Yesterday and today I was surrounded by the community of missionaries here in Tirana. The International Church attracts visitors from all over the world to worship and to serve. Cleon, a missionary to Albania from Barbados, works at the International Church and is excellent at fostering community. Yesterday he had about ten people over to his house for fellowship and a brunch. After we ate there was time to talk and sing together. Before long, three people had brought their guitars to a coordinated, air-filling hum.
This morning after church, about a dozen of us had lunch together. Sitting around the table were a family of four from India, an Amerian woman with her Albanian daughter, and four other people from the States. The International Protestant Assembly is a ready made congregation both for temporary and life-time residents of Tirana. It was established twenty years ago and has grown to become a vibrant congregation with a core group of ministers and volunteers. Over that time, the IPA has seen many changes in Albania. Standing at the bus stop after lunch, I found myself wondering where the nation of Albania will find itself in twenty more years. Will other nations have invested into the infrastructure so as to make this nation the production center it could be? Will the crisis have lifted and the European Union have accepted nations like Turkey, Iceland and Albania into its ranks?
Albania, the second poorest nation in all of Europe, feels like a nation balanced on a precipice. If nurtured, it could be one of the great nations of our world.
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