My welcome back to Albania has been truly touching. I was greeted at the airport by my friend Kreshinik who was dressed in fine clothing as though to receive an honored guest. On our way home from the airport we stopped to meet Visi who had brought three other people with him from Fushe Kruja: Fatima, Yli, and Miri. We sat and enjoyed coffee at a bar-kafe on the property of a gas station. My mind clock has adjusted so that I no longer find these types of meetings to be tediously long. Americans can be in such a hurry all of the time.
The next day I met Visi and Fatjon in Tirana. We had coffee and updated each other about our lives and those we love as the last ten weeks have dissolved into memory and myth. In late January, five of the people in the Fushe Kruja church were blessed with the Holy Spirit including Visi and Fatjon. Assemblies of God doctrine teaches that the first sign of this is “speaking in tongues,” which is a blessing that God has, as yet, withheld from me. The Church here is getting stronger and its participants grow more committed each day.
We met Pastor Alban and his wife Leda near a children’s fun park. They look healthy and happy. Alban must be encouraged by the ways in which his disciples are maturing. The Fushe Kruja Church is a much stronger Body than it was a year ago. I celebrate God’s work in this place.
albaniacalling 