Armies and atheism of Albania’s past dimming as the light of Christ shines

Invaders and ideologies have dominated Albanian people since the 1300s.

Islam came with the Ottoman Empire as armies marched in seven centuries ago. That empire crushed the autonomy and identity of the ancestors of today’s Albanians.

In 1912, the Albanians gained independence from Turkey and communist leaders ruled. Albania wrote atheism into the country’s constitution in 1976, with then-ruler Enver Hoxha saying the only religion in Albania was Albanianism, meaning patriotism.

Nowadays, the national pride of many Albanians isn’t so robust. Many of Ted and Nita Bukowskis’ neighbors are weary and wounded after centuries on the wrong side of power. A few others are shockingly wealthy: Bentleys pass beggars in Tiranë, Albania’s capital.

Restaurant workers can make $200 a month, a little over $5 a day. People who speak other languages work in call centers, earning maybe $500 a month. For a while, people who lost their job because of COVID received $40 a month from the government.

Porous borders and routine bribes to function inspire poverty, human trafficking and a drug trade, adding to their burdens.

“Hopelessness is a part of the country’s DNA,” Nita said.

Today, Islam is the country’s primary religion. But the expression of the faith is more a cultural tradition than a lifelong devotion, similar to Christianity in America.

Families survive by having three generations under one roof to help take care of one another. In Tiranë, Ted and Nita commonly see grandfathers carrying their grandchild’s backpack as they walk to school.

At the same time, the generations often fight ― within their home ― about dating, religion and other values. Frequently, pressure against one person comes if the individual’s choices are perceived to jeopardize the family’s tradition, reputation or comfort.

To the west, across the Adriatic Sea, sits Italy. Greece is to the south. Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia surround the rest of the country. Yet, Albania’s last century of leadership isolated the country from other nations, opportunities and ways of life.

“There’s a very, very prevailing mindset in Albania that you don’t trust anyone,” Nita said. “There’s a combination of fear and shame that keeps relationships superficial.”

A woman’s pain and prayers

Nita was thousands of miles from Albania. There was no chance she could envision the ministry she would eventually start in Albania. She had never visited the country and had no plan to.

Her daughter and son-in-law did disaster relief in Tiranë many years ago. They were missionaries in Belgium who made a short-term trip to Albania to help renovate a building so a church could open there.

From them, Nita heard many stories about the people of Albania. The stories moved her heart, so she started praying.

“I would have visions of women under this cloud of darkness and I was fighting for them, praying for them, crying out to God on their behalf,” she said.

Related: Each one reach one

This battle in prayer went on for about five years. Then Nita took a trip in 2013, expecting to spend a few months in Albania.

“I came here really clueless as to what was going to unfold,” she said. “I just knew that I was coming.”

Meanwhile, her entire life was unsteady at that point; she and Ted were separated and not sure they would get back together.

Their conflict increased as she healed from sexual abuse that occurred during her childhood and teenage years. Her growth created marriage struggles: she was no longer OK with what had been common experiences.

Then, some months later, standing on a staircase overlooking Tiranë, Nita heard God.

“I remember standing on the steps of the Opera House of Tiranë and looking out over the city and God saying to me, “This is home now,’” she said.

God, what is my calling?

Back in Wisconsin, Ted was driving a truck for a living. His 14-hour workdays made ends meet. He heard a pastor, Erwin McManus, on the radio that same day God spoke to Nita thousands of miles away.

The minister spoke for just a few minutes, encouraging people to identify their calling.

“I remember saying, ‘God, I wish I knew what my calling was,’” Ted said.

Related: Six gauges for your soul in a time of crisis

Ted had served in a prison ministry, done some preaching and worship ministry as a musician. But he didn’t see how those or anything else he did added up to a calling from God.

Sitting at dinner after a long day in the truck, Ted’s phone dinged as a text arrived. In the motel restaurant, he looked down and it was Nita, surprising him since it was probably 3 a.m. in Albania.

Both of them had been pursuing God during their separation. Healing had been happening within their marriage, despite the miles between them.

After Ted finished dinner, they talked on the phone. Nita asked Ted a question both promising and perplexing.

“Do you know what I’m doing after the wedding?” she asked. Their youngest daughter was getting married that June and Nita was coming home for the wedding.

Ted told Nita he imagined she’d want to go back to Albania. The Lord was already forming a ministry for her there. She was already rooted in a church and working with their women’s group.

Yes, she confirmed, she wanted to go back. But she felt like the rest of their healing had to happen together. “How would you feel about coming with me?” she asked Ted.

Ted needed a couple of days to answer. Then, driving all over rural Wisconsin, seeing rivers and hunting stands up in oak trees, he started grieving. He was going to miss moments hunting these places.

Every time he grieved, each beauty he glimpsed, the Lord told him, “I have something better.”

“So, I called her and said, ‘I don’t know what this means but I’m coming,’” he recalls.

What helped him was clearly seeing his future.

“I can continue in this exhausting earthly job, or I can go work for God with my wife,” he said.

Related: How to become a missionary

In 2014, a week after their daughter’s wedding, Ted and Nita Bukowski arrived together in Tiranë.

“We’re not done; we’re in the middle here and we’ve got another chapter to get started,” Ted realized. “Everything I had gone through ― my Catholic upbringing with the shame and the fear, my preaching at the coffee house every Friday night, my prison ministry, my worship ministry, working with unsaved people my entire career ― everything in my life was preparation for coming to Albania.”

Raising the next generation of worshippers

For the last six years, the man who always wanted to be a musician is now helping Albanians learn to lead worship. In 2016, Ted joined Albanian natives Beni and his wife, Irma, in their mission. The couple started Selah Worship and Arts Ministries in 2011 to train Albanian worship leaders.

“Our vision is to raise the next generation of worshipers to worship in spirit and truth. This is our vein of discipleship,” Ted said. “Just like there wasn’t much discipleship, there hasn’t been much done with worship.”

The next step in God’s vision for the generation of worshipers is purchasing a residential home that can house leaders while offering a place for them to learn. The cost is $75,000 but the Bukowskis are confident in the God who can meet all needs through Christ.

In Albania, music skills and instruments are hard to come by. While communism dominated, the state prohibited people from owning musical instruments.

Now though, God is helping Albanians learn to play for him. In addition to the worship school, Selah Worship and Arts Ministries conduct several other offerings such as seminars and worship events.

Selah led a continuous time of worship for 12 hours in Tiranë. Then, two invitations came to do the same worship event in another city.

However, that kind of journey took four trips back and forth to haul the gear due to their vehicle’s small size. So, they started praying for a van. Ted believed $15,000 would buy the van they needed, but the pandemic disrupted international travel and challenged connections with financial partners.

Related: What missionaries desire most

The Bukowskis returned to the United States in September 2020 and shared about the need for a van whenever they could. A few months later, a partner church on the Bukowskis’ team received a $15,000 check for them.

At the same time, Ted’s friend Beni was looking at a van back in Albania. He found a great van and the price was dropping. So, when the $15,000 hit their account, the Bukowskis let Beni know.

The seller agreed to Beni’s offer for $14,500. That left $500 to put new tires on the van.

“It’s like God arranged the van before we had the money and then he dropped the price of the van so the money would cover it,” he said. “The whole thing was totally God-arranged. I see God providing.”

God’s faithfulness emboldens the Bukowskis that God will provide the residential home for a more influential school of worship leadership.

Walking alongside Albanian women through their heartbreaks

God is also working among the women of Albania. They’ve historically been oppressed or disrespected. But the ministry God began in Nita’s life has only grown since she stood on the steps glancing at Tiranë.

Out of her own experience with shame, Nita is slowly building relationships with women who gather in small groups. She is the global advocate of Mothers of Pre-Schoolers Albania.

“You can’t talk directly about sexual abuse,” she said. “They would never say something about a family member. But what I do is I just love them where they are and talk to them about their identity in Christ, how God sees them.”

Her influence among women who live under constant shame is growing and the women are responding. Unfortunately, these women are often told they’re not enough. They are told they don’t have potential and are fed lies about their dignity and purpose.

“They’re always looking for approval they never get from the generation before them. It’s a really brutal system,” Nita added.

Related: A bold request, a bold answer

It’s not like that in the gatherings she has with these women.

Despite invaders and ideologies that subdued and shattered Albania, “There is a future and your hope will not be cut off,” as Proverbs 23:18 says.

Nita sees women opening up, sharing their feelings and forming their ideas. Some are becoming Christians while others are closer to the kingdom of God.

“They’re safe, they’re loved, they’re secure,” Nita explained. “I’m seeing their confidence growing and they’re reaching out to other women as a result.”

Ted and Nita are excited in the way God has been moving in Albania and are anticipating the growth God has planned for the future, bringing many, many more Albanians into his kingdom.

Converge International Ministries is praying for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how Converge can help your church reach the nations with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.