Albania was Christianized quite early on, while it was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. The nation remained under Byzantine and Bulgarian control until the 14th century. It was captured by the Ottoman empire in the mid-1400s but the people remained largely Christian. After an abortive rebellion in the late 1400s, the Ottoman empire took complete control, and by the 17th and 18th centuries there were mass conversions to Islam. These conversions enabled one to access the Ottoman trade network, gain a position in the government or join the army.
Albania became independent from the Ottoman empire after the Balkan War in 1912. After World War I, it was ruled by the government of King Zog during a period of stability. It was invaded by Italy during World War II. Afterward Enver Hoxha took control and ruled as absolute dictator until 1985. Religious observance was suppressed and the country was officially declared to be the world’s first atheist state. During his rule, Albania was first an ally of the Soviet Union. After the death of Stalin, Albania became strongly allied with China. However, that alliance too would dissolve after the death of Mao Zedong. Albania became more and more isolated, ruled by the iron fist of Hoxha. After his death in 1985, the new regime introduced liberalizing reforms and led to a new openness and a transition to a market economy.
Albania has gone through a period in which it was terribly isolated. The combined effect of war, 46 years of Marxism and the chaotic Balkan wars of the 1990s made it one of the poorest countries in Europe. Economic life is almost wholly dependent on the money sent home by Albanians living abroad, and the average income per person within Albania is about $670/year (about $2/day).
Traditionally, some 70% of Albanians are Muslims, 20% Orthodox Christians, and 10% Catholics. Since the 1990s there has been a significant influx of missionary activity. Aside from Catholic and Orthodox activity (which are considerable, but not yet fully catalogued by us), some 45 mission agencies are at work within the nation. The Albanian Encouragement Project is a long-term network supporting church planting. Numerous Baptist agencies have numbers of cross-cultural workers and national pastors at work. (Interestingly, ABCUSA has deployed Brazilian missionaries to Albania.) The Assemblies of God began doing Scripture distribution in the 1960s, and today has a Bible college training new leaders. Likewise, the European Christian Mission began its work with radio broadcasts in 1968 and upon the opening of Albania began supporting church planting works in several cities. There are numerous relief and development projects, as well as microfinance and microenterprise initiativies (note CRY, ADRA, and Oosteuropa Zending). OM has over a dozen workers focused mostly on rural ministries (the urban cities are more heavily evangelized by local churches but less has seeped out into rural areas). Campus Crusade has over 60 workers in a widespread ministry to students. YWAM is also quite large, with 45 workers in 8 locations. This of course is a small recount of some encouraging news.
Still much remains to be done. The church in Albania makes up just a third of the population, and the evangelical portion of this is quite small. While there are probably at least 400 cross-cultural workers laboring on Albania’s behalf, much remains to be done. The long-term training of leaders and the strategic response to Albania’s economic needs will be critical for the future of Christianity in this land.
Related articles
A tooth for a tooth: in certain precincts of Albania, where familial ties still mean everything, minor grudges have a way of spiraling out of control.
OM Albania’s web site features information about Albania as well as what OM’ers are doing.
The ministry of the European Christian Mission in Albania.
World Vision’s work in Albania.
The Orthodox Church in America is sending missionaries to Albania.
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