Slicer Street has been the primary sponsoring congregation for a long-term missionary couple, Virgil and Jackie Jackson, in Vlore, Albania for the past ten years. Virgil and Jackie visited Albania on a short term mission effort and felt compelled to take on the full time mission position in 1995. They are from the Northwest and have attended Harding, going through the HSBS program. He has a background in business as well. Since 1995, when they arrived in Vlore, the work has spread to the neighboring town of Fier, 30 miles to the north (1999), and to Orikum, 20 miles to the south (2000).
Through our discussions with the Jacksons and our own observations of the work from trips to Vlore, we were convinced that the Jacksons have been stretched very thin in covering such a large area. To address the opportunity and need of this region, we resolved to begin a separate work devoted to the effort in Fier.
Much prayer and searching began for a couple to take on this effort. Our prayers were answered in the person of Steve and Ruth Byrne. They are a solid couple with a demonstrated history of committed mission experience. They were most recently in ministry in Anchor Point, Alaska, and before that time spent several years in the Philippines. In 2006 we entered into an agreement with them for a commitment of approximately ten years.
Albania consists of mostly hilly and mountainous terrain, with the highest mountain,
Korab in the district of Dibra reaching up to 2,753 metres (9,032
ft). The country mostly has a
continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. Besides the capital city of
Tirana, with 800,000 inhabitants, the principal cities are
Durrës,
Elbasan,
Shkodër,
Gjirokastër,
Vlorë,
Korçë and
Kukës. In Albanian grammar a word can have indefinite and definite forms, and this also applies to city names: so both Tiranë and Tirana, Shkodër and Shkodra are used.
Geography
Demographics
Unusual among Balkan nations, indeed anywhere in the world, is that Albania is a nearly homogeneous country with only small minorities. Most of the population is ethnically Albanian (95% according to the CIA World Factbook Feb 2005). Many ethnic Albanians also live in the bordering countries of Serbia (around 2,000,000; of that, around 1,800,000 in Kosovo), Montenegro (around 60,000), and the Republic of Macedonia (around 500,000). Since 1991, large numbers of Albanians have emigrated to Greece, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and other European countries.
The dominant language is Albanian. Many Albanians are fluent in English, Greek and Italian. The Albanians are mostly non-denominational believers. During the communist era religion was prohibited. Since that time the Albanian has been proclaimed as the only officially atheist country in the world, claiming the religion to be Albanianism. The most widely-practiced religions are Islam (70%), Albanian Orthodox (20%), and Catholic Church (10%). It should be noted that the other main religions of the world have some representation in Albania, though small. Religious fanaticism has never been a problem, with people from different religious groups living in peace and even inter-marrying. Intermarriage across religions is very common, and an immensely strong sense of Albanian identity has tended to bind Albanians of all religious practice together. [1]
Albania Summer Retreat
