Caught in the Crossfire

Dear Friends,

As I write this the situation is tense in Tirana, the capital of Albania. When a group of protesters marched against government corruption, police fired tear gas into the crowd and three were killed by gunfire. Smoke from burning cars filled the city, and many were injured.

Albania may seem far away to most of us, but JV staff Justin and Gretchen Hall walk these same streets with their three young children every day, and could see the smoke from their balcony of their home. The day after the protests, Justin wrote this:

Later on in the afternoon I took my scooter down to the center to see what was going on. I walked around a bit, most places were closed, and there were at least 5 burned cars in the streets in and around the main boulevard. I walked over near the Prime Ministry Building, only to find a very large crowd throwing rocks and lighting trees on fire. I decided it was time to leave when about 200 people came running down the street after police started beating people.

Today was another dark chapter in Albania. We don’t know if more protests are to come. We have heard that tomorrow is a day of mourning for the three lives that were taken and that a leader of the opposition party has called for more protests again on Sunday or Monday.

We ask that you continue to pray for this dark corner of Eastern Europe. As I walked around the city tonight, there was a layer of darkness that covered it, and not just from smoke, but spiritual darkness. There is little hope here.

The majority of the protestors today were young people, the very people we are trying to reach. Some of our youth as they were walking were actually caught in some cross fire of tear gas.

These young people need a different kind of change –God’s redemption from sin and transformation into His image. This is why Justin and Gretchen are in Tirana, faithfully sharing the good news of Jesus with young people.

JV staff serve on the front lines in a dangerous war for the hearts and minds of this next generation. Thank you for standing with them.

Praying for revolution,