UP THE ROAD AND ON THE RADAR
The adjacent villages of Xhafzotaj and Rrashbull have always been just a short bus ride from Durres; they just haven’t always been on our radar. But when a man from Xhafzotaj visited our weekly worship time, we made a new friend from that small town. Then a family, who we are close to and whose children profess faith in Christ, shared that they are building a house in Rrashbull. This gave us a new-found interest in that village.
These two interests have led to frequent prayer walks in these villages. There are no churches present, but they are home to at least a pair of towering mosques. On a couple of recent prayer walks in Rrashbull, I have been able to share briefly with a couple of local men. Despite identifying themselves as Muslims, each of them allowed me to pray a short prayer of blessing for them.
Xhafzotaj and Rrashbull are home to at least a pair of towering mosques—but no churches.
We are excited about what God is allowing us to do in Durres. Caryl, my wife, recently began studying the Bible with four women who refer to themselves as Muslims. She gave each woman a small book that contains the books of John and Romans. Each week she visits them to talk about Scripture.
We are preparing to start a discovery Bible study with another family. We have seen new children coming to kids’ club this school year. At the same time—especially as we see Albanians take on increased responsibility for the ministry in Durres—we can’t help but dream about opportunities to invest part of our time in Rrashbull and Xhafzotaj, launching discovery Bible studies in these villages. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of villagers and give us wisdom about how best to proceed.