When the poor share what they have
Many people living in rural and sometimes very remote villages in Albania see no other way for themselves than to migrate and start anew in another place where the prospects for the future are better. The United Methodist Church (UMC) in Albania has open doors for these people in several cities of the country. But the Church also tries to reach out to those who want to stay in the places they call their home.
The project participants undertook to give away around 300 kg of the first harvest to other families so that they can also start growing potatoes the following year. However, it will be necessary to purchase another 300 kg of high-quality seed for each of the project participants in addition to the potatoes put aside. In the first year, this project has improved the living conditions of about 100 people. The goal is for this number to be even greater in 2023.
But on the other hand, those involved in the project decided to give 80 kg of potatoes to the Miss Stone center in Strumica, so that they could be processed into a meal for needy people as part of the "Meals on Wheels" program. In the recent past, relations between this diaconal institution of the UMC in North Macedonia and the UMC in Albania had deepened, and there had been mutual visits.
Of course, one can say: and now? What are 80 kg of potatoes? But that would be a disregard for what George Lockwood translated from a Spanish song (© 1980 The United Methodist Publishing House): "When the poor ones who have nothing share with strangers, when the thirsty water give unto us all (…) then we know that God still goes that road with us."
Source: Wilfried + Jean Nausner, Albania / Urs Schweizer, Zurich