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Church in Kosovo

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On December 28th, the church in Gjakova, Kosovo was engulfed in 15872016_10154396098564200_3155602478190916117_nflames. Skender’s wife, Valbona and the kids are ok, but Skender had 3rd-degree burns in more than 70% of his body. He was in the hospital in Prishtina, treated with morphine but the hospital and the doctors are not equipped for this case. And since we didn’t have any qualifications in Kosovo for things like this, the best solution was for Skender to be transferred outside Kosovo to a hospital with burns unit. However, things took a shift a week after trying so hard to raise support. God had something else in plan for Pastor Skender, something our minds still cannot comprehend and agree too. Pastor Skender went to be with Jesus on January 8th 2017. 
The house/ the church and all their belongings are lost to the fire. The building is literally burned from basement to the rooftop.
Valbona and the kids are staying in an apartment which Balkans Partners rents for them. They also have the Sunday service at the apartment since they don’t have a specific gathering place.
Please pray with us as we ask the Lord to continue to give Valbona strength so that she can be brave for her kids. 

 

News from Balkans

Concern for Kosovo’s Future

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When Balkans Partners first started working with the Bill Clinton statue, Prištinabelievers in Kosovo, there was overwhelming gratitude for the part the U.S. and other NATO nations played to bring freedom from Serbian oppression. There is now a fifteen-foot statue of Bill Clinton (who was president at the time) in the capital city of Prishtina. Kosovo was then one of the most laid-back and religiously tolerant of Muslim societies. At the end of the civil war in Kosovo, while North America and Europe sent aid (to rebuild homes, to provide temporary shelter and food, etc., Saudi people took the lead in a different sort of aid. Most of the money they invested went to build more Mosques. And for the Mosques they built, they provided the leaders to teach Wahhabism, the Islamic ideology behind the 9/11 disaster. So in the years since then, Kosovo’s youth have been increasingly radicalized through the teaching in these mosques, and it is a source of much concern. This trend has been documented elsewhere. Click here to view further detail on those changes as reported in the N.Y. Times.

News from Balkans, Testimonies

Cracked bone healed from the Lord.

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unnamedBlediar Kela is a 6 year-old child that lives in our neighborhood. His two older sisters attend our church; both are Christians and love Jesus Christ. His family is Muslim in background.

Blediar broke his leg when he was hit by a different child with bicycle about three weeks before he and his family were to go to the church’s summer camp for families. He was sent to the doctor to be examined and the doctor treated him, but the problem recurred again one week before camp. The bone had cracked again where he broke it. He went again to the doctor and was treated again, and he was told to not step on the leg for 30 days. Because Blediar’s parents had applied for the camp, they took Blediar with him.

On the second day of camp in the morning meeting, Dr. Robert Primrose spoke on prayer as he had on the first day, and then we prayed for people that needed prayer. Blediar told his mom Valinda that he wanted us specifically to pray for him, so his mom brought him forward and one of the friends that came from USA, Brian Primrose– nephew of Dr.Primrose– prayed for his leg to be healed. A day later we noticed him being stepping on the leg though the doctor said to not do it. However, Blediar still feared to release his weight on it completely because of what happened to him before when the bone cracked.

Right after camp I was asked by Brian how Blediar was, and I had this answer for him.

Watch here and see the answer.

 

 

Testimonies

Bondi’s Son

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Bondi’s Son

The child in the picture is the son of Bondi Halmuth (background–names are changed to protect the family). He is a faithful member of the church in Kosovo. He is holding his son Nick who was born 8 months ago and from that time till now his birth weight increased only 2 kg because he threw up anything He ate. Doctors several days ago admitted him in hospital and they learned that he was born with a serious anomaly. His heart is on the right side and that, with associated anomalies, was bringing problems in his health and growth. The church, along with people across the world, were urged to pray for God to heal the baby. A few days later, Nick was again examined and found to be healthy. In the time since, he has been gaining weight and functioning as a normal, healthy child should.

BurimN

Bondi’s wife was Muslim when they married, and though they both wanted children, she was unable to conceive. Then the church prayed for her, and God granted them this child. At that time, the wife then chose to become a follower of Jesus Christ. God intervened to preserve the child he gave them, and they are grateful.