ALBANIA

The Torchbearers center in Albania was a mystery to Chris and I until this last week when we flew there to make a video for Udhekryq (pronounced ooo-da-croooch) which means ‘Crossroads’.

We had no idea where Albania was until just a few weeks before we went, other than that it was somewhere in Europe. Basically it is the country that the heel of the ‘boot’ of Italy would kick if it were to swing backwards across the Mediterannean Sea.

Little did we know that Albania has a very interesting history and the center there has a unique and remarkable ministry.

When we arrived at the airport, with still no idea what to expect we were met by a friend of the director’s, Benny, a local Albanian. He kindly drove us to Udhekryq and filled us in on the Albanian history along the way.

The country of Albania was under Communist rule from 1944 until 1991. Picture North Korea now, nobody goes in, nobody goes out. Benny grew up with one pair of clothing, one pair of shoes and lived in government housing. He said there was very little, simple food and nothing in shops to buy unless you lined up the night before to maybe be one of the first people in.

In 1967 the dictator proclaimed Albania the world’s first ‘atheist state’. People were shot if they even walked towards the mountains, and no one was allowed to speak against the dictator or of God or religion. Benny became a Christian as a teenager when Communism fell and missionaries came to share the Good News of Christ with a hungry people.

In those first few years the country opened, Mark and his wife left California to begin the ministry of Udhekryq in a small town called Erseka. People were hungry to know about God, and they started a church in the local community and began running camps during the summertime.

It wasn’t until 2001 that they began a Torchbearers Bible School at Udhekryq. The staff are a blend of American Missionaries and Albanians, and the student body is usually between ten and twenty students, half of which come from Albania. The others are usually North American or from somewhere else in Europe. Everything is translated into English and Albanian, and the students are very involved in the ministry of the church in the local community. Although each Torchbearers center is unique, Udhekryq is definitely distinct from the others we have visited or worked at. There are so many of the ‘normal’ elements to the Bible School, but in the context of cross-cultural missions in a developing country.

We went to produce a video about Bible School and so throughout the week our goal was to capture the ministry as well as the culture, campus and surrounding area.

The past students that are there serving for the summer took us around to some of their favorite places, which made for interesting shots and interview locations.

Besides shooting we experienced so much while we were there, got a good taste of the of ministry, and were really blessed by the many people we were able to meet. One surprise was that an Albanian couple that have worked on staff  were getting married while we were there— so we not only got to experience an Albanian wedding, but Chris also got to film it! They have lots of crazy traditions, often the wedding festivities lasting one whole week before its official, including many different parties and family gatherings- even several wedding gowns! We got to witness some of the activities at the bride’s home, their Christian ceremony, and then the groom’s families’ reception later that evening. Three words: meat, dancing and music. The culture has influences from Greece, Italy and Turkey. The reception started at 9pm and though we left at 2am, ALL the family was still there- and apparently didn’t leave till 5am! Here are few shots from the day:

Another highlight from our week was seeing how the center there exists in partnership with other ministries two of which are: EMI and World Vision. They have recently acquired a building just across from the current one which used to be a cheese factory. (Chris is standing on top of said building below)

EMI came out to donate all the plans they need in order to re-construct the building to suit their needs. EMI is a ministry where architects, engineers and design professionals donate their skills to ministries around the world. I have two friends who have worked with EMI in India, and was really excited to hear how they have been a blessing to Udhekryq.

We also got to see how Udhekryq works in partnership with World Vision which works around the world with families, children and communities in order to overcome poverty and injustice.

A majority of the kids that come to Udhekryq for camp are sponsored by World Vision for their basic needs. World Vision is restricted from ‘Evangelizing’ the children in Albania, but they are allowed to send them to camp. So World Vision makes it possible for these kids to attend the only facility of its kind in Albania where they can climb a rock wall or canoe on a lake and hear the gospel clearly explained.

It was SO cool to see two ministries working together to meet these kids’ physical and spiritual needs.

We also got to see a bit of the countryside- and went with the Albanian camp interns into a canyon. Which was definitely nerve-racking because Chris had his camera along which thankfully stayed dry and he was able to get some really cool shots!

We were SO thankful to witness and capture some of the ministry there at Udhekryq, and are looking forward to being able to communicate the ministry to others more effectively through a video!