2nd Generation Churches in the Albanian Movement!

Matt WatsonMinistryUpdate

The Footsteps of Paul

It always fascinates me to realize the history of some of the places in which Taking New Ground has the opportunity to do ministry. Ancient tradition holds that the Apostle Paul introduced Christianity into Albania on his 3rd missionary journey. In Romans 15:19 Paul wrote: “So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” Part of the heartland of Illyricum is modern day Albania.

2nd Generation Churches in the Albanian Movement!

I’ve had the opportunity to work in Albania on three separate occasions now. My partner and mentor Joe Wilson began working with 2 churches in Albania 5 years ago.

  • Albania is about 0.5% Evangelical Christian and 70% Islamic. It was a communist, and thus Atheist nation, until 1991.
  • Our Movement in Albania has produced 70 new churches in the last 4 years!
  • 18 of those 70 new churches have already reproduced themselves by planting another generation of churches!
  • We now work with a total of 105 churches across 7 regional networks in Albania.

Equipping Network and Church Leaders in Albania

Our mission at Taking New Ground is to “catalyze movements of reproducing churches in hard to reach parts of the world”. One of the primary ways we accomplish this is through the formation of networks of churches that unite around mission and relationship, often across denominational boundaries. Churches working in relationship with others can accomplish more together than they can alone. Networks provide accountability, encouragement, and strength.

In February we were a part of two different training events in Albania.

  1. Network Leader Training: Paul Mumaw pastors Genesis Church in Indiana and leads a New Thing network of churches in his state. He has been partnering with churches in Albania for about 4 years now. Paul helped equip our Albanian network leaders through a day of training in how to develop and lead their own networks of reproducing churches.
  2. Hero Maker Training for the Albanian Movement: After a day of Network leader training we had a Movement Meeting, which included all the churches from our 7 Networks throughout Albania. We often bring teaching pastors from partner churches in the US who continue to work with and support a specific region of the world. Paul Mumaw and Kenny Panduku helped lead training sessions on content from the book “Hero Maker” by Dave Ferguson. A hero maker is a leader who gives his life to raising up and elevating other leaders, because he knows his life can have a greater impact through their lives, than it could alone. If you haven’t read the book you should check it out!

Denis and Mirel in Shkodër

I first met Denis and his wife Elsa in October, 2017. They had recently planted a new church in the northern Albanian city of Shkodër near the border with Montenegro. I remember being drawn to his passion and pride that through the work of this movement it was Albanians planting churches for Albanians. Denis now leads a network of churches in northern Albania. I had the opportunity to catch up with Denis at our Network Leader training event and again at the Albanian Movement gathering.

Denis shared a story with me about a man who had been attending his church with his fiancé since they began meeting 3 years ago. Mirel was agnostic in his beliefs and would often ask questions and challenge Denis on what he was teaching. At one point Denis asked him, “When are you going to put your faith in Christ? You would make a great Bible teacher someday.” Denis saw the God given potential in this man even before he become a believer and had what we call an “I See In You” conversation with him.

In December, Mirel and his fiancé surprised Denis by sharing that they had both put their trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord! Mirel explained that he still didn’t understand everything, but he knew that he believed, and he put his trust in Jesus. I asked Denis why the man stayed for 3 years if he was so antagonistic toward everything Denis had been teaching. Denis shared that even though Mirel disagreed in his head with what Denis shared from scripture, the words made it past his head and “dripped into his heart”.

Continue to pray for Denis and his young church. Pray also for Mirel and all that God might have in store for him. If your church is interested in planning a trip to work in Albania, let me know, Denis is always looking for teams to help with ministry in Shkodër!

In Case You Missed It

We Need Your Help

We continue to move forward in faith with plans for a busy year, but we must grow our support base to make it happen. Please pray about how God might use YOU, alongside US, so that together WE can continue to catalyze movements of reproducing churches in hard to reach parts of the world!