Project “Rritja”
Growing the Albanian church
The “Way of Peace” church in Fier is a growing fellowship which is seeking to grow in many ways. We are seeking to grow in our witness to the local community, to grow in our maturity and to grow through planting churches not only in Fier but in the villages surrounding it.Project “Rritja” comes from the Albanian word for growth. For us to grow as a church, we desperately need to modify and expand our buildings.
Our vision is to create a centre which would be not only a resource for growing our ministries in the Fier area but also for churches in southern Albania. To accomplish this we urgently need to add to and modify the existing church buildings.
The Fier church building
What ministries would benefit from these new facilities?
1. Learning disabilities ministry.
For the last year the church has been involved with two centers for people with learning disabilities. The first center is state run but suffers from a lack of funding and also a terrible lack of space. The children and young people are forced to learn in two small classrooms with a corridor outside. It is impossible to have any meaningful activities there.
Every fortnight in term time, the church has been able to put on a special program which has now grown to 15 participants. A mixture of aerobics, crafts, music and Bible lessons are held in the church.
With more space in the building we would be able to not only continue this ministry but also would have rooms suitable for the school to use at any time. The demand for teaching from the school is very great but the space and poor facilities are keeping many families from sending their children. More space would also allow us to break into groups which would not only be more manageable but also would help us to have quiet for those children who cannot bear a great deal of noise.
We have also had requests from the blind association of Fier to run courses for English and other skills to be able to be equipped for life and for work. More space at the church would enable us to be a resource center for these needy communities.
2. Children’s and young people’s ministries.
At present there is a small children’s meeting which can attract up to 20 on a Saturday morning. However, all the children have to be put together regardless of their age because there is only one large hall available. These new buildings would allow us to provide meetings for different age groups at the same time and far greater flexibility in what we can do. It would also mean that we have somewhere for children to go during sermons and the midweek meetings. This is would be a considerable blessing to parents who would be able to concentrate on the Word.
3. Midweek meetings of the church.
At present all meetings are held in the main hall. This is hard to heat in winter and hard to cool in summer. Smaller rooms would enhance not only the conditions for meetings by making it far easier to heat or cool a room but also would provide a more personal environment.
4. Training seminars and conferences.
Over the last few years the church has been able to offer its buildings to two conferences. One was for the training of leaders from Albania and Kosova in the BILD network and the other was for the edification of pastors and leaders in local churches from all over the south of Albania. We also seek to organize seminars for preachers and for local leaders and Christians to equip and encourage them on a regular basis.
Having smaller rooms would enhance what we are able to offer in these seminars and would allow two or three groups to meet together simultaneously.
"Fjala" conference
What problems would these new facilities solve?
Leakage: The current church building has a flat roof. As time progresses it is increasingly difficult to insulate the buildings from dampness and leaks. Water comes into the buildings and causes severe damp in the walls making them uncomfortable to sit in and impossible to keep in a good condition. We also have to remove bucket loads of water from the hall before each meeting after it rains. A pitched roof and proper guttering would secure the church from these problems.
The River Gjanica in flood
Flooding:The nearby River Gjanica has caused no end of problems for the church when it has been in flood. In 2010 the river flooded 14 times bringing silt, oil and sewerage into the church. This has forced the church to brick up its ground floor and thus to lose valuable facilities.
Official documentation: Albanian planning law stipulates that final documents cannot be issued to an owner up until the time that all the floors foreseen in the architectural plans are complete. As the church has permission for three floors, it must have this final floor to finally have ownership of the building.
What would the church look like?
Our plan is to add a pitched roof to the building, exploiting the space beneath it for a church hall and other facilities, and then to adapt our first floor to have more meeting rooms. The architects’ drawings below give a good idea of what the church will look like.
The proposed second floor
The proposed third floor
How can you help?
- Donating to the building work: We are looking to raise around £60,000 to complete the entire project.
Despite high unemployment and poverty, the Fier church has raised £5,000 thus far. In addition it has spent some £1,700 on flood defenses. The courtyard has been raised and set at a slight slope to make it easier for flood waters to receed and the ground floor has been bricked up until such time as the river is finally sledged and deepened. Our desire is that the church donates as much as it possibly can before seeking the help of Western sponsors. This year more than 1,000 pounds has been set aside in the church budget towards this project and we are hoping to raise even more in 2012.
On top of that £5,600 has also been generously donated by supporters in Britain and is being held by the trust to transfer to the Fier church.
We will need at least 25,000 pounds to start the first phase. Completing this phase would enable us to insulate the buildings more and to obtain official documents from the planning authorities. All gifts, however small, will be a great help to us.
- Volunteering time and labour: Whilst as much local labour as possible will be used there will be a need for teams of people to come to help us put on the roof and also to fit out the building. We will need the help of electricians, people skilled in putting down tiles and plumbers. When the time comes to start work on the second phase we will need all the help that we can get.
Please help the Albanian church to grow by supporting this project!
For more details contact Michael Wilcock at igtsec@googlemail.com or Will Niven at willniven@gmail.com
