I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Ps. 27:13, 14).
A few years ago, I wrote about an Albanian man who became our language helper during our first year here. Nexhip has an extraordinary gift for languages and taught himself several, including English. He has a Muslim background but converted to another Christian denomination as a young man. When we met, he was a lay pastor. Later, he became the lead pastor of a small church plant in our town.
Sean asked Nexhip to subtitle some of our outreach DVDs, and he became intrigued by what he learned, particularly about the Sabbath. He and his family began to attend our Sabbath worship regularly. When they moved to another country, they kept in touch with us. We were delighted when they returned to Albania and began worshiping with us again.
We sensed that Nexhip might become a local leader in the church. However, there was an obstacle: Although he accepted our doctrines, he had not yet made the decision to become a member of our church. So, we asked you, our readers, to keep Nexhip and his family in prayer.
Recently, Sean felt impressed to ask Nexhip if he and his wife had considered joining us officially. He stared at Sean a moment before answering, “Yes, actually we have been praying about it and discussing it a lot lately.” A couple of weeks later, he told us they had decided to be baptized. We are overjoyed!
Though we often like to see things happen quickly, God has been teaching us faith and patience. Praise Him for drawing Nexhip and his wife to Him in His good time!
