Albania

Brief History

Throughout Albania‘s entire existence they have lived under some type of occupation: Roman, Barbarian, Byzantine, and most recently the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire from which Albania gets its Islamic roots.

After the Second World War, Albania was run by Enver Hoxha, a ruthless, iron-fisted dictator, who at one point was in close relationship with Russia and China but then broke away from both of these regimes because their style of communism was not radical enough. He totally secluded the country from the outside world, making Albania one of the most closed nations in the world at the time. The public hanging of religious leaders caused the Christian Church and all other religions to essentially cease to exist. For almost fifty years there was no known religious movement, not even an underground movement.

From 1990-1992 the long Communistic reign began to crumble. Since then, the transition to democracy has proven to be challenging as successive governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents. In the past few years, Albania has made strides toward democratic reform and maintaining the rule of law, as well as showing economic improvement.

Demographics

Albania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea to the west, and lies between Greece in the south and Montenegro and Serbia to the nort. There are about 3.6 million people living in Albania and 1 million of them live in the capital city, Tirana.

Ministry outlook

As we look towards the future and ministry among young people in Albania, we see that there are many young people who are seeking satisfaction in everything but the One who truly satisfies the soul, Jesus Christ. Please pray with us as we look towards new movements of God among the young people in Albania that will transform lives for the sake of the glory of God and His Kingdom. Pray also for more laborers to come and minister among the youth in Albania through this ministry. We are praying that this generation brings a spiritual awakening for perhaps the first time ever in its history.

More official information about Albania at http://www.albanian.com/community/

Majlinda Agolli
Knowing that lost people matter to God, they matter to Majlinda. more...

Justin & Gretchen Hall
Justin & Gretchen Hall have been serving in Tirana, Albania since January of 2006. more...