Our mission is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with th
e people we work with. We are more than pleased when people make life-changing choices for themselves!
Below you can read stories of different people we work with.
March, 2017 – The Prisoners Journey
Kadri was taken with some pressure by the guards to come to our course of The Prisoners Journey. He felt depressed, neglected and totally worthless. So that was his attitude, when the video started.
From the second line he sat straight, didn’t know what he heard. Here was a man from South America, that told his life story. “This is my life’s story” he said, “exactly what this man on the video tells”. from that moment on Kadri was brightened up, and took part with great interest.
Andi, our coordinator was in the prison of Durres, and after his security checkthe police did not return him the Flashdrive with all the videos of The Prisoner Journey. So Andi started the course without videos.
Everything though was kind of dominated by the news that Saimir, one of the prisoners, just received; one of his victims just passed away. Saimir never intended to hurt someone, and this was sad news for the victims family, but it also implicated that Saimir is about to face a long prison sentence. The bad news had an impact on all the men.
At the end of the meeting the police came and gave Andi his flashdrive with the video material. What shall we do, Andi asked. Do we watch the video’s or shall we do it next week? The men said they wanted to see the video’s.
When the video started, everybody present got the chills: The first line of the video was: Only God knows where a persons’ journey starts. Come, even if you have killed somebody ……
This was the best message ever possible in this difficult situation.
October ‘ 16 – Make my son look like you
A policeman from prison stops our chaplain: ‘I would like to have a coffee with you’ he says. A few days later they meet over a coffee.
It appears that the policeman’s son is the problem – he finished school, doesn’t want to study and has no job, changed daytime for nighttime, hangs out with the wrong friends and the parents don’t know what to do.
I’ve seen you people from Shkbsh for many years now, the policeman tells our chaplain, and you are different. Can you make my son look like you?
Don’t you say this to a passionated chaplain ..!
This meant the beginning of a new friendship, lots of explanation, and more coffees. The son is invited to some church activities, and surprisingly he likes to hang out with ‘our people’. The idea is to have him involved in The Prisoners Journey soon, so he can see the impact of the gospel in real-time action.
It is so important how we behave ourself – ‘…. sometimes our lives are the only gospel somebody ever reads ….”
September 26, 2016 – From our chaplain in Vaqarr
For 3 weeks I haven’t visited my prison due to holidays. But 2 weeks ago I went back starting a new course on ‘The Prisoners Journey’.
As I was waiting a voice called my name from the telephone spot. It was Andrei ( not a real name).
Andrei used to be part of the course 2 times before. Andrei is a man that stays all the time on his own, he used to be head of an international drug organization. No-one in the prison speaks to him, every one is scared of him. Most of the time he was quiet in the class, but he he mentioned a couple of times that he fears God.
I went to the iron gate and greeted Him. He’s voice was quite and his face was full of compassion, asking for my family and my son, He knows we had gone through some hard time with my son’s health.
After speaking for some time , we greeted and he went back to the telephone. I got back to the boys that had stopped their conversations and had listened to us.
In that moment I realized that for all of them it was hard to understand how it was posible that the most tough, terryfing, unsocial inmate was almost crying for the son of a priest. Maybe what this priest has to say in this course ís important. And thus we started the new course and you could see the difference in their attention, and in the sharing of their opinion.
The power of the gospel is alive and makes darknes shine. It makes rulers and sinners humble and brings compassion towards people and life. It also reminds me, how important my presence and my ministry is to them that the world seems to desperately try to forget.
28 June, 2016 – From our chaplain in Fushe Kruje.
After many delays and staff-changes I finally could continue with the 2nd lesson of the Prisoners Journey program ‘Who is Jesus’.
The response from both prisoners as well as from the prison staff was great – they were all deeply impressed, and expressed their desire to continue the program.
21 Mai, 2016 – Today I spent some time in heaven
We organized a concert with Nina Åstrom in the prison of Fier. After the concert, one man came to me and asked if I could pass on his message for Nina: Please tell the lady that I’m gonna tell my family that I have been in heaven today. I enjoyed the wonderful music and the wonderful message she shared. Thank you!
25 March 2016 – From our chaplain in Rrogozhine
this year I can finally freely celebrate Easter – my family is safe now. Praise God.
One of the men that come to our meetings was greatly relieved, because his family had gotten asylum. They were under the threat of blood feud. His guild for bringing his family under such risk had kept him captive much and much more than being incarcerated in a prison for many years.
He had prayed a lot to God for a solution, and now that he got that, he could finally celebrate Easter freely!