Note: the names are left out because these people live in countries where the Gospel is not readily accepted and for their safety, their information is protected.
Citylight Omaha is dedicated to the mission of multiplying disciples and churches. This is just not to one people but among all peoples. One way we do this is by sending those called to GO to the unreached.
Salt Company, Citylight’s college ministry, is also committed to multiplying and sending students each year during summer break. This past summer, three teams of students served in three separate areas of the globe. One was a team of seven students serving in a particular region in Albania.
This team of seven partnered with a local missionary team to reach Albanian college students. The team of seven (Carrie, Esther, Churdier, Holden, Alex, Noah, and Titan) committed seven weeks to a city with minimal gospel engagement. Within these seven weeks, they got to see God not only build deep friendships with Albanians but even see their newfound friends give their lives to Jesus. They also saw God move in a culture where the gospel isn’t prevalent, and they were blown away by God's heart for His children.
One story is from Salt student Carrie. Carrie met R* on their first full day in Albania. R* spoke the least amount of English compared to the other students the team met, but they were still able to hold deep conversations with her. Her family is Catholic, but she didn’t have a faith of her own. When asked what’s stopping her from getting to know God, R* explained that she thought if she got close to God then bad things would happen to her.
R*’s father had passed away a couple years ago, so she had experienced a fair amount of hurt in her life. Carrie and a few other girls from the team shared the gospel with R* and shared all the ways that the Lord had sanctified them while following Jesus. Little did they know, R* had a dream a few months prior on a night where she was physically harming herself. In her dream, Jesus was knocking at her door, and in that moment, Jesus physically healed her.
Carrie and R* began to hangout more. R* grew close with the girls on the team. She came to events that the team was hosting, and she began to hear more about Jesus. At their last meetup, R* sat down with the team, after having many chances to accept Jesus and not doing so, and the team felt discouraged. In this conversation, R* opened up and shared her dream with them. After sharing, R* decided to give her life to Jesus. The girls gave her a Bible to keep, and when the team ran into her the next day coincidentally, she had already read the first 8 chapters of John.
Carrie said
“While being in Albania, I felt a bigger burden for the college students in Omaha. I walked past people on campus every day that didn’t know Jesus and it didn’t break my heart in the same way as it does now.”
Carrie is extremely excited to chase down those who don’t know Jesus on the college campus where she is currently studying.
Another Salt student, Noah was returning for a second summer to Albania. Noah got reconnected with E* at a summer camp. Noah got to ask him about his beliefs and his faith, and over time, the team realized that he was a believer in Jesus. He had grown in his faith since last year, and even over the summer, E* grew more by learning what it meant to follow Jesus daily. The boys from the team spent a lot of time with E* and discipled him.
E* took daily steps forward in his faith. He learned more about living out his faith and began to implement rhythms of prayer in his life. The team gifted E* a Bible towards the end of the trip for him to continue reading and studying. It is nearly impossible to find English Bibles in Albania, so he was so excited to have a Bible in English.
Noah said
“This summer, I saw how big our Lord truly is! He is still the same on the other side of the world, and I was blown away by His pursuit of His children. Getting to see the light of Jesus shine through people... It was so evident that they have the same Spirit of love inside of them.”
The team came back on fire for what God has for them next. For each of them, God has a unique calling on their life. Despite being in a completely different culture and people group, our God is the same God! He is on the move in a country with millions of believers, and He is on the move in a country with hundreds of believers. What a privilege it was for this team to partner with God for seven weeks on his mission to reach His lost children.
You are invited! Join us at this year’s Global Focus Week October 25th and be encouraged, challenged, and inspired by what Jesus is doing around the world, and consider how He might be calling you to join with Him in His mission wherever we are at.
More information on Global Focus Week and short-term missions >>> https://citylightomaha.org/global