Lezha, Albania

I am really pleased that we were able to print all the panels for the Bible exhibition at the beginning of June and had the first showing for two evenings in a civic centre of a small town in the north of Albania! We had a good number of visitors and some high school teachers who asked more questions relating to the Gospel and spiritual things. We have already another booking for this coming weekend with the assembly in Lezha and further requests for later in the year. Please join us as we praise the Lord that the exhibition has now been realized and for prayer that this tool might be greatly used by the! Lord in the salvation of precious souls.

The way we see obstacles in our life determines the way we face them. If we consider them as problems, we approach them as defeated. But if we consider them as challenges, we look for ways to overcome them and are not defeated by the extent of them. Overall, the Lord Jesus calls us to take courage: He has already overcome the world and all the obstacles we face in it!

We trust that this update will encourage you to join us as we give thanks to God for what He is doing and to pray for the furtherance of His Kingdom.

Assembly and Outreach

This month our little assembly will celebrate its third birthday. We have gone through many challenges but the Lord has given us many victories. Although we would like to see more involvement of the Christians, we are thankful for how some give of their time and effort to serve the Lord.

For several months I have been ministering on a Thursday evening in the assembly, on the book of Acts of the Apostles. This is the first time that we are studying this book and are going in some depth, considering the life and ministry of the apostles and how they acted when faced with different challenges. For us it is very applicable: first generation Christians, a first generation mission worker, commencement of an assembly and here in ancient Illyricum!

We continue with special events around special times such as Christmas, Easter, Independence Day and other occasions that arise and almost always have some new faces. With Christmas becoming more and more of a national event here, we see it our duty to share with others the real meaning of it: The great mystery of godliness: God was manifested in flesh.

We had a youth team for a week, led by Stevie and Jude Rogers. The assembly had a great time of fellowship with them and the schedule for outreach and other activities was rather full. We were in several areas of Tirana and in the students' campus to give out tracts, make contacts and invite them to a special outreach night just before the team left. It was great to see more than fifty present that evening and to have many good conversations after the Gospel was presented clearly by Stevie. They enjoyed some good Northern Irish food brought by the girls and made by Sylvia. Many expressed the desire to come to our meetings and one of the student girls has been coming since - even to our children's meeting!

The numbers are steady at the children's meeting and it is great how they not only remember the stories from week to week but understand more of the Person behind the stories, the Lord Jesus and the salvation He offers. Seeing the need for more fellowship and quality time together, among the youth from our own assembly and the one we were in when we initially came to Albania, we have been having them to our home every month. We started this more sporadically last year but they really enjoy it and we feel it is vital, for their spiritual life, to have Christian friends and to share their experiences.

Prison Ministry

The visits in prison continue well. We have just recommenced a new session of English classes following some difficulty obtaining a neutral venue in which to meet and a change in prison authorities, though we had been going from cell to cell during this time. The classes are preceded by a Gospel message and currently we have twenty inmates subscribe. We have also been helping approximately thirty families, connected to the inmates, by sending them parcels of food and other items for practical use, such as wood for burning during the winter months. The classes are preceded by a Gospel message and currently we have twenty inmates subscribe. We have also been helping approximately thirty families, connected to the inmates, by sending them parcels of food and other items for practical use, such as wood for burning during the winter months.

The Bible exhibition is done and just waiting to be printed. There is an invitation to have it on display and the hosting assembly is currently considering the venue and other logistical matters. It is much later than what we had hoped, owing to the graphic designer having to postpone the deadline several times but we are looking forward to seeing the final results.

Publication

A further Emmaus course has been translated and is waiting to be proofread, adding to the curricula of correspondence courses available in Albanian.

There has been further activity also on our evangelistic website with some Muslims approaching and inquiring more about the Bible and the Lord Jesus. At the moment I am proofreading "The Death of a Guru." We expect to have the author of the book in Tirana in September, D.V., so the plan is to have the book ready to give out and arrange some other nights of Gospel meetings at that time, with other speakers.

Three leaflets written and published by us in the past have been reprinted and given out in the south of the country. The brother who requested them encouraged me to write more Gospel tracts in order to increase the variety available here. At the moment I do not have the time but it is in our hearts to do more at some stage.

Xhoana and Marijan

Children's Home

In our last update we presented the situation of two teenage girls who have faced many challenges in their lives, one due to biological family rejection and the other one who was at risk of being trafficked. We are very pleased to say that the Lord has been faithful once again in answering the prayers of His people: both of them have been adopted by Christian families in the US! The first one, Xhoana, has left already and been adopted by the same family who adopted another child from the home a few years ago. We pray that the transition period might be smooth for both of girls and their new families.

The renovation project for the old house will take place at the beginning of June, D.V. At the end of it we hope to have a nice flat for hosting visitors or for a replacement couple who feel called to take this work over from Marijan. A young couple, who have recently got engaged, have expressed their interest in coming to help at the home, after their marriage. Please pray for this matter and the continuation of the work.

Family and Various I continue to get invitations from several assemblies throughout Albania. It is good to visit them, to renew fellowship, and encourage them to continue steadfastly in faith.

Sylvia has just returned from a one-day retreat for the ladies in Durres where she was invited to take the opening session. There were over onehundred ladies present and the time spent together was beneficial to the sisters as they encouraged one another. Marijan was also invited to give an update on the work of the home in Gjirokaster.

Enris & Sylvia Nase

The children are well and looking forward to the summer holidays. The International Christian School, where Luke now goes, is looking for replacement teachers. This is a challenge every year as many come for short-term only. If you are a teacher and have a burden for this work, please feel free to contact us.

Once again we take this opportunity to thank you all for being part of the work here by encouraging us, praying for us and supporting us in every way. We really appreciate your fellowship with us and are grateful to God for you all.

"We thank our God upon every remembrance of you." (Phil 1:3).

Summer 2014

Written by Enris & Sylvia Nase - Albania

enris.nase@gmail.com