Just Imitate Him

Mark 1:9-11 - At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

I was baptized by Mark. What a great day that was! Jesus was baptized by John. What a great day that must have been as well!

This is where it began for Jesus. This is were it begins for me and you. I realize the effect of baptism on Jesus was different than its effect on us, but the motivation for our baptism and His is the same. Obedience. Jesus wanted to fulfill all righteousness. He wanted to do what was right. He wanted to obey His Father.

This world we live in hates to obey. It lifts up independence and plays down obedience. Not only is obedience taught all through the New Testament, but Jesus set the example by doing it himself. May God continue to embolden us, as we preach the uncompromising truth of how to enter into a righteous relationship with God!

Pray for Tirana!

Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. The population has increased rapidly after the collapse of communism in 1990. Today the city counts a population of 800.000, and the region has more than 1 million habitants.

The city today is full of life, and there are more than 20,000 students coming from all regions of Albania, as well as from Kosovo and Macedonia.  It is located in the heart of Albania, surrounded by hills and mountains. In Tirana there are 4 basic faiths: Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim and Bektashi (a Muslim sect). The Muslims are the largest group with more than 60% of the population. Still it is easy to share the faith and talk with people, they are friendly and open for conversation, although not all of them are willing to change their religion.

The church in Tirana was planted in March 2000. Today the church counts 54 disciples and God has been blessing us with more and more studies. Last month the church celebrated our 10th anniversary--for a whole week the disciples shared their faith, prayed together, fasted and had devos. On Sunday the church had 106 visitors for our special anniversary service. This is the largest number of visitors the church has had in last 7 years.

Many people are now studying the bible. On Friday 2 of April the church had the first baptism for 2010, the brother that was added to the church is a campus guy 19 years old. Together with the 2 sisters that were baptized in 2009 now the church has a campus bible talk of 5 students and together with 2 singles sisters that have joined building the campus group the campus are having lots of studies.

The church has a singles ministry of 12 disciples and they are changing a lot! Many of them have started studying the bible with people, and some of them are leading some of the studies. The married ministry is also a blessing for the church, with lots of new babies and young couples. Last year the church had 2 weddings, and now counts 13 married couples with one more wedding this year. The church has 14 children under 10 years old!

We are having more than 10 to 15 visitors each Sunday, and there are 11 people that are studying the bible and 5 hoping to be restored. Our prayer is that God will bless the campus ministry with more than 20 disciples by the end of this year, and that the church grows in the mission and in deeper discipling relationships with one another.