It was on a Sunday evening in Tirana, Albania’s capital, that I really got an insight into the realities of life for today’s Albanians. I’d already been exposed to the poverty and abominable roads, and the stern faces so common in most post communist countries. My three dinner companions that evening, however, painted a fuller picture of an Albania scarred from years of repression under communism.

At the table with me were Altin Hysi, the Albanian Bible Society’s General Secretary and Chairman/Treasurer, and two friends from Bible Society Canada. They told me that 60 years of communist rule in Albania had been brutal to Christians. The government had sided with the Chinese form of communism, apparently considering the Russian form too “soft”.

Travel outside the country had been extremely restricted. Priests and pastors had been deliberately targeted, some driven out of the country and man  murdered, they said, simply because of who they were. The Christian church – never big in Albania – had been decimated. Even worse, two generations of Albanians had been taught that there were no values in life, except perhaps survival through the state.But now (after communism fell in the 90s) there was freedom – a new, regulated sort of freedom.

The allure of the “West” began to creep in, especially with the obvious wealth of the European Community just at their doorstep. Some Albanians had become very wealthy, but most remained poor. Those in want were increasingly envious, and were often desperate for a quick financial “fix”. The average Albanian, my companions said, had little hope.

The questions in my mind then remained:  how did this place tick and could we truly make a real difference from so far away in Australia?

God, however, had put into the minds and hearts of the Bible Society and a number of church leaders the idea that if the Bible were to be unleashed amongst the Christian community, things would change. So how could this be accomplished, given the Albanian Bible Society had a staff strength of just two?  Both are already fully engaged in translating the Bible into a contemporary text  for a young and inexperienced church.

So what’s needed is a network of “harvesters” – people across the country who are passionate advocates for the Bible in their local churches and communities. These people need to be found, then trained and built into a self-motivating network…a task way too big for the overstretched local Bible Society.

Here then, was a Macedonian call (Acts 16:9). That’s what it felt like to me, sitting at dinner that night, listening to the heart-cry of these brothers. Yes, we can help! Yes, this network of harvesters can equip and build up Christians at this crucial time. Yes, we can help stem the threat of consumerism from Europe, and fill the void with Bible-based values.

So Bible Society Australia has committed itself to supporting these Christians in Albania and the Balkans for the next three years, to help them on the way. As a supporter, you can too.

Tony Crook is the International, Advocacy & Heritage National Manager, Bible Society Australia

Featured image: Albanian village children, never before exposed to God’s Word, are thrilled with their own copy of the Lion Children’s Bible; looking on is “harvester” and priest, Marian Gega.

Albania and the West Balkans is part of Bible Society’s spring appeal.