I had the privilege of spending a month and a half in a small town in the Albanian countryside called Poliçan. My team and I helped serve with a local church there. We led worship, children’s ministry, nursing home ministry, soccer outreach to teenagers, and many initial evangelism efforts in Poliçan and surrounding villages. 

As Albania was a primarily Muslim country until it was controlled by the Soviet Union from the 1940s to the 1990s, most people there were unfamiliar with the Gospel story. It was such a privilege to get to share the message and power of Jesus with these precious people. 

With the language barrier, and often lacking a translator, we had to get creative in how to share the Gospel with others. Therefore, my team and I created a short skit portraying the main points of the Gospel and our ministry host read the Bible verses to go along with the actions. We were able to use this method to communicate God’s story with many different people, and had the honor of seeing around 10 children say yes to Jesus for the first time in response to it.

My time in Albania was so sweet and memorable, not only because of the ministry, but because of the great friendships formed with our amazing host, translators, and the youth of Poliçan. Also, I think the Lord used this experience to open my eyes to the need for missionaries to go to unreached areas. So many people in Albania have not heard the Gospel, yet there are many souls hungry for the hope and purpose that Jesus brings. Please be in prayer for this nation and for me, as I seek out God's specific call on my life. Perhaps he wants me to be a full time missionary in a place like Poliçan.

I will keep my words short on this blog because I spent a lot of time working on a video to capture some of the action of the month. I hope it can give you a bit of a glimpse into what my experience was like.