A Day in the Life in Albania

Albania

A Day in the Life: Rexhina

How amazing would it be to know you’re transforming lives every minute of the working day? Well we know some amazing BMS World Mission-supported workers for whom this is their daily reality! In our new ‘A Day in the Life’ series, we hear from BMS-supported physiotherapist Rexhina about her typical day serving at BMS’s partner Tek Ura in Tirana, Albania.

7 am

My day starts at 7 am, when I get up and prepare for the day ahead. It’s a short drive to the [BMS World Mission-supported] Tek Ura centre in Tirana, Albania’s capital city, but with a lot of traffic, so I normally arrive before 9 am to prepare for my first patient. At Tek Ura, things are always busy, often with other groups already happening in the main hall, so it’s good to get ahead of the game!

A woman and a child
Albania facts

8 am

We have a physiotherapy intern at Tek Ura and she starts at 8 am, so I often spend time reviewing the patients she has seen and discussing any plans. We then may see a child with a neurological condition together, as we often work together when seeing children with disabilities. Our approach is to enable the children to be more independent, and so we may work on their sitting position, practice rolling and use the standing frame to encourage a good standing posture. We always involve the whole family in therapy and so we give advice for the patient at home and practical support too.

At Tek Ura, we place a lot of value on everyone being included in our services, so most days I have a home visit to go and see a patient locally because of their inability to come to our centre. We usually start the therapy at their home until they get better and come and join us at our clinic, helping the person to become more a part of community life.

1 pm

After lunch, I’ll see a sweet older lady with severe back pain who has gradually been able to return to her daily life without a lot of pain. She has now started coming to the older persons activities at Tek Ura, so after her therapy, she goes to have coffee there.

People working at a table

3 pm

Then, it’s the time of the year when we have our health promotion sessions and at the end of the day, I have booked around 30 women from our community to come and have a free cervical cancer screening with a specialist doctor. It is so great to enable marginalised women to access services and to be able to use the Tek Ura centre for this purpose.

When my day ends, it often feels long as it is so varied, but it’s really fulfilling when you see that you are part of a little change in the patient’s life. If you could pray for one thing for me as I continue my work, it would be for the mums of the children we work with to feel included in the society and to fight for their children’s rights.

Why not commit to praying for Rexhina and her work as you go about your working day? You could take a moment to pray when you’re stuck in traffic or making a coffee for a colleague. And you could even go one step further to become a 24:7 Partner and give regularly to support work like Rexhina’s across the world. Click here to find out more!

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A roadmap to safety

A roadmap to safety

Vera, Nagammah, and the gift of hope

Meet Vera and Nagammah. They live a thousand miles apart, but their stories both end with hope, after you helped them to get their Covid-19 vaccines, against all the odds.

Nagammah doesn’t know much about her family background, or her true age. Her identity card lists her as being 67 years old, and had she been in the UK as the Coronavirus pandemic hit, she might have been among the early recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine. Instead, she was in her home country of Sri Lanka as the world began to spiral into chaos, and the wealthiest nations began to scrabble for and stockpile vaccines. With no birth certificate, no family support and no letter inviting her to receive her dose, Nagammah was facing the threat of Coronavirus alone.

Over a thousand miles away in Albania, Vera did have a vaccine waiting for her. But all around her were whispers of fear and confusion about the origin of the new virus, as well as misinformation about the vaccines intended to protect against it. Looking around the streets, numbers of people taking precautions such as mask wearing and handwashing were also falling, especially in poorer districts in the capital of Tirana. Being over 70 years old, with a number of serious health conditions, Vera’s life would hang in the balance if she were to catch the virus.

By April 2021, the worst had happened: Vera was seriously unwell and struggling to breathe. Taken to hospital, where she was placed on oxygen, Vera didn’t know whether she had contracted Covid or not – no-one had the time to stop and explain it to her. It was only after three weeks that she finally felt well enough to leave the hospital ward with its anonymous nurses in their big white suits. Once back at home, Vera felt frightened and unsure. All she’d seen and heard left her more in the dark than ever. Surely, she came to think, the vaccine couldn’t be for someone like her.

A woman in Albania holding a hygiene pack.
Your generous giving was a lifeline for vulnerable people in Albania like Vera.

If you gave to the BMS World Mission Global Covid relief appeal this summer, you were there for Nagammah and Vera, and the local health workers who likely saved their lives. Because you gave, a BMS-supported vaccination centre was kept running in Colombo, Sri Lanka – one that Nagammah heard about through her church. But it wasn’t just the clinically vulnerable that were receiving life-saving help.

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A man receiving a vaccination.
People in Sri Lanka can safely receive the Covid-19 vaccine, thanks to the funds you raised.
Hygiene packs
The hygiene packs handed out from our partner in Albania included all the essentials you need to feel safe.

The centre also got the vaccine to people like P Jayanthi. In her 50s, P Jayanthi was working in a fast-food restaurant when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, the busyness of work became a daily threat as the bustling restaurant filled with customers, with no respite in the evening when she returned home to a shared boarding house. It was only when volunteers told her about the vaccination centre that you’ve helped to run that P Jayanthi realised she didn’t have to choose between earning an essential wage and her health. “[Volunteers] helped me fill in the forms and gave us a bottle of water while we were waiting… Then they took me to get my vaccine and there was even an army doctor to whom I could speak about my concerns. I realised that I had nothing to fear,” P Jayanthi told centre workers, her eyes creasing into a smile.

In Albania, it was also kindness, understanding, and meeting people where they’re at that helped Vera. It was Tek Ura, the BMS-supported church and community centre in Tirana, that Vera turned to when she was unwell, and it was workers there that helped her feel confident enough to get her vaccine when she felt better. Vera came along to one of the “Staying Safe, Living with Covid” sessions that your generous gifts helped to run. These sessions reached hundreds of people with vital information about how they can stay safe as the pandemic continues on. At her session, Vera received a hygiene pack containing face masks, hand sanitiser, antibacterial spray, cleaning cloths and soap – all those things that so many of us came to rely on through rising cases and multiple lockdowns. Kindness and care enabled Vera to feel that the gift of good health was hers to enjoy. And it’s allowed her to re-join her church and community with confidence. As for Nagammah? She went along to the centre in Sri Lanka with a close friend. “We got the vaccine sooner than we thought,” says Nagammah. “The registration process was perfect… Many people helped us because we are old.”

Whether you’ve donated to BMS’ work fighting Covid, supported our health ministries, or prayed for BMS workers during the past year, you’ve been part of Vera and Nagammah’s stories. And not only theirs – this is just a small snapshot of the incredible impact your support has had in so many precious lives. Without you, Vera and Nagammah and people like them may never have got their protective vaccines, or been given a roadmap to safety. Thank you for your generosity in ensuring that they did.

Hear more stories like this!

If you’d like to hear more stories of people you’ve helped through the Global Covid relief appeal, or through BMS’ ministries all around the world, you’ll find them in issues of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine. Subscribe now so you don’t miss your copy.

Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine.

Resourceful Hearts Challenge

Loving Albania's Lost

The Resourceful Hearts Challenge

One conversation with a mother in Albania changed the meaning of the word “resourceful” for BMS World Mission worker, Mat Gregory, forever. It sparked the BMS Resourceful Hearts Challenge: an all-age activity in three easy steps. Want to inspire the children in your church to live wholeheartedly for God’s kingdom? Get everything you’ll need to take the challenge below.

Get kids in your church engaged with God’s work in Albania with the Resourceful Hearts Challenge. Take the challenge with kids in your all-age service, Sunday School, in a children’s talk or as a summer holiday craft. Step 1 is a story of Albania’s need, that you can tell children at the start of the activity. Step 2 is an inspiring challenge to all God’s people. And Step 3 ends with an easy craft to visually commit those ideas to memory, and to God.

Step 1: The story

Read this story at the start of your activity.

What are the things you do that make your family proud?
Maybe your mum or dad are really pleased when you get ready for school by yourself. Or your grandma is over the moon when you help her do the washing up. When we use skills like this to do something well, to help others or solve a problem, it’s known as “being resourceful”.
Let me tell you about a man called Mat, who works for BMS World Mission in Albania. He works at a community centre, helping some of the poorest people in the community. One way he helps is to support parents as they look after their children. One day, Mat asked the parents, “What are the things your children do that make you feel proud?” “What does the word ‘resourceful’ mean to you?” Mat knew what he would say: “I feel proud when my kids do their homework on their own.” Or, “My kids are resourceful when they tidy their room without being asked.”
But to the parents in Albania, being resourceful meant something else entirely. It meant taking scrap metal from the back of a broken fridge…

A group of Albanian mothers sit around a table with BMS World Mission worker, Mat Gregory, and look at the camera.
Mat Gregory, a BMS World Mission worker sits and plays a game with parents from the Parenting Together support group at Tek Ura.

Forming friendships at the community centre has been crucial as Mat and the parents support each other in raising their children.

Step 2: The challenge

A challenge to change our perspective.

We’re fortunate in the UK. We have lots – food, the skills we learn at school, and enough money to get by. God tells us in the Bible that everything we have comes from him (James 1: 17). And we have a calling to use those gifts, those skills and those talents. A calling to show God’s love to people by putting them before ourselves. To be resourceful. Mat and his friends at the community centre in Albania have been doing that already. People who had to take food from the centre’s food bank in order to eat gathered together to give out free food at Christmas time. People with woodworking skills have gone round to fix broken things in their neighbours’ homes. And parents are making sure their children go to the preschool groups at the centre, instead of going out to beg, because they know education will give them a brighter future.

A man in a green t-shirt plays with two children at the BMS-supported community centre 'Tek Ura', in Tirana, Albania.
An Albanian boy in a yellow t-shirt pokes his tongue out at the camera.

Parents are committed to giving their children opportunities they never had through the BMS-supported community centre.

So how can we join them, and use the resources we’ve been given to help others? Well, one easy way is to give to BMS work in Albania, which helps people like Mat to love and help other people in turn, and share the good news of Jesus with them. You can find out more here. Other ways don’t involve money at all!

Want to give to BMS work in Albania? Click here
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Step 3: Resourceful hearts craft

Committing it to God.

a) Create the resourceful heart craft using an old coat hanger, or piece of copper wire. Follow the steps in the picture below to bend it into shape. You may need pliers, and be careful of sharp edges!

A hand-drawn illustration demonstrating how to bend a coathanger into a heart for a craft activity.
A hand-drawn illustration demonstrating how to bend a coathanger into a heart for a craft activity.

b) Ask the children to think of ideas of how they can be resourceful. Whether it’s praying for something, helping someone, sharing Jesus or being a loving friend, ask them to write it on some paper or masking tape, and stick it to the heart.

c) Hang the heart up somewhere where you can see it. Ask God to help the children use what they have to help others, and to be resourceful for him. Pray for the children of Albania and their parents, and for the work of Mat and other BMS World Mission workers. And thank God for Jesus, who gave up everything he had for us – even his life – so that we could know him.

Words by Hannah Watson, Editor of Engage magazine.

Pray for Europe: the oppressed, poor and politicians need help

Pray for Europe:

the oppressed, poor and politicians need help

Atheists, people living as slaves and the future of the UK can all be helped by you today. Please read on as we focus our prayers on Europe and its people.

Let’s start with that thing you are probably fed up with: Brexit

Whatever your position on Brexit, it’s clear that prayer is needed. So, let’s leave our personal views to one side, the barbs we’ve heard and possibly spoken, and pray for healing and a way through all the confusion.

• Pray for families and friendship groups with positions that clash. Pray that Brexit would not divide them, and that opinions would be listened to.

• Pray for an end to bitterness, personal attacks and recrimination. Pray that the starting point for discussion is respect.

• Pray for God’s will to be done. Pray that he would guide political leaders into creating a better, fairer, more peaceful Europe. One that he wants for all his children.

• Pray for God’s continuing provision and opportunities for BMS World Mission’s work in Europe, and a political landscape going forward that is conducive to building his kingdom.

Pray for those trapped in modern slavery in the UK

You might have unknowingly passed a slave today. There are thousands of people being exploited in the UK as you read this –perhaps washing a car, tarmacking a drive, or painting a shopper’s nails in a salon. They’re working exceptionally hard for long hours, being paid a pittance and their health and safety are often disregarded. But you, your friends and your church can show them that they’re not ignored. You can show them that they are loved, and they’re loved by the one who loves you.

• Pray for freedom for the captives and that God would use his Church to break the chains of oppression.

• Pray that those who are trapped in modern slavery would sense Jesus’ presence in their lives; that they would draw strength from him, and know that he is with them.

• Pray for those who are exploiting people. Pray they too would have an encounter with Jesus, one that transforms them into people who stand up for the oppressed instead of imprisoning them.

• Give thanks for Dan Pratt who BMS is helping to raise awareness of modern slavery and to help churches across the UK to fight it. Pray too for energy and wisdom for Dan and his team as they confront the darkness of slavery with the light of Christ.

Know the signs of modern slavery? Hear from Dan Pratt on what you should look out for

Pray for secularist France

You no doubt know that France is a hyper-secular nation, and that our Christian brothers and sisters face personal and official hostility in openly showing their faith. And yet, people are coming to faith in France. It’s happening because Jesus wants to reach everyone. And it’s happening because of the support you’re giving to BMS church planters. Let’s give them some extra help today.

• Pray for our BMS colleagues in France. Pray for a powerful sense of conviction in their work, and for Holy Spirit-touched conversations, with believers and non-believers.

• Pray for those who turn to the occult for answers to medical and spiritual suffering. Pray they would know the healing power that only Jesus can give. Pray for those who have turned their back on God and do not believe in the truth of his love for them. Pray that they would have an encounter with him so powerful they would want to share their experience with others.

Two men and a woman stand on a stage with microphones and instruments
Young people are finding faith in France. Together, we can help more people come to know Jesus.

Pray also for the Netherlands, Albania, and Kosovo

• Pray for BMS workers David and Dorothy McMillan in Amsterdam. Pray that they would continue to build strong relationships with their non-Christian neighbours, and that people would come to know Christ through them.

• Pray for children from Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania who face poverty and hardship. Pray they would be nourished with food and learning, and that they have hope of a better future.

• BMS is supporting mission in Albania by teaching the children of mission workers at GDQ International Christian School. Pray that the teachers would continue to be faithful in prayer and in seeking God’s direction. Pray, too, for the finances for building work and for a sense of unity during this exciting time for the school.

Two girls sit at a table, drawing pictures on pieces of paper
You can help children in Albania know what it feels like to have a happy, fulfilling education.

• Give thanks for BMS work in Albania. The BMS-supported team of five Albanian workers and three British workers at Tek Ura (a BMS-founded NGO) has set up a community centre in one of the poorest and most marginalised communities in Europe. Through their flourishing health, social inclusion and education ministries, God has provided thousands of opportunities to be a blessing – and even a baptism to celebrate!

• Pray for reconciliation for communities in Kosovo that remain divided by past conflict. Pray too for BMS workers Robert* and Rose* as they build relationships in the country through teaching children. Pray for more children to attend their classes and that Robert and Rose would shine the light and love of God into the children’s lives.

Just before you leave, we have one more important request. To get more people praying, please share this article with your friends. It really does make a difference, so thank you. For daily prayer updates, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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* Names changed to protect identities

You can change a child’s life by praying today

You can change a child’s life by praying today

Extreme poverty, war and discrimination are denying children their right to an education as you read this. Your generous gifts to BMS are helping us to confront this injustice. And today, we’re asking you to support our education work with prayer too. Please read, pray and share this article so we can help more children in the countries featured below access life-transforming education.

Lebanon

Syrian and Iraqi refugee children in Lebanon are getting an education, thanks to you. Children who have had their lives shattered by conflict are being given hope for the future. Not only are they being taught, they are being treated with the love and respect that every child deserves.

• Pray that these children are able to concentrate on what they’re being taught and feel safe in their environment. Pray that they would love learning.

• Pray for wisdom and energy for the teachers, as they work with children who have suffered unimaginable trauma.

Children sitting at desks in school raise their hands to answer a question
Refugee children are back in the classroom in Lebanon after fleeing the horror of conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Bangladesh

Preschools across rural, very poor parts of Bangladesh are being supported by you. Boys and girls are being taught about letters and numbers, with BMS worker Louise Proctor training local teachers to give great lessons using free or cheap resources. We’re also helping to educate the children of mission workers at a school in Dhaka.

• Pray that the preschools will be a springboard to enable children to keep attending school, and that the children will be encouraged by their parents.

• Pray that the teachers will be equipped to provide stimulating lessons for the children, and can access all the resources they need.

Children sit in lines in a shed in Bangladesh. They are all staring at a teacher who is taking the lesson.
Children in rural Bangladesh are captivated as BMS worker Louise Proctor helps with a school lesson.

Kosovo

Underprivileged children and adults from marginalised and minority people groups in Kosovo are being given the chance to learn English thanks to your support for BMS teachers. More than 50 per cent of young people in Kosovo are unemployed and 30 per cent of the population live below the poverty line.

• Pray for BMS’ education work amongst marginalised people in Kosovo.

• Pray that young girls would have equal access to education, and that our workers would have the resources to help them.

• Pray for God to guide BMS workers Rose* and Robert* as they serve in education in Kosovo.

Albania

We’re working to help children from Roma and Egyptian communities access education. These children are shunned by Albanian society and live in abject poverty. We’re also helping further God’s mission in Albania by providing education for mission workers’ children at GDQ International Christian School.

• Pray for the children who want to learn, but are stopped from attending school regularly because of reasons out of their control. Pray for a sense of hope for them.

• Pray for the children who struggle in school because of extreme poverty.

• Pray for increased resources for the science department at GDQ in Tirana, and pray for renewed energy for BMS mission workers Chris and Debbie Carter, Mat and Suzanne Gregory, and Jill Morrow.

Two girls sit at a table, drawing pictures on pieces of paper
You can help children in Albania know what it feels like to have a happy, fulfilling education.

Peru

Children from poor families attend an after-school club at the BMS-founded El Puente Baptist Church in the city of Cusco. They’re helped with their homework, learn about God, and play games.

• Pray that more children attend the club, and see the value in an education.

• Pray that other members of the church get involved and use their blessings to help the children.

• Pray for Denise and Melany, who run the club. Pray they would feel encouraged by the difference they are making to young people’s lives.

Children sit on a stage in front of musical equipment. They are smiling and waving at the camera.
These children have been learning and having fun at a BMS-founded church in Peru.

Nepal

BMS is working to transform children’s lives by improving teaching in Nepali schools. Teacher training written by BMS worker Annie Brown is being rolled out across the country. We do this work in partnership with the Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC), where mission workers’ children are taught, with BMS support.

• Pray for the Nepali teachers receiving training, sometimes for the first time. Pray that they would go on to transform the lives of the children in their classrooms.

• Pray that poverty won’t stop children in Nepal attending school. Pray they would have all they need to learn.

• Pray for the students preparing to sit exams at KISC, and for the KISC staff as they settle into the school’s new site.

Two girls sitting at desks look at a school book
Children in Nepal have been learning through new teaching methods, thanks to your support for school teachers in the country.

Guinea

Boys from deprived communities are learning formal rules and structure through a football club set up by BMS mission worker Ben*.

Summer classes have also been set up by Ben and his wife Isabelle* – who is a teacher – helping not only the boys, but other children, too.

• Pray that the boys would continue to be inspired to learn and develop, and that education and football would give them a great sense of self-worth.

• Pray for Ben, that he would have the resources, time and energy he needs to help the boys who come to him.

Players of the Blessed Boys Football Club in Guinea train and play a match.
Boys in Guinea are not only improving their football skills thanks to your support, they’re being helped with their schoolwork too.

China

We support teachers in China, helping students at a nursing college improve their English language skills.

• Pray the students would feel encouraged in their studies, and form strong friendships with their classmates.

• Pray for energy for our workers, in both their teaching and in their personal relationships.

India

Street children in Kolkata are learning reading, writing and arithmetic through the BMS-supported Street Servants team, led by our worker Ben Francis. Our team is working hard to set up a second school, which will give more children a chance to learn the skills they need to change their futures. We also support other education initiatives in India.

• Pray that children at the street school would have an incredible appetite for learning. Pray they would sense God’s presence in their lessons.

• Pray that the children’s parents would understand the importance of a good education, and would continue to allow their children to attend the school.

A girl walks towards other children standing under a bridge in India
School is being brought to street children in Kolkata, giving them the opportunity to learn.

Mozambique

Young children from poor backgrounds are being given the best possible preparation for school through the PEPE preschool initiative started and supported by BMS. Children are being taught important lessons like colours, numbers and the alphabet in creative ways.

• Pray that the children enjoy their preschool lessons and want to keep learning.

• Pray for the resources to help more children from disadvantaged communities.

• Pray for BMS worker Liz Vilela, who has been training new PEPE teachers in child protection. Pray that Liz would find ways to overcome any obstacles she faces in her work, and that the teachers put into practice what they’ve learnt.

Children in Mozambique pray during a school lesson
Children in Mozambique are not only being given a preschool education, they are also learning about Jesus.

Education is critical in helping children who are poor, disadvantaged and persecuted walk towards a better life – a life that we know is possible.

Through your donations and prayers you are enabling us to help children access education. Please share this story right now to encourage others to pray.

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Are you a teacher? Come and work with us

Inspired by the education work we do? We’re looking for teachers to serve in countries such as Uganda, Afghanistan, Guinea and Albania.

You can be the person who helps change a young person’s life for the better. Take the first step by clicking here to find out more. We’d love to hear from you.

* Names changed for security reasons