My name is Ilir, and I was born in Gjakova. My background is from a Muslim family, very influential in Gjakova, and I tell you, being Muslim I have always hated believers in other religions. I have heard much gossip and rumors about them One day a friend of mine came and invited me to go with him to a place where they have been teaching English Courses, but people warned me that it was a course of the Evangelicals. In the beginning I opposed and I said, “No I don’t want to go in that place. I belong to the other religion. Those people are supporters of the Jews,” and I said many other things. But friends convinced me, telling me, “They are good people. What you are saying is not right, and you are wrong.” I went and the first hour was English Class, and after English Class was finished, this same man that was teaching English said if anybody wants to join and come in something called Bible Study, they may do so. So I decided to go and see what’s there, and that was my good opportunity to convince my friends that I am right about what I said. I took a chair in that room and started hearing the young man there teaching from the Bible and telling my friends that if they don’t repent, the wrath of God will stay upon us; without repentance we are enemies of God, and only Jesus can reconcile us with God if we repent. Inside of myself arose a deep desire to kill that man because I said, “This man is traitor. He that forsakes his religion is very evil man.” In spite of the deep hatred, those words would not leave me alone; my mind and heart was troubled very much from hearing those words. I decided to continue to go there and hear him more. For two months’ time twice a week I went there, and I would not feel better; I would just feel worse and worse from the things that young man would say to me. They would call him Pastor. I continued going there in the house all the time. One day something happened when He was speaking from the Bible from one story of the man called Abraham. Pastor was telling a story that Jesus was telling to the crowds about Abraham. In fact He was telling about the conflict between Jesus and the offspring of Abraham, and when he reached the end, He read a verse from this story. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, ‘If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31,32) Jesus said these words to the people there. This verse pierced my heart and then the meeting was finished that day and I went home and took a Bible that was given to me by that man “Pastor” as gift. I opened it and started to read it from the end in the book of Revelation. Something strange happened that day. As I was reading, another verse hit me in my heart, deep as never before; that word became alive. And a feeling came that I can’t describe. The verse said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20 I sit down in one place, and I said God, “If you are the true God, please tell me what I need to do?” In my mind continually would come the verse, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Next day it was Thursday, and I went in the place called Fellowship; Pastor was teaching on how to get saved and invited young people to come forward in front and surrender their lives to Jesus. And several people went forward and accepted Jesus, but I was shy to accept Jesus in front of others. Pastor would say, “This decision you made today needs obedience; otherwise, you have done nothing.” That made me more afraid. But when I went home, I was alone that day. I bowed down on my knees and I said to God this prayer. “God, come into my heart and save me. Forgive my sins I pray. God, in the name of your son Jesus I pray.” And in the end I said Amen. This was the prayer that I said, and from that day I started to have a new adventure. Days later, something very interesting happened. I was reading in the book of Acts where it says that the apostles were clothed with power from the Holy Spirit, and that passage stayed in my mind for days. What was that? One week, Pastor spoke on that and challenged us to get in front so He can pray for us. Many young people went, and I went, and He laid hands upon us and prayed. And from that day I was filled with love and with a Holy Spirit, and now I serve God and try to obey to his will.

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By: Pastor Skender Hoti

It’s not possible” I said to my friend. ”My brother would never go there!”
My friend had just told me that my 12 years-old brother, Enver, was attending an Evangelical Christian Church gathering in one private house. Our family followed a different religion.
I was in my teen years, I decided to stop Enver my younger brother who was 12 years from attending the church, Even I used force and I beated him to make him stop attending. Many people in our city of Gjakova knew me. I was the main troublemaker in my secondary school. I wanted people to respect me, to be afraid of me, and I had friends who supported me on that.
I was working one day helping my father in yard of the house to clean the yard and my father asked me, where my brother is? I responded to my father telling him that I don’t know, and He asked me to go and look for him. I went in neighboorhood and looked for him and couldn’t find him, somehow deep down, I knew He went in that church again and i decided to go there. And that was exactly true what I sensed, i went to the door of that church and waited for him and sometime later my brother comes out of the door.
I grabbed him by the shoulder. “Where have you been?” I asked . “In the church can’t you see that,” he replied. “Why are you going there?” I asked. ”Didn’t I tell you you to stop?” Enver said to me,” Do you want to beat me? Here I am –beat me.” Then He looked me in the eye and said, “I love you Skender, and God loves you.” It was as if the sword had pierced my heart. “What is this?” I thought. “How does He have power to say, “I love you,” when I am beating him? ”I decided to go and see for myself what was happening in that church. I went alone, at evening time when it became dark, so that no one in the streets would see me. I planned to speak with the pastor (leader of the church) so called by the people, and present my arguments against Christianity. Then we would see which one of us knew the truth: He or I. I went to the church, and there was a group of the young people sitting and listening. The pastor was saying that Jesus is the Way, the only way to God. He finished and I was very angry as I went to speak with him. OK, Skender,” he said, “I know you. Come, sit.” I said, “I don’t know you; how do you know my name?” “The whole town knows you,” he said. And we began to talk. I asked many questions, and He gave me clear answers. But he did not convince me of the truth of Christianity. “OK,“ I said, “I will leave. And my brother will not come here anymore. Don’t let him come here. Don’t invite him to come.” He said, “May I please ask you something? May I give you a New Testament?” “Yes,” I said.
Although I did not know what is a New Testament, I thought it’s the book that He teaches from, and this is good chance to tell him with facts that He is wrong. I took it, and at home I began to read it. During the next three weeks, I read it three times. Each evening after school I would come and home and read, read, read. I was reading it to find mistakes, errors and contradictions. I also went back to the church during the three. I did not accept Christ because I wanted to make sure that those people also lived what they believe, and I thought in myself, “If they live it, that would be a very righteous life, and I would like to join them and see how I can become like one of them.” The next meeting after three weeks of continuously going to the meetings, the pastor preached on salvation, and I went forward and accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord. After the meeting, Enver said to me, “You know that I found the truth, now you know the truth. That day after meeting I went home, and my friends came by in the car and called to me. I went to the door, and they said, “Skender! We will have some fun tonight. We have some great girls!” “No,” I said.” Guys, I can’t do it. God doesn’t like what we are doing.” “Have you been in that Christian church?” they asked. “Yes,” I said, “and the Christians have the truth. And now I have the truth.” All my friends left me, and at one point my father threw Enver and me out of the house. It was hard for me at first, but I read in the Bible, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal live.” That encouraged me. I thought, “Yes, I will have a big family one day.” And that has happened. Now I have a big family in Christ. My father has become a Christian, and many of those friends who left me also have accepted Christ.
Three months after my conversion God opened the door for me to go to Bible school. When I finished Bible school, I begin working full time in the church. I would help pastor in the evangelical church, and later I was led by God to go out and do evangelism and to share the love of God and the Word of the Lord with the people alongside “Samaritans Purse International”. It is an organization lead by Franklin Graham; they came alongside to help, and we have reached out to share the gospel with thousands of the people in Kosovo’s towns and villages. As a result there were planted several small churches in different places. When we closed that project, I was asked to take over a small group of people in community in my town called “New Block” Group has grown and church was birthed called Mission Kosovo Church and planted several different other groups and I am right now pastoring Mission Kosovo Church and raising up leaders and looking for oportunities to plant more groups and church’s around my country.
Lord has a plan for my people and my country and I believe that God is going to save many people and change my country. That’s my prayer and I ask you also to join and pray with me.

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