"Në fillim ishte Fjala..."

"In the beginning was the Word..."

There is only one translation of the Bible in the Albanian language. It's roughly equivalent to the NIV, but there are many problems with the translation, which have resulted in frustrating issues among Albanian converts.

This Tuesday, however, a new Shqip (Albanian) translation is being released. It is a Study Bible, and the church is very excited about it.

There is a girl here that I've become friends with, Lidiana, who is 16 years old, and would love to trade in her old translation, but 4,000 lek ($40) is way out of her price range. Yesterday, another missionary in Durres talked to Lidiana about babysitting her children over the summer, and today at lunch Leddy said, maybe I can save some of that money.

The pastor plans to make a bulk purchase of the new Bibles, and took orders this afternoon from people in the congregation. I told him to get a copy for me, meaning to give it to Leddy. My first impulse was to pay for it myself, but then I wondered if perhaps someone else would like an opportunity to bless Leddy?

Every Saturday she volunteers at the church to make sandwiches and hand them out to children in the feeding program, and every Sunday she leads Children's Church. She is very sweet, always willing to translate for me.

My email address is on the sidebar--if anyone feels led to give $40 for a Bible, just let me know.