Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider to Visit Albania Amid Church Growth and Cultural Context

Hospitality and honor, poverty and migration—these concepts define the life of the people in Albania. The New Apostolic Church, which operates nearly more nursery schools than congregations in the country, has found its path shaped by the enduring traditions of the Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, the ancient Albanian legal code. These principles of hospitality and honor have guided the church’s presence in this land, situated north-west of Greece at the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea.

In 1990, Albania’s doors were closed to outsiders, with no one allowed to enter without an invitation. Chief Apostle Bernd Klippert, on the verge of his visit, was informed by his host that the invitation had been canceled. A relative stepped in, offering to host the Apostle and his party in their small flat, where the man lived with his family of five. This act of hospitality would later shape the church’s growth in the country.

Three years later, Agim Nikshiqi, the relative who had hosted the Apostle, became a District Elder and was appointed to lead the newly established district of Albania. His daughter, Natasha, was also living in the house at the time. She would later be referred to as “the first child of God in Albania,” a title she herself uses. On 29 September 1991, when the first 21 souls were sealed, Natasha interpreted for the Apostle from German into Albanian. She is a professional translator.

Christianity in Albania is ancient, yet at the same time still very young. Apostle Paul himself brought the gospel to Illyricum, as the territory was called at the time (Romans 15:19). By the fourth century, churches were already being built. However, the country’s history took a different turn in the fifteenth century, when the Turks established their dominion and began to Islamize the people.

In the second half of the twentieth century, a totally different ideology took hold: Albania declared itself the “first atheist nation in the world.” Under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the practice of religion was strictly forbidden. With the fall of the communist regime in 1990, freedom of religion returned. Today, not even three per cent of Albanians profess to be atheists. Depending on the source, about 60 to 80 per cent of the population are Muslim, and the rest are predominantly Christian.

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