All articles in category Albania
January 2014
Albania
Albania – 20 years on
Shaun Thompson, of the Albanian Evangelical Mission in Gjirokastër for 20 years, reflects on the needs of Albania today. The opening up of Albania, and later Kosova, to Christian missions, was rightly hailed as a great opportunity for the gospel. When Albanians emerged from that notorious atheistic dictatorship, many showed an interest to learn something about religion, previously a forbidden subject. Emigration During 1991-1996 hundreds of missionaries moved into Albania, evangelising freely and opening churches in every town. It was a good start, but in many cases it was interrupted by what I consider the biggest challenge to the Albanian church in the last...
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February 2012
Albania
Albanian Evangelical Mission
World Mission Albanian Evangelical Mission Christmas Day saw the retirement of David Young, director and one of the founders of the Albanian Evangelical Mission (AEM). Here is an interview between him and William Hadspen: WH: David, how did you become drawn to Albania so many years ago? DMY: When I was 18, I worked as a postman in Germany for a while before going to Cambridge to read modern and mediæval languages. Having been converted through the Methodist Church in Basingstoke, I worshipped with the Methodists in Backnang, and was invited to live with a family who had escaped from East Germany. Through them,...
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By Andy Oliver
July 2008
Albania
Missionary Spotlight – Christ in postmodern Albania
Christ in postmodern Albania Children are not only a most wonderful gift from God but a most welcome distraction from the pressures of modern living. They have a tendency to see things in black and white and are often very perceptive. One seven-year-old described a towel as ‘the thing you clean your hands on after you have washed them’. Their perception is not always so acute, however, when they want something. I often hear our three-year-old saying, ‘Daddy I need ” – when what she really means is, ‘I want’. It is disturbing to see our society reflected in a three-year-old. Many...
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June 2006
Albania
Albanian mission anniversary
Albanian mission anniversary The Albanian Evangelical Mission (AEM) marked the 20th anniversary of its founding with special meetings in Oxford on Saturday 1 April at the Reformed Baptist Church in Albert Street. People gathered from various parts of England and Wales. The first session was addressed by AEM director David Young ― on the theme of ‘Looking back’. He described four phases of the work: the years of preparation in prayer for Albania, 1976-1986; the first period ofgrowth in the mission’s work in Albania, 1986-1997; the years of sifting,1997-2001 (in Albania civil unrest; in Kosova war; in Britain an attempt to get...
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June 2006
Albania
John Blanchard visits Albania
John Blanchard visits Albania Albania is only slightly larger than Wales and its population of 3.5 million is just a little more than that of the Principality, but there the comparisons end. While Wales shares the benefits of being part of a modern Western state, Albania is the second-poorest country in Europe, with only Moldova worse off. According to Operation World, economic life in Albania ‘is almost wholly dependent on remittances from Albanians abroad, smuggling and foreign aid’. Spiritually, the contrast with Wales is even more striking. Wales has a long history of gospel witness, punctuated by extraordinary outbursts of blessing, such...
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April 1998
Albania
Missionary Spotlight-Albanian update
Early last year, Albania erupted into violence and anarchy, and by July most of the major cities apart from Tirana were controlled by gangs. All major roads were plagued with robberies and murder, making travel very hazardous. Many lost their lives, many more their property, and many were seriously injured. By September the general civil situation was improving as the authorities made numerous arrests of criminal gang members and collected a large number of weapons. Things are now more or less normal. At the same time, people became more open to hearing the gospel. The church in Albania held together firmly, and sought to be...
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April 1998
Albania
Missionary Spotlight
Albanian update Early last year, Albania erupted into violence and anarchy, and by July most of the major cities apart from Tirana were controlled by gangs. All major roads were plagued with robberies and murder, making travel very hazardous. Many lost their lives, many more their property, and many were seriously injured. By September the general civil situation was improving as the authorities made numerous arrests of criminal gang members and collected a large number of weapons. Things are now more or less normal. At the same time, people became more open to hearing the gospel. The church in Albania held together firmly, and sought...
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June 1997
Albania
Missionary Spotlight – Republic of Albania
History Although in New Testament times Albania had a flourishing Christian church, it had become part of the Ottoman Turk empire by 1468. Muslim domination continued right up until 1912 when independence was achieved from Turkey. One of the earliest attempts to re-evangelize the population was made in 1828, when the Bible Society completed the translation of the New Testament into Albanian. After a visit to the country in 1863 Alexander Thomson reported: ‘In all these extensive districts … there is no missionary whatsoever …’ Some years later it was stated that ‘Albania is perhaps … the most backward in the empire as regards civilization...
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June 1997
Albania
Missionary Spotlight – Republic of Albania
The future Most of the fellowships have until recently been led by foreign missionaries. Perhaps the recent evacuation of non-nationals will help to reduce unhelpful doctrinal influences. Not all missionaries have left the country, but those who did and who later try to return may face a credibility gap. There is a large Albanian population outside Albania. Many of these are refugees and economic migrants. This represents a significant gospel opportunity. In former Yugoslavia there are three million Albanians, with only a few Christian believers among them, and Albanian refugees have flooded into Italy and Greece, often illegally. Those who cannot get work in these...
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June 1997
Albania
Missionary Spotlight – Republic of Albania
The current situation From 1991 until early 1997 there has been a new period of opportunity for mission but the result has been that all kinds of false teaching have poured in including those of the Mormon and Baha’i cults. Roman Catholic influence has increased in the north and Orthodoxy in the south. Islam too has been seeking to win Albania back into its fold with new mosques being built in many towns and villages. It has even been suggested that the present civil disorder may have been inspired by anti-Islamic influences coming from Greece. Evangelical influence has grown dramatically since 1991. In five years...
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