by an Alliance worker in Kosovo
This is a big week for all the evangelical churches in Kosovo, and we want to ask for your prayers. The Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church (KPEC), the national evangelical Alliance, is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The celebration began last weekend and wraps up this Thursday. On October 21, the national postal system commemorated the event with a new stamp. The stamp in the picture features Martin Luther in the center with the Qiriazi family below, who were key 19th–century Albanian protestants who played important roles in the Albanian renaissance of language and education.
October 23, the Secretary-General of the World Evangelical Alliance met with Kosovar President Thaçi to commemorate the event. Our friends, KPEC President Driton Krasniqi and Partner Pastor Femi Cakolli, also took part in the meeting.
In the West, we sometimes tend to take the Reformation for granted. We rarely celebrate it or even comment on it in most evangelical churches. In the Balkans, however, the Reformation is a key part of the story of God’s work as both Catholic and Orthodox communities are so strong.
Pray
- God will open people’s minds to the authentic witness of the gospel championed by the Reformers.
- God will soften people’s hearts to the evangelical church, understanding the long history of both the Reformation and Albanian Protestants.
- God will call people to Himself for salvation as they understand the five great solas of the Reformation (Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and for the glory of God alone).