Albanian Mission

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I would like to thank you all so much for your support in charity and in prayer that had allowed me to be a part of this Summer’s Missiology Class to Albania. It warms me greatly to see our church so ready to follow Christ’s final commandment, “Go forth and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19), as our community supports long term missionaries (Fr. Savva in Tanzania and Fr. Christophoros in Kenya) and supports those eager in the community to explore missions abroad. As a parish that already supports missions through its charity, we ought to continue to advocate and support those in our own community and those already abroad as this is a growing and awesome vocation in our Orthodox faith.

The Church of Albania’s history is a truly unique one that had underwent countless of trials but has seen recently some miraculous gains and accomplishments. Albania’s Christian roots go back to St. Paul wherein we know he had “fully carried out the preaching of the Gospel of Christ” in a Roman province known as Illyricum which today falls mostly within modern Albania’s borders (Romans 15:19). When we spent some time in Tirana’s National Museum we were able to see even more evidence of the vitality of the Church within Albania as we were able to see old manuscripts of Scripture and liturgical music among various other Christian artifacts.

Much like we Greeks, the Albanian people underwent an oppressive Ottoman Rule that choked the growth of the Church for a number of centuries up until the year 1912 where the country would enjoy a short time of freedom and independence before an even more destructive force would come and persecute even more the Church of Albania. In 1944 Albania fell to the Soviet influence of Communism and underwent one of the worst persecutions of faith throughout history, under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. Underneath Xoxha, no religion was tolerated and what Orthodoxy was left within the country underwent even more trials.

During our time, we saw sites of where Churches were destroyed via Communist propaganda, visited a monastery that was converted into a hotel and then an internment camp for clergy, and saw other Churches that were refitted and repurposed into restaurants and bars that were later on restored into their former purpose once the country found its liberation back into democracy. To see these scars and hear the stories of the resilience of the faithful during these hard and grim times in contrast to seeing the recent gains made of the Church is inspiring to say the least.

Under the pastoral guidance of Archbishop Anastasios, who we had the pleasure of meeting, and through the work of a great deal of missionaries, one being our teacher and chaperone of the trip, Fr Luke Veronis, the Church was able to reconstruct churches in disrepair, reclaim property of the Church that was taken by the government, educate theologically indigenous faithful who a great deal later on became leaders of the Church today, and establish a great deal of institutions of outreach. Because of this missionary zeal, the perhaps less than 10% of the population that was Orthodox Christians coming out of the Communist regime, is now roughly 20% of Albania’s religious demographic and growing.

For the Church to be shaken by two different forces of persecution and rise up so quickly is a testimony of Albania’s Spiritual Resurrection. To commemorate this resurrection, our group had the blessing of witnessing the consecration of the Cathedral in Tirana, which is fittingly dedicated to the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. It was extremely moving to see the leaders of the Orthodox Church from all over gather—the Patriarch of Constantinople along with the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Romania, Serbia, and various other hierarchs— for this special, once in a lifetime moment.

Despite how momentous of an occasion the consecration of the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral of Tirana was and how beautiful and awesome it was to see the various Churches all around Albania, what was truly the most moving thing for me in Albania were the people. Not once did I, or any of my classmates, feel unwelcomed or deprived of any hospitality as we visited and met with the faithful of this beautiful country. We had the blessing of staying at Shen Vlash Seminary where we were able to meet with the students, young men and women aspiring to be the future leaders of the Church in Albania. Not only were we able to meet with and establish friendships with the students, we also had the blessing of meeting the orphans from the Home of Hope which is located on the grounds of the Seminary. These children were so lit up with enthusiasm and excitement to meet us and ecstatic at every chance they had to play games with us and be with them.

We also were able to visit students from two different high schools, one of which, The Protagonist American Albanian High School, serves as a form of outreach to the students of which are both Orthodox and non-Orthodox. The programs that the high school offers to the children helps those coming from an Orthodox background to better understand their faith and those who are not Orthodox have the opportunity to learn about the faith.

We also had the opportunity of spending a great deal of time with the Orthodox University Students there who all meet in Tirana at a place called the “Student Center” which is a small residence dedicated to welcoming and uniting the Albanian youth, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox—of which are able to learn about Orthodoxy through the students, their Bible studies, etc. This center holds spiritual events such as Bible studies and discussions on the faith as well as fun events like crafts, dancing, etc. The outreach that the Student Center provides, we learned, was and still is extremely effective in spreading the faith as many of the students we met were converts or marginal believers that became avid participants in the faith. Many of those we met told us their conversion stories and were able to share with us stories of how they were able to bring parents, brothers and sisters, friends, and neighbors to the faith through their own witness. The friends we made there are those we will never forget and that we continue to stay in touch with.

Albania, all in all, was a truly unique experience, one that I believe is unlike any other spiritually growing country due to its unique history. The example that the Church of Albania provides is a fantastic model of what prayer, zeal, and sacrifice can accomplish in a short amount of time. What words of wisdom that Archbishop Anastasios left us with were to “dream big and be creative”. These qualities, we learned, came from his own experiences in pastorally leading Albania back to its Christian roots, as all the work he accomplished, these fruits of the spirit, came from his aspirations, dreams, and ability to be creative in outreach. Keeping in mind these words, I pray not only I may be inspired to be so bold, dream, and be creative for God’s glory in my ministry, but that my classmates and that we, our beloved parish, may embrace this advice so that we may see the fruits of the spirit made manifest.

I leave Albania not simply with memories and friends, but with lessons of what it means to do God’s will and obey His final commandment. Wherever He may take me in my life, in my vocation, I have learned it is necessary to be open and humble to what He wills, and to be unafraid and loving as to be a proper witness to the faith. The virtues of being open to His will and to be loving to a neighbor or stranger, I have seen in Albania, as key to missions and witness. It is my hope to continue to put into practice what I have learned through the piety, humility, and love of the Albanian people, and to be so bold as to explore different means of witness and outreach that I saw through the Church’s ingenuity.

What I hope you all may take away from in hearing about my experiences is how much is possible for all of us to accomplish when we are completely open to God’s will and follow His commandments. By God’s grace, one man’s dreams was monumental in aiding the spiritual revival of a Church shaken by many hardships. It is important for us not simply to stand back, marvel, and applaud Archbishop Anastasios’ work and the works of other missionaries, but to ask ourselves “What can I do? What can we do?” Our faith is abundant with saints who humbled themselves to God’s will and inspired many to a life of Christ, and we lift them up not only for their honor and intercessions, but also that we may have examples for ourselves of how we too can lead miraculous lives by God’s grace. Perhaps not all of us are called to be missionaries abroad, but all of us are called to give witness to our faith.

I thank you all again for making my trip to Albania possible, and encourage you to continue to support those long term missionaries overseas both in prayers and charity.

With Love in Christ,

Alex Limberatos