Albania: glimpses of its history, culture and faith

We wish you could have joined us.

(from left: Dima and Svetlana Brovko from Ukraine; Mariana and Eugene Simonov from Moldova; EB and me)

The other night here at our house we had two couples over for dinner. These couples are Eastern European and on staff with Campus Crusade. They are spending this school year on a one-year assignment working out of our office here in Budapest. Our office here in Budapest oversees what Campus Crusade does across all of Eastern Europe and Russia…11 time zones!

The two couples are Dima and Svetlana Brovko from Ukraine and Eugene and Mariana Simonov from Moldova. All 4 grew up in typical Soviet Communist homes; their homelands were not the countries they are now. Under Soviet rule, Ukraine and Moldova were a part of the USSR. All 4 became Christians in the 90s when there was a wave of missionaries who poured over the crumbled Iron Curtain. That wave of missionaries has either gone home or moved on to other places in the world. However the needs remain great in this part of the world. Evangelicals in most countries of Eastern Europe are less than 1% of the population.

It was fascinating to hear their testimonies and to hear them tossing around the Russian language among each other like a rubber ball in a racquet ball court. Even though all 4 of our guests speak English and their mother tongue, they all had to learn to speak Russian in school. Russia still holds great (and sometimes scary) influence in this part of the world.

This November marks the 20th anniversary since the Berlin Wall fell. The euphoria of the event has long ceased and most people are trying to figure out how to make life work. Most governments of Eastern Europe lean strongly toward socialism and operate a “command and control” economy.

With some exceptions, freedom of religion exists in Eastern Europe. In some places like Bosnia and Albania the gospel is being heard for the first time in 1000 years! However, for most religion is only a cultural expression; the primary god worshipped is materialism. Eastern Europe and Russia is a land of great gospel need; our Lord deserves not just their religious activity but He is worthy of their hearts and their worship.

Our ministries across Eastern Europe and Russia took another heavy blow when we learned that our outreach and operating budgets were cut by 2/3rds. In a land with so few Christians and so many open doors, it breaks my heart to see monies either directed elsewhere or just plain no longer available. And we don’t qualify for a government bail out. Perhaps this is our Gideon moment.

Anyway, we wish you could have been our guest at dinner that night. The “EB food” was excellent, our company was wonderful and our God is holy and sovereign! Thanks for walking this journey with us; your partnership keeps us in the mission field out here in Eastern Europe and Russia.



EB and her friend Deb Olson host at our home a "young mothers" luncheon for those associated with our missionary community. Some of the countries represented here are Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Belarus and the USA.



These next pictures are from a Hungarian culture festival held in our village of Diosd. This first picture is of a big basin full of grapes. The barrell dispenses fresh grape juice. What happens between is anyone's guess.



Hungarian horsemen




Quentin looks into a big pot of Hungarian goulash.




Yup, this is the real thing! Notice: no feet. Also, notice where the rod goes in and where it goes out.




Quentin and his friends sampling some of the food. Quentin does not express a lot of confidence that he can identify what he is about to eat!