ALBANIA MID-TOUR

A refreshing dynamic in Albania is the openness of people to talk about spiritual things. Although there are very few true believers, almost everyone claims one of the three faiths -- Catholic, Orthodox or Muslim. In fact, one guy said he was a Catholic atheist. So we have had interesting conversations. 


In contrast to previous tours in Albania, this time we are beginning to see the effects of entertainment overload. Typically it has been easy to fill a hall, even for an unknown band. This time, the crowds for most of these well-publicized concerts have been smaller than expected by the sponsors. But in spite of that, and even when many of those who did come leave when the message gets serious, consistently most of those who stay till the end engage in long and deep conversations.

At our last concert, in Vlore, the crowd was so enthusastic we thought the theater must be filled with local believers.  But we found out later that at least half were new contacts! When the house lights came up we were surprised at how few people had stayed with us, but within seconds the front and aisles were crowded with people wanting to interact. One conversation was with 3 young ladies, each of a different faith. In another, several Muslim young men were genuinely interested in the information that the Qur'an instructs followers to read the Gospels. And three other young men became new believers. 

The manager of the theater was very anxious to get the place emptied immediately after the concert and started shutting down lights to get people to leave. At first he was very antagonistic, but our translator from New Life, who is traveling with us, began talking to him, gave him a CD and was able to share the gospel with him. He evenutally made a complete turnaround and assured us we could stay as long as we needed to.

The next day we had no concert scheduled and were able to spend the day in Vlore beginning with a team meeting, then taking walks by the sea, stopping to eat at one of the local seaside restaurants, catching up at internet cafes, and just resting. It was a refreshing time of physical and spiritual renewal.

One of the examples of God's provision on this tour was at our arrival in Vlore. We went directly to our hotel to find that our rooms had been rented that morning to some one else. That is after our coordinator there had reconfirmed our reservations twice that week. So we all waited there while our tour director checked another hotel around the corner. He was back in 10 minutes with the news that they had room for all 20 of us for the same price as the original hotel, and the new hotel was nicer. 

Today we returned to Tirana for the 5-day home stretch with a concert each day. We will travel out of town for 2 of those but return to our home base each night. Thanks for continued prayer. Several members have had illnesses or injuries but God has given the strength to go on with their parts in the concerts. We are so thankful for the opportunities here.