Listeners in Albania and Kosovo Testify About Impact from The Tide®

Radio listeners in Albania and Kosovo have hope in the new year because of the ways The Tide®has shared the love of Jesus Christ over the airwaves.

Our partners in Albania, Kosovo and the Balkan region have been reporting amazing and uplifting work among the people there. For example, thousands of lives have been transformed through radio and television, and more than 60 pastors and ministry leaders were trained and equipped to continue building the body of Christ in Albania and Kosovo.

“Albania was once a country completely closed off to the Gospel, where church buildings, temples, mosques or any other type of religious structures were either destroyed or renovated for other use,” said The Tide Director Don Shenk. “Under the Communist regime, authorities in Albania went so far as to even remove the word ‘God’ from dictionaries. This all changed during the 1990s, and today Albania and neighboring Kosovo are open to missionaries and allow total religious freedom. However, people who embrace evangelical Christianity currently make up less than 1 percent of the entire population, so there are many more people to reach for Christ.”

Partners on the ground in Albania and Kosovo have reported several uplifting stories about those whose lives have been changed by the radio programming. 

For example, Edinjo is a believer in Christ, but he works long hours and cannot attend most church services. But he frequently listens to Radio 7, The Tide ministry partner, and God has used Edinjo to share the Gospel with many people. He talks about the program, called “Sipas Fjales,” and listens with his friends, who started a small study group. Together, group members engage in Bible study and often invite the local pastor to help guide them. 

Likewise, the wife of another pastor meets regularly with a group of women from Muslim families. Because they cannot attend church or keep any Christian materials at home, these women listen to The Tide radio programs, then have a time of prayer and question-and-answer. The women have grown in their faith also by listening to the programs on their cellphones because they are not able to use the family radios. 

Finally, Ardit is a young man who attended Christian church services as a child, but as a teen he was forced to follow Islam—his family tradition. Church members have been praying for Ardit for years. Ardit has met with the local pastor and testified how much it means to listen to God’s Word on the radio. The Tide program “Sipas Fjales” has given him strength and wisdom to face his family abuse because of his interest in Christianity.