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Dear Friends at St.
Paul’s,
In the midst of all that has happened since our last newsletter clearly
the most startling were the events back home in early September. We have
received many inquiries of concern from friends and family to see if we
are alright; rest assured that we are. In general, Albanians love
Americans and have expressed deep regret and sorrow for the attacks on
the US. Officially, right after the attacks Albania joined the whole of
Europe with a march of peace followed by 3 minutes of silence with flags
at half-mast in the center of Tirana. Throughout the various
terrorism alerts, in Albania the American embassy has remained calm and
has expressed no immediate need for alarm, but only to be prepared. This
being said, ultimately our security is in our faith and the seriousness
of these events, as well as the conflicts occurring in Israel and
Palestine as well as India and Pakistan, only reminds us more that
missions of peace hold the hope of the future.
We just participated in
our second Paschal season in Albania. This year again we were struck by
the joy and exuberance of the Albanian people in celebrating Pascha. I
was one of the bodyguards for the Archbishop during the Paschal
procession - not to protect him from violence but rather from all the
people desperately seeking to have him light their candles. This year
there were probably 10,000 people in the street in front of the
Cathedral for the Resurrection service. We were also very blessed to
spend Good Friday in a city in the south of Albania called Korça where
80% of the people are Orthodox. The five main churches in the area all
brought their epitaphions together in one procession that circles
through the streets of the city - in this procession there were probably
30,000 people who were quite strangely lead by three long-haired young
men on motorcycles The event was quite breath-taking.
Clearly this is a very special city in Albania; in the last decade they
built a 26 meter concrete cross as a way to proclaim their joy in their
faith.
We also had the
privilege to meet one of Albania's strongholds, a woman named Sister
Berta who throughout the communist period helped a priest in Korça
perform secret baptisms.
Since our last newsletter a year ago, a great many things have changed
in our mission work. At that time, Lara was struggling with issues of
productivity and how her legal experience would be useful. Initially,
Lara attempted to work in the legal office of the Metropolis
(Archdiocesan Office) to help the church in its efforts to reclaim
properties seized during the communist period from 1945-1991. The vast
complexity of the issues revealed to her that we should create a
detailed and comprehensive database that itemizes all the parameters of
each property. A new job has been created for an Albanian lawyer and a
year long project has begun. Also, Lara saw the need to research what
others were doing in this area. During her search she contacted NGO's
(Non-Governmental Organization) and international organizations in
Albania and came upon the OSCE which is one of the largest and most
influential international organizations in Albania. The OSCE
(Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) is made up of 55
member states including America, Russia, and most countries in Europe.
Their work focuses on democratization, fair elections, human rights, and
rule of law. As she was learning more about the OSCE, a position
opened up that... (you guessed it) focused on property law reform; and
they offered her this position. When Lara asked Archbishop Anastasios
for his blessing to begin this work with the OSCE,
his reply was, "if it is good for Albania, it is good for the
Church." When Lara began with the OSCE in late August, she started
as a Legal Advisor, and after her first month-and-a-half she was
elevated to the position of Legal Counselor. This means she oversees the
function of the entire legal department (2 internationals and 7
Albanians) as well as has more impact on the direction of the office
projects. One of the main projects Lara is working on for the OSCE is to
instigate reform and progress on the restitution of and compensation for
properties seized in the communist period prior to 1991 to former
owners. Because restitution and compensation has been a process full of
problems and corruption it not only results in injustice for former
property owners, including the church, but also continues to keep title
to property in a state of uncertainty which hinders Albania's economic
development. Lara has succeeded in obtaining funding to bring foreign
experts in to advise the Parliament in drafting new laws and is serving
as the project coordinator for this assistance which means she is
working very closely with the parliamentary representatives responsible
for this reform.
Another project she is involved in is the creation of witness protection
mechanisms and laws in Albania - as it is now, most people are afraid to
testify against serious criminals, including human traffickers (those
who traffic women from poor countries into Europe to serve as
prostitutes), because there is no way to protect the witnesses from
retribution for their testimony. As Legal Counselor she is also
participating in important efforts for reform and institution building
in the legal sector of Albania. These particular efforts are key because
judicial corruption is rampant and many criminals go unprosecuted and
unpunished. We all hope that Lara's work is productive and helpful for
the development of the rule of law in Albania especially as to the very
destabilizing issue of property restitution. For me, I also
feel blessed and challenged with the opportunities that are being
presented. When we were first here, I was given a few projects to handle
including an orphanage, the Archdiocesan website, generating
architectural ideas for the Cathedral as well as assisting in the
architectural competition. Well, I'm happy to say that all are going
well: we are finishing construction of the orphanage, the Archdiocese
web site is still under reconstruction and should be ready soon; and the
competition for the Cathedral finished with architect Stephen Papadatos
Associates from New York emerging as the winner. The orphanage is
particularly exciting because another of the missionary families, the
Lindermans, will be moving into this building soon to begin welcoming
orphaned Albanian children.
These projects alone
kept me very busy, but in early October my work life changed
dramatically. The Archbishop appointed me to be the new director of the
Technical Office (Archdiocesan Architectural Office). The appointment
was an unexpected honor and these months have been a very humbling
experience. With approximately seventy active projects and a staff of
10, we oversee work that ranges from: the aforementioned orphanage, the
renovation of buildings into schools (from elementary to professional),
the construction of new churches, the preservation of historical
church monuments, and the restoration of centuries old churches and
monasteries. In one of the restorations in the South, we discovered
under the ruins of one church, the ruins of an even older church which
the experts believe may date back to the Fourth or Fifth century.
Such discoveries reveal Albania's Christian heritage the recognition of
which is important to the efforts to bring people back to Orthodox
Christianity.
In terms of the Cathedral I am serving as the interface between Mr.
Papadatos and the Archbishop to finalize the drawings necessary to
submit to the municipality to obtain permission to begin breaking
ground. On a more pragmatic note, I have been working to make the office
function more professionally and efficiently by establishing
documentation systems, job accounting, time sheets, etc. as well as
training the other architects on the latest architectural software. This
job also requires me to travel all over Albania to check the status of
each of our projects. The beauty of the mountainous countryside of
Albania contrasts sharply with the poverty and lack of infrastructure;
this country has tremendous potential and extraordinary need. Honestly,
for Lara and I, the enormity of the work is overwhelming and we ask for
your continued prayers for wisdom, strength and guidance for the trials
that lie ahead.
You are in our prayers.
God Bless you always.
Love,
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Lara with Sister Berta (center) and a friend
30,000 people gathered for Resurrection services in
Korca on Pascha
Archbishop Anastasios (Yiannoulatos) of Albania
The new orphanage is almost complete.
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