Newsletter March 2004: Pogradec,
Albania
March came in like a lion; in the
first two days we conducted ten interviews (nine of them on March 1st).
Most of our students have come through word of mouth. News travels quickly in a
city the size of Pogradec. By the end of the month our schedules were completely
full and the waiting list was growing. It is wonderful to be busy.
This month we said goodbye to Ken
Sandefur. He traveled on to help missionaries in Prizrin, Kosovo. We really
appreciated his willingness to come and serve in Pogradec. He has helped us
greatly with the teaching load.
Due to the large number of
students who are unprepared for the WEI Easy to Read Bible Course (ETR), we have
begun to give out the WEI Beginner’s Course. We are giving this course to
people that interview and are below the comprehension level needed for the ETR
course. The plan is for students to study the books of the Beginner’s Course
on their own. When they finish a book, they will bring that book in and we will
check their work. When they complete a book, we will give them the next book in
the three book series. If a student finishes the Beginner’s Course, we will
consider beginning the ETR course with them. This will depend on available
teaching time, level of interest and improvement in the student’s
comprehension.
Many of our students are
religious and read the Bible at home. It is encouraging to teach people who
already have faith and a love for God. It has been nice to have students who
read the Bible and believe it is God’s word. Mimoza, Allison’s, student
reads the Bible every night with her fourth grade son. She understands and
believes the Old Testament stories are true. Please pray that she will have as
much faith and commitment to the truths of the New Testament.
Irena, Allison’s student, is
beginning in her faith. She is a mother with two children and has studied
science in college. She knows that evolution is not true, but she has a hard
time believing in the biblical account of creation. She is searching. Her
English speaking is low, and she speaks Albanian very fast, so Xhumert has been
a great asset in speaking with her. Please pray for her faith to grow.
This has been a month for
conversations. Xhumert has been out in the community talking with people, and
people have come to us as well. With the signs in front of the building for the
WEI center and the church, people have come wanting to know who we are and what
we believe.
Some have asked us if we are
Baptist, Pentecostal, Evangelical, or just Protestant.
We have said, “we are just Christians, who read and believe in the
Bible.” This did take some convincing. It
has been interesting to talk to these people and discover what they believe to
be truth. Many “missionaries” have worked in Pogradec since Albania became a
democracy. They have taught a variety of ideas; some of them close to the Bible
and others far from it. Through conversations we are beginning to better
understand what some of the groups believe. We are still learning. Please pray
that we are effective in teaching the truths of the Bible.
We now have a website so you can
look in and see how things are going. There’s a page to keep you updated on
how many students we are teaching/have taught (Center Facts), many pages of
pictures, our campaign information, past newsletters (with an added “picture
of the month”), and more. We will try to keep the site updated twice a month,
once when the newsletter goes out, then again about a week or two later. If you
have any suggestions or criticism (constructive or otherwise) about the site
please share your thoughts with us. The site is a free site so it does have
banners, but they should be of a benign nature as we signed up as a
“Christian” website, if you see any adds that are unacceptable please tell
us as soon as possible. The address for the site is: http://www.oocities.org/weipogradec/index.html
.
Remember that the summer campaign
is coming. We still have many spaces available for interested teachers. If you
have a desire to be a part of the work in Pogradec please contact us. We know
how important and effective short-term missions can be for students (and
full-time missionaries), and we encourage you to consider this as an option this
summer.
If we can provide any additional
information about the work, summer campaigns, or anything else please let us
know.
We thank you for your continued
support of the Lord’s work; we are grateful for your partnership. You are in
our hearts and prayers. May the Lord bless, and encourage you throughout this
month.
|
With Love in Christ,
Xhumert, Kevin and Allison