- Missions
Children in one of the world’s newest countries have some of the world’s oldest Christian roots. Yet Albanian Muslims in North Macedonia have so strongly resisted the gospel for centuries that they have rarely had a church within their culture.
Nevertheless, God has grown the multifaceted ministry of Andrew and Irida Morisseau into Life Center Church in Struga, North Macedonia. They arrived there in 2017 and began reaching out to children and special-needs families, some of whom now attend the church.
“It’s gotten a lot of the kids in the neighborhood that have started to come and become regulars,” Andrew said of the church. “A number of kids have told us that they’re believers.”
Related: Converge starts churches by sending missionaries so more people know Jesus.
Many who come to Life Center on Saturdays for youth activities or Sundays for worship are children from Muslim families. In response, those young hearts are hearing of the Savior — even when some parents push back against the church’s teaching about Christ.
The couple and their two boys came five years ago to make disciples among 500,000 Albanians descended from the Illyrians. That people group existed before the Romans, Turks, Slavs or almost any current nation-state.
Yet there have been few gospel-proclaiming churches among the Illyrians, who heard the gospel from the apostle Paul himself, according to Romans 15. Now the gospel, seldom spoken since the Ottoman Empire introduced Islam, is being preached again in North Macedonia.
Communism’s fall opens doors, but heritage often defines faith
Ethnic groups in the 31-year-old European country fuse their spirituality and their heritage. So, Albanians or Turks naturally identify as Muslims in the nation formed out of Yugoslavia after a civil war. Therefore, Albanians never go to the Orthodox churches, which are perceived as spiritual places for Macedonians.
Irida came to faith at 4 through a children’s ministry of missionaries sent to Albania. Now, she is eager to see young boys and girls know Jesus.
“They brought so much joy — people in town were talking,” she said of those global workers who came after communism fell in the early 1990s.
Her neighbors and family were eager to hear those missionaries talk about hope and good news. Now, she and Andrew seek to do the same for Albanian children and adults in North Macedonia.
Historically, missionaries went to neighboring Albania more often than Yugoslavia, part of which became North Macedonia. The increased ministry in Albania means there are more Christians and churches there than in North Macedonia, where fewer Muslims of Albanian heritage submit to Christ as Lord.
A new church is doing what hasn’t been done
However, Life Center Church influences children and gives Andrew and Irida relationships with Muslim parents and other adults. The church has Sunday services, Saturday activities for kids and other events throughout the week.
Their goal is for people to understand Christ for who he is, the son of God that Muslims typically see as a prophet.
“With people coming from Muslim backgrounds, there are always questions, and you need people who can answer those,” Andrew said.
To that end, the Morisseaus chose a location and set up a ministry that Albanians can replicate. The structure, location and other aspects of starting a church cost about $300 a month. Andrew explained the Albanians might independently start such churches by multiplying healthy congregations of 20 or 30 people.
The Morriseaus’ ministry began with children and then offered activities for youth with special needs. Andrew and Irida combine ministries of mercy with making disciples, according to Geni Begu, who moved to Struga two months ago to do the Lord’s work.
“They are really doing a great job,” he said. “[They are] really giving themselves for the local people, being a great witness to them, loving people in their need, in their brokenness, praying for them, helping them practically.”
A historic city building the future beside the past
Struga, a town of 35,000 beside the clean and beautiful Lake Ohrid, is a community becoming something it has never been.
One section of Struga has coffee shops beside the Drim River, giving off an old-world European charm while Soviet-style, concrete apartment blocks rise nearby. At the same time, Andrew Morisseau said new construction forms modern expressions of capitalism and western culture.
A city that’s modern, communist and old-world all in one isn’t just changing in plain sight. God is working there so the Albanians could have something not of this world: a church of their own.
Vlatko Kyosev, an elder at the church for Macedonians where Andy has led worship and trained musicians, recognizes a demonstration of God’s power among the Muslims.
He said the Morisseaus work with many families who go to church together. That’s unusual, he said, but it begins with the excellent job the Morisseaus do caring for children. He said Muslim parents let their children go to Christian events because the parents can feel the love Andy and Irida have for these children.
“Nobody who came before them could achieve the results that they have,” Kyosev added.
To Andy, the results he’s seen in the Macedonian church and among Muslims come from people trusting Christ and living as the Holy Spirit helps them.
“There’s no magic bullet or easy formula,” he added. “You just have to be friends with people and build relationships and build trust and do the things they see as valuable.”
Since Geni Begu’s family moved to Struga, he has prayer-walked with the Morisseaus and done other missions activities with them. He knows their work of compassion and connection will benefit the Albanians.
“In my view, to be able to make disciples, you begin by establishing faith in the hearts of the people,” Begu said. “They need an indigenous Albanian expression of faith.”
Life Center Church is how Christ influences the younger generations even as adults navigate life as nominal Muslims or devout Muslims who live with a heritage of atheism, political conflict with surrounding people groups and nations and life’s challenges.
Considering the ancient roots planted by the apostle Paul and watered and tended by God, the gospel’s message always endures, an ever-present source of hope. Albanians like Irida who heard it in the 1990s, or Muslims in North Macedonia today, can respond the same way as ancient Illyrians: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
People in Struga have a chance to follow the same Christ preached to their ancestors, even though centuries of Islam and consequences of official atheism persist alongside materialism and unbelief.
Related: Armies and atheism in Albania’s past dimming as the light of Christ shines.
As the Morisseaus live among Albanian Muslims, they are befriending children and families. Andrew said devout Muslims respond differently than nominal Muslims in gospel conversations. In addition, families of children with special needs or young children and youth all have spiritual needs and journeys as the Morisseaus befriend them.
One of those friendships stimulated Leo, a young adult man, to get baptized a few months after he married a Christian woman. Andrew officiated their wedding and then had the privilege of baptizing Leo months later.
Such fruit, plus the children who believe in Christ, and parents who are open to Christ’s people among their children, demonstrate “the power of the gospel is salvation for everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)
God’s goodness and patience give confidence to the Converge global workers while they work toward a harvest. Andrew said one Albanian-speaking church worships in the capital, Skopje. Plus, missionaries from Albania and Kosovo also serve in North Macedonia to reach Muslims of Albanian heritage.
Therefore, the Morriseaus are watchful for God’s activity while loving their neighbors. The Lord can make the fields white unto harvest.
“I’m looking for people who are open,” he said. “We’re waiting to see fruit further down through the years.”
Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how we are playing a role in accomplishing the Great Commission and how you can be involved.
