing material help, offering support in educational development and running youth meetings which was where Saskia found herself. Saskia–to whom everything and everyone was still new–found 16-year-old Elira outstanding.

Elira lived with her grandmother and was a troubled girl. After some time, Elira just up and left Lushnjë. The OM team did not know where she had gone, and heard different stories concerning her whereabouts. Eventually, they discovered she was with her mother in Durrës, a city on the Albanian coast, working in a factory.

This seemed a long way off from pursuing her dream of education. Elira at age 11 had told Christine, the current leader of the Roma and Gypsy Ministry: “I would like to go all the way to university. People in my family want that for me, too.”

Christine then prayed: “God, as long as I am in Albania, I would like to help this girl reach this goal.” Amazingly, OMers in Durrës were able to connect her to a local school; but Elira quit after a short period.

Back in Lushnjë, with winter around the corner, Saskia started a discipleship group with some of the girls from the youth group. She had a special interest in discipling a girl named Kristina* who happened to be Elira's sister. Saskia asked Kristina and one other girl if they would be interested to be a part of this discipleship group; they agreed, and each had a sister they wanted to join as well. By this time, Elira had moved back to Lushnjë after her failed attempt to go to school in Durrës. Later, a fifth girl was added to their group.

Saskia led the girls’ discipleship group in reading the book of John together and was surprised how much Elira, in particular, knew about the Bible. Saskia enjoyed having conversations with the girls and seeing them grow.

However, pretty soon the group started to get smaller. Kristina got engaged and was not allowed to attend the meetings anymore. Two other girls lost interest, and later the fourth girl also got engaged and moved to Greece. Only Elira was still willing and able to attend the discipleship group.

“It was heartbreaking to see the girls leaving or losing interest,” Saskia remembered. “I really wasn't sure if I would like to continue with the discipleship group after the summer break at all. There was not much of a group left.” Saskia, however, received encouragement from God and decided to continue the meetings and focus on Elira.

To Saskia's joy, Elira decided to go back to school in September 2018. Also at this time, Elira began attending a newly founded church and was baptised. Saskia and Elira restarted their meetings in October, and Elira went every week with her Bible and notebook in hand, and the desire to get to know God more in her heart.

Saskia has finished her commitment with OM, but feels privileged to have journeyed with Elira. She was amazed at how God changed Elira in the few years that she had known her—transforming her from a troubled teenager to an excited follower of Jesus!

Please pray that Elira will grow in the Word as she serves with her local church. Also, pray for the other girls who were part of Saskia’s discipleship group—that God would be their first priority (One of them was baptised at the same time as Elira!).

*Name changed

Christine and Saskia, OM team members, believed she did. OM runs the Emmanuel Centre, an educational and holistic outreach to the Roma community in Lushnjë. Nertila was known to the Emmanuel Centre and had attended a kids’ programme at a local church for years — even being baptised at age 14. Christine observed her develop socially, educationally and spiritually. It was wonderful for her to see Nertila start her first year of high school.

However, like many Roma families in Albania, in 2016, Nertila’s family went to other cities to harvest illegal drugs. Nertila had to leave school for several months. When they returned, it was not possible for her to continue her first year of high school, due to her extended absenteeism. She had to wait until the new school year started.

However, when the academic year commenced, and registrations were being taken, Nertila did not appear. Christine and Saskia visited her home, where they learnt that Nertila’s father had not given her permission to return to school. Instead, she was to stay at home, close to her mother. (Many Roma girls at this age would begin to prepare for marriage.)  Nertila’s mother, however, wanted a better future for her daughter, and joined Christine, Saskia and Nertila in praying for the future.

Somehow, a few days later, Nertila’s mother took her to be registered at the high school in their neighbourhood, and her father did not object to her attendance at that time! OM Albania praised God for Nertila’s second chance at an education.

However, even in light of this great opportunity, the disappointing reality is that Nertila is currently not in school where she should be in her second year of high school; she is, in fact, currently in Greece doing temporary work. This was probably not much of a choice for her, since she is now in a relationship with a man as her 'husband', and he is in Greece.

Nertila had been going to the youth meetings. She then later attended the women’s meetings for a period of time as these are for the 'grown-up' ladies. However, Saskia has not even seen her since her 'marriage'. Apparently, she is not allowed to go to high school anymore because of her 'husband'.

After Christine and Saskia found out the truth about Nertila’s current situation, Saskia stated: “For Christine and me, it was a big shock; none of us expected this. It was sad and disappointing, and just heart breaking...”

The sad truth is that quite often when an Albanian girl gets into a relationship, she faces more difficulties in being involved in outside activities. From the human perspective, there is little hope that Nertila will be allowed to continue school or to come to the meetings when she arrives back from Greece. Nonetheless, from God’s perspective, nothing is impossible.

Although a preferable ending for this story would be to confidently report that Nertila is back in school, and readily receiving spiritual input, the current situation shows a more realistic reality of OM Albania’s line of work with the Roma community. Not all stories have the neatest of endings. However, there is always hope in the One who holds the end from the beginning!

Please pray for Nertila to complete high school, to continue to be connected to believers and to walk with God, growing to her full potential in Him. Pray for Nertila’s 'husband' to become a believer, as he is in the position to greatly help or hinder her in the process of education and involvement with Christian activities. Please pray for great grace and wisdom for OMers in Lushnjë as they reach out to Roma girls like Nertila. Please especially pray for the Roma girls who are already walking with the Lord; pray that when they are pressured to get married, they will have the courage and wisdom to know what to do.

*name changed for security

This young woman, who now serves God in Albania with OM’s special needs ministry, sees how God brought her from across the European continent to Albania for the specific purpose of using her professional skills in a major city to serve kids and youth with disabilities—some of the most marginalised people in Albanian society.

Going against the flow

As elsewhere in the Balkans, lack of exposure and prejudice still lead many people in Albania to regard disability as a matter of stigma and shame, even divine punishment. For several years, God has put a passion in the hearts of OM workers there to bear witness to the truth—that people with disabilities of any type or extent are unique and precious in His sight, fully valuable as individuals and able to enjoy a relationship with Him. Professionals in health and education have not been raised with this point of view of those with special needs. Therefore, Christian teachers and therapists, who both understand these truths and can effectively implement therapies, can tremendously impact the society.

Anna’s path to Albania

“My journey here began in Africa,” says Anna. After leaving school in 2011, she spent a year teaching German to the kids of a missionary family in Burundi. One of their children had multiple disabilities; working with her helped shape Anna’s future career plan: training special needs children to help them in their development, including using inclusive education.

Whilst Anna was studying in Germany, a friend, who had taken a break from his own teacher studying in 2015 to spend two years with OM in Albania to work with Roma children, invited some of their student group to come over to Albania for an outreach. It was then that Anna first came to Albania. The Easter before Anna qualified in 2016, another group (along with Anna) came again, and she and another girl had the possibility to see one part of the special needs ministry in Durrës.

“The leader of the special needs outreach challenged me to come and work in Albania straight away!” Anna recalls. But she preferred to get some professional experience first in Germany, taking a job after her graduation in a kindergarten for children with mental disabilities.

One and a half years later, this job contract was drawing to a close, and Anna was praying seriously about her future—was missions what God wanted for her, and could she use her professional skills somewhere? Anna had not forgotten the challenge that had been given to her before to come and work in Albania.

Additionally, a German friend, who knew Anna well and had visited Albania before, encouraged her to go. She told her how she had thought even two years before that Anna would fit well there—even before Anna knew about the special needs ministry. After this conversation, it seemed everything kept falling into place, including Anna’s home church being supportive. In January 2018, Anna arrived in Albania.

Great expectations for ministry

Anna’s arrival has been a great boost for the OM Albania team. The highly experienced special needs teacher, who had restarted the OM ministry to people with disabilities around six years ago (and who had challenged Anna to go there in 2016) had returned to Germany in September 2017. The team had been praying for new colleagues with specialist skills to replace him, to carry the special needs ministry forwards. With her preliminary language study completed, Anna has started contributing to two key aspects of the ministry.

Coming alongside isolated families with disabled children

OM and a local evangelical church reach out to around 10 to 12 families who care for their disabled children at home, through a combination of a popular weekly meeting called Sweet Mess (modelled on the Messy Church movement*) and/or frequent house visits during the week.

In Albania, around 80 per cent of disabled children receive no education at all; there are only six schools for special needs kids in the whole country, offering 700 places (Unicef, 2014.) For most families who have a child with disabilities, therefore, the only help they get from the state is a modest monthly allowance from social services—no occupational therapy or physiotherapy, no adaptive aids or technologies. Lack of disabled access to buildings can leave children housebound. Families struggle on alone, doing the best they can to care for their children, but are hindered by the same lack of education and training that has thus far affected the rest of society.

The house visits offer educational input for the disabled child, support for parents through a listening ear and practical help, and study help for siblings. Anna regularly does house visits and hopes to build deeper relationships with the parents; from a basis of trust she can more easily share professional insights, which, if accepted by the parents, could help in releasing the potential in their children.

Bringing new values

The second key area is deepening the existing level of involvement by the special needs ministry at the local state-run development and residential centre for children and young people, one of eight such institutions in Albania. There are about thirty young residents, aged anywhere from around four to 25, all with some degree of physical and/or learning disability or sensory impairment. While some parents do visit their children at the centre, some of the residents are orphans. Others have parents who abandoned them or could not provide the support and resources the children needed.

Many of the care staff lack training; OM would love to see these carers reach their own potential, so that they, in turn, could help the young residents to develop as much as possible. Anna is excited that the director is open to her being there, and there have been discussions about the carers getting training. Anna is aware, however, of the challenges involved in building trust with the staff at the centre. She attempts to do her activities and therapy in a sensitive way that the carers can accept, since it does take time to build relationships, and the concepts and values are at times new to them. She hopes to see the staff later using the new skills and techniques they have learned in their daily interactions with the young people.

Anna also hopes to expand the range of activities which OM undertakes. Currently, OM workers and members of the local evangelical church with whom they partner, go to the centre weekly. They have regularly escorted a dozen of the youngsters to a café in town and hosted a party for them for an hour or so—the only regular time away from the institution that many of the young people have during a normal week, which is, of course, a great highlight. This form of fun and attention has had a positive impact on the children’s social skills and behaviours.

However, there are around twenty other residents whose disabilities are too severe for them to be cared for outside safely and with whom it is difficult to interact. It would be great to introduce activities for this group, too, and to equip the carers with new skills for these specific children and young people. Anna shares a need she has observed: “The wheelchairs at the centre are inadequate because they lack specialised features like head supports, which means a child’s physical problems can actually be made worse. It is so frustrating. If only we had a colleague who could modify those existing chairs, or even build specialist ones!”

Ways to respond

Please pray for Anna to have sensitivity, perseverance and wisdom as she develops effective and trusting relationships with families in the community and with staff at the state-run centre. Pray for language and cultural barriers to be minimised. Pray for professional skill to meet the needs of young people across a whole spectrum of disabilities and that she would be a source of great blessing.

There are many hopes and expectations resting on Anna’s shoulders. If you have relevant skills, will you consider joining her in OM Albania’s Special Needs Ministry, as a volunteer or full-time colleague?

Postscript

Anna has now been working in the centre for four months, working with several children in individual sessions, helping in areas such as developing fine motor skills and cognitive development. The carers have started to show some interest in coming alongside Anna while she works with the children.  Anna’s hope is not only for the children to keep developing, but that the interest of the carers to further develop the children will also increase. Anna continues with regular house visits, working with two special needs children who live at home. She is encouraged how things have come into place and is hopeful for her future ministry with these precious children.

*Messy Church is an iniative of The Bible Reading Fellowship that offers a way of being church for families across the world involving fun and helping people encounter Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Little did Suela know that a fruitful seed had been planted and that Melisa would go home and look into ministry opportunities, including on the OM ship, Logos Hope. Melisa discovered that this newest OM ship sailed to different port cities around the world, supplying educational and Christian literature, training young people on board and reaching out to nations in practical ways, sharing God’s message of love.

In the summer of 2017, Melisa had the opportunity to go to TeenStreet Europe – Balkan in Montenegro, where young people were challenged about what role they were playing in their lives. Melisa confided in Suela that her heartfelt desire was to grow spiritually and to be involved with ministry. Suela prayed with this searching young lady, advising Melisa to ask God what was on His heart. 

Then Melisa came back to Suela at the end of October, saying she wanted to go to Logos Hope—in January! Suela was thinking, “It’s too short of a time to get through the application process, raising support, etc., etc.!” 

Melisa, however, believed that this was from God, and the Lord proved Himself faithful, bringing everything together for her. The application process went quickly. God even miraculously provided all her financial support within one month! Suela experienced unforgettable joy in seeing 19-year-old Melisa go to Logos Hope, as well as witnessing their small church sending out their first missionary by sacrificially supporting her.

Melisa, who has a two-year commitment with Logos Hope, has now been on board since February 2018. She said, “Working on a mission ship with a Christian community, I’ve grown up in faith; God has opened my eyes to see the Christian family through them, even in different cultures.” Melisa started out working in the galley, helping to daily provide food for the approximately 400 crew members and volunteer staff from 45 to 50 different countries serving on board. Melisa described her galley team as a “lovely family together” who worked hard, but whose “community with God and each other [was] close!” 

Due to pain in her joints, Melisa changed roles and is now working in the people development office, where she is taking over the children's ministry job. Besides being involved with different events on board in every port, Melisa has also joined with a prayer group on Logos Hope called Extraordinary Prayer. Melisa gets together with others in early hours of the day or at break times from work to pray for a nation the Holy Spirit puts on their hearts.

Off the ship, Melisa has found many activities to be involved with. While the ship is in different ports, she visits villages, churches, schools and orphanages, and has evangelised on the streets. She also spent two weeks with a team in Mexico City during the ship’s yearly dry dock earlier this year, where she did an evangelistic workshop and children’s ministry.  In Melisa’s own words, “I'm growing more in God and being amazed how God is changing my life.”

Although Albania is economically one of the poorest countries in Europe, there are rich testimonies coming from this incredible country. Pray that Albania will become more and more a sending nation—sending out Albanians, like Suela and Melisa, eager to spread the good news!

Melisa, who is one of four sisters, has a strong desire to see her family walk close to God. She shares God stories with them about her time on board, and they are open to listen and curious to know more. Praise God that one of Melisa’s family members has given their life to Christ since Melisa joined the ship! Please pray for all in her family to have open hearts to Jesus. Pray that Melisa would continue to grow spiritually and be strong in faith and in good health. Pray for Melisa as she continues in her role in leading children’s ministry.

Hidden people come into view

In a culture that previously, out of fear and ignorance, widely shunned people with disabilities, some onlookers may find this ‘crocodile’ just as frightening. The ‘crocodile’ is composed of twelve children and young people with moderate or severe learning disabilities, some confined to wheelchairs by physical handicaps, but all hands safely held (or chairs pushed) by the members of a local church and OM team members, who comprise this mercy ministry. The dozen helpers also include a caretaker from the state-run development centre where these young people live, one of eight such institutions in Albania. While some parents do visit their children at the centre, some of the residents are orphans. Others have parents who abandoned them or could not provide the support and resources the children needed.

Leaving the centre at around 10:00, it takes the ‘crocodile’ about fifteen minutes on foot to reach its destination—a quiet café, where, with every courtesy, the friendly owner Blerim* pushes the tables and chairs together to accommodate his two dozen guests, adjusts parasols and takes orders for drinks. Now the youngsters and their friends can relax together for the next hour, munching on snacks, singing and laughing loudly and enjoying the warm sunshine. It is the highlight of the week for these young people—for many of them their only experience of the world outside their institution during a normal week. After an hour or so, everyone bids Blerim and his café goodbye and starts the return walk to the centre, two-by-two.

Others still unseen

Back indoors at the centre, the next set of goodbyes takes place—this time to the helpers. Other young people, who never come out on Thursdays, look on, not fully understanding; their disabilities are too severe, their behaviours too unpredictable for them to join the café experience. Doors are locked again, and as the main gate in the outer wall clangs shut for another week, the departing volunteers see faces pressed against the safety bars on the upstairs windows, which overlook the street.

Greater involvement in prospect

Although members of OM Albania’s special needs ministry have been visiting the centre for six years and have seen many improvements in the residents’ living conditions, ministry leader Sidorela knows it is possible, with the right interventions, for many of the children to develop more. “Here’s a simple example,” she says, talking about one of the girls, Besarta*, who, when she first visited the café, used to sit hunched right over the table, face almost in her plate of snacks. “All we did was keep prompting her to sit up,” recalls Sidorela. “She began to do so, and now she sits upright without us saying anything and can feed herself.”

Of course, most of the young people need the intervention of specialist therapists. The OMer who restarted the ministry to the state centre was a very experienced special needs teacher, and since he left last year, the OM team have missed his input. However, two new team members arrived earlier this year. Deasy from Indonesia is a music therapist for children with special needs, while Anna from Germany is a special needs educationalist. Both women have started to work with the residents at the centre, coordinating activities and therapy sessions for the children throughout the week.

OM Albania, in collaboration with other partners, is working on providing some therapy training to improve the staff’s day-to-day interactions with the young people.

Slowly, the general attitude towards children with special needs has changed, including in the world outside the state centre. OMer Lisi recently told a man that she works with the church with whom OM partners in this ministry. “Oh yes,” he replied, with a beaming smile. “You’re the people that go past my shop every week!” She sensed his approval of Christians—or at least how they display God’s love in action to the youngsters with disabilities, as the ‘crocodile’ goes through town on Thursday mornings.

*Name changed to protect privacy

Praise God that the director of the state development centre is positive about the involvement of OM and the local church with the young people. Please pray for wisdom for therapists Anna and Deasy as they plan and do therapeutic activities to benefit the residents. May the caretakers approach training opportunities with open minds.

Praise God that some local people are being impacted by seeing God’s love in action, like the shopkeeper and café owner, Blerim, whose children went a few times to Sunday school at the church. May more hearts be opened towards disabled people and the God who loves them.

A rare resource for the whole family

Sweet Mess (‘Rrëmujë e ëmbël’, in Albanian) is hosted by a local church and OMers for the 10 families in their community who each have a special needs family member. Like a messy-church, Sweet Mess is full of fun, crafts, Bible stories, prayer, songs, a puppet and dramas, along with a tasty meal for all to share. The event is a rare opportunity for these families – an oasis from a culture which defines and limits their daily lives. Here they can feel loved by God and His people: valued and equal.

A special meeting at the lake

Fisnik* aged 27, his mother Linda* and 17 year-old brother Dritan* are regular, enthusiastic attenders at Sweet Mess. The family was invited by OM team member Lisi after a ‘chance meeting’, which almost didn’t happen.

Lisi enjoyed growing up near the Austrian Alps and sometimes needs to get away from the hot dust and concrete of the city suburbs in Albania where she lives. “I need to see green, not buildings!” she smiles, describing the day she first met Fisnik and his mother. That day was her final attempt to find a beautiful lake a few kilometres out of town, having gotten lost on four previous occasions. On that one last try, she found it.

Reaching the shore of the lake, Lisi drank in the view from the side of the road. She was not alone; outside a nearby house, next to a roadside stall, a young man sat hunched in a wheelchair.  An older woman, evidently the stallholder, stood by him, taking a break from her work to enjoy the scenery. Lisi could see that the young man had profound physical and learning disabilities, and when Lisi introduced herself, he smiled broadly, but could only respond with unintelligible sounds. The woman said that he was her son, Fisnik; her name was Linda.

'Would they want to come?'

Fisnik’s severe disabilities mean he has been almost house-bound from childhood, placing huge demands on his parents and siblings to care for him. As a member of OM’s special needs ministry, Lisi perceived the sheer isolation of this disadvantaged family. She decided to invite Linda and Fisnik to Sweet Mess, But sudden doubt and shyness seized her. “They wouldn’t want to come, and, anyway, it would be too much hassle for us to come out here for them,” she reasoned, and without making the invitation, went off for a walk round the lake.

On her return about thirty minutes later, the mother and son were still there. Again, Lisi experienced the inner conflict whether to invite them or not. She forced herself to do so, recognising it as a spiritual battle. Two days later, Linda got in touch, and she and her two sons have been attending Sweet Mess ever since. It’s a bit of a drive out on a pot-holed road for the OM team to collect them from their village, and time-consuming to help Fisnik into the car, but nobody minds the extra effort involved.

Sensing God’s heart for the disabled

Looking back on that day by the lake, Lisi’s eyes fill with tears, as she quotes from Psalm 72 about how God delivers the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no-one to help, because they are precious in His sight. “One of the helpers from the local church put it like this,” she concluded. "She said to me, ‘you thought you went searching for the lake, but really it was God searching for Fisnik.’”

* names changed to protect privacy

Praise God for the way He led Lisi to meet Fisnik and his family. May God guide the OM team and church members to more families like this to become believers in Jesus through “Sweet Mess”. May the hearts of all who attend be open to respond to the gospel.

Fisnik’s family has had contact with the gospel, and the OM team would like to do a Bible study at Fisnik’s house with the mother and maybe Fisnik’s brother and the neighbour lady. Pray for their neighbour who would like to know more about Jesus but whose family would oppose this.

Pray that the OM team receives enough financial support to cover transport costs and for equipment like wheelchairs which these poor families struggle to obtain.

Why children with disabilities are overlooked

Two factors contribute to this negligence. First, negative attitudes in Albania towards all kinds of disability or sensory impairment had previously been deeply embedded in the culture; as elsewhere in the Balkans, lack of exposure and prejudice still lead many to regard disability as a matter of stigma and shame, even divine punishment. Secondly, the years of isolation under communism seem to have left a lack of knowledge professionally; at a number of levels in healthcare and education, some staff lack important training. OM would like to see caretakers of people with special needs being trained more so that these precious people can fulfil their potential to develop and to know that they can make a valuable contribution to society. OM desires that both sides (caretakers and those with disabilities) would grow in their belief that they are uniquely valuable as individuals and loved by God.

The impact on whole families

There are only six special schools in the whole country, offering 700 places (Unicef, 2014). For most families with a disabled child, therefore, the only help they get from the state is a modest monthly allowance from social services—no occupational therapy or physiotherapy, no adaptive aids or technologies. Lack of disabled access to buildings can leave children housebound. Families struggle on alone, doing the best they can to care for their children but hindered by the same lack of training, and perhaps vision, that has thus far affected the rest of society.

Other children within the family unit are affected, too; the academic success for those in the Albanian public education system depends on students being able to do the majority of studying as homework, with parental assistance. But when that parent is totally absorbed in the care of a disabled sibling, brothers and sisters often lack essential support and encouragement and fail to reach their own potentials.

How OM and local believers are making a difference

In one major city, OM partners with a local evangelical church to shine God’s love into this difficult situation by supporting isolated families. Key strategies include a weekly outreach event called Sweet Mess (Rrëmujë e ëmbël in Albanian), which is hosted by the church and OMers for now 10 local families with a special needs family member. Equally important are the home visits to these families, which the church and OM make during the rest of the week. The holistic activities and care are tailored to the situation of the individual family; a visit could include providing some educational input for the disabled child, supporting parents with a listening ear and practical help and helping siblings with that all-important homework.

Based on the messy-church concept, whole families come to Sweet Mess—the child with disabilities, a parent and their siblings. Sweet Mess is full of fun, crafts, a puppet, Bible stories, prayer, songs and dramas, along with a tasty meal for all to share. The event is a rare opportunity for these families—an oasis from the culture that defines and limits their daily lives. Here they can feel loved by God and His people, valued, equal.

The impact on two brothers

Sixteen-year-old Arben* is a regular attendee at Sweet Mess. He has special needs and is also physically disabled—paralysed and in a wheelchair. His entire life has been in a small, cold, run-down house, along with his recently widowed mother, sister and two brothers. He has never been to school. Someone from the church invited Arben’s mother to bring all the children to Sweet Mess, so members of the OM team started to drive out each week to help Arben out of his house and into the OM car, along with his mother and siblings, for the ride to church. “He adores coming; it’s the highlight of his week!” shares OM Albania team member, Lisi*, from Austria. 

Arben has a younger brother called Edon*, who was getting behind with his schoolwork, so Sidorela*, an Albanian who heads up the ministry, started making home visits to help him with his studies. Arben made it clear that he also wanted to learn, so Lisi started to come to the house as well, to focus on Arben. She learnt to understand his way of speaking and began trying to teach him the numbers one to six. Initially, Lisi brought a big bag of toys with her every time, which Arben was always very excited about, but then she also brought stamps with numbers and different shapes. Though Arben is able to hold a pencil, he is not able to direct it due to the lack of control in his hands. But grasping the stamps, he is able, for the first time in his life, to “write” the numbers himself and to ‘draw’ a picture.

Encouragement for sibling brothers

Arben’s brother, Edon, is one of five boys, siblings of several of the disabled kids, for whom Menno*, an OM worker from The Netherlands, has organised a few special group activities or outings, which included taking them to a football match at the city stadium. One of these boys is 17-year-old Dritan*, who would love to become a graphic/web designer. When a team organised by OM Portugal came to visit OM Albania in the spring, Sidorela planned to take three of the Portuguese team members to visit a particular family. But last-minute changes meant Sidorela took them to Dritan’s family instead. As Gonçalo*, one of the Portuguese visitors, later commented, this proved a real “God-incidence” for him and Dritan because Gonçalo is a web designer himself. In their non-native tongue of English, the two young men could talk about their interest in design. How amazing that Gonçalo could meet Dritan and share how he had choosen his career path, encouraging Dritan to pursue his dream.

Two sisters get an education, against the odds

Sidorela has also become closely involved in the situation of a poor Roma family. The mother Anita* has two daughters and a son who come to Sweet Mess. The older daughter is called Tatjana*, aged about twelve. However, at the age when she might have started school, Tatjana’s parents brought her along to beg instead, so she missed five or six years of education. The family found it easier to beg and receive money because their younger daughter, Elira*, who is seven years old, has one leg shorter than the other due to a childhood accident, making walking difficult.

When OM offered to help get the girls registered at school in 2017, Sidorela was amazed that the parents agreed. Although pupils of Tatjana’s age would normally be in the fifth grade, she had to start in the first grade, along with Elira. Four mornings a week, Sidorela and Lisi go to Anita’s home, help the girls with homework for two hours and then take them to school. “It’s almost a miracle,” Sidorela comments, “both that Anita and her husband agreed that Tatjana and Elira could start at school and that the girls actually go!”

Two of the aspects of the special needs ministry that Sidorela particularly enjoys is seeing families’ lives changed in holistic ways—spiritually, emotionally and practically—and having the opportunity to interact and build relationships with the families she meets.

The way forward

Sidorela anticipates that more therapeutic input can be provided by two new colleagues with professional skills and experience who joined the OM team in early 2018. Both have finished their initial language study and are involved in the weekly activities. Anna* is a special needs educationalist from Germany, and Deasy* is a music therapist from Indonesia.

The need in Albania is great, since for every disabled child and family which OM works with, there are so many more struggling alone to survive. If you have relevant skills and experience in therapy or teaching, and a heart for the most forgotten, please ask God how He wants you to respond, because OM Albania has a place for you.

Please pray:

• For God’s enabling as Deasy and Anna start using their professional skills in a new culture with a difficult language; for the patience and persistence to build trusting relationships with the staff at the state centre for special needs people; pray also for the staff to be open to learning new ways of helping the children and young people develop.
• For grace and wisdom as the team plans and runs homework and development programmes for the kids with disabilities and their siblings like Tatjana and Edon—may these youngsters fully grasp the opportunities and fulfil their potentials.
• For sufficient staffing and funding to keep running Sweet Mess every week and to purchase much-needed therapy equipment and resources for the young people with disabilities.
• For the hearts of every family member to respond to the love of Jesus, as they see it lived out through the week in the actions and attitudes of OMers and members of the local church.

* Surname not included for security

Once a week, Erna does a Bible study with the group, encouraging them to read the New Testament; those who did not have one at the beginning of the programme, received one. Interestingly, one of the ladies who was quite sceptical in the beginning, was the first to start reading the New Testament! Though the women are from an Orthodox background, their faith had been based on observing traditions and religion. They had many different questions, and the Bible study became longer every week. After some time, Erna and her helper explained what it meant to be saved. When Erna asked if anyone wanted to commit her life to Jesus, a few women said, “Yes” immediately, while others had more questions. After explaining the gospel clearly, emphasising it was a personal decision coming from the heart and not to please her, Erna led the ladies in prayer. Afterwards, when she asked who had prayed, Erna found out all eight ladies who had not known Christ as their Saviour had prayed.

Erna shared, “It was hard for me to believe it! Yes, I had prayed for their salvation, but I was so amazed at what God had done in their lives. Glory to God for this awesome miracle!”

Within a week, all the ladies reported that they had seen changes in their lives. One lady asked, "What happens to my children and husband now that I am a believer?” Erna told her that each of them has to make a decision, but that she should pray that the Holy Spirit would touch their lives.

The Holy Spirit did powerfully move in one woman from the sewing course who seemed to have previously committed her life to Jesus, but had turned to following superstitions and traditions. This lady had superstitious items in her home; however, after hearing the truth, as far as Erna understands, she cleared her house of them.

Although the sewing course finished, the ladies wanted to continue the Bible study. A number of the women from the course have been attending, as well as other women who were not in the sewing training.

Family members can make it difficult at times for some of the women to attend Bible study; please pray that the ladies will not face family opposition, but will have the permission and desire to go to church and the Bible study. Also, please pray for Erna as she continues with other sewing courses—that more women’s hearts would be as open as these precious ladies from Gorre. Pray for Albanian women to be strengthened and to together grow spiritually as they sow into God’s Kingdom.

* surname not mentioned for security reasons

When OM launched their kingdom-oriented micro and small business initiative, Business as Mission (BAM), in Albania, they decided to focus on Christians who ran businesses and needed assistance to grow, teaching them that profitable kingdom businesses should be managed in such a way as to positively impact the community spiritually, socially and economically. From the start, BAM Albania committed to operate in a way that first honoured God—whether in bee-keeping, running a tyre business or working with metal. As Enio, BAM’s leader, commented, “One of the key ways we teach is to have a legal business by registering, paying taxes, bills and stuff.”

In 2016, one of the very first businesses that BAM started was a small metal fabrication shop in west-central Albania, run by a Christian man called Turi*. One of BAM Albania’s goals was to create sustainability in churches, communities and Christian families through job creation, and Turi needed his own business in order to manage his time for work, his young family and his involvement in church activities, including being part of the worship team. Turi’s local church also had a project of planting various churches in different villages, and he and his wife were sent to help with a church plant in a traditional Muslim village.

In his BAM-supported business, Turi used his gifting and skills in the hands-on tasks of welding and metal work on windows and gates. His shop was located in an industrial area of the town, where there were many other different businesses, such as carpenters, car mechanics and house builders. However, it was hard to find any other legally-established enterprise, Enio recalled.

On different days of the week, the tax inspectors came to this area to check whether these businesses were paying taxes or not. When all these business operators saw the inspectors coming, they closed up. The only business that remained open was Turi’s shop. It was a great testimony for all the other businessmen to see that Turi, a Christian, was the only one who was not afraid of the taxman.

In fact, when the inspectors stopped by Turi's business, checked his documents and saw that all his paperwork was in order, they actually thanked Turi for his organisation. “It was such an amazing encouragement also for us running BAM about the ways we honour God through our business and how we can be a testimony to the others,” Enio said.

Please pray for the other current BAM-supported businesses that OM Albania follows up with, as well as future BAM-trained kingdom enterprises—that they would all maintain these strong values, shining Christ’s pure light in the workplace and in the communities in Albania.

*Name changed for security

For more than 45 years, Albania had been one of the most closed—and poorest—countries in Europe. Christians prayed for ways to share the gospel, but doors remained obstinately shut. One of OM’s creative projects involved floating parcels of tracts into Albania as an OM ship sailed up the coast. We later found some of these tracts in the Museum of Atheism and Religion in Tirana, as an example of the attempts by imperialist Western governments to corrupt Albanians.

But on this day in June 1991, a small team of us listened as, for the first time in generations, Brother Andrew openly shared the gospel. The response was incredible: All week, our team was surrounded by Albanians full of questions: “Does God love Albania? Does God remember Albania? Does God really love us?” It was genuinely transformational: At the end of the week, on 7 July, 43 Albanians were baptised in Lake Tirana. What had been a lake at the heart of a country bathed in Communism and atheism, became the birthplace of the modern Albanian church. Men and women rose from the baptismal waters with faith in Christ—and little else. No church buildings awaited their worship, no songs existed in modern Albanian, few Bibles were available. Yet a new era dawned, full of promise and excitement.

First on the ground

Last year, OM celebrated 25 years of The Disciples Church in Durres, one of many churches borne out of the early years of openness. A South African OM worker, Pranesh Anandlal, was the team leader and the first pastor of that church.

“Our team of five first went in-country in November 1991. Our excitement was rapidly followed by stunned silence: The extreme poverty was unbelievable. Durres then had a population of 60,000, and there were only eight cars in the whole city. People had nothing. There was so little food. We were the first group of foreigners to come and live in Durres, and they didn’t know how to respond to us.”

The team started with three goals: to learn the language, start Bible study groups and learn the culture. Within the first four weeks, the team had led four to five people to the Lord, says Pranesh, so on 25 December, they invited everyone they knew to their first Christmas meeting in Durres.

“We spoke very little Albanian, so we used a translator,” remembers Pranesh. “There were maybe 50 people there. I opened in prayer. Halfway through, the translator nudged me: ‘I think at first you should explain whom you are talking to. These people have no understanding of God.’ The Albanians then had literally no idea about God.”

During that first meeting, a girl named Oneida heard singing in English, walked in and sat at the back. At the end, the team gave everyone a gift—the only portion of the Bible in modern Albanian, the Gospel of John. Oneida took it, went home and read it. Later, she met Anthea, a team member; she had questions about what she had read. “How can God be my father? My father is dead.” Anthea explained about her heavenly father and led her to the Lord.

From that time, the team and new believers met on Sundays, and the church grew from five believers to 150 within three years. “It is still going strong to this day,” reports Pranesh.

Sing praises of God to Albania

In spring 1992, Pranesh and the team were invited to an Albanian wedding. “The bride wanted the foreigners to join their celebration, so we carried our guitar in case they asked us to sing.” And they did; afterwards the mother of the bride began to cry, explaining, “When I was a young girl, I had a vision or a dream that one day a group of foreigners would come and sing the praises of God to Albania,” says Pranesh. “We led her to the Lord, along with her husband. While she has now gone to be with the Lord, her husband is still a deacon in the church in Albania.

“God gave us a unique window of opportunity in Albania. We had about five years until things changed,” continues Pranesh. “If we hadn’t taken it, we would have missed it. But because OM was creative, flexible and available, God used us. We were in the right place at the right time. There was no set plan to reach Albania, yet the churches we planted are still flourishing. Are we thus ready to be used by God today?” 

Katherine and her husband, Lloyd, have served with OM for 26 years. Six years helping to establish teams in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism paved the way for 11 years as field leaders in Russia. In 2007, they and their two daughters moved to Western Australia, recruiting and sending people to serve across the OM world. Katherine is currently the Director of OM Global Organisational Development.

One Friday in June, Andreas and the school psychologist, Milva*, were doing a test to find out about the eyesight of several of the students. Local eye doctors do not normally put much effort in testing and also do not inform the patients or their parents properly.

In the file of one boy, Sajmir*, it was recorded that in his left eye he is completely blind and that his right eye still has a small amount of sight. The test that Andreas and Milva were doing clearly showed that Sajmir also had eyesight in his left eye. Everyone gladly accepted the news.

Half an hour later Sajmir's father came unexpectedly into Milva's office to pick up his son for the weekend. As usual he immediately started complaining about the bad health care system in Albania and that there were no doctors to treat his son properly.

When he had calmed down a bit, Milva and Andreas told him the good news that his son also has eyesight in his left eye. He could not believe this, because all the doctors always told him differently. So Andreas repeated the test which he had done with Sajmir. The result was obvious even to Sajmir's father -his son had eyesight in his left eye.

Sajmir's father became silent. Tears ran down his cheeks. He went to his son and embraced him, because for him a miracle had just occured. God had not healed Sajmir, but he shown his father the truth.

* Names are changed

The ladies were really excited to be part of the sewing course. They loved to learn and Erna enjoyed teaching them how to make their own clothes. The lessons were not only meant to teach them how to measure, cut and sew clothes, but each week, they also had a Bible study series teaching about how God provides. One study in November was about Lazarus and the rich man. They first watched the story on DVD and then talked together about what they had seen.

Erna asked the ladies if they knew where they would spend eternity. One said, “No, I don’t know.”  So, Erna was able to share with them how she knew where she would go after her life on earth was over. Another question Erna asked was: why Lazarus got to heaven – because he was poor or because he was good? One lady said because he was so good.

With this answer in mind, Erna started to share the Gospel of salvation clearly, telling the ladies how every person can be saved through faith in Christ. After she had explained this, she asked the ladies if anyone would like to commit their life to Jesus. Three of them said they wanted to do it that day! One other lady told Erna that she had made the decision before.

For Erna it was such a great joy to lead three ladies in a prayer to Jesus. What a great joy to see these ladies, all from Muslim backgrounds, become new Christians.

The sewing course was run in partnership with the evangelical church in the town. This church has a regular ministry among the Roma community and they are continuing to teach the ladies in the Word of God.

Please pray for the continued growth and discipleship of these new believers and continued interest among the Roma community.

The boxes were new beehives, and joining the Pepas in prayer was Brian Poole, an OM microbusiness developer, asking God to bless the Pepas’ new microbusiness venture: beekeeping.

Albania’s economic problems bring hardship to many families, especially in villages like the one in which the Pepas live. Tomorr Pepa did not have regular employment for several years, and tensions developed in his family.  

But Tomorr and his wife became believers in Jesus in 2012 and were greatly impacted by the discipleship course they took with an OM worker. Their young-adult children are now believers too, and the home environment has much improved. But Tomorr still yearned to support his family.

When Brian Poole arrived in Lushnje, Albania, in early 2014, he met the Pepas at a local church and saw potential in them to run their own business.

OM Albania’s microbusiness ministry, called Business As Mission Albania, seeks to create partnerships between investors, entrepreneurs and business people worldwide to establish sustainable, profitable businesses in poor and spiritually needy communities, which will lead to socio-economic, spiritual and environmental transformation.

Tomorr Pepa joined 16 other local Christians in Brian’s four-week basic business course last summer to work through eight sessions that teach daily business operations to open and run a successful business. During the course, the students develop feasibility studies on their own ventures, and then compose business synopses and plans.

“The final piece of the puzzle is when investors are invited to visit Albania, where they see the would-be entrepreneurs for themselves, and the investment opportunities,” said Brian.

After completing the business course, Tomorr Pepa received a loan of $1,000 US dollars from an American investor, which he plans to repay over five years. The money will again be used for another microbusiness.

“This beekeeping venture is a perfect fit for the Pepas,” Brian commented.

The Pepas received instruction in two areas: the practice of beekeeping and running a business.

A local professional beekeeper delivered the bees to the Pepas with the agreement that he would remain responsible for all aspects of the beekeeping until after the first harvest of honey in late spring 2015. But as the hives are on the Pepas’ land, the beekeeper would teach his craft to them, gradually increasing their responsibility for the care of the bees until the family could manage alone.

After the honey is harvested, Brian will work with the Pepas to market and sell their product. Once the business is running, Brian will regularly check on the business operations and provide accountability to ensure the loan is repaid as agreed.

In addition to starting microbusinesses like the Pepas’, Brian hopes to also work with small- to medium-sized existing businesses.

“We pray that by the end of 2015, we will have 10 of each type,” said Brian. “If we could raise $100,000 in 2015, we could start even more microbusinesses than that. Investors can get involved with quite modest amounts and see their money continuing to work year after year!”

In addition, a longer-term aim is to find local believers to train as new microbusiness developers, so that they can take over Brian’s work and continue the ministry.

“May God use me and my successors to positively impact His kingdom here in Albania, and that through these business models we will reach many!” he concluded.

Please pray for OM's Business as Mission project in Albania. Pray for Brian as he seeks business professionals who can provide input in future business courses. Pray for the Pepa family as they practise their new skills and experience God’s transforming grace in their lives.

The Emmanuel Centre’s sole vision is for those of the Roma and Gypsy communities to know the Lord. However, the Emmanuel Centre’s roots do not stop at their own doors but extend out to where members of the OM Lushnje team go on weekly house visits and build relationships with the locals.

“Another one of our goals,” says Jessica Young, OM’s Lushnje team leader, “is for the families to realise the need for education.”

The Emmanuel Centre gives monthly food packages to the kids that are in school and to those that attend the weekly Bible lessons. The heartbeat of the centre is for kids and parents to know that they have value in this world and in God’s eyes.

The Emmanuel Centre is a not only a beacon of hope but a beautiful picture of God’s faithfulness to His people.

“When I plan a meeting, I don’t need to worry about how many people will come, because God is faithful. I just need to do my part, what He has asked of me, and the rest is up to Him,” says Jessica.

In the summer of 2014, during OM’s short-term Transform experience, OM workers saw God show up in a mighty way. On the Transform team’s first day at the Emmanuel Centre, there were fewer children than normal.  

“We prayed, and by the end of the week we had double the normal amount of children,” says Emily Puckett, short-term missionary in Albania. “There were so many people there weren’t enough seats! God provides.”

For more information about opportunities to serve in Albania, click here. For information about OM’s Transform event starting 13 July, visit the website here.

In October 2012 a pastor in the city asked her if she would be willing to spend time teaching and discipling a family that is a part of his congregation. At the time she didn't accept, but then the family themselves asked her repeatedly during the first few months of 2013. In spite of her busy schedule, Erna prayed and felt directed by God to serve them.

Over time the Pepa family had found themselves without work, and with mounting bills, they were in debt. Klodi, the only son who is a teenager, was distracted by friends and struggled with school. The four children, as well as the parents, needed to discover their true identity in Christ.

The humble father and his household had decided to serve God, but they were in much need of guidance and strengthening in the things of God. With life seeming to crumble around them, they too wanted to receive help so they could experience the life Christ died for them to have.

In the beginning of the Bible study, the family members were hesitant to pray audibly or answer the questions. The mother was even too shy to read aloud, but week after week, Erna patiently instructed them in God's Word. She gently urged them to try, knowing full well that according to Galatians 6:9, if she did not become weary in doing good, at the proper time she would reap a harvest if she did not give up.

Erna and the OM team in Lushnje prayed for the family often. She encouraged the Pepa family to apply God's Word to every situation they faced, and little by little positive changes began to happen. These changes lifted their hearts, and they were further encouraged to continue growing and building up each other.

After just over a year the study is complete. It is with bright eyes and a joyful voice that Erna shares about the changes that are now evident in each family member. The father reflected on his attempts to pray at the beginning, compared to his focused prayers now. The shy mother even found herself attending a conference for women leaders in the church. The girls are blossoming in their confidence in God their Creator. Klodi is doing better and has just finished high school. He has found friends in the church who encourage him in the right way, one of whom is now teaching him to play the guitar. And little by little they are finding work and reducing their debt. Their growth in the grace and knowledge of God has strengthened their commitment to God and brought them closer as a family.

Erna and the Pepa family have developed a strong and godly friendship. Recently, she began another Bible study with them, building on what they learnt before. Please pray that God will continue to supply Erna with strength and grace to build up the people of God in Albania.

Eunchull and his wife, Eunha, have discipled people in an outreach ministry in Mandi's village for five years, going out to the village on a regular basis from the main church in Lushnje. Despite the challenges sometimes posed by the rough state of the roads and public transport, this young couple from South Korea were determined to see the few Christians in the little village taught and strengthened in their faith.

Longing to see an active and growing body of believers, Eunchull and Eunha persisted in their support of them, whatever encouragements or discouragements they experienced. Their effort, perseverance and prayer over several years have borne fruit in Mandi's life particularly. He has matured in such a way that he participated in OM's Transform 2013 summer outreach. During this time he learnt new skills in sharing his faith and was an energetic participant in the ministry to Roma (gypsy) kids in Lushnje. As a final-year student pursuing his master’s degree in social work, he continues to serve the church.

One night Eunchull and Mandi were driving in the car when Mandi quietly said to Eunchull, “Thank you for waiting for us.” As Mandi expressed his gratitude for the patience and persistence with which the Shins have done  their ministry, it brought tears to Eunchull's eyes. He was grateful to God that he had not given up, even when he thought he was not seeing any real change.

There are so many young people in Albania like Mandi who need someone to disciple them in their walk with Jesus. Please pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more labourers to Albania, so that the OM team there can do as commanded in Matthew 28:20: “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NLT).

Albana, one of the children who lives in the home, recently had a small accident and injured her foot. As a result, she returned to her parents' home to recover. Alexander went to visit her and her family at their home, accompanied by Klara, a local believer and close neighbour of the family.

During the visit, Albana's mother expressed concern because the child was not moving, but instead just stayed on the sofa. It was also unclear what was causing the pain. Alexander and Klara offered to pray for the young girl because they believe that “Jesus is the best doctor of all”. Her mother accepted their offer, and so they prayed for both the child and her mother.

When they had finished praying they said goodbye and left the house. The next day Albana's mother told them that while they were praying, she saw that her house was filled with light, and right after they left the house, Albana took her first step!

God encouraged not only Albana and her mother that day but also Alexander, Diana and Klara. They continue to pray that God will complete His great work in Albana and her family.

Please pray for Alexander and Diana and the work they do with handicapped children in Albania. For more information about the ministry of OM in Albania, contact info.al@om.org.

Franci, a 13-year-old boy and the youngest of 11 children, has been going to OM Albania's Emmanuel Centre project since he was three.

Over the last few years Franci’s family has become more active in their Muslim faith. Franci has pressure from his older brothers to believe and act like them. Every Friday he diligently goes to the mosque and learns Arabic. On the last day of Ramadan the OM team heard his voice over the mosque’s loud speaker. He even has a set of keys to the mosque.

Everything he has learnt over the 10 years at the Emmanuel Centre about God and His love for people is quickly being forgotten as his brothers and men from the mosque influence him. Since the Emmanuel Centre hasn't had regular male volunteers at the centre, Franci sees faith in Jesus as something for girls.

This changed, though, during the week of the Transform outreach because Sivu was part of the team. He hung out with and tried to talk with Franci and the other boys. Franci loved having a guy to look up to and was willing to listen and participate in the programmes at the centre.

Unfortunately, Sivu was only in Albania for a week, which was not long enough for longer-term impact on Franci’s life. Albania greatly needs more men in Christian ministry. Do you want to be part of changing the lives of Franci and other boys like him in Albania?

Sign up for a Transform outreach or pursue this opportunity in Albania here. You can also read more stories about God's work in Albania at their news page. 

These words from Job sum up the Transform experience for Armando (Mandi) Dosti, 22, from Dushk, Albania. 

At OM’s Transform conference in Rome, Mandi heard stories from different missionaries who had experienced loss and found more of God because of their tragedy. The testimonies of OMer Gary Witherall living through the murder of his wife in the Near East and another speaker overcoming his fear of AIDS were transforming for Mandi.

“Only someone who has known God personally can have faith like that in those situations,” he said. “When we hear the stories, we really understand. This has happened and they continue in the Lord. It’s not easy, when it happens, to continue strong. That’s what I’ve been thinking the past few days—if something like that would happen to me, it’s possible that I can stay strong and steadfast.”

A tough beginning

Mandi is no stranger to persevering in his faith. 

A friend introduced Mandi to God when she persistently invited him to kids’ club at age 10. He liked how friendly people were but didn’t really believe in God until he was 14, when his baby cousin became very sick. It was a critical situation, Mandi said, and very hard for him. But he remembered that in kids’ club they had said God did miracles.

“I went home to my room [after being at the hospital],” Mandi said. “I said to God, ‘OK, I have heard that you are almighty and big. I ask one thing … I want to belong to you. I want to know you.’” 

Mandi prayed that the baby would be fine, that God would do a miracle. “That’s when I started to pray,” he said. “I think that was my first prayer that was really from my heart.”

After that prayer his cousin started to get better, and he thought, “Maybe God really is real.” While his cousin was in the hospital, Mandi said he learnt how to spend time praying every morning.

“For me, it was really a joy that every morning when I got up there was more and more hope, and I was praying more and more,” he said. “That is how I continued to pray.”

When his cousin was healed, Mandi started attending Bible studies regularly. At 14, he wanted to go to the adult meetings, but they told him he was too young. He insisted, though.

“I would stand outside the door and hit on it with a rock until they let me in,” he said.

Since he comes from a Muslim family, when his parents learnt he was serious about his faith in Christ, Mandi said his dad did everything to keep him away from church.

“When I was in my second or third year of high school my father wouldn’t let me go to church,” he said. “He made lots of excuses so I couldn’t go. He knew church was on Sunday so he would always find something so I couldn’t go.”

Over time, though, Mandi found ways to be involved in the church. Near the end of high school he got more freedom and returned to church. Since January he has even preached in his church.

When Mandi first started preaching, he would record the sermon. One time he left the sermon open on his computer, and his little brother listened to it and showed it to his mom. His little brother began attending a Bible study with Mandi and has since become a believer.

“It was a way to share the gospel through the back door,” he said. “One of the joyful things for me was when [my brother] committed his life to Jesus.”

Raised up to serve

Through his church Mandi has been involved in children’s ministry, leading Bible studies and preaching, besides going to university full-time for his master's degree in social work.

Since Mandi enjoyed children’s ministry, the leader of OM Albania asked Mandi if he would like to help at the Emmanuel Centre—OM’s ministry to the Roma (gypsy) children and their families in Lushnje, Albania—while studying at university.

“For me it wasn’t a problem [to help at the Emmanuel Centre],” Mandi said. “I didn’t have any other work to do. They needed someone, so why not?”

Recalling his first experience at the Emmanuel Centre, Mandi said it was a little overwhelming.

“When I went to the Emmanuel Centre the first time, it was noisy and I saw [the kids] running around on the chairs and grabbing,” he said. “I was really surprised. It was the first time that I saw so much noise, so many people in so small a room.”

When the meeting finished, OMer Jess Young asked him how it went. When he replied that it was really bad, noisy and dirty, she replied that the kids had actually been really well-behaved that meeting. 

“If this is good," he said, "how are they when they are noisy?”

The craziness of the first day didn’t scare him away, though. Like everything else in his life, he was persistent and continued to help at the centre. He learnt what a normal day looked like, what a bad day looked like, and could really see God working in the kids’ lives.

“It was good for me to see how God works in those people and those who are not going to school and poor,” he said.

Mandi said it was really special to see some of the kids put up their hands to accept Christ at an evangelistic meeting in Lushnje last Christmas.

“When I went home I said, ‘God, thank you. You have worked in their lives.’ I don’t know if they did it with their heart, but for me it was really beautiful to see.”

On to Transform

Even though he was involved in ministry in Lushnje, Mandi still desired to travel to churches in other countries and experience what God was doing there. Not having a visa or a passport, Mandi thought his dream would never happen. Then one day Jess told him he was going to Transform, Mandi said with a laugh.

When he first heard about Transform he thought he couldn’t go because the trip would interfere with his school exams.

“Sometimes the desires of the heart get confused with what is the right thing to do,” he said. “My heart said, ‘Yes, I want to go’ but I didn’t want to leave the school because the Word of God says, ‘be wise.’ For me school was also really important.”

Not sure what decision to make, he sought God in prayer asking God to make it clear if he was or wasn’t supposed to go to Transform. Two weeks after his prayer, Mandi’s professor announced that exams were going to be early so the staff could prepare for a conference happening in early August. With exams ending on the 12 July, Mandi told Jess he could go to Transform.

Since he didn’t feel confident in his English skills, the Transform conference and even the outreach in Albania were a little difficult, Mandi said. But being with so many Christians and hearing so many different stories of faith inspired him.

A transformed perspective

Mandi said Transform taught him just how big God really is.

“When you are in the middle of so many people and so many different stories, then you understand how little you know,” he said. “How much there is still to know and that I need to know.”

Even though everyone on the Albania team spoke different languages, he said it was good to work with people who all had the same goal.

“We all have the same focus and the same goal and attitude,” he said. “When those things are together it’s easier.”

Before Transform, Mandi had heard of the work of God and had experienced it in part. Now, like Job, he has heard of the work of God and has more fully experienced it. Learning how Jesus served people and learning the importance of serving even in tough times, Mandi said, has changed how he views his walk with Christ.

“For me it has really been touching to see how Jesus also served others,” he said. “When Jesus himself did it, who are we that we are not doing it? If we really are a believer, and you want to grow, this is a way you can really challenge yourself to grow, to serve.”

Please pray for Armando to continue to grow and be used to reach other Albanians. Pray God would raise up more young men and women like Armando to lead the Albanian church. 

To read more about God's work in Albania, go to their news webpage. Read more stories from Transform or sign up here.

“Transform is a great way to reach out to more people, especially teenagers,” said Nicole Rodrigues, originally from Scotland now an OM worker in Polican. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this [ministry] with just the three of us.”

Johnson (Malaysia), Magdalena (Germany) and Philipp (Germany) joined the full-time missionaries in Polican to help with their church planting ministry in south-central Albania. When communism first fell there were about 100 believers baptised in the community. When the factory shut down believers left because there was no work in the community.

Polican is a Muslim community, with most Muslims belonging to the Baktashieh teachings from Haj Baktash, one of the original believers of the prophet Muhammad. Baktashieh has a lot in common with the Islamic Mystical movement, believing in more than one way to Allah.

Nicole said Muslim believers are accepting of the Christian faith, but don’t want to accept Jesus.

“They think we are strange that we think there is only one way,” she said.

Because of the strong Islamic background in the community, sometimes the OM workers feel the gospel is not reaching very far.

“When I see the church and believers here, I am always wondering how they can keep going without seeing any progress,” Philipp said.

The Polican church planted after communism closed down a few years ago. In 2010 OMers Helio and Nicole replanted the church, which reopened in 2011 with four believers. Nicole said they started doing Bible studies with a couple of believers and have continued to do ministries the local believers think will have an impact.

“We don’t have set ministries,” she said. “We try to encourage people on the team to use their gifts to connect with people and share the gospel.”

Last year the church in Polican taught an English class. This year the Transform team did a sports camp, as well as the English class.

“I like sports,” Philipp said. “You connect with people through sports. You don’t have to speak their language.”

Even though you don’t necessarily have to speak the language to be able to connect with people in sports, it does help. Johnson said the experience of working with a language barrier will definitely help him in later ministries.

“I think it’s good preparation for future missions because it’s important to be able to share God’s love and express love, especially with kids,” he said. “It’s helpful to have this exposure.”

With an Albanian who was going to help with the camp falling ill just before the Transform team arrived, the team turned to prayer and Bible reading to help them get through the outreach. Thankfully, another Albanian was able to help translate, and the first recovered and helped with the sports camp the second week. However, the difficulties the Transform team experienced challenged them to dig deeper with God and build a more solid foundation.

“I feel like I’m close to God while I’m staying here,” Magdalena said. “In Germany I wouldn’t necessarily pick up my Bible and read it, but I do here. It’s really special to me. God has been talking to me.”

For Magdalena, God started changing her heart before she ever got to Albania. God was already speaking to her at the Transform conference in Rome.

“I remember that every message [at Transform] God spoke to me,” she said, “mostly just one sentence, but it was really packed with a lot of things.”

With the Transform team leaving, there is still a lot of ground to break in Polican. Nicole and Helio pray that Albanian leaders will rise up in the community—Albanians who can lead their people in the faith. The team knows it will take direction from God to know how to continue reaching out to the community with Christ’s transforming power.

Please pray that God would show the OM leaders which ministries to focus on, that Albanian leadership would grow and that the Muslim people would be filled with a desire to follow Jesus.

To read more about God's work in Albania, go to their news website. Read more stories from Transform or sign up here. 

I felt encouraged getting to know some believers from the other church," said OMer Lynnette. "Three of them have to walk over an hour each way to get to church every Sunday, and they are still faithful...

Deep in south central Albania, potholed roads snake through the mountain passes to small towns like Poliçan, and little villages lie literally “off the beaten track”. Poliçan is home to Kisha Ungjillore e Lire (Free Evangelical Church), a church OM first planted in 1996, then replanted in 2010. Now 10-15 local believers meet to worship Jesus, supported by seven OM team members.

There’s a small church in the next town too, but the geography of the area and limited transportation make it hard for the two groups to often meet. Mutual encouragement is important because Albanians struggle against the tide of local culture and tradition when they choose to follow Jesus, and it’s easy to feel very isolated from the rest of society.

Pastor Agim* from the neighbouring town was scheduled to preach at the Christmas service on Sunday, 23 December. The OM team in Poliçan met with local believers to do some planning. One of them, Shpresa*, had a bright idea.

“Let’s invite all the believers from Pastor Agim’s church to come here to Poliçan on Christmas Day itself,” she said. “We can all eat Christmas lunch together!”

Two days after a busy Sunday service, the OM team was up early Christmas morning, peeling potatoes in the church kitchen with their Albanian friends. By early afternoon, 40 believers from the two churches sat down to their Christmas dinner, encouraging each other in their faith and enjoying each others’ company.

“We were happy to see the Poliçan church members take part in the planning, cooking and hosting of the event,” said Lynnette, a member of the OM team. “I felt encouraged getting to know some believers from the other church. Three of them have to walk over an hour each way to get to church every Sunday, and they are still faithful, even when they face persecution from their families and those living in their village.”

Please pray for developing links between these two churches, and for the Lord to strengthen and encourage the isolated believers in this remote mountain area.

Jess and May from the OM team had already been sharing God’s love with the Roma children through kids’ clubs and home visits, but found it a challenging ministry, and spiritual breakthroughs were rare. Every day of the outreach however, twenty kids came to their special clubs, and through home visits and ladies’ meetings, two women, two teenage girls and a boy gave their lives to Jesus!

Every day the OMers and the Transform ladies prayed fervently for another breakthrough – that their Roma friends would set foot inside the church building for the multi-cultural celebration on the final Sunday night. Almost every invitation to this event had been met by a firm refusal…”we can’t come, we are Muslims”, “I’m not well” or “I’m too busy”. Would anyone come? Jess and May considered changing the venue but decided to rather keep on praying. Even if only two or three people showed up, everyone would have a lovely time.

Sunday evening came. Against all expectations, about 15 women and children arrived at the starting time. Soon the church was full! Even one man came. It was amazing to see God’s miracle unfold. And, a joy to watch the faces of nearly 80 people, mostly of very little schooling, learn about saunas in Finland, how they dance in the Bahamas, participate in a watermelon eating contest like in America, try and use chopsticks, hear a song in an African click-language, and more! Most importantly, the local pastor shared a brief gospel message.

The Roma people experienced the love and grace of Jesus in a special way that night. Please pray for them; and for Jess and May as they follow up the new Roma believers, and praise God for pouring out His love through the Transform team!

One hot day this spring, Fier Zoo in Albania welcomed a very special group of visitors—Roma street children on their first-ever trip out. The Emmanuel Centre ministry in Lushnje, with which OM partners, had organised this treat to reward the children for their progress in reading and writing. For these kids to even attend these lessons is a real breakthrough. They are living in a culture where parents often despise education and have the kids lined up for careers in begging and thieving instead.

Seeing the animals drove the kids wild with excitement. As she shared their joy, OM Albania team member May remembered God’s promise to her and the other Emmanuel Centre staff: “Those who go out weeping, carrying seeds to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” It had been a challenging few months; the children wanted to learn and try their best, but fights kept breaking out and it was often more fun to throw paper and pencils than write with them.

“But in the end, they did learn!” says May. “When the kids were full of frustration, wanting to give up, I could encourage them in a particular way. If I, as a foreigner, can learn to speak, read and write Albanian, then they as native speakers can surely do much better than me!” May concludes, “It’s just another example of God’s amazing grace. Now we are learning numbers, and the kids actually like it. Many thanks to all who pray for this ministry—our God is so powerful and amazing!” Please pray for May and the children in the Emmanuel Centre.

You don’t hear much Cantonese spoken in Albania, but it’s the native tongue of OMer May, from Hong Kong. Sometimes she pours out her prayers to God in her own language. Recently May spent time with an Albanian believer suffering from cancer.

“Amada has colo-rectal cancer, but her faith is fixed strong in Christ!” said May. She visited Amada and her family at home to pray with them. “Together with her mother, sister and little nephews, we held hands together in a circle, praying and praising God,” said May. “Then when I prayed in Cantonese, they all started to laugh a bit, but I don’t mind! I’m just so thankful that God’s love and joy are real for this family facing the challenge of Amada’s illness.”

May and another Albanian believer plan to visit Amada and her family every week. Please pray that as they study the Bible together, God’s word illuminates their lives and situation.

May, from Hong Kong, just spent her first Christmas and New Year with OM in Albania. To celebrate the season, she took part in three special events hosted by the Emmanuel Centre ministry, led by local believer Mona and other OM workers.  

On 17 December, 19 street children from a Roma community packed into the meeting room, located next to their shanty dwellings. “All dressed up, and punctual!” says May. “That shows how they valued their Christmas party.” She and the team sang, prayed and shared the Christmas story and the gospel. Then they passed out presents to the children. 

“Their mothers have really tough lives,” May continues, “so on 22 December we staged a party for them also.” Twenty-five women and 15 kids joined this party. Again they shared the good news of God’s love, sang songs, prayed and gave gifts. “How these Roma ladies need God’s love, comfort and guidance,” says May.

Six days later, May and Mona delivered New Year food packages to 15 families. Though May finds working with the street children challenging, she is inspired by the love of Jesus: “All these kids are just like you and me, needing the true love of Father God!”

Transform 2012 is only seven months away! Though it seems like the 2011 conference and outreach just finished, it’s time to start thinking about July again! How might you bring God’s light to the Mediterranean in 2012? Visit www.transform.om.org to find out!

During the Transform 2011 outreach, 12 participants from seven countries travelled from the conference in Rome to Albania to partner for a week with the local OM team in Lushnje, sharing God’s love in the nearby village of Dushk.

"We made daily house visits to non-believers, including a lady who had attended an OM-run sewing course in Dushk," reported Rachel (OM). "Although she had heard about Jesus, she had not yet made the decision to live for Christ. We wanted to invite her to church again."

Together with two Dutch team members, Rachel visited her home and was glad to meet her mother-in-law, Selvi, too. Both women were interested in hearing about the lives of the two Dutch foreigners, and they were able to share their testimonies that day.

Although the ladies didn’t start attending church as Rachel had hoped, the Transform team prayed that their hearts would be softened towards the gospel. Over a month later, Rachel visited the same home again. She was pleased to meet an Albanian believer staying with the family who used to attend the church in Dushk. During her visit, the two talked about God and prayed for over an hour.   

“Throughout our conversation, Selvi kept walking in and out of the room,” remembers Rachel. “Eventually she sat down next to me and asked if I could pray that her son would find a place to live in Greece. I was surprised and excited that she had asked me to pray with her.

“I took her hands in mine and prayed that God would provide for her son in Greece and also thanked Him for the place He has prepared for us in heaven. I prayed that Selvi would accept Christ into her heart so that she too could experience God’s love and eternity.”

When Rachel finished praying, Selvi was crying. “I asked her if she was ready to accept Jesus,” says Rachel. “Praise God, she said yes! We prayed together again, and afterwards I told her that there is a celebration happening in heaven right now because she had accepted God into her heart.

“What a great joy it is to see the results of the seeds that were planted as a result of the Transform team’s visit. It is so wonderful to know that God continues to work in hearts and lives through our prayers.”

Please pray that God continues working in Selvi’s heart as she and Rachel study the Bible together.

A team from the Netherlands recently helped the OM Albania team in Poliçan add the finishing touches to the local church building. The team consisted of two couples and a 71-year-old team leader who celebrated his birthday during their stay 

Hope for Albania, a Christian organisation, funded most of the refurbishment of the Poliçan church. They initially funded work done on the building by local workers, and when the short-term team arrived, the gutters were added and the interior and exterior walls of the building painted.

"The short-term team worked really hard and were a pleasure to be with. Our evenings were filled with fun and fellowship, refreshing our team," said Rachel from OM Albania. 

Hope for Albania also donated 50 much-needed chairs to the church. The wider community was invited to a service on the team's final Sunday, and one of the short-term members shared his testimony. They sang Christian songs in Dutch and shared the message of God’s love with the many people in attendance. 

"We are so grateful for the team from Holland and to all the financial support received from Hope for Albania," added Rachel. "Without them, the church building would not be fit for the things we are now able to do for the Poliçan community."

OM Albania's team in Gramsh often put together food packages to give to the poorest in their neighbourhood. These food packages contain sugar, rice, oil, pasta and flour. On one occasion, as they were preparing food packages to hand out, they discovered they had a 25 kg bag of flour to spare. They decided to give it to a family who hadn’t received any food packages before.

When the team arrived at the family's home, they met Adele* and her four children. They learnt that Adele's husband had left her two months earlier and she had not heard from him since. Her landlord threatened to kick them out of the house because Adele couldn't pay the rent. Worst of all, Adele had nothing to feed her children.

Since her husband left her stranded, Adele had decided to take her children to an orphanage so they could at least get food. But the orphanage wouldn’t accept the children because she was still married. In her despair, Adele planned to commit suicide so that her children would be taken in by the orphanage and provided for. 

“How glad she was to get the large bag of flour and additional food the team brought,” reported an OM team member. “She could now feed her children and herself for a while. We were amazed and thankful that God had led us to her.”

A few days later, the team heard that Adele’s husband had returned to the family. Please pray that God will repair their marriage and that Adele’s husband can provide for his family once again.  

*Name changed

"Each night we offered face-painting to children, and by the end of the week, at least 400 faces had been painted," reported Rachel with OM Albania. "Some of the faces we even had to clean first!"

The team also played table games, football and cricket. During the activities, team members talked with, prayed for and shared stories with those who gathered. Many people asked for the Christian newspapers the team gave out, which opened doors to talk about faith.  

One mother asked why foreigners were in Durrës offering face painting and games for free. "We explained we were from the church, that we knew the summer holidays are long, and that we wanted to bless the parents by offering activities for the kids and sharing God’s love with them," said Rachel. "With tears in her eyes, she put her arms around me and said, 'Thank you, thank you so much.'"

Erna, with OM Albania, met a woman named Liria at a meeting. Erna learned that whilst working in Greece, Lliria had visited an Orthodox church and had been exposed to the teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“You can be saved through any religion,” Liria concluded. She she didn’t believe in life after death. Erna challenged Liria to consider eternity and the forgiveness of sins. “But I have never done anything wrong,” replied Liria.

When Erna explained how sin affects every person, Liria was eager to receive freedom. That day, Liria became a follower of Jesus.

“She was so happy afterwards,” reported Erna. “I have been encouraged to see Liria at meetings since. Praise the Lord for Liria, who is now free to follow Jesus! It’s my prayer that she will grow spiritually and be a blessing for her family and village.”

Racked by unemployment, the mountain town of Poliçan is a place where locals queue to leave. So why would foreigners move there? Don't they like their own countries?

Since the OM team arrived in September 2010, they have often been asked these questions. As they live out the answer—being part of Jesus’ body in Poliçan, sharing His love—their varied backgrounds open many doors and challenge local thinking.

Team member Nicole says, “We are all from different cultures: I’m white from England, my husband, Helio, is a black Brazilian, Julia is a white Canadian, and Liliana is Latino, from Ecuador.

As we work together, all different shades of colour and nationality, it challenges the Albanian mindset, which usually categorises people by skin colour, for example, Roma or non-Roma.

“As we work together, all different shades of colour and nationality, it challenges the Albanian mindset, which usually categorises people by skin colour, for example, Roma or non-Roma. Several women have asked Julia and Liliana about my husband and me—being different colours and married is not normal in this culture, especially not in this small town!"

Having grown up in South America, Helio and Liliana can immediately relate to a society where money is hard to come by but hospitality is common. Nonetheless, the OM team has taken time to adapt to the different ways of thinking in Poliçan.

Helio finds he has an obvious connection with young men in Poliçan, since they immediately relate his nationality to football.

“People are interested in our Western cultures," continues Nicole, "as they either have relatives in our countries or have heard about our way of life. They are also keen to practise English with native speakers, so that’s a very natural form of outreach for us, and Julia sits in on a local teacher’s English class.

 “May all these factors combine with God’s love in us, so that Albanian eyes are opened to see that Jesus’ love is for them too and for every nation!”

The church has inofficially re-opened its doors; the OM team holds weekly services in a room above the church hall, where a local believer leads worship and the team leader, Helio, shares from God’s Word. A small group of local believers attend each service, and afterwards, time is spent together in fellowship and sharing.

Throughout the week, several opportunities are also offered to the community to build relationships and share simple truths from God’s Word. Lynnette meets with teenage girls every two weeks to do a craft or activity and share a devotion about God. She meets with the girls for coffee during the week to build relationships and show them God’s love.

In March 2011, Nicole and Liliana began working with local women. They hold a weekly Bible study where they learn about prominent women in the Bible and how their lives are applicable today. They also looked at the Jesus film together. During the week, they visit local women to develop new relationships in the community.

Helio has befriended many young men in Poliçan and hopes to begin a ministry with these men, to bring them together regularly to teach them about God and what it means to live for Him.

In partnership with Campus Crusade for Christ, the OM team recently showed the Mary Magdalene film in Poliçan. Over 200 locals watched the film, and the team believes many were challenged in their faith as a result of the film.

Reconstruction on the church building has also been underway. Hope for Albania, a missions organisation that brings materials, supplies and furniture from Holland to aid Albanian churches and local believers, has taken on the Poliçan church project, providing the necessary funding for the work that needs to be done. A team from Holland travelled to Poliçan in May 2011 to finish the work on the church building.

The OM Poliçan team is excited to see God at work in their smals, rural town, and they look forward to seeing their ministries develop and grow in the coming years.

To celebrate Women’s Day, OM worker Bruna and Miranda, a Hope Centre worker, planned a special programme, which 32 women attended.

"It was such a joy to see them at the meeting, and genuinely enjoying each other’s company," reported Bruna. "We had snacks and drinks; a word from Audrey, the wife of OM Albania’s country leader; and a time of prayer."

Audrey shared about a poor Christian woman in Cambodia, who had nothing, but still wanted to help her poor neighbour because God had laid it on her heart. The love that the poor woman had for her neighbour reflected God’s heart and His love for all people.

In groups, they were able to pray for the needs of the women, and encourage them to seek God's goodness. Food packages and Bibles were handed out at the end of the event, which some women were eager to receive.

- 

With only the simplest of dressings, the medical staff cleaned and dressed the infected area. Petra, one of the OM doctors at the clinic, prescribed a dose of antibiotics for the infection, but the woman took only one day’s dose of the pills with her.

Before leaving, Janice, a worker with OM Albania prayed for the lady's quick healing. Janice was encouraged to hear sometime later that the wound had healed quicker than anticipated, and that the infection had disappeared without the prescribed course of antibiotics.

"I also found out that she had visited a Christian women’s group, where the topic happened to be on prayer," said Janice. "When she shared her testimony, she said that when people pray together, there is real power and God answers."

May this lady come to know that God not only answers prayer, but also desires a personal relationship with each one of us.

This was the first meeting of its kind for the Roma community, and the women were excited to attend. Nine women, three teenage girls and 12 children came to the event entitled ‘God is Love’.

May, the newest Lushjne team member from Hong Kong, shared her testimony and described how her  life experiences have taught her the depth of God’s love for everyone.

During her testimony, one of the Roma women left the room to smoke, but stood near the door, so that she could listen as May shared from her heart.

After a time of sharing Bible verses and prayer, the women had their nails painted and were given lipstick and a card with the words “God loves you.” The homemade treats were enjoyed by all.

The meeting was a joyous one, and being served with love, the Roma women were encouraged. It was not often that they had experienced such love in their difficult lives.

IMPACTING WOMEN'S LIVES

Finally we make it back to Erna’s communist-era block. The exterior is drab and crumbling, but the stairs and landings are well-swept and dotted with pot plants. Seated in her cosy fifth floor apartment, I learn what motivates this 48 year-old Paraguayan to serve God in Albania. “I’ve always wanted to see people realise their potential, be all they can in God. Women and girls here have fewer rights and freedoms than men, and I love working with them to overcome their disadvantages.”

One example is visiting believing women whose husbands won’t permit them to attend church. “It’s a privilege to pray and study the Bible together, give them a lifeline of fellowship,” says Erna. “I so enjoy too using my abilities in machine-sewing and baking, teaching these to ladies in isolated rural villages; learning new skills increases their self-respect and boosts their income - scarcity of jobs means many men work abroad. I can also share about Jesus with them, studying God’s Word.”

Erna has a heart too for women on the margins of society. “I befriended some girls whose mother was in prison; the oldest of these girls had herself been in prison after being previously trafficked. Having a female relative in prison is especially shameful here, and if a girl has been trafficked into prostitution, she faces rejection by her family, even if she can get back to Albania. To support herself, she may have to turn to crime. That’s a tragic situation”.

Erna is also part of the leadership team in the Disciples’ Church, which was planted by OM in the early 1990s. One key role has been pioneering joint women’s meetings across all evangelical churches in Lushnje. “ I could bring this about because I have been here so long and people see me as someone of integrity, plus I speak Albanian fluently. I enjoy a lot of trust from everyone, which is rare here; lack of trust seems to be a legacy from communist days, sadly even the younger generation are affected by it, and believers too. I suppose as a foreigner I am seen as ‘neutral’, so that also helps.”   

CALLED TO EUROPE

I ask Erna how God had called her from Paraguay to Albania. “During Bible seminary in Paraguay, at one youth congress, God called me into missions, and I knew it would be for life. I then worked in Paraguay with women and girls from indigenous people groups from 1989-93. I joined OM in 1994, working in Uruguay in really varied roles. I first came to Albania on outreach in 1995, for three weeks of ‘Love Europe’. After leaving Uruguay in 1999, I attended the OM General Council in Holland. I had been asking God to guide my next step, and on one of the final days I was crying out, ‘Lord, why did you bring me to Europe? I need an answer’. Next day, the Area Leader of Central and Eastern Europe shared about the huge needs in Albania and Kosovo. God spoke so clearly, as if He was using a hammer to strike me, His nail, into the right position! So I came here to work with women and girls in October 2000, and I’m here until God calls me away.”

How does she feel as a single woman, in a culture which puts huge pressure on women to be married? “There are very few unmarried Albanian women of my age. People frequently ask me if I will marry, and I can tell them how my life is in God’s hands. Women with unhappy marriages tell me I’m better off single, and this can lead to deep conversations. I can also encourage believing girls who are single, to wait for God’s timing. I even got to speak on this subject for a Christian radio station in Tirana recently.”

CULTURAL FIT

Lastly I seek Erna’s perspective, as a Latin American serving in Eastern Europe. “Adapting to Albania wasn’t a huge adjustment; I’d grown up in Paraguay in developing-country conditions, and it’s a relational culture, like this one. It’s probably easier for us than for people from North America or Western Europe. The special thing about Europe,” she continues, “is that all the other cultures of the world can be found here, and that’s an immense opportunity and challenge. Let’s use our freedom so people can see the love of Jesus, lived out in us!” 

Encouraged by the invitation but in no mood to chat, she prayed, "Dear Father, you are going to have to speak through me. I don't have the desire or energy to be with anyone right now - You will have to lead this meeting."

"As usual, we conversed freely in English," reported Rebekkah, "and I felt joy being with her. I also asked if I might pray about something we were discussing. A bit later, Ana commented on how she had felt distant from God while praying, but in my prayer I had sounded ‘one with Him’. I explained that I am, through Jesus, and how Ana could be one with Jesus too. I was encouraged when Ana accepted Jesus as her Saviour and Lord there and then!"

A few weeks later, Rebekkah met Ana’s relatives, and an uncle said that he felt peace when he met Rebekkah. Unemployed for over a year now had caused him great stress, and his family had little money. They invited Rebekkah to visit again, and a week later, Rebekkah learnt that although Ana’s uncle believed in God, her aunt didn't. She was very downcast about their poor economic prospects. 

"I went on to explain that only God could meet their needs," said Rebekkah, "and asked whether I could pray for them. They agreed and I thanked God for providing the way to eternal life through Jesus. I also asked God to reveal Himself so that the family would know that He is real and cares for them deeply."

Within four days, both Ana’s uncle and his daughter had found jobs. May this answered prayer be a testimony of God's truth and love to Ana's family.

How times change! This shabby little building was used in Communist days as a sewing workshop for village women; now it doubles as shop and village hall – and on Thursdays, venue for kids and youth meetings run by the church in Gramsh.

Co-leaders Besmir, Aniger and Hope had prepared a lively programme of songs, Bible stories, prayer and craft for the 10 or so youngsters. Plastic chairs were then placed in a circle on the stony floor and teens gathered for worship and Bible study.

Two hours later, we headed back down the track towards the pot-holed road, which snakes through this broad river valley towards the town of Gramsh. Mt. Tomorr, one of Albania’s highest, was an imposing backdrop. “How long have you been involved with this village?” I asked Besmir. “I helped start this ministry in 2002,” he replied. “Almost all the youth attended the meeting then - 40 or more - of which 25 became believers. But all moved away for the sake of work or marriage. From 2004 until 2009, no meetings were held here for various reasons. But since 2009, I have been back with a small team. So now it’s as if we’re starting all over again.”

This is a common situation in the villages of Albania where poverty has forced many to the cities, or even abroad. Please pray for Besmir, Hope and Aniger as they bring God’s Word to the next generation of Albanians!

"I did things I’d never thought I would. I’ll never forget the two street outreaches in Divjak. I loved doing face-painting with the children, and even with just a few words of Albanian, it was surprisingly easy to communicate.

"Another special memory was an English Café with the youth which we held in the church in Divjak, including worship, a sermon and games. At the end, most of the Albanian youth gave their lives to the Lord. Before the Café, I had shared my testimony with two of the girls who did this. Seeing so many young people step out in faith like this was absolutely amazing, and I realised that we really were making an impact.

"Meeting the warm and sociable Albanian people changed me too. I was surprised by how many wanted to hear about Jesus. And I can’t describe how moved I was by accounts of the persecution which can come with being a Christian here, and inspired by seeing the work of the OM team.

"I’d highly recommend a trip like this. My heart’s been opened to mission work; I’ve seen that I can make a difference, and realised afresh how people need to know Jesus personally, whether in Australia or Albania!"

"During Transform, we worked with other agencies in town to stage fun events each evening on the square in front of the stadium," reports Emma. "Two hundred people attended each time! We had some amazing conversations, and the street drama we did one night was really powerful. The next day we were the talk of town, and strangers stopped to say how moving the drama had been, and how it had made them think."

On the final evening of the outreach, the team gathered on the balcony of a building to enjoy fellowship and a time of prayer and thanksgiving overlooking the neighbourhood. "As we began praying," continues Emma, "a small beam from one of the floodlights shone into the dark of the neighbourhood. We lifted our heads to have a closer look at it and then it disappeared! As we concluded our time of prayer with the song 'Saviour, He can move the mountains, He is mighty to save!' there was a massive flash of light as the floodlights were switched on. We knew without a doubt that God was shining in this city!"