Dear Brethren, 

I give you exciting news from the church in Reps. On Saturday, three people are driving to Tirana to get baptized. They are in the same family. Two sisters and one brother would be added to the body of Christ. Emilina (18 yr.), Mentela (16), and Kledis Gjeēi (14) will get baptized. This is wonderful news. The fruits of the work are coming forth. And as Paul says I planted, Apollo watered and God made it grow.  In this case, our brother Jim Hutson is Paul and I am Apollo.

I am glad that we are having finally a man that will help in serving for the congregation in Reps. So far I have been conducting all the service and now Kledis will help me to share some of the things with him during the service since I have been the only male there.

Please keep praying for the work that is being done in Reps.

God bless you!

In Him,

Bledar Valca, Minister

Church of Christ, Reps

Dear Brethren,

I send you greetings in the sweet name of Lord Jesus!

February looks like a successful month. We finally got the place for the church to worship. We have two rooms and a big hall. Lord's willing we are going to start the worship services at our new place. Now we have a home for the people of God to come together. We have been conducting the service in my home, but now we are going to have the new one. I am trying to have some students start with WEI lessons. Hopefully, we will have many come and we will start sharing the Word with more success. We also had 3 baptisms on February. This bring the number in Reps at 10. And I do think this is a excellent start.

We have two members that are currently studying at University of Tirana. They are really having a problem with their faith. One is studying Medicine and he thinks that is to busy to attend the services with the church in the Lord's Day. The other is studying Social Works. She has met some people that do call themselves Christian and has compromised her faith with them. This makes my soul sad, but we know that the devil is at work in the world. Praise be to God that has given us the Holy Spirit to help us in this spiritual battle.

A special acknowledgement to all of you who are supporting this ministry with your money and prayers.

God bless you! 

In Him,

Bledi

Brethren,

Greetings in the sweet name of Jesus our Lord!

Well,   I will start my report by sharing with you an amazing story. On April 1st, 1997 when it was a difficult time for Albania due to the bankruptcy of pyramid schemes, I started in an attempt to learn English with WEI, a correspondence study. It turned out to be the most important journey I will ever take. WEI uses the interest of people to learn English to introduce them to the Word of God. This journey did change the course of my life completely, from a wicked man of the world into the minister of God's heavenly grace.

Last month, as many of you may know, we had the missionary conference. This is not what some may think as an apostasy, it is simply a meeting where all those who work for the Lord in Albania come and share what God has been doing through them in the place where they are laboring for God. It is an opportunity to learn how  things work in different parts of Albania. We need to be consistent knowing that the customs are different in every county of Albania. It was great for me to benefit from the experience of those who have been committed themselves to the ministry for many years. And, some of them have been involved in ministry more then I am old (by the way I turn 21 on June 8th). It was also encouraging to visit with elders from Farragut Church of Christ who are supporting financially the work in Reps.

In the district of Mirdita, there was a time (Whether this is a myth or a true story I don't know.) when some people came together practicing witchcraft. People say that they were used to stay naked and called them the "Nudist Religion."  Well, people hated this kind of people as you may see from the name they gave them. Now, there was a group from the Pentecostal Church that came to have an assembly there and because they think of their Catholic background and don't like this people call them the "Nudist religion." They come there every Saturday. They will have their preacher come from Sweden in the Summer. And, when brother Bill Morgan, Jim Fox (from my supporting congregation), and Artan Xhaferi (Tirana coc) came on the following Sunday, somebody said, "Well, those yesterday where from the 'nudist religion' and what about these?"  My sister, who doesn't have a problem to speak to anyone said to the women, "Look at me carefully! For I entered the worship place dressed up and  walked out dressed up. Do you have anything against us and our behavior?" Praise God that they are telling people to whom they belong.

Brother Bill taught for us on the Godhead and preached on "Being active in sharing your faith." His lessons, as asked by me, had the purpose of following the course of the lessons that I have been teaching from Acts where we watched carefully how the people became Christians in the first century. That is the same how we enter in the kingdom today. Please pray as they may want to share the gospel with others. We also started this Wednesday a Bible class. We are studying from Bob Waldron "A New Beginning." On Sunday, we will start a class on worship for 9 weeks, probably.

Students are found to be a problem. I have 4 students, one is a Christian already. They come when they have time. The rule is that if they miss 3 times we dismiss them; but, I can't dismiss them since we don't have other students in the list waiting. In this case I take my time to study.

One thing that I want your prayers on is about a sister who went in Italy with her family and there did not find other then the support of Witnesses of Jehovah. It broke my heart when she said "With all the regard for the Church of Christ and her members it is not the right way (the truth). I have found the truth in what the W o J teach and practice." I have sent her 2 books, one from brother Dino Roussos "The Church of Christ During Apostolic Age" and one from Josh McDowell "Deceivers" that deals with cults including W o J.  May God open her mind to the truth that God has revealed to us in the Bible about himself and his son.

God bless you! 

In Him,

Bledi.

May 4, 2001

Dear Brethren,

Greetings in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus.

Well, the past two months hasn't been that good as far as my health is concerned. First I had a skin infection. Then I went to bed for two days because of the fever and a high temperature of 40 Celsius degree (fortunately in this case I was able to get out of the bed before Sunday for the service; however, I would get up even sick to lead the service. God was very kind to me and He got me up before then). Then I had a terrible bellyache. In the end I had to go to the dentist. I went there to remove a tooth, but the dentist told me it was better to fill the tooth. In the end I had a channel opened in my tooth. I tell you, brethren, in this two months I have taken more medicine than I have in my lifetime. But now by the grace of God I am enjoying good health.

The Church:

We are still studying worship in our Sunday Bible School. On Wednesdays we are studying from Bob Waldron's material "The New Beginning." We are facing the first threats from within the Church. That is 3 of our members have started to come less than usual. The problem is that they have a business and their father wants them to stay and watch the business. They go to school Mon-Fri, and then they run the business on Saturdays. On Sunday their father takes them to a nearby village to work in their field. Right now my prayer is that they will be able to finish ASAP the work in the field. I don't know what time they usually come back, or I would change the time for our worship service. I will see what can be done. This Wednesday I went to have the class there and only my sister showed up. I have to find out what the problem is as soon as I get home.

Students:

I got to meet a friend of mine this month who is in the military force. He came to me with some questions, since he knew I had attended the Church of Christ during my high school time. I saw his interest to study the Word, so I gave him our translation of WEI books in Albanian!  I also told him to come and ask me any question he might have. I have another student who is studying with me via correspondence. He comes and I check his answers, and I explain any mistakes he might have made. In other words I ensure that he gets the message. I have another one, who usually forgets to come, but he is a nice young man, and I like him. I gave him a Bible during our last class, encouraging him to start reading from the book of John, following with Acts. I told him to come and ask me any question he would like to.

Special Projects:

We have planned a special meeting with the youth of Tirana and Elbasan this month in Kruja, so we can know that we are not alone. In beginning of July, Kledis and I are going to attend a seminar on evangelism in the Church of Christ in Elbasan for one week. We are going to celebrate our first church anniversary on July 12 with a small party. We also plan to go to Vlora Youth Camp too. I have been asked to be one of the counselors. We have the Sister's Day in July 21st. As you may see we are planning to enjoy our Christianity, to tell the world that we are not bored people but people who enjoy their belief. In addition to that God keeps loving us and caring for us.

May God bless you!

In Him,

Bledi.

Greetings to all of you who love the Lord with all of your heart.

God is at work. We are seeing each day His mighty hand as we walk through life. You know that without His help and assistance we can not go any further. Each time we get in roll with something good there is Satan trying to pull us away. He gives us power we go ahead, Hallelujah.

We enjoyed being with young Christians from Tirana and Elbasan in Kruja on May 19th. Christians in Reps liked making new friends who share the common faith. It is great to know that when you go somewhere people are there loving you even though you don't get to see often or quite never. We have started to make our plans to go in the youth camp this summer organized by the brethren in Vlora. It was fun last year and I am sure it will be fun this year too. Still there is a need to help with the camp with money. Don't forget that here everything depends on money. You may consider helping by contacting Virgil and Jackie Jackson (the missionaries in Vlora) at: virjax@aul.sanx.net. The fee for one Christian is 100$.

I had the first student to graduate from the basic course. In the end of the course we had a conversation on the salvation. He is catholic background and was "baptized" in the catholic church. I gave him the book that deals with the new birth. God's willing he will understand the difference between the biblical baptism and the baptism he had in the catholic church. Please pray for the seed been planted in his heart. We have one young man who has started to come with us in every service that we hold up in Reps. He looks really interested and I am confidential to that he will get to the point to obey the gospel.

Our study on the Worship ends on Sunday. Next we gonna study few lessons on the church and different "crowns" of the bible. I can say that they are growing in the knowledge of the Lord. Please pray for them for are babies that need to be strengthen more. There is much persecution going on there because of the catholic church which is stronger in this part of Albania then any other place.

When you get time lift your my name to the Lord in prayer for I am now busy. Ask Him to help me organize better my time. I have tests to take and responsibilities at church.

In the end I want to ask you to pray for the families that are involved in the last tragedy in Reps, where 2 men were killed and 3 other were injured. Most of you don't know lot of the tradition in North Albania about blood-vengeance.The risk is great that they are going to revenge. Please pray that no other blood will be shed. I am sorry for them because I know them all.  We had a special prayer in our service for all those involved in this tragedy.

May God's richest blessings be upon you all.

In Him,

Bledi

Five more have been baptized since. Now, the church stands at number 8. One doesn't come and we have two visitors coming. God's willing they will become part of our eternal salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

Camp Ministry :
Last month, in the mountains of Vlora as many of you may know there was a Bible Camp. Three different groups went in three different sessions there. To everyone that attended it was a Blessing. We did have a great time in Bible Classes, games, going to the beach, and climbing the mountain. We also had excellent fellowship there. Last year, there were people from Vlora, Fier, and Tirana. This year, three more groups came: Elbasan, Prizren (Kosova), and Reps (seven of us went). New friendships were made as we learned to "Walk in Jesus' Footsteps". And, believe me those intimate friendships will surely effect the future of the gospel in Albania and Kosova. During the camp period, the Jonian Sea became the baptistry of 4 new souls. Two from Fier and other two from Tirana were added to the body of Christ. One of the people I had with me from Reps, who has been attending Worship Services with us expressed his interest in becoming a child of God. I took him aside and studied with him. I told him not to get baptized until he gets more convinced of his commitment. In Albania we have faced the problem of leaving church, and I wanted him to be sure so he want be "repented" later. So we can say that the camp was a real success. Therefore, each one of you that contributed with your money can be sure that they were spent right, or better they were invested right. May God bless each of you for helping.

Teaching :
We started on Sunday our classes on "Christian Evidences...or I know whom I have believed". It will take us 13 weeks to go through. Hopefully, I will be able to give the lessons typed to them.

College:
As many of you know I am college student. And some of you know how the "Math" exam has given me hard times. Having failed to pass for four times I had to take the test on a fifth time. Finally, I passed the test which
means that next fall I will start back the college. My plans are to spend the weekends with the Christians in Reps.

Health:
Well due to the heat I have started the old habit of blood-bleeding-out-my-nouse. I haven't gone to see the doctor, for I know he will give me some medicines that do not effect me, or tell me to smoke which I don't
have to do with.

Finally :
"May the God of peace, who through the blood of eternal covenant brought back from the dead Lord Jesus,   that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. AMEN".

God bless you!
In Him,
Bledi!

Brethren greetings,

The Church :
July 12th, 2000 the church was started in Reps of Mirdita (Northeast Albania). My sister Luiza, my cousin Enkelejda, and I came down to Tirana. Both my sister and cousin got baptized that same day that means, that the church started in Reps. The next day we had our first Bible Class, and on Sunday the first Worship Service. Five more have been baptized since. Now, the church stands at number 8. One doesn't come and we have two visitors coming. God's willing they will become part of our eternal salvation we have in Christ Jesus.

Camp Ministry :
Last month, in the mountains of Vlora as many of you may know there was a Bible Camp. Three different groups went in three different sessions there. To everyone that attended it was a Blessing. We did have a great time in Bible Classes, games, going to the beach, and climbing the mountain. We also had excellent fellowship there. Last year, there were people from Vlora, Fier, and Tirana. This year, three more groups came: Elbasan, Prizren (Kosova), and Reps (seven of us went). New friendships were made as we learned to "Walk in Jesus' Footsteps". And, believe me those intimate friendships will surely effect the future of the gospel in Albania and Kosova. During the camp period, the Jonian Sea became the baptistry of 4 new souls. Two from Fier and other two from Tirana were added to the body of Christ. One of the people I had with me from Reps, who has been attending Worship Services with us expressed his interest in becoming a child of God. I took him aside and studied with him. I told him not to get baptized until he gets more convinced of his commitment. In Albania we have faced the problem of leaving church, and I wanted him to be sure so he want be "repented" later. So we can say that the camp was a real success. Therefore, each one of you that contributed with your money can be sure that they were spent right, or better they were invested right. May God bless each of you for helping.

Teaching :
We started on Sunday our classes on "Christian Evidences...or I know whom I have believed". It will take us 13 weeks to go through. Hopefully, I will be able to give the lessons typed to them.

College:
As many of you know I am college student. And some of you know how the "Math" exam has given me hard times. Having failed to pass for four times I had to take the test on a fifth time. Finally, I passed the test which
means that next fall I will start back the college. My plans are to spend the weekends with the Christians in Reps.

Health:
Well due to the heat I have started the old habit of blood-bleeding-out-my-nouse. I haven't gone to see the doctor, for I know he will give me some medicines that do not effect me, or tell me to smoke which I don't
have to do with.

Finally :
"May the God of peace, who through the blood of eternal covenant brought back from the dead Lord Jesus,   that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. AMEN".

God bless you!
In Him,
Bledi!

In Him and for Him,
Bledi Valca, Minister
Reps church of Christ!
P.O. Box 2942, Tirane, Albania
PS: Letters of encouragement are welcomed

Bledi, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to all the fellow-workers in proclaiming the Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, greetings.

The Church:

The church in Reps is doing well. We are having our Worship services regularly at 10 AM now. This weekend as I came home, I prepared the plans for the Sunday Bible School. I have now planned lessons ahead up to the end of June, but I will try to be flexible to the needs that the church may have in regard to the lessons. This Sunday we used our new songbooks to worship the Lord. Our book contains about 72 songs all in the Albanian language. It is good when you worship the Lord knowing what are you singing about; then we can truly say "Amen." It is interesting that when people want to present me a gift normally they will come up with two kinds of gifts: 1) T-shirts, 2) Bibles. At this point I have been given 14 Bibles, some of them being Study Bibles. Sister Emily Pownall suggested that I share the blessings, so I presented a Study Bible to Emilina who plans to attend British Bible School next fall. She had given away her Bible when she was not attending worship services, and she didn't have a Bible to read. I hope it will be helpful to her. We are planing to visit Pete Hodge in Elbasan this weekend. And we also plan to join the church in Tirana for this years Christmas celebration.

College:

College is getting harder and harder each day as we approach final exams. Normally we are required to prepare essays in each of our subjects. Please keep praying that my studies won't hinder my ministry. It was great to hear that in college we have several students who attend different denominational churches. I have had an opportunity to talk to some of them, and most were opened to listen. So far none of them has been able to prove me wrong in what I share with them. This is another way the true seed of the Kingdom is being planted hoping to give good fruits for God. With one of the students I am beginning to establish an especially good relationship. He saw my WWJD bracelet, and asked if I was a Christian. As a result of that conversation he started being friendlier to me. He suggested that we begin a group meeting at school with other people from his church and study together. Each one would be given a chance to speak to the group (that means me too). It is such a blessing that God is opening gates to me to proclaim His word here in college. 

WEI:

So far we have had five students enroll in our courses. We have three students in Rreshen (the main town of the district, and one of the places we are hoping to start a church), one in Reps, and one in Mashterkor (a village two miles from Reps). We have sent each one of them the Introductory Lesson, and we hope now that they will answer. Please keep praying that this work of the church in Reps will succeed and as a result God will be glorified.

Lessons:

By means of the new computer, a gift from brother Doug Smith who ministers to the Church of Christ in Prizren, Kosovo, my lessons are being shared in printed form with my congregation, to young Christians from the Tirana COC, to my new friend in college, and online to some 80 Albanians on my mailing list. This means an audience of about 100 people. What a blessing to have this many students in different forms. I was encouraged to have one tell me that she really appreciated getting my lessons, especially as she hadn't located the address of the Church of Christ in Padova, Italy. I went online to the directory of the Churches of Christ in Italy and found out the address of the church there for her, and I forwarded it on to her.

Brothers and sisters please keep praying for this work.

"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Savior be the glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen" Jude vs. 24-25.

Greetings brethren in the sweetest name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

I hope you have been enjoying good health and have not been touched by the flu this month. It is always a joy to get your notes of encouragement. I know that our purpose is to build each other up, so that one day we all will join the angels in heaven saying: "Holy, holy, holy, is the God almighty who was, who is, and is to come. "Won't that be just GREAT?

Well, another month has past, and here I am again writing my newsletter, sharing with you the many blessings and struggles I have had while serving the Lord's Church here in Reps. This report will bring both good and exciting news, as well as sad news. 

Kledis (the other male Christian in Reps) this Sunday increased his participation in the Worship Service. Some weeks before he started with the reading of the Scriptures, and this Sunday he led the singing for us in our worship service. Soon he will begin leading public prayers, and maybe sometime in the future he will preach for us as well. If the Lord wills, my plan is to train him as a leader in the Lord's Church during the next two years. It has been a blessing for me to be in this congregation, and serve as the minister for her since the beginning. It has been an excellent experience of spiritual growth. I would love to share this experience somewhere else where it is needed it too. I believe the Words of Jesus, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the God of harvest, therefore, to send more workers into His harvest field," apply very well to what I see here in Albania. 

Now for the bad news. On Sunday mornings I've been teaching a class on the Book of James. I had planned seven lessons. One on the background of the book, one on the similarities between James and the Sermon on the Mount, and the other five lessons would each cover one chapter. Having worked with the church here for more than year now, and knowing each member on a personal basis, I know they have problem with controlling their anger. As I talked about this subject, some were offended. Because of this, we now have a division in the congregation here. I spent a day in fasting and prayer on Tuesday asking God to give me guidance on this matter. I believe that all will be resolved soon, and we will come back together to worship God, allowing no place for Satan to divide us forever. Please pray that God will give me guidance at this time to make wise decisions.

College is going well, and I am having great times with my new friends. We had Brother Wayne Speer in Tirana for a 4-day seminar this month, and 3 of my new friends came to the seminar. One of them is Orthodox, but he really doesn't understand what he believes. He was amazed by the way Brother Wayne delivered the message of God's Word. He comes often now, and I have told him that he is welcome to come anytime he wants. The other two are Baptist, I think. They listened carefully as Wayne talked about the oneness of the Faith as spoken about in Ephesians 4:4-6. They even took notes during the seminar. So far they have not come to me to ask any questions, but I hope they will in the near future. 

Brothers and sisters in the Lord I need your prayers now more than ever. I am always grateful when you lift my name to God in your prayers. There is no way I could do all this work if it wasn't for your support and encouragement. 

"Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Cor. 13:12-14.

For the cause of Christ,

Bledi Valca, Minister

Kledis is still leading the singing and doing Scripture Reading in our Services. The situation here seems good, even though I have not heard from my supporting congregation if they are going to support my work along 2002. If they will not be able to do it, my emergency fund can run the work for other 2 months and then I will be running short. I am really worried what is going to happen after March with the church here. With all my work with the school and the need to work to pay my education I won't be able to handle the work with the church as well. Usually, if you are a student all the work that you can do here is working on a bar or serving as waiter. Both of these works require 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can see now how difficult is to live by faith and not by sight. All my recent prayers has been on this work and support, knowing that this is the Lord’s work, and He will meet all of my needs according to His glorious riches.

I hope that 2002 will be a great year for all of you, and God’s blessings will flow on you.

For the cause of Christ,

Bledi Valca, Minister

REPS CHURCH OF CHRIST

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