Kosovar Refugees in Albania

By Larry Armstrong

Refugees! Since WWll people have been displaced because of conflicts in India, Pakistan,Vietnam, Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, and now Kosovo. We saw the magazine photo of an emaciated Somolian child dying as a vulture hovered in the background.

We caught a glimpse in the newspaper of a young man pushing his frail aunt in a wheelbarrow toward the Albanian border. Somehow it all becomes familiar and forgettable. We are caught up in our own problems, concerns, careers, and goals.

The Kosovar refugees fled with only what they could carry in their arms. Some were detained by authorities; others were killed. Their abandoned homes were looted or destroyed. In misery, they trudged in the cold, the rain, and the mud. The Kosovars' disaster followed hard on the heels of other refugee problems. The number of refugees in the world escalates while our lives move on quite comfortably.

I find it difficult to imagine myself in the refugees' situation. In April, however, I was part of a team sent to investigate how ABWE could help Kosovars, who fled for their lives to Albania. My team members included Dr. Nik, ABWE field coordinator for the Balkans, and Kurt Sager, ABWE advisory board member. Crossing Albania, we realized it truly is an impoverished country, ravaged by a paranoid government that was more interested in constructing concrete pillboxes for defense than providing a decent infrastructure. We wondered how Albania could absorb such a high number of refugees.

The first refugee camp we visited was run by Italians. While it was clean and well organized, heavy rains the previous night had caused flooding. The men of the camp were attempting to solve their water problems. I observed two little boys watching the men at work. They had their backs to me, and were holding hands. The youngest was just old enough to walk, and other about four years old: innocent children, victims of a power struggle that feeds the egos of small-minded men. In that refugee camp the reality of disrupted, broken lives came crashing down. I found myself sobbing, "What piece of real estate is worth this misery?"

In another camp, which would eventually shelter about 10,000 refugees, three buses were filled with people, mostly women and children, waiting for their tents to be set up. They had been on the buses for several days. Inside this camp-in-the-making, people tramped through the mud while four men distributed loaves of bread.

Only a half-mile from that camp, when we saw a group of people walking toward us, arriving with only what they could carry. Since some were carrying small children, they brought even fewer possessions. They had been on the road for days. Grief was chronicled in their expressions. As we passed the group, I caught the eyes of an elderly woman, hobbling alone with her cane, trying to keep up. Again, I found myself weeping. I questioned, "Whose pride and stubbornness caused such heartache?"

A refugee camp near the capital of Tirana sprang up because four local churches and a Bible College cared. The leaders decided to close the Bible College, move the mattresses and furniture out to an empty bread factory, and set up a camp. Before they arrived with their small amount of equipment, 150 refugees had reached the gate and were waiting to enter. When we visited, the center-run by volunteers-had been operating for 12 days. Missionaries worked to expand the capacity from 200 to 500. When we learned this camp was run by faith, without government aid, we gave $5,000 to help purchase food. We passed a missionary who had gathered a group of about 20 teenagers outside in the sun. She held an open Bible on her lap, teaching from Proverbs 6:16-19. These believers stepped out in faith, believing that God wanted them help the needy around them. He supplied a large building; He was supplying money for renovations. He was meeting their daily needs.

In His providence God allows tragedies and displacement to occur. When people are caught in the web of confusion and despair, they begin to think of eternity. Perhaps the mud, cold, misery, suffering, and loss will be the means of bringing people to a lasting faith in Jesus Christ.

It is into this crucible that ABWE missionaries and others must move to further help the displaced people from Kosovo.

If the Lord leads you to help, you can send gifts to:

Kosovo Refugee Relief, ABWE
P.O. Box 8585
Harrisburg, PA.,17105-8585.

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