Albania – Studying And Serving
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Flori is a student at Evangelical Theological College (ETC) in Tirana, Albania where Kurt and Stephanie Plagenhoef, AGWM personnel, are directors. Flori is participating in ETC’s new extension program in Skopje, Macedonia. In partnership with missionary Mark Orfila, he is serving as an intern with a few others on a church plant in a very challenging field. Macedonia has about 700,000 Albanians, but there are only 10 known believers in the country and not yet one Albanian church.
Flori came to know Christ ten years ago while in high school in Kosovo. He was disillusioned with life and did not know its meaning. He believed there was a God, that there was eternal life, and that he was a sinner and undeserving of going to heaven. One day a Christian talked with him, asking if the Lord would accept him into heaven when he died. Flori did not know the answer to that. The Christian explained that he needed to believe in Jesus and obey him in order to receive eternal life.
Flori talked to the pastor of the church saying he needed a sign from God in order to believe. The pastor told him to ask the Lord for a sign, assuring him that the Lord would give him a sign. So he prayed in his room for a sign. Flori relates that “Immediately rays of light from heaven fell on me. I understood that this was the sign from God. A short time later, I went to a prayer meeting and received Jesus as my Savior. It was as if a heavy burden I had carried was lifted from me. Peace and joy that I had never experienced before filled me. The Lord changed my life!”
Flori is now attending ETC to study and prepare for ministry. He is growing in the knowledge of the Word, developing godly character and self-discipline, and gaining important ministry skills.