In 1991, Albania opened to the world and to the gospel. I was among the first students who opened their hearts to Jesus. Once we were saved we were really feeling 'born again'. We felt sorry for all the years that we (and our country) lived without even the slightest idea about God, let alone having a spiritual relationship with him. In our mind the Western countries (including the UK) were Christians, privileged to believe in whatever they could choose.
When I arrived in Oxford in September, I was very disappointed to find that despite the many church buildings and the number of people with Biblical names there was little evidence of 'living' Christianity. However, God led me to a church where the Bible is preached and the gospel proclaimed. When the church started to grow in Albania there were many of us on fire for God, willing to serve and sacrifice a lot of our time, possessions and gifts for God and for one another.
We grew up in our faith sharing with one another the strengths and weaknesses of our relationship with God. The lack of such spiritual encouragement from fellow believers in the UK was not helping me to settle down.
