Tim experience in Berat 2005

TiM Experience in Berat, Albania
6 – 20 August 2005

For the first time a TiM- experience was held in Albania. An international group of teenagers (11) and their leaders (8) came to Berat to reach out to the local teenagers, build friendships and share the hope they have found in their lives – the gospel of Jesus Christ. TiM stands for Teens in Mission and it is organized by OM Albania. The main purpose of the TiM- experience is to give a lifestyle experience to Christian teenagers that will help and train them to reflect their friendship with Jesus in their day-to-day world. Most of the teenagers took part in a youth conference Teenstreet in Munich, Germany just before they came to Albania. We started here with 2 introduction days in the OM center in Lushnje.
In our group we had four Swiss people, five Germans, two Italians, five Dutch people, two Albanians, one French person and one Czech. As you can see we were a pretty varied group not just in nationalities but also in personalities. Elize Boersma from the Netherlands has been an OM missionary in Albania for almost 4 years and has a great heart for Albanian teenagers. She led the team together with pastor Petrit Sinaj of the local Free Evangelical Church. He was the main leader and did a great job. The goal of the outreach was to make contacts with some of the local teenagers and draw them to the church, which has been planted three years ago, with the prospect of starting a teenager club next year.
In the morning we focused on God through different seminars and worship. We had seminars like: giving your testimony, putting on the armor of God, trusting God, how to share the gospel, serving as a servant of God e.g…
After the seminar we split up into small groups to go deeper in to the subject and to pray for each other. In the afternoons we went to reach out to the teenagers from Berat. We did this through sports, special outdoor programs, drama, games, and hanging out with the local teenagers.
Six of the local teenagers joined regularly in our activities. It was great to see how the participants even could communicate in their own language to them, especially in Italian, German and English.
An Albanian girl asked one of our girls if she could talk with her. So she took the courage to explain the gospel to her with the evangelism cube. The Albanian girl told us later that she accepted Jesus in her life a little while a go and had decided together with her sister and her cousin to come to the church service every week.
The guys in the group did also a great job. They had a lot of contact with the local boys who where not Christians. Often they would go out with them and share their life testimonies.
Four of the Dutch participants went to a teenager camp in Durres the first week. There they served the Albanian teens and played with them. After that week they joined the group in Berat.

Let’s hear from some of the teens themselves.
Why did you decide to join the TiM outreach in Albania?
What have been some of the most powerful moments on the trip so far? (What really made an impact on you?)

Yann (Switzerland, 17):
Because I have been to Hungary and Cameroon before, and I have learned a lot there, I like to share my faith. And I also could learn something about God and myself.
The relationships among the people on the team, that was really great. Also I really felt the presence of God when Entela shared her testimony during a program at a field in the Morave village.

Stephano (Italy,17):
Because I prayed for it and there was an opportunity to go.
The openness of Albanians, and also I like the way God is guiding me through this outreach, I learned something new every day.

Herma ( the Netherlands, 17):
I thought it would be nice to share my faith in a team in a different country.
The first morning at TiM when we all worshipped God together in a group. I also liked performing a drama and a rope trick at an evangelistic program for people and really actually going out and sharing my faith.

Pauline (France, 18):
I have been on a mission trip before and wanted to do it again. I chose Albania because it was far away and I wanted to learn about another culture.
The outreaches in the afternoon. When they sang Christian songs in Albanian with the little girls, I knew the songs in French and could do the motions with them.

Entela (Albanian,16):
I have never been on a mission trip so I wanted to have the experience. I wanted to share my faith with others and build friendships and also practice my English.
Hearing the testimony of Stephano, the Italian guy. Seeing Berat – a very beautiful city. Having a good contact with the Albanian teens that joined the activities. The love between the teens on the team was very special we tried to serve one another. It was an experience I will never forget.

Ana ( Germany, 16)
Because God called me to come here! I went even though my mother did not want me to go in the beginning when I told her.
The talk I had with Erisa when I could explain the gospel to her. There were a lot of other things that were important to me. I saw that it was God’s will for me to come here!

Davide (Italy- leader, 20)
I wanted to join TiM and an Italian teen wanted to go to Albania, so I came with him.
God taught me a lot: to focus on Him and serve people. Special moments were when I could talk with individual guys about God and was able to build a friendship with Nerti, an Albanian boy from Morave.

Emi (Albania – local leader, 20):
How was this outreach for you?
This outreach was a great encouragement for me: to see teens having a heart for God and wanting to serve God. We made a lot of new contacts and new steps forward, sowing the seed in the soil. God will let it grow. Teens from Berat who were not Christians joined in our activities. That was very good.

Elize (Dutch - OM-er, 33):
What touched me the most was the willingness of the teens to go out and share the gospel and their testimony with the Albanian teenagers. It was great to see how devoted the teens where in spending their time with God during the siesta and the quiet time.

Thank points
Thank God for the protection during the outreach
Thank God for all the blessings He gave us
Thank God for the team, fun and the friendship we could have together.

Prayer Points:
Pray for the Free Evangelical Church in Berat and the Pastor and his family - that they will be a shining light in the city and will reflected Jesus love for the people there.
Pray for Emi, the local church worker, who is responsible for the youth work in the church - that he will have wisdom how to start a good youth work in the church.
Pray for the participants that learned a lot during Teenstreet in Germany and this TiM experience in Albania - that they would put into practice all that God taught them.