Christian Help for Albania #9

War Report May 25, 1999
By Don Yelton, White's Ferry Road Church of Christ, West Monroe, Louisiana

Who drove you from your homes, I asked Kosovo refugee families last week in Albania. The short answer: Serbs. The long answer: People without compassion, without humanity.

Did you know any of these people? Were they neighbors or citizens of your town? Yes, they answered, but usually these people just led outsiders who did the actual killing, rape and terrorizing. Sometimes they spoke the same languages, sometimes not. One group was Muslim ethnic Albanian; The other Orthodox Serbian.

The Kosovar refugees we talked to believed the only way to stop the ethnic cleansing is to kill all Serbs. In their words, they weren't human anyway because of the treatment they dished out to the ethnic Albanians. They couldn't believe that ethnic cleansing is nothing new. Even in my own lifetime I have seen ethnic cleansing in so many countries. It is always the same. How can this be stopped, they asked. The only answer I can give is "Jesus". He is the only answer. "Revenge is mine, says the Lord. I will repay."

The effort to preach the "only answer" in Albania by example is going well. Every day we help more and more refugees. Our brothers and sisters in Albania are tired, but their spirits are unstoppable.

Saturday night, May 22, I returned from eight days in Albania. The situation, much as it is in the media, is desperate for the refugees despite all that relief organizations and governments are doing.

Our goals on this trip were at least partially completed. The churches in Tirana and Elbasan where I visited, and the church in Korca where I talked to missionary Roger Michaels by phone, have set-up good beginning administration and transportation means. When we do the fundamentals well, we can help far more people.

The day after I arrived Randy Richards and I traveled to the port of Dures to get a load of food from the Catholic Relief Agency. We gratefully accept food and other relief supplies from many agencies that the churches of Christ in Albania can distribute to refugees. On this day, on this road, two NATO vehicles were stopped and taken by thieves leaving one Italian soldier injured by a bullet. This probably occurred early in the morning because when we traveled the same road later that day and there were U. S. Army armed vehicles guarding the roads.

Randy Richards and I visited Pete Hodge, a missionary from England. Pete, his wife and co-worker Duclie formed a group of young Christian relief workers they call the "A Team". They volunteer their time, muscles and compassion to deliver and distribute relief supplies.

Healing Hands Int. has offered the equivalent of a forty-foot (2,000+ cubic feet) of medical supplies worth approximately $250,000. We did deliver a large box of sample medical supplies to the major trauma center, but we did not complete the shipping arrangements because of the chaos of the situation, but we now know that every hospital in Albania needs the specific supplies donated by Healing Hands. The head physician of the UNHCR told us that he would put us in touch with a number of hospitals that needed Healing Hands gift. We hope to arrange for shipping soon, but will only do so when we are convinced that the supplies will be utilized to help the most needy refugees in Albania.

Bill McDonough of Partners in Progress estimates that $25,000 was used by Christians Albania to help refugees two weeks ago and $40,000 was spent last week. Purchases included food, 150 mattresses, clothing, medicines and toiletries. Some of our sisters in Tirana are learning how to purchase supplies in bulk and are refining their skills in bartering. We are very grateful to Partners in Progress, Healing Hands Int., MANNA Int. World English Institute, Bread for a Hungry World, Christian Relief Fund and other brotherhood organizations who continue to work together to help the refugees.

Christians from Italy are assisting the church in Vlore in a grand way, Bill McDonough reports. In April he left $10,000 with Vigil Jackson. Italian Christians are not only sending funds to Vlore but also taking supplies and at present they are rotating in and out of Vlore while the missionary family are in the USA.

We did locate several sources of food, which are providing help to our churches on an irregular basis and hope to hear soon that they will be providing a steady supply of food for the refugees. We have funds for the short term with which to purchase food. However, our objective is to be able to help the refugees for a long, long time whether they remain in Albania or are able to return to Kosovo. Wherever they go, we believe some new Christians will go with them. Developing working partnerships with donor organizations will allow us to get to help and to know many more Kosovars.

We also spent some time with the new American Military congregation at the NATO Air Base. Wayne and Brenda Speer travel the dangerous road to the base twice a week to preach, teach and sing with the brothers there. We also "hand delivered" 3 small packages for Pvt. Adam McConnell, a Christian in the 82nd Airborne Division and took pictures for his mom and dad.

To a large degree NATO has won a war already. Albania has been invaded and has capitulated. NATO Forces (mostly U. S.) have a huge beachhead at the airport in Tirana. Daily more roads are being graded by huge earthmovers and hourly more supplies to sustain the NATO effort arrive in monstrous C-5 cargo aircraft.

At night in the suburbs of Tirana there are running gun battles down the street where missionaries Wayne and Brenda Speer live. From the Randy Richards home the sounds of gun fire is almost a non-event. On the streets in the middle of Tirana you must hold your wallet and possessions tightly or pickpockets quickly take them.

Our Albanian brothers tell us that the not-too-gradual takeover of Albania by NATO is a welcome relief from ineffective politics and effective thieves. The honest people welcome ANYBODY doing anything that will get them out from the cycle of violence, civil war and dishonest and incapable politicians. And there are many honest, good Albanian citizens who crave freedom from terror.

On a couple of days I helped unload boxes of donated relief supplies into the new warehouse obtained by the church in Tirana reminding me of my age and out-of-shape condition. That week, thanks to the diligent work of several Christians, we obtained over $5,000 worth of food donated by other organizations including the Catholic Relief Services. More is promised and very needed. We just want to help all the refugees that we possibly can.

We helped with deliveries to several families that the churches in Tirana and Elbasan are helping. The Kosovars are a sweet, hospitable people. Even though they have Moslem traditions, they don't appear threatened by our offers of Bibles and teaching. With patience and the developing of relationships, we will reach many for Jesus.

Today, May 25th, as I was completing this report I received a report from Randy Richards and the Tirana church's Crises Committee. Here are a few quotes:

"The Kosovar refugees sometimes say thank you with tears in their eyes and we pass that thanks on to you who make the giving possible."

"We are happy to report that our warehouse opened for distribution last Monday under the management of Tom Panidha who is assisted by Matilda Hoxha. Many of the brethren volunteered their help throughout the week. It was a little chaotic on Monday and Tuesday because Kosovars poured to the warehouse to register and we hadn't even fed the people that had registered in previous weeks. It became impossible to pass out the food boxes and register people at the same time, so at the crisis committee meeting on Tuesday we decided to stop all registrations for the time being until we could establish a routine and feed the 446 families, totaling about 2700 people, that are already registered. "

"During the morning hours Tom and Matilda distribute the food boxes to the Kosovars, and the brethren come during the afternoon to pack the boxes for distribution the following morning. Boxes are packed in allotments of 3,4,5, and 6 family members. If a family of 10 comes to pick up their food, they would receive two boxes packed for a family of five. A family of 7 would receive boxes packed for 3 and 4 family members, and so on. A family of 5 receives the following items for 2 weeks: 3 liters of oil, 3 kilos of sugar, 1 kilo of margarine, 1 1/2 kilos of cheese, 2 kilos of beans, 2 kilos of pasta, 3 kilos of rice, 3 soup mixes, 1 can of tea, 3 bars of soap, 1 1/2 kilos of detergent, plus milk, diapers, and personal items based on the needs of the family. Each box is topped off with a notice stating the aid is from the church of Christ, an invitation to church services, and the WBS book "How To Become a Christian and Establish the Church of Christ in Your Community."

"Part of the week was spent in meetings. Don Yelton, Artan Samara, and Randy met with the director of the trauma center and with some doctors from the UNHCR to try get medical supplies into the country from "Healing Hands." Artan Xhaferi, Don, and Randy also attended the NGO meeting dealing with host families to try to make some connections in the hopes of establishing partnerships in carrying out the work. "Food for the Hungry" has offered to pay for the building of a bathroom and some indoor plumbing at the warehouse since there is nothing there now. They will also be giving us free bread to distribute to the refugees. The details on that are still in the works. "

"Some of us delivered food and diapers to a couple of families and followed up on the young pregnant woman who is due anytime. A young crippled girl lives with them and her face lit up when Don Yelton gave her one of the many "Beanie Babies" he brought over to help cheer up some of those suffering because of the trauma they've been through. We kind of miss the personal touch we had when we distributed the food to the apartments, but it was impossible to keep this up with 446 families. Hopefully when we buy a van we will be able to do a little more follow-up."

A servant of Christ,

Don Yelton
Donyelton@compuserve.com
828-891-5562
Please send contributions to:
White's Ferry Road Church of Christ (War Relief), 3201 North Seventh Street,
West Monroe, Louisiana 71291.