RACE Knocking At The Door 07/14/2011
 We are very grateful to the Lord for the honor He has given us to serve Him together As you know from our latest newsletter, our summer project RACE (Reaching Albanians Coming from Everywhere) starts tomorrow. We will deeply appreciate if you will invest some of your time to pray for us.
 What Have You Done To Him Arbri, finisht his second year of university. During the summer he works as a waiter on a restaruant by the sea. He worked there last year too. One day I received a phone call from Arbri, after he greeted me, he handed the phone to the restorant owner and wanted me to talk to him. "What have you done to him" - he started the conversation, - Arbri is not the same as last year, he has changed"; and than we talked a little more about our movement and how we are working to help students find answers for the deepest questions of life, and how we try to help them be better people. After that phone call, Eli and I were so happy that students like Arbri are a testimony to people around them, even the boss.  Marjus, sharing his faith in the Neighborhood "I miss our group a lot - Marjus told me one day on the phone - there are so many challenges here in my small city. I'm reading Matthew. I am telling all my friends about Jesus, some are listening and some are laughing with me, but I don't care. I have a friend, who has just started to go the Jehovah's Wittness meetings, please pray that he will not go there any more but receive Christ." Marjus, also loves to take part in RACE, but he needs permision from his family. Please pray that during these two or three days, he will be able to take permission.  Thank you for helping us help students find hope in Christ We Love you and Appreciate you. Pellumb and Eli ps. later this week we will try to publish some pictures of RACE. 5 Comments We Love June 07/03/2011
We don’t know about you, but we love the month of June, we usually have one full week of vacations. Especially this year, here in Vlora, at the beach, the sun, the blue sea, an ice cold Coke… oh, love it. We love the month of June for other reasons, too. It’s the month that we finish our ministry year. All our teams gathered together in June 8-10 to celebrate God’s faithfulness. I pictured this conference as an army after a battle, rejoicing for the victory. Among many things God has equipped us with two amazing abilities: Forgetfulness and Remembrance. The first one is to forget the unnecessary things, and the second one to remember the most valuable things, that are worthy to recall and give thanks to our God. At our staff conference we recalled God’s faithfulness in our lives and ministry during this year. Thousands of people heard the Gospel clearly this year through our staff, students and volunteers. Hundreds claimed to trust Christ this year. Let us share with you in a nutshell some of our statistics of this ministry year.
RACE Summer Project (July 15-30) After celebrating God’s faithfulness and after our skin looks like a chocolate it’s the time to continue giving the Albanians a chance to hear the Gospel. RACE (Reaching Albanians Coming from Everywhere) it’s an attempt to offer the Good News of Jesus Christ, to Albanians who gather every summer on our beautiful coastline. Statistics say that over a million Albanians throughout the Balkan region and the rest of Europe visit Albania during the summer. It makes sense that we will offer the Gospel in a place where they are more open to talk about spiritual issues, than in their original contexts. This summer, one of the places for RACE will be Vlora. Our leaders asked me (Pëllumb) to lead this project here in Vlora. So far we have found a very good and low cost place for the project, due to our great relationship with the univeristy dormitory director we are going to use this facility as a base camp. There are 21 Albanian volunteers and Campus Crusade for Christ staff and 2 Americans registered so far, we anticipate some more to register in the coming weeks. Praises and Prayers
Honored to serve Christ together with you. Pëllumb and Eli  Explorer 4 - The Gospel through 4 Stories. 04/18/2011
 First of all, Eli and I wanted to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU, to all our ministry partners, for all that you have done and are doing to help us help the students know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Explorer 4 - The Gospel through 4 Stories.  “In two weeks over 1000 students were exposed to the Gospel in a personal way in all 6 campuses in Albania” – said our National Campus Director to start the monthly Skype Call Conference with local campus team leaders. Here in Vlora we contributed 10% of that. As we were reflecting on this statistic we could only give thanks to the Lord, because we saw his hand in our campus, as we saw our staff working hard to meet as many students as possible and as they were encouraging the Christian students take steps of faith inviting their friends in small groups to discuss the Gospel through four great, thought provoking stories. We prayed for about 60 students to come. Approximately we had over 70 students, and in one event there were over 90.. There were 25 students that said “yes” to Jesus during this time. Our students helped four of them to trust Jesus. This two week project helped students to establish some new friendships and some of the groups continue to meet together on a regular basis discussing different topics. The group leaders, (most of them led a group for the first time), together with us are putting up a plan to meet their group members personally to explain the gospel again and help those who are interested. God Answers Our Prayers.  In our February Newsletter we shared with you about one of Pëllumb’s Bible Study: Here is a paragraph of what we shared: Three of the students are not believers yet, but they are exposed clearly with the Gospel. Juli, one of the non‐believers said at the end of the fourth session: “I am not far of making a decision for Christ, I have seen some changes in my own life”… Please pray for, Juli, Gerald and Melahi, that they will trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior during this time. All three of this guys received Christ during this time: We would like to share something more about Juli’s testimony: Juli’s father was abandoned by his parents when he was only 9 months old and was raised as an orphan. Because of that, Juli’s father has established a very close relationship with his children. You can tell that in Juli’s life and how much he appreciates his father. At the last meeting that we had during the Explorer 4 Outreach, he wrote on the Comment Card: “Yes, Surely I prayed today to receive Christ”. When I met him the following week he was very happy and thanked us for sharing Christ with him. Now Juli, Geraldi, Melahi and 4 others are part of another Bible Study designed for new believers, helping them grow in their new found faith in Jesus Christ. Family Corner.  You know, the discussions in a group get along better with some cookies. Eli wanted so much to join the group discussions during the Explorer Project, so her group met at our house and she prepared some sweet cookies that the students loved. Now Eli’s cookies are famous and everybody wants to try them. Joni and Estela seems to love Vlora. They enjoy everyday here. You may watch a slide show we have uploaded on YouTube. And this was the Story We Had to Tell for this time. Let us, together, Write the Next Story. Thank you for your irreplaceable role With Love and Appreciation Pellumb and Eli Pray for our March Project - EXPLORER 4 03/14/2011
 It's a great Monday morning here in Vlora. The sun is shining brightly, and we are getting ready to start our project called "EXPLORER 4". The project is designed to engage students in discussion groups of 10 to 15 students and to discuss the 4 Spiritual Laws illustrated with 4 different stories. The Christian students will invite their non-believing friends in this groups. We will also have a dancing and volleyball competition (March 17 and March 19) and will conclude the project on March 24 with a big gathering. Please pray: 1. that our students will be bold in inviting their non-christian friends in the groups. (this is very important) 2. that the group leaders will effectively lead the conversations (our staff will assist them, but they have to lead) 3. that many students will come (we are anticipating around 60) 4. that some of these students will put their trust in Jesus. Some Stories from last week. Margarita, a second year student, with a great excitement shared with us that three of her roommates received Chris with her. She had been praying for over a year for them daily. Mariola, a freshman student, after the training we had last week on how to share the 4 Spiritual Laws, shared it with 5 of her friends, 2 of them were over the phone. Meri, a freshman student, only one month as a believer, shared the gospel with her friend, she received Christ with her and came with her in one of our meetings. Renato, a new believer, after the training asked us if he can go to another campus, in another city where we do not have presence yet, to share Christ with his friends that are studying there. Thanks for praying Pellumb and Eli This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. Eager to Share 02/21/2011
 Have you ever felt eager to share something with someone? Have you ever felt like you are so much blessed that you simply cannot hold all for yourself. I have felt so this week, and not because there is something extraordinary happening, but there are those small moments that fills your eyes with tears. Let us share with you two of this moments. I was talking yesterday on Skype with Sharon, one of our ministry partners from California; she told me that they were thinking and praying for us the other day. After the conversation I was thinking and thanking God that we, yes we (Eli and I) have so many friends and partners who think about us and pray for us and make it possible for us to serve the Lord full time. It is a fact there are not many people who have this privilege and honor. That's why we were so eager to share this and to tell you how much we appreciate any and every single thought and prayer you pray to the Lord for us. Thank you is not enough! yesterday, later in the day, we had our prayer meeting with the students: After the meeting Albano (one of my disciples) told me that his friend Lorenc decided to receive Christ. Now let me tell you a little more about Albano: I met him in the beginning of the school year, he committed his life to Christ. In fall student conference he took very seriously the challenge to share Christ with at least three people. She shared Christ with Ilir, who became a believe short after the conference, and also has been sharing Christ with Lorenc and Albina, two other friends of his. his last friend is Albina, a very nice girl, who has come regularly to our weekly meetings. Albano together with Ilir are now witnessing to Ilir's tween sister and two of her friends, who are practicing Muslims. they have invited them to come to our weekly meeting this Thursday. We are craving your prayers for that. That these girls will experience the love of Christ. To close this message, we would like to greet you with Chris Tomlin's Song - Our God is Greater, which was also our staff Conference song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SAtWjBDFeM HONORED TO SERVE CHRIST WITH YOU PELLUMB AND ELI  February 7, 2011 We hope and pray that this year has started well with you and that God is blessing you and your family. This is our first letter for the year, actually we are a little late sharing with you of what God is doing here in Vlora. There are many things we can share with you and a single page is not enough to contain the stories of so many changed lives and also of our life as a family. I will start by sharing a little bit about the Eastern European and Russia staff conference. 2020 OUR GOD IS ABLE, was the theme of the conference. 2020 is the year we trusting God, to help lauch and build student‐led, spiritual movements in every student population center by winning students to Christ, building them to be multiplying disciples and sending them out to reach the whole world for Christ. The conference itself was a great time of worship for what God has done in the area in the last three years. It was a great time in the Word of God as we learned from Dr. Douglas Moo a theologian and and Bible exegete now teaching at Wheaton Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinois. And from Dr. John Lennox, a professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford and pastoral advisor at Green Templeton College, Oxford. We also learned about our vision from the president of Campus Crusade, Steve Douglass and also from many other leader of the area. Eli and I learned from this conference that we are serving a Big God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Eph 3:20). And also in one of the sessions a statement stuck in my mind: “If God was able to save me, he can save anyone”. I need to stop now for a second and give you a super big thank you for enabling to serve our Lord and King. Without your prayers and support it is impossible for us to see with our own eyes the miracle of salvation.  Arbri is on the 2nd year. He is one of the leaders in our movement. Many students have heard the gospel through him. We started together a Bible study group in January with his friends (6 students). I am amazed seeing him care for those students and how he is calling each one of them to remind for the Bible Study. Three of the students are not believers yet, but they are exposed clearly with the Gospel. Juli, one of the non‐believers said at the end of the fourth session: “I am not far of making a decision for Christ, I have seen some changes in my own life”. We will restart our Bible Study in the first week of March, due to the exam season. Please pray for, Juli, Gerald and Melahi, that they will trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior during this time, and thank God for Arbri’s heart for his friends and pray also that God will multiply his life. I mentioned in our previews letter a student named Marjus. He told me in one of our one on one times together that besides the fact that he has started to read the Bible he prayed for the first time in his life in his own room. Not only that but he is sharing Christ with his friends in the dormitory and bringing them to our weekly meetings. There are at least three other students that I have met personally through Marjus. One is Melahi (the guy that is part of the Bible Study), Tani, who is a devoted Catholic from the north of Albania, and Klajdi. Klajdi, received Christ with me one morning in a coffee shop, and it was Marjus who introduced him to me. After I shared the four laws with him and he prayed to receive Christ I gave him a New Testament to read he thanked me and said: “Now I don’t have to “steal” Marjus Bible any more.”  Eli also has had a great time ministering to the girls in our movement. One of the girls she is discipleing is Leda (next to Eli on the picture), an English language student. Together with Leda they go out to share Christ with other students in the dormitory. In one of the rooms they shared Christ with three girls and one of them received Christ. Please pray that when they will meet her after the exam season she would desire to grow in her faith. Also Eli is helping to other girls from our movement, who are in a dating relationship. We are so surprised to see ourselves in a position now to give advice to the younger generation. Children’s Corner. In December Joni and I read through the Bible for the first time. (there is a new children’s Bible with 365 stories, and it is very good). It was a great celebration for us. This year we are going to read again. And we have added the prayer time this time and we have a calendar for praying for all our friends. It’s amazing to see Joni how he remembers the story from the night before and how well he answers the questions I ask about the story. Estela also joins us as we read the Bible and pray together. And this is one of my favorite times the day. The house situation. In January 10th, we received a phone call from someone who wanted to rent our house. I immediately drove to Tirana and the next day he took the house. It was a great family and they will stay for at least two years. Eli and I were amazed to see how God provides for our needs. So, we are not going to sell the house. We want also to thank you for praying and for your donations at the end of the year. We were able to cover a debt that we had for the house with those donations. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  This was a small part of the Story to tell for this time. We now have a story to write for the next month. Thank you for your vital part in all this. In Christ Pellumb and Eli Pellumb and Elmira Collaku Campus Crusade for Christ – Albania K.P. 2420/1 Tirana - Albania Mobile: 00355 69 207 8707 Skype name: pellumb.collaku www.collaku.weebly.com For financial Contributions https://give.ccci.org/give/2720146 If you choose to add our ministry to your automatic banking system, you will need the following information: Campus Crusade for Christ - PO Box 628222 Orlando, FL 32832 Phone: 888.278.7233 Please be sure to put it to our account: Pellumb & Eli Collaku: 2720146  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13 NIV) Eli and I echo this prayer of Paul for the church in Rome and pray that you will experience this joy and peace during this Christmas and during this coming year. It's our joy to share with you some of the great things that God is doing in our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ here in Vlora, Albania. THE FIRST THREE MONTHS ON CAMPUS v\:* We have just finished the three most intense months of our ministry year. We spend a lot of time in September through November doing evangelistic outreaches on the university here in Vlora. During this time we have been able to give out about 600 magazines to the freshman students and received about 250 contacts out of which we have been able to contact over 80 of them so far. We have had some very good conversations with those who answered the phone and became friends on our facebook page. Klajdi, for example, is a 2nd year student, and he has a very interesting story. He is from a Muslim family, his older brother studied to be a Muslim priest, but he died in age 24 in a car accident. Klajdi was very little during that time and hardly remember his brother. When he was on the 6th grade, he heard for the first time about Christ through World Vision (a Christian Organization that operates in his area), they gave him a brochure about Jesus, but when he went home his mother threw it away and forbade Klajdi to go to their meetings, but those lessons that he took there, remained in his heart and he wanted to know more about Jesus and was looking for someone to help him grow. In October he received a copy of our Magazine (Student Life) and he asked us to become friends through our facebook page. We chatted once on facebook and then we had a coffee together. Now he is part of our Discovery Group Bible Study, very eager to grow and study the Bible.Like Klajdi we have 14 other students who became believers during this month and are now attending our Bible Study groups. Marjus, a freshman student, trusted Christ this month, he told us once. “It so sad that in my home town, the only reality that we know is Islam. How great it will be if the people there may have this opportunity to hear about Jesus”. His comment made me think of the great need for Jesus that still remains in our country. When we first moved here in Vlora, I had, and still have a prayer. We want to see this students that we are ministering to, to become like fire seeds for Christ in their own communities after they finish University. Eli and I strongly believe that you are playing a significant role in all of this. Without your support and prayers it would have been impossible to see what we have already seen. Thank you. A SPECIAL NEED We are so thankful to God for how He has provided for all of our needs through you over the years. As you many know our expenses have grown significantly with our move here in Vlora. We have now an additional expense on renting a house ($220/month) and we haven’t been able to give it for rent our house in Tirana, for which we are paying the mortgage. Lately, Eli and I are forced to consider selling our house, if someone is not renting it. But if we can pay $15000 towards our house we will be able to keep it. If you are able to help, please use the envelope enclosed and make your check payable to 'Campus Crusade for Christ'. If you would prefer to give a gift online, go to http://give.ccci.org/give/2720146 and follow the instructions. Thank you for the freedom to present our need to you! Regardless of your ability to respond to this particular need, please know that we appreciate the vital role you continue to play in our ministry. Thank you and have a blessed Christmas! ps. the header picture if from the Fall Conference we organized with our ministry in Elbasan and Korce Training in Divjake 05/07/2010
Tomorrow, May 8th, we will be going in Divjake to have a training session with the church there and to encourage believers there to invite their non-believing friends to come to the next week Magdalena film showing: - Please pray for the training and for the church members there that they will be encouraged and mobilize to share Christ with their friends and family. - Pray for the next week film showing (May 14th) and the Follow-up meeting the next day. That many people will come to the events and that they will understand what Rivka understood. (one of the movie character who put her faith in Jesus) Thanks Pellumb April 27. Global Day of Prayer 04/20/2010
 Our theme for the April 27th Worldwide Day of Prayer (WDOP) is “Extreme Dependence on God.” If those words sound familiar, you may ask next, “Wasn’t ‘Dependence on God’ the theme of last October’s WDOP? Why extreme? As we go about launching movements of evangelism and discipleship, we must learn to rely more and more on His power rather than our own. For us the norm needs to be taking faith risks and asking God in faith, “What do You want us to believe You for now?” The alternative is simply go after whatever we imagine we can accomplish in our own efforts. Can high school students be multipliers? 04/09/2010
YES, they can!!!! During the summer, even though school is out, the high school ministry staff continue to creatively seek out youth in order to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to them. Last summer (2009) Endrit had the privilege of meeting Justin & Ariel who both opened their hearts to Jesus in prayer with him. Endrit has continued to spend time with these young men and has encouraged them in their faith. This winter, Justin & Ariel invited their friend Arditi to an activity organized by the high school ministry. One of our other staff, Genci, met Arditi that day and had the privilege of leading him to Christ. Then next day, all three of these young men, Justin, Ariel & Ardit, all took part in a day-long training seminar which addressed basic issues of the Christian life like evangelism and walking daily in the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the assignments from the classes was to share their faith within the next week. Justin & Ariel shared the gospel using the 4 Spiritual Laws with two of their friends. Both of these young men prayed to receive Christ with them! | AuthorPellumb Collaku. ArchivesDecember 2011 CategoriesAll  |
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