“Hunger for Jesus”: Christianity grows in Albania, a country that once had just 16 Christians

In the 1980s, Albania ) was being ravaged by communism, ranking as the third poorest country in the world. The Albanians suffered from shortages of basic foods, such as milk and bread, electricity and medicine.

Having a religion was prohibited and owning a Bible could lead to five years in prison. The government indoctrinated the population through state TV and the country was among the three most closed countries in the world, alongside North Korea and Mongolia.

According to The Gospel Coalition, the dictatorial government of Enver Hoxha took power after World War II and in 1967 declared Albania the first atheist state in the world. Before communism, the country was formed by a Muslim majority, followed by Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics.

At that time, there was a small evangelical community with about 100 Christians , most participated in a Baptist mission in the city of Korce. But with the arrival of the communist government of Hoxha, all American missionaries were expelled from the country. For the next 50 years, no foreign missionaries were allowed to enter Albania.

The government began to persecute religious leaders and hundreds were tortured, imprisoned for decades and forced to work in mines and sewers. Four Franciscan priests were burned to death by communist executioners. Churches and mosques were turned into factories.

^{Today, there are about 17,000 evangelicals in Albania. (Photo: Facebook/TGC Albanian).}

Sending Bibles by Air and Sea

With the borders closed, no one could enter Albania to preach the Gospel. So organizations started smuggling Bibles as they could.

After World War II, some American soldiers flew over the country and dropped Bibles from parachutes. In 1985, a ship from Operation Mobilization, a mission organization, anchored as close as it could to the Albanian coast, but still staying in international waters.

Then, the The crew threw copies of the Gospel of Mark, translated into Albanian, overboard in large airtight plastic bags, which were filled with air to float on water. With the tide, the Bibles washed ashore.

“Tell me about Jesus”

In 1991, Albania’s borders were finally opened with the end of the communist regime and Christian organizations were able to send missionaries again. Don Mansfield, a Campus Crusade for Christ missionary, said that before arriving in the country, the number of Christians was so low that there was not even an estimate.

“ I remember I was in a meeting in Holland with all the global missions agencies. At the time, I didn’t know anything. They were talking about what was going on, and I raised my hand. I asked, ‘How many believers are there in the country?’” Don told The Gospel Coalition.

“’Do you know Sonia?’ one person asked. ‘Kristi?’ suggested someone else. ‘Mary is a Christian’. People were playing names and I came up with a total of 16. Everyone looked around and said, ‘Does anyone else know anyone else?’”.

^{Today, there are about 17,000 evangelicals in Albania. (Photo: Facebook/TGC Albanian).}

The first missionaries who arrived in Albania, after the end of communism, faced a great hunger for Jesus, with many Albanians thirsty to hear the Gospel.

Dom remembers meet three young men on the beach, on his first trip, who asked if he could talk about Jesus. “Five minutes ago we were talking and we said, ‘We have to find someone to tell us about Jesus,’” said Leonard, one of the youth.

Missionary Mansfield asked how they knew how to ask about Jesus, after 40 years of state atheism. Leonard said he worked for the coast guard and one day he found a bag with the Gospel of Matthew on the beach.

From 16 to hundreds of Albanian Christians

After a few months of planting the seed of the Word in the Albanian field, the missionaries were already counting hundreds of conversions to Christ.

“We had what Jonathan Edwards would call a window of grace. For about five years, if you preached the Gospel simply, you would have 300 people in church next Sunday. People were very hungry and churches were growing rapidly,” recalled Albert Kona, an Albanian Christian who accepted Jesus at that time.

Over a period of three decades, almost every atheist population of Albania has adopted some religion. In 2018, atheists dropped to less than 1% in the country. Today, according to the Joshua Project, estimates that there are 17,000 Albanian believers.

Although the number does not represent 1% of the population, the evangelical growth rate in the country (4.6%) is almost double the rate of the rest of the world (2.6%).

“We are still small and not significant in the eyes of this world. But we have a great God and we worship him. We know that he will build his Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”, declared Andi Dina, leader of a local church in Albania.

^{Andi Dina at the Albanian Gospel Coalitian event. (Photo: Facebook/TGC Albanian).}

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