Story time from Albania:
At the end of our very first day in Shkodër, Albania, we stopped by the grocery store, SPAR, for some groceries and supplies. As my teammates, Matt, Travis, Mak, and I waited outside for the others to finish, a woman and her granddaughter came up to us. She was smiling and looking from the little girl to us repeatedly, like she wanted her to meet us. Neither of them spoke any English, and sadly, I don’t know much Albanian yet. But we exchanged smiles and names, then we pointed at the girl’s stuffed animal, and said, “it’s Nemo!” Travis also said, pointing to Mak, “This is Dory, her full name is Dory Hits Different!” Thankfully they didn’t understand or question, even though we couldn’t help but laugh at our own never ending inside joke. Then the woman offered us all clementines from the bag she had just bought at the market beside us.
{side note: also, I was at a street market the next day and a monk gave me a free orange; don’t worry Dad, I’m getting my vitamin-C :)}
Anyways, they started walking off, but then Paula and Elizabeth rejoined us and the woman ran back to also offer them a clementine each. It was a sweet sweet experience, after just arriving in a new city, but being welcomed with love and kindness. On the rest of the walk “home,” to our airbnb, we were waved to, people said hi, smiled back at, and we got offered to ride on the back of a few boys’ scooters, etc.
This has been the atmosphere so far here in Albania. We’ve made so many new friends here in this city, and it’s nothing we’ve done. It’s God’s providence! And the welcoming spirit of the Albanians. This country is pretty small, with a population of only 2.83 million and a size of 11,100 sq mi or 28,748km2. We met with the youth pastor of a local church and owner of a coffee shop to talk about partnering with them for ministry. He shared with us some history about Albania and Chrisiantity here. Back about 50 years ago, the country declared there was no god. In 1967, Albania was proclaimed as the first atheist state in the world. Under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, religion was banned and anyone breaking the law was to be jailed for 3 to 10 years. All religious leaders were arrested; and to put them to shame, a local Roman Catholic church was turned into a gymnasium for sports. They were a communist country, until 1990, when the revolution of rebels against the communist party was won. Although Albania had declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, the country is dominantly Muslim, with about 70% Islamic and 17% Christian. Where we are staying, in Shkoder, which is the fourth largest city in Albania, it’s more evenly distributed between Islam and Christianity. This city is one of the most important centers for Islamic scholars, but it is also the center of Roman Catholicism in Albania. But back in 1990, along with missionaries from other countries, the secret underground church had survived. From then on, other churches have started growing, and Illyricum Church is one of them here in Shkodër. They started Up Social Coffee about four years ago to have a space for youth to come and bring them to know Christ. We’ve been praying about different opportunities to serve with them over the next two weeks and God is providing! (More on that later!)
Fun facts about Albania:
- 18% of their restaurants are COFFEE SHOPS! How fabulous although most allow only men.
- When an Albanian is agreeing with you, he or she will shake their head, and when they are disagreeing with you they will nod. Be warned and avoid confusion. Yes means no and no means yes.
- In 1995, a law was passed requiring citizens to pay taxes on traffic-lights in their home towns. The residents of Shkodër were taxed, just like all cities, but staged a protest. Their reason? Shkodër has no traffic lights.
- There are more Albanians now living outside the country than within its territories.
- Mother Teresa is the country’s heroine. She is also the only Nobel laureate from Albania.
- The country has only one international airport, located in Tirana. The airport is named in honor of Mother Teresa and it is the country’s sole entry port for international travelers. (Unless you come in on a bus, like we did. :))
- Lake Skadar, Southern Europe’s largest lake, is found in Albania. The lake, whose surface area varies between 370 sq km and 530 sq km, is shared between Albania and Montenegro. Only a third of the lake lies within Albanian borders. This lake lies next to Shkodër, where we’re staying.
Please keep us in your prayers as our relations with the people here grow and multiply!
Love you, Clara Grace
Enjoy some snapshots from the past few days! 🙂
