February 2, 2021
More Fruit Harvested in Albania
Fred Jewell, Chairman of the Foreign Missions Ministry at the College Church in Searcy, Arkansas writes, “Those of us blessed to participate in face-to-face campaigns know that few of the students we teach will be brought to full obedience to God’s will. But we accept the reality of disappointment in the expectation that at least some of the seed sown will land on good soil and produce a harvest.
“For each of the past 5 years my wife, Alice, and I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the summer WEI campaigns in Tirana, Albania. . . . The relationships formed with our students and the local members were so satisfying that we were hooked.” Fred and Alice have been disappointed again and again when promising students have not followed through. Yet, other students have submitted to God and brought them joy.
Fred writes,
“When we left for Albania in August 2017, I was totally convinced that I would have the privilege of baptizing at least one on-line student, maybe two. Both had shown great interest and had made statements in response to thought questions which left no doubt that they were ready. The only problem was that the student in whom I had the highest confidence lived in a city about three hours from Tirana. I had told her that if she were not able to visit Tirana during our month-long stay, we would be happy to come to her city where no church existed. . . . She responded that she would be in Greece with her sister during those times; it turned out that that would be the last time I heard from her. . . This surely ranks as my biggest WEI disappointment, not only for the fact that she didn’t follow through on her stated convictions, but for the abrupt and unexplained end of our relationship.”
On the positive side, Fred inherited a young female student named Enkeleda (Ledi) Qokaj when he went to Tirana last August. Ledi had studied with Bob Hesselrode on the Internet. She had also studied with Harold Romine, Pete Bogdanovic, and Bob Hesselrode in person prior to Fred’s and Alice’s arrival. She was convinced that she should be baptized by immersion for the forgiveness of sins and for the gift of the Holy Spirit, but she hesitated because she knew her parents would object.
Fred studied with her further and prayed with her for three days. As a result, she was born again of water and the Spirit.
