ALBANIA | Youth Ministry

Job Title: Youth Ministry

Length of Service: 3 months - 2+ years

Ministry Vision / Purpose: Our vision is to catalyze a movement of committed, faithful disciples who are actively making new disciples and a network of obedience-based Discovery Bible Study groups that are intentionally reproducing new groups. By emphasizing simple, easily reproducible methods of ministry and outreach in both small and larger-group settings, we aim to see Albanian believers quickly take the lead in ministry, encouraging, supporting and teaching one another and reaching out into their own spheres of influence to impact others for Christ.


General job description: 
  • Plan and direct weekly youth meetings
  • Mentor potential emerging Albanian youth leaders
  • Serve at summer children's and teen day camps
  • Build relationships with locals in order to sow seeds, evangelize and develop disciples
  • Meet regularly with a local for the purpose of language and cultural learning
  • Assist in programming offered at the Wesleyan ministry center--English conversation clubs, tutoring, etc.
  • (If a guitar player) Lead worship at youth and Sunday meetings / Teach guitar and mentor potential worship leaders


Requirements:
  • A growing relationship with Christ and biblical worldview
  • An ability and willingness to build deep friendships
  • Energy, humility, patience, and a love for young people
  • An ability to engage, teach and lead teens
  • An ability to confidently communicate the gospel and disciple others
  • A commitment to learning language and culture
  • An ability to work with an existing team

Field Background: Economically one of the poorest countries on the European continent, Albania is also a place of great spiritual poverty. For over 430 years, the Ottoman Turks dominated the land, introducing the Islamic faith into the region. Three decades after Albania declared its independence from the Ottomans, the Communists rose to power, ushering in an era of hostility to all religious expression and, in 1967, declaring Albania to be the world's first atheist state. Albania's was the last of the Communist governments in Europe to fall. Today, Albania is a democratic state with freedom of religion, but the scars and spiritual confusion remain. Around 60% of Albania's three million inhabitants identify themselves as Muslim, 10% as Roman Catholic and 10% as Orthodox Christian, but in truth, religion plays little role in most Albanians' lives. Less than 1⁄2% of Albanians are evangelical believers embracing a daily, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Global Partners has focused its efforts in Albania on reaching a community on the edge of Durres, Albania's second-largest city, that is home to over 50,000 Albanians who have moved there from smaller towns and villages since the fall of Communism in 1991. The team has begun exploring ministry in a nearby unreached village as well.