December 16, 2005
During the past thirteen years, approximately 1,100 people have been baptized into Christ in Albania, most of them from Muslim backgrounds. Churches have been planted in Berate, Kosova, Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Korca, Lushnja, Orikum, Pogradec, Pelican, Shkodër (now inactive), Tirana, Ure Vajgurore, and Vlorë, plus the ethnic Albanian congregation in Prizren, Kosova.
Missionaries have come and gone through the years, often leaving behind fledgling churches without trained leaders. Hence, there is an urgent need to train men to help these churches grow—and to plant new churches in Albania and other Balkan countries.
By the providence of God, this urgent need is being met. Steve and Deborah Stamatis are now in Albania heading up a leadership training school. By the time you read this newsletter, the doors of International Bible Institute of Albania are open, and Steve will be teaching at least ten students.
IBIA is an affiliate of Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, Texas, and Steve is serving as the Dean. The Adams Blvd. Church of Christ in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is sponsoring and partially supporting Steve and is providing three full-time student scholarships at $400 each per month.
The Cordova congregation in Rancho Cordova, California is donating one full-time scholarship, and the church in Higden, Arkansas is sending $100 a month. We still need $300 a month to complete one more full-time scholarship and six part-time scholarships at $200 each per month. Who will help us equip these churches?
By providing student scholarships, you are helping Steve and the Albanian churches train teachers, preachers, and spiritual leaders in a region where Paul preached the Good News in the first century (Romans 15:19). Illyricum derived its name from the Illyrians, the ancestors of modern Albanians.
