Tirana, Albania

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

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Tirana, Albania Church of Christ

Bledar Valca Rruga Maliq Muca, Nr 37 Tirana, Albania E-mail: bvalca@yahoo.com or bvalca@kishaekrishtit.com Tel: + 355 42 228099 Cel: + 355 69 40 96622 Erik Qirjaqi WEI Director Tirana, Albania Europe cell: 069-2077079 (15 Aug 04) Website WORLD ENGLISH INSTITUTE Rr. Maliq Muca Nr. 37 Tirana, Albania Phone local: 228-099 Phone: 355-42-280-99 WEITIRANA@albmail.com Secretary: Sadete Hoxha 9 - 5 o'clock Tirana = PST + 9 hr	The church in Tirana grows consistently by teaching Bible to students who are at first interested in English. Quickly, the student's interest turns to the Bible. WEI's school in Tirana, managed by Erik, provides a place for teaching daily. The future of the church in Tirana looks bright. Older family members are now increasing in numbers. Erik Qirjaqi, the director of WEI's school in Tirana, and his colleagues report their work in Tirana here. The long term missionary from America is Ellen Walker. For some time, Artan and Rumira Xhaferi served as one of the Albanian leaders. Bledar Valca served Tirana and Elbasan while doing his studies with IBIA school of preaching there. Bledar is now in Tirana full time. Artan is in America. Ellen Walker Maliq Muça, 37 Tirana, Albania Phone: 0355-426-2741 Cell: 069-20-77087 lnwalker@albaniaonline.net	Jan-Feb 2011 Mar-Apr 2011 Archive PHOTOS Photo Gallery
www.kishaekrishtit.com http://www.kishaekrishtit.blogspot.com/
January - February 2011 To the Maryville Church Family Greetings of love in the precious name of Lord Jesus! We are blessed to serve a great God who challenges us and walks with us in every one of them. Please find below, some of the activities, that we have been involved in the last two months. Perspective Many years ago, when I was living in the dorms of the University of Tirana, there was a poster on the ground floor. Having been a student in a public and secular university, this poster seems interesting when we consider how it read. In this poster were written the words: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” As ministers of the New Covenant, we have been given through God’s mercy the privilege to serve God and reconcile the world to Him. God’s trust and mercy encourages us not to lose heart, but empowers us to keep on keeping on. If we were to look at things from a worldly point of view, we would look at things in front of us, evaluate the pros and the cons, and depending on where the scale leads, and then act. Yet, as children of God we are to evaluate the pros and the cons, but we also need to take in consideration that we serve a great God. He can take our feeble and humble efforts and use them for His glory. It is what we call faith. There are times that I think of the opportunities presented in front of us as ways to test our faith and grow in them. This is why we need to be proactive, dive into the challenges in front of us, and let God use us. One of the philosophies that I use in ministry is: Not to fret at new opportunities, do my best, see what God will do, and if it does not work let it not be because I did not try it. Then, move on to new challenges. Political situation This has been a difficult political time for Albania. The protests of the opposition coalition in Albania degenerated in violence on January 21 and as a result 4 people lost their lives. The protest has been followed by other nonviolent protests, but with a lot of fear pending. If this is not enough, all of their protests take place on Fridays, the day in which we have our main youth program. We have had to cancel our youth program 3 times during this period. We wanted to ensure the safety of our kids. While there is less tension right now, prayers are appreciated on this behalf. Rebuilding momentum will be a hard task. College Ministry I did follow through with the plans about having a night for college students during this period. We are meeting on Thursday Nights since some of them who live in the dorms may go to their homes on the weekend. We started our first meeting with 15 people present. Several church members came as well. The next Thursday we had again 15. I find it very interesting to note that 7 of them are church members from other congregations of the Lord’s church in Albania. They have introduced us to 7 of their friends from college. They share rooms in dorms or attend classes together. Our goals for this ministry are to help the Christians maintain their faith during the college transition and that through them we can reach their friends. Transitional times are challenging to faith as well as times in which people evaluate their identity and are open to question their worldview. This is why I believe that college transition is an excellent time to strengthen faith and come to faith. We are focusing on building relationships with the group. I would ask you to continue praying about this ministry. Wayne and Brenda Speer’s annual visit During February we were blessed to have Wayne and Brenda Speer with us. They have served as missionaries in Tirana from 1997-1999. They have served in many countries during their ministry, but Albania continues to be their favorite mission point. This is why every year, they come and spend one month with the church in Tirana. When they are here, Brenda teaches the Ladies Bible Class, while Wayne teaches/preaches in all the other Bible Class sessions and worship services. They spend a lot of time visiting with members, renewing friendships and make themselves available in anything we have to offer them. Their time here is always refreshment for many of us. We are built up in the Word and as servants of the Word we are given a chance to breathe from pulpit responsibilities. Wayne and Brenda are praying and seeking support to move to Tirana to work with the church. Larger scale events We do organize regular meetings for the church leaders and missionaries in Albania. On these meetings, we share a devotional thought, talk about issues of mutual interest, pray together and enjoy a meal. For the last meeting, we traveled to Lushnja and the church there hosted the meeting this time. We had close to 30 people in attendance. Kevin Morrill of Korca brought the devotion in Albanian language; Sokol Haxhiu of Tirana facilitated the discussion about this Summer’s Christian Camp; I facilitated the discussion about the mission’s teleconference that will be part of the Eastern European Workshop (formerly known as Albania-Romanian Workshop) taking place in Opelika, Alabama; and Alfred Zike of the Adriatic Congregation talked about the Seminar we are going to have in April 21-23 for church leaders and mature Christians. As a result, we have formally started the plans for this year’s camp. We decided to focus on the gospel of John as a way to come to faith and strengthen faith. We believe it to have both an edifying and evangelistic appeal to the fact that we have Christians and non-Christians attending our camp. Last year 240 people attended and served at camp, and as a result 13 people were led to Christ and everybody was strengthened in faith and Christian fellowship. The board of directors will be sitting soon to consider the costs, fees and needs for funding for this year’s camp. Help is needed. In regard to the mission’s teleconference, Tom Langley has sent a document asking to answer a key question “How can American Christians and Churches best partner with Albanian Christians and Churches to accomplish our mutual goals for the Lord’s church in Albania” in 10 different areas. We made sure everyone understands what we are talking about and I offered help to anyone who needed it to answer the questions in their context, or simply translating their answers in English. We are hoping that every congregation will have this document completed and we can ask direct discussions with supporters about the future of the work in Albania. So far, the five churches in the Berat area have asked for help and I traveled to Lushnja to assist Tom Bonner in helping them. Alfred Zike, who serves with the Adriatic Congregation in the Durres has been the promoter of an all-leaders-seminar to take place in Durres in April. He has asked several of us to serve with him as a seminar committee. The theme for the seminar will be “The New Testament Church.” Edward Wharton, one of the instructors at Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, TX, has written a book titled: “The Church of Christ – The Distinctive Nature of the New Testament Church.” This book is being printed in Albanian through Eastern European Missions. We are hoping that the book will be available on the dates of the seminar and Brother Wharton will present some lessons from his book. Other speakers in the program with include John Massie of San Antonio, TX; Dino Roussos from Athens, Greece, Tom Bonner, our missionary in Lushnja, Albania; Alfred Zike, the preacher at the Adriatic Congregation; Sokol Haxhiu and myself from the Tirana congregation. This seminar will be mainly for church leaders and mature members. There is a cost associated with the food and board of 100 USD/participant. Anyone who can help with the cost is most needed to provide scholarships for deserving Christians who cannot participate otherwise. We will be hosting the annual youth rally on April 9. We have invited Craig Young a missionary to Marseille, France for over 20 years to be the speaker for our program. We will be sitting on the first days of March to finalize the program with the youth ministry team. Because of the success of the last year’s camp I think that we will have a larger participation this year and I am hoping that we will need to look for another auditorium to host the event. To His glory, Bledi.
March - April 2011 To the Maryville Church Family “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:15-17). Salvation that has been made available to us through Christ should spring forth in life and worship. We are living examples of His love toward mankind. Yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with a Muslim who visited our worship service. In the course of the conversation, he said that it did not make sense to him how God can allow His Son to be killed for the sins of others. In response I told him: “You are correct that God is just and holy and does not compromise His standards of justice and holiness. But He is also loving, compassionate and merciful. His justice and holiness demands sin to be punished, but His love, compassion and mercy says that I will show you the full extent of my love, compassion and mercy: I will take it upon my son. It does not make sense to us as humans, but it ought to teach us how much He wants to be in a reconciled relationship with us.” Our God is, definitely, amazing! Two baptisms in Tirana First things first! We are very happy to announce that two sisters were added to the body of Christ in Tirana. Pellumbesha Zotaj, is the mother of our brother Denis Zotaj. Denis became a Christian last June and from the start showed an interest to see her mother become a Christian too. Lee Allen was in Tirana at that time and studied with Pellumbesha (her name in English would mean “a female dove.”) We continued to keep ties with Pellumbesha throughout this time. It was amazing to receive a sms from Ellen Walker, my co-worker here, around 10 PM, indicating Pellumbesha’s desire to be baptized the next day. I called Denis that same night and made the arrangements about her baptism. So, on March 14, Pellumbesha put on Christ in baptism. You would love the glow on her face as she was coming out of the water. Ellen has taken her as student. Some time back, I wrote about a study that we were having with Valentina Samara. Valentina is connected with our church with many ties. Her son was one of the leaders in our congregation before he moved to New York State (I know many of you know Artan Samara in person). Her daughter-in-law, Brikena, was one of our Children’s Bible Classes. Valentina’s daughter, Matilda, was a key person in the Children Ministry. Finally, Shirli, Artan and Brikena’s daughter became a Christian in our church. Seeing Artan baptize his daughter is still a loving memory. And now, Artan’s mother is a Christian. It is amazing how God works inter-generationally. For Bona and I, it has been a blessing to be able to study with Valentina and see her come to the Lord. She was baptized on April 14. Last Sunday Night, we brought Valentina the Lord’s Supper from church and shared with her at her apartment. Due to her health, she is not able to go out. She had a surgery just recently. Please keep her in your prayers. IBIA’s Prayer Retreat Just before the things got busy, we were treated with a prayer retreat in the Dajti Mountain, just above Tirana. The International Bible Institute of Albania invited the graduates and students along with their families to spend 24 hour prayer and fast in the mountain. We meditated on the names of the God in the Bible, took long quiet times to pray about those meanings and were treated with Daniel’s fast. This was an interesting way to think and visualize this man of God and His ministry for the Lord. Since, this was going to be a quiet time for prayer and meditation we judged that it would be better for us to leave Lemuel with Bona’s mom, because he would have proved to be a distraction for us and the other participants. This was IBIA’s way of serving us as alumni. We certainly appreciated this opportunity and look forward to this type of events. The Annual Youth Rally This period has been an eventful time even in the national level. Our church hosted the annual Youth Rally on April 9. Our theme for this year was “Identity – Who am I, really?” We invited Craig Young, a missionary in Marseille, France for over 20 years to be our speaker. In the first message, Craig exhorted us to the fact that identity is a matter of the heart. And then, on his second message he asked us if we had a heart for God. Craig came along with his wife, Katie, and their younger daughter, Esther. They sang for us beautifully as one of the items on the program. Esther, who is herself a teenager, commented that you cannot even begin to grasp an event of this size in France. The encouragement was mutual for them and for us. The next day, Craig taught and preached for the whole church. Flori Pollo prepared our poster and souvenir. This year’s souvenir was a plastic ID Card to bring more memories of the day. Sokol Thanati and Kledia Lika played a skit titled “God’s chisel” with a very powerful message of God chiseling out into the image of His Son. Ermal Musabelli was our master of ceremony. A team of skilled and willing servants grilled the food for us in the terrace. With the success of last year’s camp we were sure that we will have a big crowd coming. We had a record attendance of 250 people. Yes, it was a packed auditorium. This is the best attendance on the Youth Rally since we started the first time in the year 2001. As the number kept coming in and being edited by participating churches, being very cost-cautious (since we have committed half our year’s budget toward the new van that we need to acquire) we confess that we started to worry if we would have enough money, food and ID Cards. But our Jehovah Jireh provided for us in an amazing way. One of Ellen’s students, as he came for his usual class with Ellen, noticed that we were preparing the grills for the event. The next day, he called Ellen and said that he wanted to help by providing some catered food for us. She pointed him to me since I was more up to date with food situation. I thanked him for his willingness and told him that we had already ordered the meat that we were going to grill. So instead, he offered a money gift for us. It was a third of our entire expenses. It certainly was a teaching moment for all of us to learn to trust in the Lord. It still echoes in my ears: Be still and know that I AM God (Psalm 46:10). Then we were able to come with the other sum needed. The Mission’s Videoconference Soon after the Youth Rally was over, on that same day, we started to set up for the Mission’s Videoconference as part of the Eastern Europe Workshop. Thanks to internet we were able to connect via Skype with supporters of the Albanian work who were on one room in Opelika, Alabama being facilitated by Lee Allen. I was facilitating on the Albanian end. Of course, a lot of the preparation had gone on before. I collected, in some cases even translated, the questionnaires that were previously sent to each church in Albania. Not every one of them felt the need to fill one, and some added their thoughts in the live conversation. The preparatory work allowed us to use more effectively the videoconference time. We were happy to see the continued interest in the Albanian work. The Local Retreat of the Albanian Churches of Christ As soon as the videoconference was over, we were busy with the next project. We were working on the translation of Ed Wharton’s book “The Church of Christ – The Distinctive Nature of the New Testament Church.” I was working hard to make it ready before April 20, because the next day we were going to have Brother Wharton, speak at a retreat for the local churches of Christ in Albania for the next 3 days. The book was just in time for the retreat thanks to Eastern European Missions (Mike Armour’s book Newcomers Guide to the Bible, along with the workbook will be available in the next couple of weeks). We have put a milestone in the work in Albania with starting the first, of hopefully more to come every year, retreat for the Albanian churches. The retreat was well attended with 50-60 residents and commuters every day. Brother Wharton spoke on the distinctive pattern of the NT, with then application for the doctrine, the organization and the worship of the NT Church. He also had a session of Q&A on the last day of the retreat. With the organizing committee we lined up other speakers for other sessions: Alfred Zike (who preaches for the Adriatic congregation in Durrres, Albania) opened the whole retreat by addressing the importance of the church; John Massie (preacher and elder in Alamo City church of Christ, San Antonio, TX) spoke on the Mission and the Unity of the Church; Dino Roussos (preacher at the Omonia church of Christ, and the new plant Glyfada Church of Christ from Athens, Greece) spoke on the work of the preacher and on the work of the church; Sokol Haxhiu (my co-worker in Tirana) preached a stirring message on the topic “In the world, but not of the world”; I preached on the topic of “preaching and teaching in the church”; in the end, Tom Bonner (our fellow worker in Lushnja, Albania) capped the whole thing by affirming that “We can have the NT church, today”. Singing and prayers were lead variously by different men from all the churches, in addition to special group prayers and loving fellowship throughout the event. We made a decision at the retreat that next year, we will have the retreat again, and we will attempt this event to be added to our annual calendar. The theme for the next year will be “The Christian Family and its service in Christ”. For the next year we are looking for a dynamic capable couple who can lead plenary sessions separately for men and women. We considered that women speaking their heart to women about their role would have a greater impact. The organizing committee (Alfred Zike, Shkelqim Kafexhiu, Ilir Kura, Sokol Haxhiu and I) are open to suggestions about potential couples. Thanks to the generous help of two brothers, many people who would otherwise not go from our congregation, attended. The money that was left after paying for them, was applied to the general fund of the retreat to cover other costs. I have conferred with one of them and he thought that it was a wise decision. I want to thank you brothers for your generosity. Preparing for Summer Camp At the retreat, since we already had the leaders together we had a meeting about the Summer Camp. The Camp will be on the same location as last year with some of the costs increased. So help will be needed. This year, we will focus on the Gospel of John and will work at striking a balance between evangelism and edification. We will continue to have the same direction as last year with Alfred Zike on the first week, myself on the second and Sokol Haxhiu on the third week. We will be meeting to finalize everything on May 21 at the Adriatic congregation prior to kick off on July 16. I know that many individuals (Christians and not) are excited about the happenings. To His glory, Bledi.
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