Luke Veronis’ Go Forth: Stories of Mission and Resurrection in Albania is one I’d recommend. My review of it on Amazon from 2011 provides a comprehensive and favorable posting.
Veronis accomplishes far more in this diary than portraying the revival of the Orthodox Church in Albania after decades of Communist-totalitarian repression. He permits the voices of Albanian Christians to recount their own witness of what they endured, how they forgave their oppressors, and what took place after governmental restrictions had been lifted. Veronis presents "stories of mission and resurrection" that are credible and practical, because each account is far less than perfect and as close to what "being the Church" would mean in Albania as well as Alabama and every place in between.
"Being the Church" is the title to the ninth [195-210] of ten chapters in the book [225 pp.]. It could also be the title for the book's foreword, composed by Archbishop Anastasios [translated "Resurrection"] of Tirana and All Albania. His Eminence Anastasios addresses the theme of "mission" as central to an ancient tradition of the Orthodox Church, which has been revived "...over the last five decades" [10]. Referring to the author as his "spiritual child" [10], +Anastasios considers Veronis as having been active in the mission of reviving the Church not only in Albania, but also elsewhere such as in Africa while cooperating with the Albanian Church's external missions. Thus, I noted that Anastasios and Veronis were of a similar mind that they had opened their lens to view mission outside of conventional boundaries, which had long been limited by linguistic and cultural differences instead of borderless as would best represent the Church, both catholic and Apostolic.
The book's introduction continues to make a universal theme of mission explicit. Loosely quoting St. John Chrysostom, Veronis reflects with Chrysostom on "two kinds of bishops." "One is a pastor who says, 'My parish is my universe.' While the other believes, 'The universe is my parish'" [15]. Obvious to readers at this early stage in the book, Veronis promotes the latter bishop's belief.
Thereafter, readers travel with the author from his home in the USA to Vienna [Austria], where he makes a journal entry on 20 January 1994 while inside the Viennese airport's transit en route his first time to Albania. Veronis recounts his first mission trip to Kenya in 1987, soon after completing undergraduate studies at Pennsylvania State University the same year. Subsequently in Kenya, he describes having met Archbishop Anastasios for the first time along with others. Over the course of several pages, Veronis illustrates the focus that this initial meeting with +Anastasios and several subsequent mission trips had given him. He returns to the USA to complete a professional ministry degree from an Orthodox seminary.
Then comes 1994, and he lands in Tirana's airport only three years after the collapse of the former totalitarian regime and the birth of a democratic republic. After three days on the ground he remarks, "I am wondering if I was crazy to come. What did I get myself into?" [20]. The bravado and arrogance of youth erodes as he discovers just how uncomfortable Albanian accommodations had become during the Cold War years. Few luxuries such as heated water or even running water, insulation, and lack of routine electrical current in most dwellings were challenges to daily life that greeted him upon arrival.
Striking me as extraordinary among fellow Orthodox missionaries whom Veronis meets upon arrival, the author seems determined to learn how to speak Albanian. At the same time, he muses that he wants to jump into helping resolve unmet needs of people he serves in his mission territory. This element of competing needs runs throughout the book, and allows readers to identify with the author. I consider the theme of competing needs to be one of the book's more endearing aspects. In another example of competing needs, during the first year of the author's work in Albania he marries, then receives diaconal and presbyteral ordination back in the USA while on short breaks, and returns with his new wife, Faith, to Albania where they continue what would now become their work together.
Chapters three [years 1995-96] and four [the year of 1997] are foundational to the author's maturing sense of mission. These chapters encompass the years immediately prior to and during the demise of the nation's economy when hundreds of pyramid schemes collapsed at once. Midyear 1996 in an entry dated 29 May, Veronis and his wife lose their first child in utero at 8 weeks gestation. They are comforted by friends, and the author's faith grows more confident in the couple's shared loss with a monk from the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) and companion missionaries. What Veronis depicts in this brief entry is another personal account of resurrection that parallels what he witnesses among the Albanians whom he serves.
There are harrowing details to read in chapter six concerning the Kosovo War. Veronis recounts these stories of loss, uncertainty, and resilience in the community of Faith without cant and excessive sentimentalism. In fact, any latent vestige of colonial thinking that might have emerged earlier in the book is gone. How I know that any vestige is gone for sure is the way that Veronis depicts all characters from the War who connect with him in a charitable light. His doubts about moral prerogatives appear to have been resolved in favor of his interest in becoming like Christ amidst the conflicts.
I recommend this book to readers over the age of 12. However, there are plenty of entries that are suited to reading aloud with families of younger children. One such entry appears dated 19 October 2003, entitled "Albania's hero: Mother Teresa" [201-3], which illustrates entries in chapter nine: "Being the Church." After acknowledging that he was impressed by the sense of the global Church he witnessed during Mother Teresa's beatification in the Vatican as part of the Albanian pilgrims in attendance, Veronis remarks:
"All the pomp and glory of this beatification service seemed to offer a stark contrast to the message and life of Mother Teresa herself, who epitomized the foolishness of the cross" [203].
Thank you! So many great suggestions here!
Luke Veronis’ Go Forth: Stories of Mission and Resurrection in Albania is one I’d recommend. My review of it on Amazon from 2011 provides a comprehensive and favorable posting.
Being the Church"
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2011
Veronis accomplishes far more in this diary than portraying the revival of the Orthodox Church in Albania after decades of Communist-totalitarian repression. He permits the voices of Albanian Christians to recount their own witness of what they endured, how they forgave their oppressors, and what took place after governmental restrictions had been lifted. Veronis presents "stories of mission and resurrection" that are credible and practical, because each account is far less than perfect and as close to what "being the Church" would mean in Albania as well as Alabama and every place in between.
"Being the Church" is the title to the ninth [195-210] of ten chapters in the book [225 pp.]. It could also be the title for the book's foreword, composed by Archbishop Anastasios [translated "Resurrection"] of Tirana and All Albania. His Eminence Anastasios addresses the theme of "mission" as central to an ancient tradition of the Orthodox Church, which has been revived "...over the last five decades" [10]. Referring to the author as his "spiritual child" [10], +Anastasios considers Veronis as having been active in the mission of reviving the Church not only in Albania, but also elsewhere such as in Africa while cooperating with the Albanian Church's external missions. Thus, I noted that Anastasios and Veronis were of a similar mind that they had opened their lens to view mission outside of conventional boundaries, which had long been limited by linguistic and cultural differences instead of borderless as would best represent the Church, both catholic and Apostolic.
The book's introduction continues to make a universal theme of mission explicit. Loosely quoting St. John Chrysostom, Veronis reflects with Chrysostom on "two kinds of bishops." "One is a pastor who says, 'My parish is my universe.' While the other believes, 'The universe is my parish'" [15]. Obvious to readers at this early stage in the book, Veronis promotes the latter bishop's belief.
Thereafter, readers travel with the author from his home in the USA to Vienna [Austria], where he makes a journal entry on 20 January 1994 while inside the Viennese airport's transit en route his first time to Albania. Veronis recounts his first mission trip to Kenya in 1987, soon after completing undergraduate studies at Pennsylvania State University the same year. Subsequently in Kenya, he describes having met Archbishop Anastasios for the first time along with others. Over the course of several pages, Veronis illustrates the focus that this initial meeting with +Anastasios and several subsequent mission trips had given him. He returns to the USA to complete a professional ministry degree from an Orthodox seminary.
Then comes 1994, and he lands in Tirana's airport only three years after the collapse of the former totalitarian regime and the birth of a democratic republic. After three days on the ground he remarks, "I am wondering if I was crazy to come. What did I get myself into?" [20]. The bravado and arrogance of youth erodes as he discovers just how uncomfortable Albanian accommodations had become during the Cold War years. Few luxuries such as heated water or even running water, insulation, and lack of routine electrical current in most dwellings were challenges to daily life that greeted him upon arrival.
Striking me as extraordinary among fellow Orthodox missionaries whom Veronis meets upon arrival, the author seems determined to learn how to speak Albanian. At the same time, he muses that he wants to jump into helping resolve unmet needs of people he serves in his mission territory. This element of competing needs runs throughout the book, and allows readers to identify with the author. I consider the theme of competing needs to be one of the book's more endearing aspects. In another example of competing needs, during the first year of the author's work in Albania he marries, then receives diaconal and presbyteral ordination back in the USA while on short breaks, and returns with his new wife, Faith, to Albania where they continue what would now become their work together.
Chapters three [years 1995-96] and four [the year of 1997] are foundational to the author's maturing sense of mission. These chapters encompass the years immediately prior to and during the demise of the nation's economy when hundreds of pyramid schemes collapsed at once. Midyear 1996 in an entry dated 29 May, Veronis and his wife lose their first child in utero at 8 weeks gestation. They are comforted by friends, and the author's faith grows more confident in the couple's shared loss with a monk from the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) and companion missionaries. What Veronis depicts in this brief entry is another personal account of resurrection that parallels what he witnesses among the Albanians whom he serves.
There are harrowing details to read in chapter six concerning the Kosovo War. Veronis recounts these stories of loss, uncertainty, and resilience in the community of Faith without cant and excessive sentimentalism. In fact, any latent vestige of colonial thinking that might have emerged earlier in the book is gone. How I know that any vestige is gone for sure is the way that Veronis depicts all characters from the War who connect with him in a charitable light. His doubts about moral prerogatives appear to have been resolved in favor of his interest in becoming like Christ amidst the conflicts.
I recommend this book to readers over the age of 12. However, there are plenty of entries that are suited to reading aloud with families of younger children. One such entry appears dated 19 October 2003, entitled "Albania's hero: Mother Teresa" [201-3], which illustrates entries in chapter nine: "Being the Church." After acknowledging that he was impressed by the sense of the global Church he witnessed during Mother Teresa's beatification in the Vatican as part of the Albanian pilgrims in attendance, Veronis remarks:
"All the pomp and glory of this beatification service seemed to offer a stark contrast to the message and life of Mother Teresa herself, who epitomized the foolishness of the cross" [203].
Thank you for this amazingly thorough review. I am going to read this book! How powerful, and runs almost exactly concurrent to our years in Slovakia.
Clint, your work inspires me. I have returned to a member church of the LWF. During Epiphany season, a bishop from that jurisdiction will ordain me.