ALBANIA
Population: 2.87M (Northern Ireland 1.9M)
Capital City: Tirana
Language: Albanian
Religions: Sunni Islam 56.70%, Roman Catholicism 10.03%, Eastern Orthodoxy 6.75%, Non-affiliated believers 5.49%, Atheism 2.5%,
Interview with Shaun Thompson
Shaun Thompson is a mission worker with Albanian Evangelical Mission who has been preaching the gospel amongst Albanian people for over thirty years.
Tell us a bit about Albania and what you love most about the country?
Albania achieved fame for being the most closed country in Europe during the period between WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was subject to an even more extreme form of Marxism than the rest of Eastern Europe. During that period, it was well known that it was the first country in the world to outlaw all forms of religious expression – except worship of the Party of course! Then, in a spectacular turn around, it became one of the most open countries for Christian outreach during the 1990’s, though it was rather chaotic at the same time.
I’ve been here quite a while, so have a lot of friends, which is something that always makes it more enjoyable to live in another country. Albania is a Mediterranean country, meaning it enjoys the benefits of a generally mild climate.
It’s always worth pointing out that there are two Albanian majority countries, Kosova being the other. In addition, there is a sizeable Albanian population in North Macedonia as well. It’s all the same people group who have been interacting a lot more since the borders re-opened.
Where is your favourite place in Albania that a traveller to the country must visit?
Visitors often enjoy the combination of a beautiful coastline together with impressive mountains. Probably the Albanian Riviera (the southern coast opposite Corfu) is the most enjoyable part of the country in summer time, while the mountain valleys are very colourful in spring or autumn. There are so many special places: gorges; rivers, caves, waterfalls, forests, together with ancient ruins, that it’s hard to choose just one.
Nevertheless, I will give special mention to Gjirokaster, since we spent many years living there. Gjirokaster is an old museum town built on the side of a mountain and dominated by a massive fortress. It’s very pretty in the spring time!
What are the particular challenges facing Albania at the present time?
The biggest challenge for the church is probably emigration, since half of the population between the ages of 25-50 have left the country to look for better prospects in the West. Young people continue to leave, which makes it difficult to have stable churches. However, there is still religious freedom and churches and Christians are doing lots of outreach, especially summer camps.
Next on the list of challenges is the competition from other quarters, traditional religions being one – including folk religion – though the influence of Western materialism is probably more significant. Add to this the digital tsunami sweeping all souls before it and one knows that only a move of the Spirit can counter such threats!
How did you come to be serving God in Albania?
The short answer is that I joined my home church in praying for Albania as a teenager. Then I suddenly felt this pull towards Albania which was strangely persistent, before the country opened up to the rest of the world. I turned up in Albania one day with a backpack and a box of books and never left. My wife, however, grew up as the child of missionaries to the UK. She moved to Albania after we met and got married.
What kind of work that you are involved in?
We’ve been involved in starting churches in towns that had no church – but there are a lot of other things that connect to that, such as running kids clubs, teenage camps, teaching English, running cultural events, craft evenings and even street preaching. Throw in some translation and publishing work as well and that gives an overall idea. Currently, we are living in the capital, where quite a few churches have been started, so we are involved in helping several of those with outreach and teaching. Jen, my wife, also helps our youngest daughter with home schooling as well as subs for the Christian school.
Tell us about the challenges and encouragements you have experienced in serving Christ and spreading the gospel in Albania.
It is hard to put into words the joy of seeing someone’s life impacted positively by God working through you. I have been very privileged to experience a number of firsts, such as being the first missionary in a town; or the first person to share the gospel with someone; or to baptise someone in a village for the first time; or officiate the first Christian wedding in a particular town. However, following those years of pioneer work, it’s more about continuing to invest in people and not getting tired of sowing and watering the good seed, even in times of little harvest. There are disappointments, not least in oneself, but the grace of God and the prayers of the Lord’s people make a big difference.
How can we be praying for the people of Albania and the work you are doing?
One of the biggest encouragements is to see national believers running churches and doing outreach themselves. However, they face discouragements and temptations too, so pray for them. And why not pray for God to raise up more Albanians with a heart for their own people as well?
You can find out more about the work of Albanian Evangelical Mission at the link below.
