Albania

This is part two of a two part update on a recent trip I took to Albania. Here I talk about how great Albania and Albanians are.

The Country of Albania

The class was amazing and I learned a ton about God, Islam and Christianity, but what I enjoyed the most was the staff I got to meet in Albania and the city of Tirana. For years I had heard about the great things that are happening with the Church in Albania and I’ve always wanted to go and see it for myself. Now I finally had a chance to shake the hands of some incredible saints and hear their stories.

Let me give you some context first. Albania is a tiny country that was under control of the Communists for several decades. It completely outlawed religion of any kind even though it produced one of the greatest saints of the 20th century, Mother Teresa. Today it is religiously tolerant with Muslims making up the largest percent, followed by Catholics and then Protestants bring up with the rear with a tiny percent of the country describing themselves as Evangelical. Even though it is a majority Muslim country most of them are secular. 

As soon as I left the airport I was struck by how warm it was. I flew in from Moscow at the end of October equipped with a down vest and a ski jacket to keep me warm. When I arrived I had to take both off and walk around in my shirtsleeves because it was a warm 70ºF. I loved it! Then I noticed the people. Afrim, the staff member who picked me up from the airport said that Albanians are known for being really friendly. He had studied at Dallas Theological Seminary for a couple of years and knew how friendly Texans were. He said that he thought Albanians were sort of like the Texans of Europe, really friendly, really hospitable and would go out of their way to help a guest. That made me chuckle, but it really was true. I was constantly surprised by how friendly everyone was. From taxi drivers, to vendors to the staff we met and hung out with during our classes everyone was eager to please and easy to talk to.

I had the privilege of getting coffee with the Campus Director of Tirana. He was my age, about my height and of similar temperament. As we talked I realized that he easily could have been a good friend from a summer project or a buddy of mine from my college days. Even though we grew up in very different cultures and had different life experiences he wasn’t all that different from me. This has been of the most surprising reoccurring discoveries for me as we live and work overseas: people really aren’t that different from each other no matter where they are from or how they grew up. Yes, there are cultural differences and differing values and stronger characteristics in some cultures than in others, but largely we are the same and want the same things, dream the same dreams and need the same savior. These were some of the things my friend Gusti (short for Augustine) and I talked about over coffee one warm Tirana afternoon.

We also talked about where they could go as a ministry. Currently they have about 130 students coming to their weekly meeting. 130 students! I don’t think I’ve met 130 Christian students in the four years we’ve worked in Russia. I couldn’t believe it. Then he asked me what I thought they should do next and how to expand. I didn’t know how to respond, I haven’t seen that many students at a weekly meeting since I visited CU - Boulder in the early 2000s. I told him about what we were trying to do in Moscow. Basically we let the students run everything and we coach and train the main leaders so that they can be more effective. We push leadership down to the lowest levels so that everyone can buy in someway or another and train the leaders in a way that they can turn around and train others. At least that’s the idea, we haven’t gotten really far with it yet. But, that’s why we pray and work hard and trust God for the rest. I hope that God gives Gusti and his team a unique vision as to how to expand their ministry and influence and train others to be disciplers of others. Whatever happens, we know that God is good in all of it, because that’s his nature.

There are a couple other things worth mentioning. The food there was really good and affordable. I think I put on five pounds in the eight days I was there. The staff who have been there from near the beginning are some the heroes of the faith to me. They’ve dealt with some frustrating and difficult circumstances but have also seen God do some amazing things. They have done a great job of being responsible and visionary with the talents and fruit that God has given them. I pray that the same would be true of us as the staff in Moscow and in Russia. 

All in all my trip to Tirana was great. The teaching, the people and the experiences there were fantastic and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to go and see what God is up to there and learn more about him in the process. If you have the chance to visit Tirana I suggest you do it. It’s not at all like the rest of Europe, but it is worth the trip. Also if you want to read more about the differences and similarities between the Christian and Muslim God I suggest reading “Is the Father of Jesus the God of Muhammed” by Timothy George. Another one worth reading, but reading closely and critically is “Allah: A Christian Response” by Miroslav Volf. Lastly read Ida Glaser’s article.