Just got this in my mailbox. A missionary friend of mine was beaten yesterday in the city in which he works. As far as I know, this is the first time that an American missionary has faced any physical threat because of their faith while in Kosova. Here’s the email…I’ll translate:
Greetings in Christ,
We notice that during the recent times we have had more attacks towards the churches of the Lord in Kosovo and against Christians. This does not surprise us, nor should it make us afraid. Yesterday pastor XXXX who serves in Deçan, was beaten by someone from Juniku, and the whole event happened before the eyes of the police. The [attacker] was arrested and the pastor was injured in the head and face. This happened in connection with the beginning of the building of a church in Deçan and several people have not appeared to like it. This project has raised complaints against the community government of Deçan which gave permission for the building of this church. Stay in prayer for this event,
Femi Cakolli.
Pershendetje ne Krishtin,
Dje eshte rrahur pastor XXXXX qe sherben ne Decan, prej nje personi nga Juniku, dhe gjithe ngjarja ka ndidhur ne sy te policise. Personi eshte arrestuar. XXXX ka lendime ne koke dhe fytyre. Eshte ne shtepine e tij me familje ne Decan. Kjo rrahje nderlidhet me fillimin e ndertimit te objektit per kishe ne Decan dhe disa njerez duket se nuk iu pelqen kjo dhe kane gritur ne fakt edhe ankesa dhe padi ndaj Kuvendit Komunal te Decanit qe i ka dhene lejen e ndertimit kesaj kishe.
Qedroni ne lutje per kete rast.
Femi Cakolli
6 comments:
I nderuari Cakolli, ju vet theksuat se kjo gje (ndertimi i kishes)nuk u pelqeka shume njerezve, pra, jo vetem atij qe ka "ushtruar" dhune. Perderisa kjo veq ka ndodh, sic cituat vete, ne prani te policise, nuk dij se kujt i drejtoheni me kete shkrim, apo ndoshta kjo eshte nje "pollaver" e juaja, sic jemi mesuar deri me tani me keso deklarata te mykura te juajat.
Me vjen keq per kete qe ka ndodhur, por ju si PASTOR nuk keni gjetur, apo nuk keni dashur te gjeni menyren e duhur se si ta tregoni realitetin, pasiqe edhe vet Jezusi ka thene: Mesojeni te verteten dhe praktikojeni ate, se ajo ju ben te lire.
Ju, nuk jeni te lire ne ate qe thoni, e a din pse? Se nuk keni zgjedhur rrugen e Jezusit.
Paqe!
Penicilini, faleminderit qe ju keni marre kohe me shkru nje komment ketu. Ndoshta nuk veretje, por une, shkrimitar e bloges, nuke jam Femi Cakolli, por kam postuar ketu qe pastor Cakolli shkroi sa i perket rrahje e pastorit.
Ne te njeten kohe,Femi eshte shoku im dhe ai e shkroi ne momenten e rrahjes. Ai eshte besnik dhe nje dishepull e vertete te Jezusit.
Shpressoj qe mund te me kuptoni, dhe me vjen keq qe nuk mund te shkruaj mire ne gjuhen shqip.
Faleminderit shume per kommentin.
Mr.Jeff,
Mr. Cakolli is the poorest thing in Kosovo. He one of these guys trying to be liked by someone. He has choosen Christianity as he said "because as a muslim he had to wash dead boddies" and :) isn't that funny. I bet you just said that he is your friend, because if you have friends of such category then "lucky you" hehehe.
Look, these missionaries have to stop insisting to talk to people about Christ. You know man, Islam has saved our national identity, like it or not, so trying to convert someone from islam to christianity is like the biggest insult here. Well, you can use some unsmart, unsofisticated real poor and needy people who are willing to do anything, and all you got to do is promise them something or provide that to them and they become friends with you, just like Femi ( you know I use him as a character of my jokes). he is absolutely unsmart, both you and I know that. Have you red his book "How did a become christian?" That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
Peace.
Another thing, don't get me wrong, I truly respect americans in general, and so does any other albanian.
Please try to understand that no normal person wants to leave islam. You know, islam is the biggest growing religion, and there must be a reason for it.
Mr. Jeff, people would love you if just stay an american here, maby help someone with something in the name of God. That would really be something. Missionaries, this is what we don't need here. Not only christian missionaries but neither muslim ones. We are the most pro-american nation in the world.
Just be a normal person, nobody wants to beat you! If you really want to do something for God then feed someone and let him be what he is. But just don'tbe like mother Theresa "here accept Christ, I'll give you rice". That's not a good thing!
Viva La America,
Kreshnik, thank you for taking the time to write. I appreciate your attempt at dialogue.
Femi Cakolli has an earned doctorate from the University of Prishtina. He's a regularly published author and runs a publishing house for Albanian literature. I count Femi among my friends.
Both as an American and as a Christian I believe that every adult person has the right to make decisions for themselves. In this case that means the right to hear the Gospel of Christ and decide whether it is true or false.
We do not force our beliefs on anyone. We respect Albanians, their intelligence and their right to decide their own faith: Muslim, Catholic, Evangelical, etc.
The apostle Paul himself visited Illyricum in the first century CE/AD (Rom 15.19). He presented the good news of Christ to open ears. He taught the Illyrians this good news, which is simply that Jesus Christ, who is God in human form, paid the price for our sins on the cross so that we do not have to. Through faith in Christ we can have a right relationship with both God and our fellow human beings. This is the good news that we share, to those who wish to hear.
We do serve our community in many practical ways. When people ask why, we are ready with an answer.
I would be happy to continue this dialogue if you would like. All the best Kresnik.
Jeff
Mr.Jeff,
It does not matter how many doctorates he has earned. It does not really matter. Read his book and see. I myself could not believe that a doctor would write such a thing. We have lots of doctors here in Kosovo, but does that really matter?! You know what I'm talking about?! Take a look at our parliament! My friend, a title does not make you smart.
One thing that Mr.Cakolli and you should understand is when you talk to people about Christianity and when people pretty much don't want to know anything about it, do not insist because they will hate you. If you keep insisting they will probably beat you! And that is what we don't want to happen here. Islam is something that 99% of the albanians here would never leave. It is considered pretty much like changing the identity, and they don't want to do that. You americans should stay americans here and nothing else. People kiss your hands when they find out that you are an american. I don't know if I am making enough sense here. I don't know if you're getting my point.
People like Femi you can find in streets of Kosovo doing nothing. That much knowledge for me is very little and poor. He should not expose hiss limited skills in public. You have no idea how much fun me and my colleagues have when we read his comments. He is funny, senseless and absolutely unsmart as per me as a psychologist. This is when it comes to knowledge and skills.
When we talk about his personality, his book explains a lot of stuff. Easily manipulated person, willing to expose his skills without knowing how limited he is. No hesitation to do that at all! Interesting ... mmmmm ... and funny.
My dear Jeff, I hope you have some smart friends too.
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