November 2010: Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro

November 2010: Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro

Dear Friends,

Your pilgrims boarded a bus in Prizrem and crossed over beautiful, rugged mountains to Macedonia. We cycled southwards and spent our first night north of the capital city, Skopje. Shortly before nightfall, we met some men by a truck parking lot. They called the owner to ask if we could tent on the grounds, and he drove over and graciously offered to let us sleep in the (heated!) office. One of the men told us (in Serbian): "There is a lot of crime here around Skopje. But you are safe here: we are all Muslims and there is a watchman here all night." After our experiences of inter-religious tensions in the Balkans, his words surprised us. But by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes, we quickly understood that, in saying they are Muslim, he meant: they take their religion seriously, follow the Law, and consider hospitality to be a sacred obligation. We had a peaceful night and a pleasant send-off the next morning.

We rode to Skopje, the birthplace of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. They are rightfully proud of their native daughter there. Apparently, her parents were ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. But she was born in this city where Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim; Albania and Slav, lived together in relative harmony.

As the autumn was upon us and the weather was getting cooler (although still pleasant by day), we moved quickly. Traveling through western Macedonia, we were quite surprised by the number of mosques along the way. We spent some time in Ochrid, a city by a beautiful lake, full of ancient churches and monasteries. From there we went to Svieti Naum. The wonderful springs and streams there are like open doors between the visible world and the "world of invisible causes". The monastery is beautiful and religious services are faithfully held by a lone Orthodox hieromonk. As a United Nations Cultural Heritage site, the monastery has received protection and needed improvements. However, one feels the difference between the structures made by monks and pious workers in earlier times and those done recently for touristic and economic reasons.

Our brief time in Macedonia ended as we cycled along the coast of Lake Ochrid and crossed the border to Albania. We continued cycling along the lake and stopped in Pogradec. The contrast to Macedonia was clear: the lake-shore, and elsewhere, were littered with trash. Many of the buildings are in a poor state of repair. However, the people are quite friendly, helpful and talkative.

The origin of the Albanian people and language are not clear to modern scholars. Some researchers believe that their language is a form of Illyrian--the ancient language of the per-Hellenic people of the western Balkans. It appears to be unrelated to any other European language, and this proved to be quite a trial for us at first. However, many people can speak at least a bit of Italian, Greek or German, and some young people speak English quite well. The son of an Orthodox priest here was one such person. We had an introduction to his father, Fr. Todi, from an Abbott in Serbia, and he received us with great hospitality.

Our next major stop was the capital city, Tirane. Long before coming to Albania, we had heard about Bishop Anastasius, the head of the autocephalos Albanian Orthodox Church. He is of Greek origin, and we heard rumors in Greece some years ago that he was too holy and spiritual for the church leaders there, so they sent him to Albania. He has done quite amazing work here in the poorest European country. During the very repressive regime of Enver Hoxha, all religious buildings in the country were utterly destroyed. All religious activity, including praying or crossing ones self in public, or even growing a beard (beards are typical for Orthodox and Muslim clerics)--were forbidden. Today, according to surveys, about 15% of Albanians call themselves Christian, under 30% Muslim, and the remainder, atheist or agnostic.

The new bishop had very little to begin with when he started. Nonetheless, not only has he rebuilt the cathedral and a number of churches, he has also established a theological seminary in Durres, a school, a university, a clinic and a number of other charitable institutions, including an orphanage. The latter impressed us deeply by the dedication of the staff and by how well the children are doing--emotionally and academically. In addition to love, the staff have filled the environment with cleanliness, order, beauty and rhythm--to a degree that is unknown to most of the other children we met in the country.

Another "miracle man" whom we met—and had the joy and honor of staying with--was Dag Rane, a protestant missionary from Norway. Dag had been a physician: he left his life in Norway to become missionary some fifteen years ago. He lives in Fushë-Krujë--a settlement originally built to house workers in a nearby cement plant, and probably one of the least attractive cities in the country. He has established a free church there in a rented hall.

By Norwegian standards, Dag's house is quite primitive: no central heat, sporadic electricity and water supply, old furniture and a larder stocked mostly with gifts or food he found washed up on the beach. (Most garbage seems to be thrown in the rivers and streams here, and then often finds its way to the sea.) But he is quite sought after, and a seemingly constant stream of people come to his home for various reasons.

Dag has had many threats on his life. In 1997, a nation-wide pyramid scheme collapsed and thousands of families lost their life-savings and property. In the ensuing outrage, people raided the government armories and a period of lawless chaos broke out, where even young boys were carrying and using guns. No one dared to invite Dag in his home and thus invite Dag's enemies to attack him there. But he refused to "take his hand off the plough" by leaving Albania. So he spent about a year sleeping on rooftops. Murders of revenge are a problem in Albania, especially in the north. Albanian society is largely tribal, especially in the north. If some one harms another person, it is considered a attack on the clan. Revenge consists of a member of the offended clan killing the most prominent or prosperous member of the clan of the perpetrator.

Dag has built up a congregation in Fushë-Krujë and also spends much time as a missionary in the surrounding areas. He is a source of inspiration guidance, help and stability to many people. While we were there, a flood made many homes uninhabitable for a while and it ruined food supplies which people had bought for the winter. Dag was able to organize relief for many of the flood victims. Of course, it was not without trials. The local ideas about organization and practicality are rather different than those in Norway. But in the end, the essential work of charity was done.

New-found friends (one owned a local food store, the other a computer shop) took us to the ancient city of Krujë nearby. The castle, today a museum, of George Kastrioti Skenderbeg (1405-1468) is there. He is considered the founder of the nation of Albania. As a young Albanian prince during the Ottoman rule, he was taken as a hostage to the court of the Turkish sultan Murad II, and educated there. He was a bright pupil and later a skilled military commander in the sultan's service. The latter was so impressed by his martial prowess that he named him ?skender Bey (Lord Alexander in Turkish) after Alexander the Great. Later, while on an expedition for the sultan in Niš, he renounced the sultan. He returned to Krujë, embraced the Christian religion, united the various Albanian princes and threw off the Ottoman yoke against great odds. He is the most beloved folk-hero in Albania today. Vivaldi wrote an opera about him. Lord Byron wrote this about him in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:

Land of Albania! where Iskander rose,
Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise,
And he his namesake, whose oft-baffled foes,
Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous emprize:
Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes
On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men!
The cross descends, thy minarets arise,
And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen,
Through many a cypress grove within each city's ken.

Your pilgrims had many rich experiences in Europe's poorest country. We met with friendliness, hospitality and generosity. We also saw the results of perhaps the most brutal "socialist experiment" in post-war Europe. The former brought us hope and joy. The latter brought us sobering insight. We thank God for both.

We said good-bye to our friends in Albania, cycled along the coast to Montenegro and headed north. The tourists had gone, the roads were quiet, and we experienced a much needed time of peace and healing, cycling by the sea, the mountains and the forests. Our greetings go out to all of our readers, and our heartfelt thanks goes to all. who have helped us on our journey.