The Albanian Bible Institute

Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:36:15 AM

Dear Friends in Christ,

What is going on at Albanian Bible Institute? Perhaps you wonder what goes on at our school when the academic year is finished. Although we finished classes on May 29, we haven't slowed down a bit!

During the week of June 1-5, several current and former students came to help us paint the outside of our building. It is great to see volunteer work returned by so many who have been blessed by the teaching and discipleship ministry of ABI. Several months ago First Baptist Church of Gulf Shores, Alabama sent us money to do this project. We are really grateful for them and their contribution.

Since winter and spring are the seasons of high rain, it is hard to paint during that time of the year. We thought summer had come, but on the first two days of the project, we had unexpected rain, thus delaying us a bit. Nevertheless, when the sun came out, the workers went back to the walls and started sanding, applying the preparatory plastic, and painting the walls. They worked from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. most days. Every day we had an average of 6 guys working, which was just enough. Not too many. Not too few. Some of the guys had experience painting and that helped speed our work and improved the quality as well. Right now, our building looks the best it has looked in years. I am proud of the good work of everyone who spent a day or two with us. One of our volunteers came from Peshkopi, which is 6 hours away. Three of our guys were with us all week. That says a lot about their commitment to ABI.

On Tuesday, June 9th, we took our students to Turkey for a vision trip among the Kurds. The Daniel Project in the USA helped sponsor this trip, whose purpose was to expose Albanians to the needs among the Kurds and to challenge them as near-culture people to come as missionaries among this people group. The students responded well to everything they faced. We had seminars, Bible studies, meetings with missionaries, meetings in the homes of nationals, as well as church meetings with Kurds and Turks. There was also time for some tourism, which the on-field missionaries provided us. My group got to see the Great Wall of Diyaribakir, which is only second in size to the Great Wall of China. From the wall we could see the Tigris River. We also got to see many old historical churches that are no longer in existence today. A century ago, the Christian population of Turkey was 20%. Today that number is less than 1%. Islam has a very strong grip on society in that country.

While in Turkey we spent a couple of days in Istanbul. The students had some free time to go out and do whatever they wanted. On two occasions, they voluntarily went out and talked to people in the park and started spiritual conversations with them. They shared their testimonies and sang Christian songs for them. This was all spontaneous and Spirit led. The response was great. People expressed gratitude to them and and one lady shared that she had been touched by the love of the group. That is a very striking comment. In this part of the world, it is very rare to see real love in action or to hear anyone acknowledge it. It was amazing to hear the students come back and share these reports. They shared some Turkish New Testaments and DVDs of the Jesus film, which were also well received. One day the group gave up their lunch so they could spend that time out at the waterfront sharing with people. What a great heart for seeing the lost come to him!

Usually, there is nothing particularly exciting about sitting in the office and doing administrative things. However, it sometimes has to be done. There are bills to pay, emails to write, reports to read, reports to write. These seem at times like mundane things do to, but they are a necessary part of life at ABI. Without reports, emails, phone calls, bill paying, and the like, we would not be able to have a nice freshly painted building. We would not have been able to take the students to Turkey. They would not have been at the waterfront of Istanbul Monday night sharing their testimonies. Our students would not have the training they need to evangelize or plant churches without the work of administration and promotion. Sometimes I need to be reminded that all of this, the big and the small stuff, is from God. It all contributes to the ultimate mission we have of equipping Albanian believers for life, ministry and world impact. Strangely enough after such an exciting two weeks of accomplishments, I can say I am glad to be in the office today.

God bless you all! Thank you for praying for me and the ministry of this school.

LEE