Back to Home

Report 2012

2010

On Tuesday, August 10th, as I was watching all the campers getting on the buses heading back to their homes from the third and last week of the Christian camp, I was thinking of Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” In reality, by faith we started thinking and planning a couple of years ago about the possibility of conducting a summer Christian camp in Albania in order to serve all churches of Christ. This was a sizeable undertaking considering that we didn’t have much experience in setting-up and running Christian camps and also lacked the necessary financial resources for realizing such a project. However, we trusted God and asked for His wisdom and power and we did all we could to make this happening. And God blessed us beyond our thinking and imagination.

We managed to successfully complete three full weeks of camp south of Albania, close to city of Saranda. We divided the camp in 3 different sessions for specific age-groups. First week of the camp was for children from 10-14 years old and was conducted from 20 – 27 July. Second week of the camp was for teenagers from 15-18 years old and was from 27 July to 3 August and third week of the camp was for adults 18+ years old and ran from 3 – 10 August. In total, there were around 270 campers that participated in the camp during all three weeks. Campers were Christians and some non-Christians that came from all Albania including a recent baptized girl that came from Montenegro, another one from the USA, and a Christian couple that came from the Netherlands.

I speak in plural in most of this report because this was definitely a great team-work of churches of Christ in Albania. I do consider this as the first blessing that God poured on us; the possibility to pray, communicate and closely work together toward a common goal. God can do much more through us when we put our hands together and have unity in our thoughts and actions. I personally spent considerable time, energy and efforts toward this project by leading, coordinating and working toward every detail but I was blessed and assisted by so many brothers and sisters throughout Albania that joined in and offered their valuable contribution, time, talents and above all prayers.

The camp leaders, teachers, and counselors they all were Albanian Christians that came from different churches of Christ in Albania. It is a joy and it thrills me to see after around 15 years of existence of the church in Albania a generation of local preachers and teachers very capable and prepared to teach the Word and with a humble heart to serve in every occasion. All the cooperation and contribution for this camp was a sign of maturity of the church in Albania. A very important part of the camp were the Bible classes; each day there were two full Bible
studies in addition to devotionals, prayer groups, sessions dedicate to songs, worship times and other spiritual activities. God blessed us with excellent Bible lessons and teachers. The core curriculum was centered on the topic of “What is God’s Plan for My Life” that was prepared by Bledi Vlaca. This curriculum was further elaborated and taught in the camp by several of preachers and teachers of the Word in Albania such as Alfred Zike, Cimi Kafexhiu, Bledar Valca, Eduart Hoxha, Altin Koci, Flori Pollo, Anila Kafexhiu (for ladies), Brikena Zogaj and Ridona Stana (for children). In addition, three particular brothers Sokol Thanati, Ervin Leka and Flori Pollo offered an invaluable assistance during all three weeks of camp and covered all the activities, organizational and logistic issues. The first week of the camp was directed by Alfred Zike, the second week by Bledar Valce and I was in charge of the third week. I am very thankful and appreciative of all the above-mentioned persons in addition to all counselors that offered an excellent service and example of Christ during the camp. I thank the Lord for them and for all the talents and potentials they have for the Kingdom. The third week was a unique week since Albanian Christian families participated in the camp and had the chance to know each-other better, to study the Word together, to fellowship with each-other, to sing praises and pray together. Such activities for Christian families are very rare or non-existent in Albania and there is a great value in pushing forward and encouraging them because in the end we are going to have solid and faithful churches in the country when in the first place there are solid and faithful Christian families.

After the third week of the camp there were in total 13 souls (6 in the first week, 5 in the second and 2 in the third week) that after listening to the Word of God, obeyed it and were baptized unto the name of the Lord. Again we were blessed beyond our thinking and imagination by having the possibility to boldly declare and proclaim the Good News and on the other side by being heard from receptive hearts and minds. God is good! I think the camp can serve, among other functions, also as a very effective tool for evangelism for our friends, family and others that are interested to learn more about Christ. We are already starting to plan for the Christian camp for the summer of 2011. Through this experience we all have learned a lot, have grown a lot and Lord’s willing we feel we can take more responsibilities in order to improve and expand the camp.

In particular, we would like to thank many of you that joined us through your prayers and finances for realizing this camp. You know who you are and for sure this simple report does not do justice in describing all the great things and blessings received this summer through the camp that occurred also because of your generosity, considerations and prayers. Looking from all the angles and considering its impact on local Christians and non-Christians, on families and youngsters on men and women, I think the Christian camp is a very cost-effective activity that produced great results and fruits to the Lord. We welcome your contribution and participation for making possible the replication of this great activity for 2011 and we are sure that what has been started will only be improved and expanded in many ways. The financial cost for a camper for a full week this year was approx. 62 USD. Even though it might seems a small amount, in many cases we had to sponsor the participation of many Christians that couldn’t afford. Please join us in whatever way and form you might and may God bless all our efforts in order for His Word to be spread and heard in Albania beyond our thinking and imagination.

Below there are some photos from the camp. In case you might have any question, suggestion or need more information please feel free to contact me at shaxhiu@yahoo.com/ or phone number
+355 692067543.
In Christ,
Sokol Haxhiu

Praise the Lord! Camps result in new souls saved giving hope to Albania.