John Stott Visits Albania
When Langham Preaching was launched in Albania in January 2004, John Stott was prevented from attending because of illness, and so he kindly agreed to visit Albania this past June, particularly to address pastors and also to speak at an open meeting for the churches. The primary focus of his visit was to deliver two lectures, one for pastors and lay preachers on the Saturday, and one for the churches on Sunday. These were very well-received, and provided JSM-Langham with the additional opportunity to gather some key leaders to discuss the growing need for the Langham Programs in Albania.
Background
Albania continues to be one of the more demanding countries in the Balkans as far as Christian witness and church growth are concerned. It is, of course, a very young church that only came into existence in 1990. Despite intensive evangelistic efforts during the 1990s (continuing today through blanket coverage of the Jesus movie) the percentage of evangelicals and the number of mature congregations remains small.
There are now some 170 evangelical churches in Albania, and an increasing number have Albanian pastors. Many lay leaders are involved in pastoral leadership and preaching. Most missionaries are untrained theologically. Of the 1000 missionaries who were in Albania at one time, the majority have left, with around 180 foreign missionaries remaining.
There number of Bible schools (often denominational) is growing, but few which do more than certificate level training. There are nevertheless some faithful missionaries continuing to work at lay training programs of various kinds. But we were told several times that few good models of biblical preaching exist within the churches. There is relatively little appetite for good literature, given that there is not a strong reading culture within the country. Publishing work will continue to be an uphill struggle in the light of this reality, coupled with the relatively small evangelical market.
Meeting for Pastors and Lay Preachers
On Saturday evening some 60 pastors and lay preachers from around the country met at Emanuel Church for John Stott’s lecture, “The Privilege of Preaching.” We were able to precede this with an Albanian version of the LPI presentation, allowing us to introduce everyone to the three Langham Programs, and also to refer to the development of the Langham Preaching program within Albania. Uncle John spoke well, with his usual clarity, and it was helpful to have a good outline of the address translated into Albanian.
Meeting for the Churches
On Sunday evening a public meeting was held, at which John Stott spoke on “The Marks of a Living Church,” from Acts 2. Some 500 people attended, which was an encouragement to the small planning team. Logos, a Christian company producing DVDs, recorded the event, and they hope to be able to make the DVD available to city TV stations in Albania. We hope to have access to the material for use by LPI members, though the exposition will be with Albanian translation.
There is no doubt that Uncle John’s visit has been a great encouragement to this small Christian community, and we thank God for the warm reception and for the way in which Uncle John and Tyler Stevenson (John’s study assistant) were sustained during their travels and ministry there.