Matt 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
NIV

John 20:10-16

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
NIV
 

NIV


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WELCOME! 

Durrës, Albania

Shkelqim Kafexhiu
Preacher

(Çimi)
cimish2000@yahoo.com

The church in Durrës is doing well.
A meeting place has been found and a native preacher is now serving the congregation.

The attendance for each Sunday is between 43 Christians to 47 with an all time high of  70. Interns are in training. Some will attend the IBIA in Tirana in preparation to become preachers. (learn more)

You are invited to participate in this work by...

• One time contributions (tax benefit)

• Monthly support

• Pray for those committing their lives and that the student's hearts will be open to God's Word.

• Participate in Campaigns

Apr-May 06

July 06

June - Aug 06

Nov 06

Nov Zike

Jan-Feb 07

Mar-Jun 07

Aug-07

Sept-07

Jan 08

March 08

Archive

Photos in Tirana

A word of thankfulness.
Praise be to the God and our Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. In Christ, God chose us before the world was made. God chose us in love to be his people. God gave us grace in Christ and we have forgiveness of our sins through his blood. That is why I always remember you in my prayers and always thank God for you and the support you are to the church in Durres. Rejoice for 2 new souls added to the body of Christ in Durres. May 19th, Suada Jakupi (15 yrs) said YES to God and Christ. Suada has been studying and attending the church for a long time and finally she wore Christ in the baptism. May 21st, Regi Salataj (16 yrs) said YES to Christ. Regi is Jona’s brother. Jona is married with Benjamin Smith. It was a joyful day for the church in Durres to participate and be witnesses of Regi’s baptism. Regi has been attending church and he has studied with many teachers and finally with Shelley. Jona, Regi’s sister had urged Regi to put Christ on baptism as the most important decision he will ever take in his life. She told him to make the decision even if his father was not there to witness him. I cried with joy to read Jona’s email to Regi and the words she had said to him regarding to the decision to follow Christ. We rejoice with God and the angels in heaven for Suada and Regi and their decision to follow God and have Him first in their lives.
 

Suada

Regi

AIM Team in Durres.
May 18th 2006, four Christian girls from USA, part of the Aim program from Sunset preaching school came to work with us in Durres. The church in Durres is grateful for them and we pray for them to be a blessing to the church here and to the Lord’s work in Albania. Their names are: Robbie Grossman from Texas; Rachel MacCoy from Oklahoma; Sarah Everett from Oklahoma and Anna Tribbeh from Colorado. We praise the Lord for their willingness to join the Lord’s work in Albania. I’m sure that they will be a great blessing to the church and outreach to the community of Durres. The church in Durres assures their families in the Lord that we will love and care for them and we will be always ready to help in times of need.

AIM: Rachel, Anna, Sarah and Robbie

Youth rally in Tirana.
May 20th, Tirana church of Christ hosted the Christian youth rally 2006. There were about 27 people to take part in this event form the church in Durres. The teens and I rode the
bus to Tirana. The teens enjoyed that day by having fellowship with other Christians in Albania and worshipping God in singing, prayers and reading his Word. Sokol Haxhia, a brother from Tirana church who is graduated from Harding University was the speaker. The theme for that day was, ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind.’ Romans 12:2. After the youth rally, Alfred and Diana Zike invited the teens to their house. Diana had prepared for us lots of food and we enjoyed the fellowship with them and each other. We are thankful for their hospitality
and their brotherly love to us.

Fellowship Meal.
May 21st, the church in Durres had a fellowship meal welcoming the Aim team and saying goodbye to Bath, a sister form Minnesota who came and worked to the church in Durres during the month of April. Many Christian girls were taught by Bath and we were thankful for her many great talents she had in teaching members of the church and other students.

Church Plant
New work in Beach area to start this summer. The church in Durres has been praying to God for a new work in Durres. The beach area in Durres has a population of between 30.000-40.000 people. There are many members from this area who come and worship in the city of Durres. By starting a new work in that area, it will be convenient for those members to worship God there. It looks to us that the people of this area are receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My fellow brother Alfred Zike has been working more in this area and has many contacts there. We plan to start teaching through WEI and other means in this area in July 10th, 2006. A gospel meeting will be held on the last week of the month of August. We ask you brethren to pray with us to God for guidance and may his will be done in all. We want the Spirit of the Lord to lead and guide us in furthering God’s kingdom in Durres.

Bible Classes.
I continue to teach students and Christians from Monday to Friday of each week. I teach Bible classes with Christians and some of the students who have come to learn English.
Anila, my wife is teaching Bible to 4 students. She is teaching the girl’s class on Fridays.
Ray Wheeler is teaching from the book of Acts on Sunday mornings. I teach Wednesday Bible class from selected people of the Bible. Alfred and I take turns in preaching on Sunday mornings. April 23rd, a group of four and I visited the church in Lushnja. Tom Bonner, the missionary there invited me to preach to the church in Lushnja while he is in
US. Alfred preached there on May 28th.

Anila and I are thankful to God our Father. Anila and I continue to grow in love toward each other. As I wrote you in the last report, Anila is pregnant and her pregnancy has gone well so far. She is due on October 20th, 2006. We rejoice in the Lord for the baby coming in our family. We ask you to keep Anila in your prayers, please.

Your servant and brother for the cause of Christ,

Shkelqim KAfexhiu.
 

A word of praise to God!
I hope every person on earth learns about you, God. Let every nation see how you save people. May people praise you, God! May all people praise you. May all nations rejoice and be happy! Why? Because you judge people fairly and you rule every nation. May people praise, God! May all people praise you. God, our God, bless us… May all people on earth fear and respect God. Psalm 67: 2-7. I continually give thanks for your willingness to support this work and I pray that you will be richly blessed for the important part you are playing in this effort. The Lord’s work with the Albanians in Durrës has brought honor and glory to God our Father. Where God’s Word is preached his people are loved!

Ladies Day 2006.
On June 24th, the church in Durres hosted the Ladies day. Shelley Wheeler was the speaker for the day. The theme was “Created in God’s image”. There were about 150 ladies participating in this event. It was a great day of fellowship, service, love, edification and praise to God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. A group of Christian men from the church in Durres prepared the lunch meal for the ladies. It was a good experience of service for the men of the church to be involved in different works for the church. There were Christians from many churches in Albania; it was great to see Christians from the churches in Kucova and from the village Magjat, near Kucova. We are trying to bring all the churches of Albania into the unity of the Spirit.

The new work in the Beach area.
On the beginning of July 2006, the church in Durres began the new work in the Beach area. It is a distance of five miles from the church in Durres. We have rented a small place and we are teaching students there through WEI materials. Alfred Zike has been involved more in this new work and Eduart is one of the students of the Bible school in Tirana who is helping us there. There are two girls from the AIM program, as well as myself, who are teaching there twice a week. We have planned to have a full week of gospel meeting and VBS starting on August 28th, and there will be a group of four teachers from Bartlesville, Oklahoma who will help us do so. We ask you to pray fro this new work that the Spirit of the Lord leads us and may he use us to reach the people who are hungry for his word. We pray that the Lord be with us and bless this effort.

The Christian Camp in Llogara.
There was a group of four people (Ray and I and two other Christian boys) from the church in Durres that went to the camp site for a week to help set up. The camp is located in a beautiful mountain place south of Vlora. The first week of the camp started on July 1st and it was for children. There were six kids from the church in Durres. Suela Kurti (school secretary) and two of the AIM girls (Sarah and Anna) went there that week with the kids. They reported that it was a great week for the children. On July 15th, a large number of people from the church in Durres went to the camp in Llogara. There were 31 people altogether from Durres. Ray Wheeler was the camp director and Shelley was one of the cooks for the camp. Kelley Atkinson, a dear sister in the Lord who came from Houston, Texas, served as the camp teacher for the girls. She is so dear to the church in Durres because she comes every year during her vacations and teaches Albanians about Christ. I want to commend Kelley to the Lord for her strong desire to serve him in Durres, Albania.
There were also two girls from the AIM program (Rachel and Robbie). The church in Durres is thankful for Rachel’s father, Mark McCoy who contributed to some of our church members who were not able to afford the camp expenses. It was reported from the people who were at the camp to be a good week in fellowship, service to each other, building each other up, and growing in the knowledge of the Word of God.

Bible Bowl 2006.
It is already a tradition for the church in Durres to host a Bible bowl every year. This year we studied the Book of Romans. On August 12th, the church in Durres hosted eight teams. From the church in Durrës there were four teams, one team from Tirana, one team from the church in Lushnja, one team from the church in Kucova and one team from the village Magjat, next to the city of Kucova. There were also people from other cities like Polican and Fier and they promised to send teams for the next year. It was a glorious day of fellowship and love to God our father. The Bible bowl had its winners also. The first place was taken by one of the teams from Durrësi (Doriana, Ajald, Monika, Greta). The second place was taken by the team from Lushnja, and the third place was taken by Durres again. The first place for the individuals was taken by Doriana Delia. Second place-Ajald Celmeta, third place—Genti Delia and fourth place—Iva, a non-Christian girl. It was a great day for the Lord. We gave glory and praise to God and not to ourselves.

Gary Hunt visits the church in Durres.
At the end of July, Gary Hunt, one of the elders of the sponsoring church in Idaho Falls, visited the church in Durres for about ten days. Gary was accompanied by his son Lynn Hunt (a former missionary to Durres) and Lynn’s wife Leida. Gary came to see and witness the mission work in the field. It was an encouraging visit to all of us in Durrës and it was a great encouragement to the church to hear Gary preach on one of the Sundays. Lynn also preached to the church and he taught a couple of singing classes during the time he was here. The church in Durres is grateful to God for the financial support and prayers of the church in IF. God’s name is glorified in Durres and more people are hearing the Gospel of Christ.

Fellowship Meal.
On August 15th, the church in Durres invited Dick Ady to preach to the church. Dick Ady is the founder of the World English Institute in Albania. It was a great day of worshipping the Lord and we had a fellowship meal after the worship service. It was also a great day of fellowship with each other.

AIM team to Durres.
As you know, the church in Durres is assisted by an AIM team of four girls. The girls are having a great time here and they are teaching students every day as  well as making friendships with their students. They are growing in the knowledge of the Lord and in fellowship with church members. They are a blessing to the church. At this moment, they are teaching VBS with children. There are over 20 children every day that attend the class.

The Classes.
I continue to preach and teach and I take turns in preaching with Alfred. I’m teaching the Sunday Bible class from the gospel of Mark in view of evangelism. I divide the class into three groups and each group studies a passage from Mark and discusses questions I have prepared beforehand. Each group ends the class with a prayer and we each pray for one person that a Christian wants to bring to Christ. I continue to teach students of WEI during the week and, as I mentioned above, I go twice a week to teach in the beach area.
Anila also teaches some Bible classes to some students. She also is teaching some Christian girls at our home.

Many Christians from abroad visit Durres.
Eriola Winebarger visited her family and the church in Durres. It was great to see Eriola come and worship with us during the months of May-July. Also, Jonida Kushi, Ilda and Mariola Malja, and Adi Kurti came from Italy and they are worshipping with us for the summer months. We miss them and we are glad to see them back.

Benjamin and Jona Smith are blessed with a baby girl!
The church in Durres rejoices with Benjamin and Jona for God blessed them with a baby girl. We have been praying for Jona and her baby. God is good! God is great! Regi and Alma (Jona’s brother and her mother) are visiting Benjamin and Jona in the US.

Anila and her pregnancy.
Anila is doing well with her pregnancy. The Lord has blessed her with good health. She is due on October 20th. I kindly ask you to continue to pray for her and her pregnancy.


Ajald Celmeta moves to the US.
Ajald Celmeta, one of the Christian boys of the church in Durrës, left Durrës to go to Idaho Falls to finish the last year of the high school there. It was sad to see many Christians from the church in Durres cry as they were saying goodbye to Ajald after the Bible class on Wednesday, the 16th of August. We wish Ajald the blessings of Christ as he is going to live and study in the US.

In Christ’s name,
Shkelqim Kafexhiu.

 

A word of praise and thankfulness.
I praise you my God and King. Blessed be your name forever and ever. I praise you every day. The Lord is great. We can’t count all the great things he does. My mouth will speak with praise to the Lord. His Word is preached and his people are saved through the blood of the Lamb.  I would like to thank all of you who have become part of the Lord’s work in Durres, Albania. Your financial support and your prayers are much appreciated and above all God’s name is proclaimed. My wife Anila, and I would like to thank you for supporting us. We pray and ask God to richly bless your lives in Christ
Jesus.

Four new souls added to the body of Christ.
We rejoice with the angels in heaven for the four new souls added to the body of Christ in Durres. On the September 12th, Sinela Gjeci met Christ at the cross (baptism) and was connected with His blood and received the forgiveness of sins. Also on September 17th, Dorjan Paja was born again from the water and the Spirit. On October 4th, Laureta Arapi (my wife’s cousin) declared Christ as her Lord and Savior by being baptized in his name.

On November 5th, Arlind Veshti confessed Jesus and was baptized in His name.
These new souls received salvation at the time of baptism. I strongly believe that God is the main actor at our baptism not us. We only confess Jesus and obey.

Our challenge as the church in Durres is to keep the saved ones faithful and continue to teach them toward maturity until the Lord comes back. We ask you brethren to pray for the new souls in Durres.

Anila and I rejoice for baby Samuel.
On October 8th, Anila gave birth to our baby boy Samuel. She gave birth by surgery and everything went well. We praise God for covering Anila and Samuel with his grace and love. Anila and I feel greatly blessed by God and like Anila we want to dedicate him to God. We also would like to thank you for your prayers for Anila and her pregnancy. Samuel is growing and Anila is recovering from the surgery.

National Men’s Day.
On the October 13th and 14th, the church in Tirana hosted the men’s day. Bill Morgan, a brother from TN was invited as the speaker. He spoke to the men of the Albanian church on the subject of ‘Spiritual leadership’ and ‘How to develop a mission church.’ There were about 12 Christian men from the church in Durres that took part in this meeting. Bill Morgan is a dear and godly brother in Christ who has been involved with the mission work in Albania, especially Tirana. He has invested so much time and money to the church in Albania. On behalf of the church in Durres I want to commend him before the Lord Christ Jesus. May God bless you richly in Christ Jesus.

Bible Classes.
The Word of God is being taught and preached in the church in Durres. Alfred Zike and I take turns preaching on Sundays. Alfred is teaching the Bible class on Wednesday from 1&2 Timothy and Titus. I’m teaching the Bible class on Sunday from the Gospel of Mark. While Anila is revovering, Shelley has been teaching the girls Bible class on Fridays. I’m teaching the Bible class to the boys at the same time. Diana Zike continues in teaching the children’s Sunday Bible class.

World English Institute classes.
There are about 8 teachers who are teaching Bible through English from WEI materials on full time basis. I have also included in this number of teachers our secretary Suela Kurti. She is teaching beginners on a full schedule and on the other side she does the job of secretary. A university was opened for the first time in the city of Durres and, as the result; we are seeing new students coming to learn English at our office. The best tool of our advertisement has been through the word of mouth of our members who are students at this university.

AIM team.
The four girls of the aim team in Durres have become a blessing to the church in Durres. They are growing in the Lord and in the fellowship with the church members. They are a great influence to the new students coming to learn English. They are putting a lot of efforts toward the Albanian language and I commend them before the Lord for their progress in this.

The work in the Beach area.
As you know from the previous reports the church in Durres is working toward the beach area to start a new church. Alfred and his wife Diana are working and teaching about 35 students altogether. We pray that God will lead us in that area and soon begin to start worship there. We ask you to pray brethren for this great and promising work.

Ray and Shelley plan to leave Durres.
It is sad to report to you that Ray and Shelley Wheeler are planning to leave Durres and go back to US. on January 9th, 2007. They have been working as missionaries for the church in Durres since October 2003. They have been a great blessing to the church in Durres. We will be sad to see them leave and will also miss them very much.

With the humble spirit
Your servant for the cause of Christ in Durres,
Shkelqim Kafexhiu
 

Dear brethren,

Warm Greetings to you and your families!

Hope you had a good holiday and great time with your lovely families during Thanksgiving Holiday. Our thanksgivings join with yours and are always addressed to our Graces God. We have so many reasons to be thankful to God, “for in Him we live and move and have our being…” As always we thank God of you, and your faith and commitment to Jesus and His church. May His blessings be yours abundantly now and forever.

November is a special month for Albania and Albanians too. We have two of our greatest national days this month.  November 28 is the Independence Day. Albania declared its independence from the Turks in November 28, 1912 after being occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire (Turks) for five centuries. November 29 is the Liberation Day. Being occupied during the 2nd World War first from Italian Fascism in 1939 and later from German Nazis in 1943, Albania got its liberty in November 29, 1944. We rejoice and we thank God for our nation and people while we remember our history and the efforts made for the prosperity of the country. As God’s children, we do remember our call and commitment to preach the Good News of Jesus to our country men. Only His righteousness exalts any nation. Praise Him!

We hope you are doing well and everything goes well with you. Our prayer is with you and all you are doing for the Lord’s Glory.

We are well and very blessed too. Being thankful to you for all your prayers on behalf of Alfred’s health, we gladly inform that his health is recovered completely and back to normal. As you already now, I (Alfred) had a surgery on my back late in September.

I was complaining of some severe back pains and I went to see the doctor. The doctor found something wrong next to the last vertebra. He suggested a quick intervention because of the seriousness of the problem. Thus, September 28th I had the surgery. It was a very painful one. The doctor founded an infected mass and removed it and next to it he founded a hidden one too. The surgery took up to 2 hours work of. I had pains and some blood bleeding after the surgery for the next two days. It took me almost three weeks going through recovering status, which interrupted us of the work we were doing in the Beach area of Durres city.

Being concerned about the continuity of the work in the Beach area by following up all the work done there during the Summer Campaign (July –September), we prayed fervently and kept being in constant contact with the people there through our mobile phone. We received many calls and SMS from them. They all expressed their concern and care about my health. That was very encouraging and uplifted to us.

October 16, we restarted our daily schedule of teaching and visiting in the Beach area. We gladly inform you that the interruption of the work in about three weeks did not influence it negatively. And we know why. Thanks be to God only. Your prayers and ours worked as they always work when our hearts beat up for Him. We have more students of God’s word by now. There is a total of 35. We lost few young people from our previous teaching schedule. They are attending the University in Elbasan city and they moved to Elbasan city when the University started first week of October. But we have recruited some others since then. Diana and I are doing the most of the teaching assisted by Sarah and Rachel, two girls of AIM team. They are teaching 3 students once in week. As you see the harvest are full and there is need for workers. “…how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?”

Teaching the Word to an adult couple and their grandchildren next to them.

We are planning to have again Summer Campaign in 2007 and we are in contacts with people from Oklahoma. You can be part of this Campaign through your prayers, your financial assistance or your coming to teach. Please, consider this opportunity, pray about that and allow God to direct your heart in whatever you can be able to do for Him. We know that you are already involved in many things you are doing for Him and His church. We commend you before the Lord and we pray that His guidance and blessings be yours as you serve Him faithfully. For more information about Summer Campaign of 2007 email us at alzike@abcom-al.com We pray that we will be able to be in contact with you and respond to you through via email regardless of several interruptions we have had because of our Internet Service Provider. Thank You. God Bless.

Everyone is well in Durres church. We have good news to share with you. Cimi and Anila became parents. Anila gave birth to a baby boy on October 8th as you may already know that. The baby is named Samuel. Both Anila and the baby are in good health. We were glad to see them both last Sunday at the Worship service. We also have three spiritual births. They are Laureta Arapi, Dorian Paja and Arlind Veshti. Laureta works at the photo shop next to the church meeting place. Dorian is a high school student while Arlind attends the University in Durres city. He is in the first year and is studying English. There are several other members of Durres church who are attending the University in Durres this year. The University in Durres city opened its door for the first time this year in October. It has been a blessing to many young people and we hope that it will be a blessing to the city too.

I am teaching Wednesday Bible class on 1 & 2Timothy and Titus being focused on "The Organizational Structure of the Church and its Leadership”. I am also preaching on Sunday mornings alternated with Cimi each Sunday, while Diana is teaching Children Bible class on Sunday mornings. We do enjoy the teaching and the fellowship with the brethren in Durres church. All credit belongs to the Lord and Him alone who allows us to teach and preach fully and freely His Word, “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” as the heart of psalmist so tenderly and beautifully described it.

Blessed of and very thankful to Him, we thank you wholeheartedly for all your confidence and all your spiritual and financial support to our family and work. We encourage you to keep being partners with us as we work together for the expansion of His kingdom on earth and for His glory in His church. May He abundantly bless you and your lives.

Here are several prayer requests that we would like for you to add to your prayer list:

1. Durres church and the new converts: Laureta, Dorian, and Arlind.
2. Beach area work in Durres
3. Cimi & Anila and their new baby, Samuel
4. Our family and work. Thanks.

Teaching the Word to an adult couple and their grandchildren next to them.

Brotherly in Christ,

Alfred & Diana Zike
 

March - June 25th, 2007.

Thank you!


“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul
thirsts for you… I have seen you in the sanctuary and
beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is
better than life, my lips will glorify you”, Psalm 63:
1-3.

My family and I would always like to thank you for the support you give to us and to the church in Durres. The church in Durres always remembers you in our prayers of thankfulness to God. You have become partners with us of the great work in the Kingdom of God. May God continue to bless all the saints in Idaho Falls richly in Christ Jesus. May the Lord repay you for what you are doing in supporting the work of the church in Durres. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord.

A new soul is added to the body of Christ in Durres. On May 23rd, Greta Bejzo met Jesus at the cross (baptism) and became a daughter of God. Greta is a wonderful sister in the Lord and a good student in her school. Sarah (one of the aim girls) taught her about Jesus and now I’m teaching her from the book of Romans. I consider the teaching after baptism very important to the Christian walk. Sometimes, when we stop teaching the new converts after baptism, they drift away from the Lord.

The trip to Apollonia.
On March 24th, the church had a picnic at a very old Roman city, Apollonia, near the new city of Fier in Albania. There were 27 people altogether on the trip. We hired a bus, and for that day and we enjoyed the great fellowship together between each other. Each one of us brought food from our homes and we shared lunch together, played volleyball, and enjoyed the sites in Apollonia.

.

Skender Kola goes to Iraq.
On March 18th, Skender Kola, one of our brothers in the Lord, went to Mosul, Iraq as part of the Albanian army to fight against terrorism. Skender is an officer in the Albanian intelligence. Skender and his family (his wife Arta and two kids, Geri and Klajdi) gave a fellowship meal for the church. We are praying for Skender and the Albanian troops as they are serving there for 6 months and we ask you to pray for him and his family while they are apart from each other. On June 10th, G.W. Bush, the US president, visited Albania. It was the first time for a US president on duty to visit Albania. It was a great visit for all Albania and he said “Thank You” to the Albanian troops for being on the side of the US fighting terrorism in the world.

Youth Day and Ladies Day.
On April 14th, the church in Tirana hosted the national youth day. We had 27 people from the church to attend this event. The theme of the Day was, “Freedom in Christ’, and a US missionary, Steve Byrne who is working for the local church in Fier, was the main speaker of the day. The youth from all the other cities of Albania enjoyed the fellowship and the teaching from the Word of God. Also, on April 28th, the church in Elbasan hosted the national Ladies day. There were 9 ladies from the church in Durres who attended this event. The ladies came back from this event encouraged and built up by the power of the Word preached there and by the fellowship with each other.

The Christian ship Logos II visits the port in Durres. On May 12th, Logos II visited the port of Durres for two weeks. Logos II is a famous and big Christian ship that travels all over the world with a huge library inside and serves the community in every place it goes. The church in Durres had the opportunity to visit this ship and meet with other Christian volunteers from different countries of the world. We also had a team of six girls from our church that went there and served the community of Durres. The ship was open to all the people of Albania and many people came from other cities to be encouraged by the great fellowship.

My ministry to the church in Durres.
I continue to teach and preach the Word of God for the church in Durres. I bring the sermon to the church each Sunday, and also the lesson for Bible class. The sermons lately have been from the book of Joshua. I just finished teaching Sunday Bible class from the letter of 1 Corinthians and next week I’ll start the letter of 2 Corinthians, while on Wednesdays I‘m teaching the minor prophets. After I finish with the Minor Prophets, I’ll be teaching from the OT on the subject of “Having a heart like David”. I also continue to teach Bible classes with small groups, and my schedule is busy during the week with teaching the WEI students. A small part of my ministry is visiting the sick and those in grief because of losing the loved ones. These families have members in our church and it is always comforting to visit them at their homes.

My wife Anila continues to teach a Bible class for the ladies who are not able to attend classes during the week. She meets with the ladies of the church at our home on Saturdays at 5 pm. She is teaching from the gospel of John and they spend time in prayer. The youth class on Friday is held in two groups as the Christian boys meet separate from the girls. I have encouraged the boys to teach the youth and Anila and other girls teach the Christian girls. Each Friday at the end of the month they all come together as youth and one of the boys has the opportunity to preach.

Suela Kurti, the secretary, and Daniela Kosta continue to teach the children’s Bible class during the week and also on Sundays. They do such a great work with the children.

Aim Team.
The four girls from the Aim program are doing well and I continue to say that they are a great blessing to the church in Durres. Their schedules are full and they are teaching many students on a full time basis. They continue to grow closer to God and to the church members in Durres. They have made huge progress in learning the Albanian language. On April 29th, the aim girls together with Suela (the secretary) and Eduart (one of our brothers and a student of the Bible school in Tirana) visited for a few days Prishtina, the capital city of Kosovo where one of our sisters in Christ (Alisa) is in an American university. Alisa was encouraged by their visit and the fellowship they had together.

The church was visited by the families of three of the aim girls. Anna’s mother and grandmother (Sherry and Judy) visited her in Durres first. Then on May 26th, Rachel’s parents (Mark and Judy) and her brother John visited Durres. On June 2nd, a team from Bartlesville, Oklahoma visited the church in Durres; Sarah’s parents, Randy and Cathy, and her brother Seth, Johnny and Shirley who have been before as teachers of World English Institute in Durres, and Cliff and Myrna were part of the team. The church enjoyed their visit and they were encouraged by the progress of the Lord’s work in Durres. They brought some t-shirts from different Christian universities in the US. We always enjoy the visits and their fellowships in the Lord of the brethren from Bartlesville, Ok. They are a great encouragement to all of us in Albania and to the work for the Albanian church. We give thanks to our Father in heaven for their support toward the church in Albania.


Visits to the church in Durres.
Ajald Celmeta, one of our brothers in Christ returned from the US after one year of study in Idaho Falls, US. Alisa Cangonji returned from Kosovo just for the summer and she will go back for the second year of university. Erick and Eriola Winebarger (both students at Oklahoma Christian University) are in Durres for visit and also teaching as part of World English Institute.

Kelley Atkins and Ben Aspherheim are planning to come and teach the Bible from WEI materials. It is always great to have such wonderful people in the Lord to come and be part of the Lord’s work in Durres.

Help for Albanian Bibles.
We need some support to buy more Albanian Bibles for use for this year. If there are any of you who want to contribute toward buying Albanian Bibles we will appreciate it very much.

Coming up.
# Seminar on July 4th-to 10th. Greg Weston from Portland, OR will teach the church from “Early church history”. # VBS on July 2nd to 6th. # National Bible bowl in Durres, August 25th. Study from the book of Joshua

The servant for the cause of Christ
Shkelqim Kafexhiu (Cimi), Anila and Samuel.
 

Hello Brethren in the Lord,

The church of Christ in Durres sends greetings in the name of Jesus. You are receiving this email because you have been part of the Lord’s work here in Durres. You know that since May 2006 through November 2007, the church in Durres has been blessed by an aim team made up of four girls from the Sunset school in Texas. The four girls have helped greatly the church. They have taught a lot of students since they arrived here in May 2006. They have been a great blessing to the church in a lot of ways and have grown closer to the Lord and too the church members. The church in Durres would like to have another AIM team for the year 2008. If this is the will of God, we would like to continue this in the future. We ask you kindly those, who have been part of this Work, to write an email to the AIM program in Texas at aim@sib.cc and to the director of the program Kris Smith telling him about the experiences and your support to the work here in Durres as a reference. God Bless you all and please continue to pray about another team serving here in the coming year.

With brotherly love
The servant of Jesus
Shkelqim Kafexhiu (Cimi).
 

• Please pray for Shelley Wheeler as she is undergoing chemo treatments and also for her and family.
• For Skender (one of our church members) who is coming back from his mission in Iraq.
• For both Regi Salataj and Klajdi Bido as they are studying in a different country. For their adjustment and their faith.
   

We thank God for you!

My family (Anila, Samuel and I) thank our God every time we remember you.  In all our prayers for all of you, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. We are thankful to God for your support and we ask you to be behind us not only with the financial support but also with your prayers and involvement in this work. We are continuing to serve the Lord in Durres with all of our efforts and give glory to God our Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

On November 15th, Mira Keta put on Christ in the baptism and became part of the Lord’s church in Durres. We rejoice with Mira for her decision to follow Christ. It has been a long talk with her mother before she decided to be baptized into Christ. Finally she was baptized and told her mother after the fact and her mother said nothing. Mira and her sister Lola have studied the Bible with me for many months and they also have been influenced by the aim girls in Durres. I ask you to pray for Mira’s sister, Lola who is close in accepting Jesus as the Lord of her life. Now, my wife Anila will continue to teach the Bible these two sisters.

We have some other students who are really seeking Christ and are close to the decision to become Christians. I ask you to pray for them.

Armelindo Kepi and Arlind Veshti have decided to attend the Bible School (IBIA) on full time basis. IBIA will move to the city of Durres for at least the next two years. These two brothers have decided to be trained in the Word of God and become servants for Christ in Albania. I want to commend them before the Lord and I ask you to encourage them through the emails and support them for the decision they have made.

IBIA Retreat for preachers
On October 19th and 20th, the IBIA hosted a retreat for the preachers and their wives outside of the city of Tirana. It was an encouraging time for many of us as preachers and our wives of the church in Albania to come together in a fellowship. I praise the Lord for Steve Stamatis and IBIA who made possible this retreat. This was the first retreat that we have had as preachers in the church in Albania. I see a great need for the preachers in Albania to come together and share our joys, straggles and trials in our ministry. The speaker for the retreat was Chris Swinford, the Dean of International Studies of Sunset Bible Institute. Chris encouraged us and also challenged us to take the Gospel of Jesus in all the corners of Albania. Kris preached to the church in Durres on the following Sunday, November 21st.

AIM girls leave Durres
On November 16th, the four girls from AIM left Durres and returned to the US. On November 11th, it was the last Sunday for the Aim girls and the church in Durres gave a party for them. It was a time of joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for their time in the church in Durres and also a time of many tears for their leaving. Each one of the aim girls testified before the church and many of their students of what God had done in their lives. There were also church members sharing their experience with the aim girls. I truly say that these girls were a great blessing to the church in Durres. They have influenced a lot of young people and adults for Christ. They worked for one and a half years to the church in Durres. It was a great time for their growth in the Lord, a great time of fellowship and encouragement with church members, and a great time for them to evangelize in the city of Durres. I just want to commend these sisters before our Father in heaven for the great work in his kingdom in Durres. Their time to the church in Durres was a great investment to their lives for Jesus and to the kingdom of God.

It is for these reasons that the church in Durres has applied to the AIM program in order to have another team for the year 2008. This means more work for me and my wife as the coordinators for the aim but we believe that God will take care of us and he will be glorified. We pray that God will send another team in Durres in order for us to continue the work they have started. Please, we ask you to join with us in prayer for God’s will be done and his plan may be fulfilled through the aim program.

Skender Kola returns from Iraq
Skender is one of the dear brothers of the church in Durres who served as an officer under NATO for six months in Iraq and he returned to Durres in the end of September. We praise the Lord for his safety in Iraq and we also are happy to have him back as a part of our fellowship in the body of Christ.
Sender’s family and the aim girls

Men’s and Ladies’ meeting
On October 6th, I invited the brothers of the church in Durres to come together in fellowship and study the Word of God in order to become better servants in the Lord’s church. There were 11 of us who studied together and had fellowship with his Word and each other. Also on the November 10th, the sisters of the church met together and had a great time of fellowship in God’s Word and with each other. Debora Stamatis (Steve’s wife) encouraged the sisters from the Word of God. At the end of both meetings we shared lunch together in the Lord.

My ministry to the church in Durres
I continue to preach and teach to the church from the Word of God weekly. I bring three to four lessons before the church every week. On the Wednesdays, I’m teaching from the book of Exodus, On Sundays, I’m preaching a number of lessons from the letter of Ephesians with the theme, “It is important to be In Christ”. The Bible class on the Sundays comes from the 2nd letter of Corinthians. Anila and I love the ministry to the church in Durres and we praise the Lord for his love and grace he has shown to us.

I’m encouraging the boys to teach the youth class on Fridays. Anila, my wife is involved with teaching the young girls on Fridays. Anila also, is teaching a Bible class on Saturdays to the sisters who are not able to come during the week. The theme of the class is, “Loved from God”.

A new ministry to the elderly has started in the beginning of October. Every Monday at 4pm, Anila and I have invited some elderly ladies to fellowship with us. We serve them tea and coffee and the most important the Word of God. The group is growing every week and we pray that more ladies of this age come to this meeting. It is a great joy to see them being hungry from the Word of God and ask questions from the Bible. We are glad to serve and preach to this age.

After the aim girls left to the US, it is Suela, the secretary, and I who are teaching on daily basis with the WEI books. There are some of the church members who have been willing to help us teach some of the students after the aim girls left. I praise the Lord for their willingness to teach the gospel to students who need teachers.

Even though Albania is facing power shortage, four to six hours every day, we are teaching on full capacity every day. Having a generator for the school has been a great blessing for the work, although we are spending more money from the school’s budget to buy gas to run the generator every day. Adding on top of this the value of the US dollar is going down to 81 ‘lek’ per $1.

Love and joy in Jesus
Cimi
 

A new church is established in the city of Durres.
We rejoice with the Lord for a new church being established in the city of Durres.
The city of Durres is the first city in Albania that has two churches of Christ. This new church that is located in the beach area began the first worship on March 4th; 2007.This area has a population of about 40.000 people. It started as an outreach from the church in Durres and many church members from Durres helped and evangelized in this new community which the new church is located. Alfred Zike, (and his family) my brother and fellow worker for the Lord serves as the minister to this new church. Eduart Hoxha (a church member from Durres congregation), who was recently graduated as the student from the Bible School in Tirana has joined the ministry with Alfred.

New souls were added to the church in Durres.
Three new souls were added to the church in Durres. They are three girls; Greta Bejzo, Lindita Zeqiri and Mira Keta. There have been two new members who have placed their membership to the church in Durres.

The year 2008 started with two new sisters in Christ. On January 6th, 2008, on the Lord’s Day, Anisa Zara and Krisli were added to the body of Jesus. We rejoiced with the angels in heaven for these two new sisters in Christ.

The Word of God has been planted in the hearts of many people in the city of Durres. There have been more than 200 people who have heard the gospel of Jesus for the first time. We know that they have not been converted to Jesus yet but his teaching has been taught. It is through the power of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit that people can change and turn their lives to Jesus. It is the sin that keeps the people away from God and his Son, Jesus Christ. It is our duty to speak the gospel of Christ in love and let the Holy Spirit convicts the people of sin and guilt in their lives.

Church members were involved in the ministry of the church.
Eduart Hoxha, a member of Durres church and also a student to the Bible school in Tirana taught the church during the months of January and February from the letters of the apostles John. Skender Kola also taught the church the Sunday Bible class from the book of 1Corinthians. For the year 2008, he is teaching the Sunday Bible class from the book of James and and then from 1and 2 Thessalonians. I’m glad to see that there are also Christian boys who taught the youth class on Fridays. Genti Delija, Elvin Xhimitiku, Arlind Veshti, Amaro Kepi, Nikolino Kosta are some of the Christian boys who were willing to teach and preach the Word of God. The youth class on Fridays has been divided into boy’s class and girl’s class and once a month they come together. It is one of the boys who preach to the youth. I praise God for them and their willingness to be involved with the church and take responsibilities before God and his church.

Daniela Kosta, a sister in Christ and a university student took the responsibility to teach the children class on Sundays. She started to work with the children since last January. God has given her the talent to work with the children. There are other sisters from the church who are willing to help with the children. The WEI secretary, Suela Kurti, is also involved with the children classes during the week. She has great talent with working with the children. As I have mentioned in the previous reports Suela is teaching also many students through WEI materials and I want to commend her before the Lord. She is truly a huge blessing to the church and the school. There are other Christian girls who are willing to teach the children during the week.

WEI Campaign 2007.
Along with all of the excitement for 2007, we had several teachers and visitors. We had many from America come. Greg Weston and his wife LaDon from Oregon. We were blessed to have Kelly Atkins come for six weeks and taught WEI Bible materials along with the AIM girls. Kelly has come several times and each time it is an encouragement to see her give up her time from work (as a teacher) to come and teach the word of God to Albanians. We also had Eric and Ariola Wineberger come and help us with our work load, and Ben Asperheim came for a week and taught some students. We thank all of them for giving their time in working with us for the glory of God. Many old faces came back to visit us such as Benjamin and Jona Smith, Elena, Diana Qermi, Nataly, Jonida, and Alisa and Klajdi Bido. God blessed the church again with a Christian couple from Kosovo that came for one Sunday and the following Wednesday. Throughout this summer we have been encouraged by seeing and fellowshipping with each of these people.

Fellowship trips
On March 24th, the church had a picnic at a very old Roman city, Apollonia, near the new city of Fier in Albania. There were 27 people altogether on the trip. We hired a bus, and for that day and we enjoyed the great fellowship together between each other. Each one of us brought food from our homes and we shared lunch together, played volleyball, and enjoyed the sites in Apollonia. Also, before the Christmas the church made a trip to mount Dajti that is located by the city of Tirana. There were about 40 people in this trip and we enjoyed the fellowship together and shared lunch with each other. We enjoyed playing with snow also. One good thing about these trips as the whole church is the fellowship among Christians and also Christians invite non-Christian friends and we try to evangelize them. I believe that there is power of sharing Jesus in these trips. The non- Christians see love in action as we pray and play with them. Jesus said that the world will see that we are Christians by our love with each other.

The Youth rally and the Ladies day. On April 14th, the church in Tirana hosted the national youth day. We had 27 people from the church to attend this event. The theme of the Day was, “Freedom in Christ’, and a US missionary, Steve Byrne who is working for the local church in Fier, was the main speaker of the day. The youth from all the other cities of Albania enjoyed the fellowship and the teaching from the Word of God.

Also, on April 28th, the church in Elbasan hosted the national Ladies day. There were 9 ladies from the church in Durres who attended this event. The ladies came back from this event encouraged and built up by the power of the Word preached there and by the fellowship with each other.

Logos II visited the port of Durres
On May 12th, Logos II visited the port of Durres for two weeks. Logos II is a famous and big Christian ship that travels all over the world with a huge library inside and serves the community in every place it goes. The church in Durres had the opportunity to visit this ship and meet with other Christian volunteers from different countries of the world. We also had a team of six girls from our church that went there and served the community of Durres. The ship was open to all the people of Albania and many people came from other cities to be encouraged by the great fellowship.
 
Vacation Bible School
On July 2nd we kicked off our Vacation Bible School. We did not know how many children to expect, but God was faithful and blessed us with 17-30 kids throughout the week. We all had a great time praising God in song and Suela (our secretary) taught about the life of Christ. The week began teaching about the birth of Jesus, his ministry, and ending with his death and resurrection. Several of the church members and the AIM girls helped with this event, and it was great to see everyone involved. By the end of the week (July 6th) we all felt that VBS was a success and are looking forward to next years.

Since we have many children who want to be part of children Bible class, we plan to have two VBS’s during the year of 2008. I’m glad to hear many church members who are willing to take responsibilities in teaching the kids.

Seminar
During the same week as Vacation Bible School (July 2nd- 6th) we were privileged to have Greg and LaDon Weston come and visit. During this week Greg did a seminar over Early Christian History. The seminar took place at night and it was a great chance to learn and fellowship with both Greg and LaDon. They encouraged us to keep the faith and to keep trusting in God.

National Bible Bowl 2007
On August 25th we had our annual Bible Bowel. Each of us looks forward to this time of year in that we can challenge one another in the Word. This year we had two churches take part in this event, the church from Kucova, and the church of Magjat. We also had non-Christians take part. When the results came back it was interesting to find who took first place. We had a tie between Sarah Everett, who is one of our missionaries from America, and Anisa Zaza who is a non-Christian (now she is a Christian) take first place. Elena from the church in Kucova took 2nd place. While the participants were taking place in the Bible Bowel we had a lot of our church members preparing lunch for our guests. This was encouraging to see everyone working together. We all had a great day and we have been blessed to have amazing brothers and sisters in Christ. Staying in the Word is an essential part to understanding God. After we had a meal together the church members cleaned up and helped in anyway that they could. The Bible Bowel was a success and we look forward to next year’s event.

My Online Study
On August 2007 I started to take classes for my Masters in Ministry on-line with Harding University. I’m glad to tell you that I successfully enjoyed and finished the first semester.
This is a great opportunity for me to grow within the areas that I am weak in and to learn more about God’s work within the church. Since the classes are on-line I take them at night, while during the day I am involved with teaching students and doing my regular everyday ministry. God has blessed me with this opportunity and I am grateful for this. I’m going to take two classes for spring semester; the first class is on “Conflict Management” and the second class is on “The art of Preaching”.

Armelindo Kepi and Arlind Veshti have decided to attend the Bible School (IBIA) on full time basis. IBIA will move to the city of Durres for at least the next two years. These two brothers have decided to be trained in the Word of God and become servants for Christ in Albania. I want to commend them before the Lord and I ask you to encourage them through the emails and support them for the decision they have made. The school will start on January 21st and there will be four or five students together who will be trained to be preachers of the Word.

AIM girls served for one and a half years in the church in Durres.
On November 16th, the four girls from AIM left Durres and returned to the US. On November 11th, it was the last Sunday for the Aim girls and the church in Durres gave a party for them. It was a time of joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for their time in the church in Durres and also a time of many tears for their leaving. Each one of the aim girls testified before the church and many of their students of what God had done in their lives. There were also church members sharing their experience with the aim girls. I truly say that these girls were a great blessing to the church in Durres. They have influenced a lot of young people and adults for Christ. They worked for one and a half years to the church in Durres. It was a great time for their growth in the Lord, a great time of fellowship and encouragement with church members, and a great time for them to evangelize in the city of Durres. I just want to commend these sisters before our Father in heaven for the great work in his kingdom in Durres. Their time to the church in Durres was a great investment to their lives for Jesus and to the kingdom of God.
A new aim team is coming on May 2008. God is good and he knows our need. God responded to this need and we are happy to hear from AIM program in TX that we will have an aim team for 2008 with six members (three boys and three girls). We praise the Lord and say Hallelujah to him.

Skender Kola served for six months in Iraq.
Skender is one of the dear brothers of the church in Durres who served as an officer under NATO for six months in Iraq and he returned to Durres in the end of September. We praise the Lord for his safety in Iraq and we also are happy to have him back as a part of our fellowship in the body of Christ.
Sender’s family and the aim girls

Men’s and Ladies’ meeting
On October 6th, I invited the brothers of the church in Durres to come together in fellowship and study the Word of God in order to become better servants in the Lord’s church. There were 11 of us who studied together and had fellowship with his Word and each other. Also on the November 10th, the sisters of the church met together and had a great time of fellowship in God’s Word and with each other. Debora Stamatis (Steve’s wife) encouraged the sisters from the Word of God. At the end of both meetings we shared lunch together in the Lord.

Christmas activities. On December 23rd, on the Lord’s Day, the church in Durres had a special worship because of the Christmas. We had invited many of our students and relatives to come and join us in the worship to God and celebrating the birth of His Son who came as the baby and grew older and went freely to the cross to take away our sins. A group of Christians from the church prepared a chore and sang Christmas songs. We had about 90 people for worship that day.
We had about 35 kids on this day and they played a drama, sang Christmas song, quoted and recited many Psalms and Bible stories. The church had a fellowship meal after the worship and we enjoyed each other’s company.

My ministry to the church in Durres
I continue to preach and teach to the church from the Word of God weekly. During the year of 2007, I preached a number of sermons from the book of Joshua, Ephesians and many other topics. I taught the Sunday Bible class most of the year 2007. I taught the subjects such as, Holy Spirit, 2 Corinthians, and Rivival lessons from OT, scheme of Redemption, Minor Prophets, and lessons from life of David and many other lessons.

Anila and I love the ministry to the church in Durres and we praise the Lord for his love and grace he has shown to us. Anila, my wife was involved with teaching the young girls on Fridays. She also, taught a Bible class on Saturdays to the sisters who are not able to come during the week. She taught the ladies from the gospel of John; another theme of the class was, “Loved from God”.

A new ministry to the elderly started in the beginning of October. Every Monday at 4pm, Anila and I have invited some elderly ladies to fellowship with us. We serve them tea and coffee and the most important the Word of God. The group is growing every week and we pray that more ladies of this age come to this meeting. It is a great joy to see them being hungry from the Word of God and ask questions from the Bible. We are glad to serve and preach to this age.

After the aim girls left to the US, it is Suela, the secretary, and I who are teaching on daily basis with the WEI books. There are some of the church members who have been willing to help us teach some students. I praise the Lord for their willingness to teach the gospel to students who need teachers.

Love and joy in Jesus
Cimi, Anila and Samuel

January 10th, 2008