{"id":22451,"date":"2025-03-26T12:42:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=22451"},"modified":"2025-03-28T08:12:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T08:12:30","slug":"renewing-the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/renewing-the-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewing the Call"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>26 March 2025 | Tirana, Albania [Sarah Henke]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The month of February was a time of encouragement and spiritual renewal for Albanian Mission pastors and their families. The online event, which took place from February 3-7, ran with the theme \u201cOur Stubbornness and God\u2019s Faithfulness. &#8221; The programme focused on the challenges faced by those in ministry &#8211; but at the same time supported by the unwavering grace of God.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pastor Radenko and Ana D\u017euver led a series of reflections on Samson&#8217;s life as described in Judges 13\u201316. Before this week of spiritual renewal, the D\u017euver&#8217;s had been studying the narrative of Samson, which they found intriguing. &#8220;On the one hand, it reveals the complexity of human corruption and our tendency to persist in that state despite clear warnings. On the other hand, it masterfully highlights God\u2019s unwavering love, patience, and readiness to forgive, even when repentance is only faintly expressed,\u201d said Radenko. He added that the topic was particularly relevant for pastors, who are deeply immersed in ministry.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22453\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22453\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22453 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2.jpg\" alt=\"Albanian online week of prayer, screen capture\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2.jpg 630w, https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2-500x280.jpg 500w, https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/screen-capture-2-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22453\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top row, left to right: Delmar Reis, Nati\u00e9li Sch\u00e4ffer, and their daughter Clara. Adriel and Sarah Henke. Bottom row, left to right: Marko and B\u00e1rbara Frash\u00ebri., Euxhenia and Restiola Bregasi (sisters).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>A Time for Pastors to Receive Spiritual Nourishment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pastoral work often requires continuous giving, making this initiative a valuable opportunity for pastors and their families to be spiritually refreshed. Albanian Pastor Delmar Reis, President of the Albanian Mission, aware of this challenge, reflected, \u201cPastoral ministry presents unique challenges that affect not only pastors but also their families. This week of spiritual emphasis was designed to provide a special time for prayer and Bible study, strengthening relationships within our pastoral team to serve with excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The event also fostered connection and fellowship. Pastor Euxhenia Bregasi expressed her appreciation for the discussions on Samson\u2019s life. \u201cBeyond the fellowship and prayer time, I found the studies on Samson to be particularly insightful and inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the pastoral family, the Gentian and Sanda Thomollari family, the most meaningful aspect of the week was the opportunity to pray together and for one another. \u201cParticipating in the week of prayer for pastoral families was a deeply enriching experience. Their discussion of the valuable lessons from Samson\u2019s life offered us profound insights and reflections. The most meaningful part for us was the opportunity to pray for one another, fostering a sense of unity, support, and spiritual connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Strengthening the Pastoral Team<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The programme was not just a time of reflection but also strengthened the bonds among Albania\u2019s pastoral families. \u201cAs we shared, we found meaningful insights for our own lives and ministry&#8221;, Radenko reflected.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Week of Spiritual Emphasis served as a moment of renewal for the Albanian Mission pastoral families. In a ministry that demands deep commitment, this event allowed participants to pause, reflect, and experience the very message of grace and faithfulness they share with others.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Featured Image: Top row: Gentian and Sanda Thomollari | Delmar Reis and Nati\u00e9li Sch\u00e4ffer, and their daughter Clara |<br \/>\nBottom row: Radenko and Ana D\u017euver | Euxhenia and Restiola Bregasi (sisters)<\/p>\n<p>[Photos: courtesy of the Albanian Mission]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Albanian pastors unite for a digital week of spiritual emphasis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1580,7,1577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-albania-croatia-slovenia","category-news","category-organisational-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22451"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22487,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22451\/revisions\/22487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}