“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, NIV).

I sat at a table in Tirana drinking coffee with one of my Albanian physician friends. I asked her what Christian faith was like when God was illegal in Albania from 1960 to 1990. She described her childhood under the atheistic dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. She told me how her mother had this strange symbol on the inside of her coat. When she asked about it as a child, her mother said, “Don’t ever mention it.” When she was older, and the dictatorship had fallen, she entered a church for the first time and saw the same symbol over the altar, recognizing the cross her mother had been hiding.

From the 1960s to 1990, religion was banned in Albania. In Hoxha’s words:

“Was not the crushing blow dealt to religious dogma, that ancient plague, that poisonous black spider, in our country the most heroic, the most daring, the wisest, the most well-considered and the most skillful act? …Our Party and people destroyed this structure within a few decades, but the fight to eradicate this cancer from the mentality of the people is still far from ended.”

A later report regarding his success: “As many as 2,100 of these people were killed due to their religious beliefs during the Hoxha regime.”

And yet, the gospel did not die. It hid under the coats of faithful mothers and in the closets where grandmothers would paint sacred eggs at Easter. Hoxha is dead. Churches are open. Crosses are visible to all. Many today are surrendering their lives to Christ.

Three things I have learned regarding Christian faith in Albania:

1. God’s work in redeeming the lost cannot be stopped by any power known to man.
2. I continue to be amazed at the courage of Christ followers where it is hard to be a Christian. I hope I can be like them. It is still hard to be a Christian in Albania.
3. Religious apathy that comes with secular agnosticism in Albania is just as potent as Hoxha’s prisons in turning people away from God. The flags have changed but the war continues for the hearts of God’s children.

Please pray with me for Christ followers in Albania.

Dear God,

Thank you for letting me see the power of your gospel and the faithfulness of your saints.

Amen