Albania Recap
- Bekah Querfeld
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
"Bekah, how was your trip to Albania?!"
Socially, I'm expected to summarize the answer to this question in two minutes or less, but trying to summarize all that God did in ten days in two minutes usually ends in a vague answer like: "God was good and I am still processing all that He did during this trip!" which is true but lacking detail.
This update, I'll try to provide a bit more detail (and a bunch of pictures!) to give a little more satisfying of an answer, but also to celebrate all that God did during this trip!
Albania the Country:
During my stay, I learned so much about the country of Albania, and it has really opened my eyes to the needs
in the country!
Did you know that Paul stopped in Albania on one of his missionary journeys?
Turns out that what the Bible refers to as "Illyricum" overlaps with modern day Albania, so Albania was first reached with the gospel two thousand years ago! However, in 1388, the Ottoman Turks invaded and brought with them the religion of Islam. Today, Islam is followed by 70% of the population in Albania.
Today, there are only 150 churches in the entire country, and only 0.5% of the population consider themselves evangelical Christians. Many of the Christians there are the first generation of Christians or the only believers in their families.
Pray for Albania:
Pray for the Christians in Albania, as they are the minority and are, in their words, "in survival mode" as devout Islam is spreading faster than Christianity in the country.
Pray for the Christians in Albania as many of them are trying to figure out what it means to be a Christian parent and a Christian spouse without older generations as examples.
Part 1: Visiting "Alo Mik" in Tirana
Our first stop on this trip was with the Alo Mik! team in Tirana, Albania. "Alo Mik" is Albanian for "Hello Friend!" and that encapsulates the heart of the ministry.
We stayed with the Alo Mik! team at their camp and retreat center rightly called "Eden Park." There, the team has tried to create a taste of Eden for all of the children and church groups who come to use the property. They have olive trees, grape vines, citrus trees, fig trees, along with all sorts of flowers and greenery. Many of the children they serve in their camps live in the city in low-income neighborhoods and rarely get to experience nature in all it's beauty.
In the city, they have the Oaz (Oasis) Community Center which works with low-income families in the city of Tirana. They provide Bible teaching, after-school tutoring, as well as Trauma counseling for around 25 families and their children.
The Saturday after we arrived, Esther ran a training for fifty children's ministry leaders serving throughout Albania. The training covered topics like how children view God before they have been taught about God, how to share the gospel with children ethically, and more. The training was very well received and we were able to meet some wonderful believers in the process!
Pray for the Alo Mik! Team:
Pray that God will bring full-time kitchen workers to the camp, so that the leadership team can focus on their hired roles instead of primarily filling in gaps.
Pray that God will work in the hearts of the families coming to the community center.
Part 2: Participating in the C-25 ICETE Conference
On Sunday night, Esther and I went to Durres, a smaller town outside of Tirana located closer to the coast, where the C-25 ICETE conference was held. From Monday through until Friday, we attended sessions lead by world leaders in Theological Education. Esther went to advocate for seminaries including teaching about children in their courses. I went to hear what God is doing around the world in theological education.
I attended a work group focused on creating Bible curriculum that fits the needs of the context where it will be taught. It was lead by Perry Shaw, an expert in this field. (I actually read a few of his books as textbooks in seminary!) In this group, we discussed how the way that people think and learn in different cultures should affect the way that we present information.
We worked in small groups to discuss how some of these principles would look in our individual ministry contexts.
During the conference, I was able to build and rebuild connections with some incredible people from around the world!
There were several seminary classmates that I was able to reconnect with during my time there. One classmate is the Dean of Academics in a school in Haiti, another is running a pastoral training program in Rwanda, another is serving in an underground pastoral training program in a closed country (unpictured and unnamed for his own safety), and another is learning French so that she can serve in seminaries in French-speaking Africa! I was also able to reconnect with Dr. Michael Ortiz and his wife Kathy. He was a professor and mentor of mine in seminary and is actually the one God used to call me into the field of Theological Education!
I was able to build new connections there as well! I left the week with a dear friend doing Apologetics ministry in Pakistan. I also met another young woman serving in a similar position to mine with an organization called WEC International, she and I have agreed to be "brainstorming buddies" as we are both relatively new to our roles.
One of the greatest celebrations from the trip was an God appointment resulting from my being late for a bus ride! At the end of our visit to the ruins in Durres, my mother and I were the last ones on the bus, and I ended up sitting next to a lovely lady from the Global Church of the Nazarene. We started talking and by the end of the conversation she had offered to provide BCM International with a free online digital library with articles and resources in eight different languages! One of the biggest hurdles to global training schools is a lack of resources, and so this was a gift that could only come from God! There is more I could say on this front, but the short version is that this opens up incredible doors for the Global Education Department and the ministries we serve!
Pray for God's Blessing after the Conference:
Pray for my dear friends in Haiti, France, Rwanda, Pakistan, Central Asia, and more as they are serving the Lord in their roles and contexts.
Pray that God will use the conversations that happened during the conference to impact the Globe for the kingdom!
Pray for this new digital library project that has opened up because of the conference. Pray that God will guide the process and close the door if it is not His will.
Upcoming Trip: Kampala, Uganda
It's official! My next trip will be to Kampala, Uganda from May 6th to 15th!
I'll be providing more information during my April update, but I have the opportunity to observe a teaching training in Uganda to see how trainings can look in African contexts. I will also be working with our BCM Uganda team to brainstorm what Ugandan pastors need from a pastoral training curriculum and how our Global Education Department might work to help create that.
Prayers and Praises:
Partnership Development (Support-Raising):
Praise God that I am up to 22% funding! God has been faithfully bringing partners to be who are committed to pray and provide as I'm on this journey
Pray that God will continue to make His will clear throughout this process.
Pray that God will lead me to those He has planned for me to partner with.
Pray for Albania:
Pray for the Christians in Albania, as they are the minority and are, in their words, "in survival mode" as devout Islam is spreading faster than Christianity in the country.
Pray for the Christians in Albania as many of them are trying to figure out what it means to be a Christian parent and a Christian spouse without older generations as examples.
Pray for the Alo Mik! Team:
Pray that God will bring full-time kitchen workers to the camp, so that the leadership team can focus on their hired roles instead of primarily filling in gaps.
Pray that God will work in the hearts of the families coming to the community center.
Pray for God's Blessing after the Conference:
Praise God for all that He dir during the conference to establish kingdom connections and opportunities.
Pray for my dear friends in Haiti, France, Rwanda, Pakistan, Central Asia, and more as they are serving the Lord in their roles and contexts.
Pray that God will use the conversations that happened during the conference to impact the Globe for the kingdom!
Pray for this new digital library project that has opened up because of the conference. Pray that God will guide the process and close the door if it is not His will.
Upcoming Trip Dates:
May 6th-May 15th--Kampala, Uganda (Details to Come)
Current Support: 22% |
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