Baptists Experience Remarkable Growth in Albania

It has been reported that the number of Baptists in the small country of Albania has increased remarkably over the last ten year. Believers, particularly among young people, have grown from zero to 250 in the Baptist Union.

"There are many exciting and encouraging things happening in Albania and Baptists are moving in a right direction," said Billy Taranger, President of the European Baptist Federation (EBF).

Taranger visited Albania in early February and met with government and religious leaders to underscore the need for religious freedom, which had already been proposed in the new Law of Religion in the country.

He also visited five churches which were filled with young people. "It is fantastic to see all the young people filling up all the different churches," he said. "I have never attended regular services in a Union with so many young people in the pews."

The European Baptist Federation is one of six regional bodies of the Baptist World Alliance. The Baptist Union started shortly after a few believers attended the EBF Congress in Lillehammer, Norway in July 1994.

The endless giving and self-emptying of Jesus Christ has been conveyed with help from the Baptist World Aid through food and medical relief supplies. Baptist Missionaries from Italy, Britain, and America and other countries have worked hard in Albania to plant their churches, and Taranger noted the steadfast ministry of Brazilian Baptist missionaries who "came from the start of the work there and have stayed and helped the Albanian Baptists a lot."

The growth of Baptists in Albania has come at a time when many of the churches in Europe are seeing a slight decline in their congregations. It is hoped that the expansion of Christianity in this small region of Europe can now encourage and strengthen missionaries and churches in neighbouring countries.