REACHING ALBANIA & THE BALKANS Kurt, Stephanie, & Joel Plagenhoef

Spring 2017 To preach the gospel where Christ is not known. Romans 15:20

Prayer requests

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

Please pray… o for the health of Kurt’s father.

o the Bible school graduates to know and follow God’s direction for their ministries.

o for the Bible school building registration documents be finished and approved.

o for the Balkan Missions Conference, June 2-4, to be anointed and that many will be called to missions.

o for young people to be saved, filled, and empowered during the upcoming youth camps this July.

o for our daughter, Sarah, to discern God’s direction for her life and ministry after graduation this December.

o for Stephanie to be healed of recent toxin exposures.

o for God to call Albanian workers to Montenegro, Kosovo, and Turkey.

Contact info kurt.plagenhoef@agmd.org / +355-69-202-7476

www.kurt.plagenhoef.com / SKYPE kurtplagenhoef

KP 119, AEP / Kurt Plagenhoef Box 2 / Tirana, Albania / Zip 1057

AGWM ACCOUNT #249734 ALBANIA BUILDING PROJECT #9449

Macedonia

First Fruits The Albania AG sent its first global worker to Macedonia in 2009 under our leadership. We added another worker a cou-ple of years later. Together, they have persevered under difficult circumstances and trials while sowing and watering the seed of the gospel. After eight years of labor, six peo-ple have come to Christ, and three have been baptized. Another two planned to be baptized, but their Orthodox fam-ily fiercely opposed them. Pray that they will stand strong and that they will soon follow the Lord in baptism.

Dear partners in the gospel, One of our Bible school students from a nearby, unreached Balkan nation who feels called to missions recently told me, “I did not find God. He found me.” Thank God for his divine initiative of mercy in our lives! Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.…Whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you” (John 15:16). God has chosen us to bear fruit. If we will ask for the lost of our community, nation, and world, then God will give them to us. Are you asking?

Updated

phone & mailing

address

Baptism in Lake Ohrid

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Spring 2017 Reaching ~ Planting ~ Training ~ Serving

Montenegro The Bible school hosted its annual missions conference this spring with a special emphasis on Montenegro, the least reached country in Europe. There are about eight small churches/plants in the nation with a total of 150 believers. Of those, only 25 are Montene-grin; five are Albanian; the rest are immigrants. Last year, the Italian AG sent a missionary couple to Podgorica, the capital, and in April, they are launching a new church. One of our Bible school graduates will be joining this young couple in the church planting effort. Pray for this fledgling work to bear much fruit for the kingdom of God. Also, in July, Kurt will lead an outreach team from Albania to Montenegro as part of Impact Montenegro, a Europe-wide evangelistic cam-paign. Pray that many seeds of the gospel will be planted, watered, and harvested.

News Briefs &

Highlights Kurt spoke at the Italian Businessmen’s Conference in December, along with special guests, Bill and Marilyn Leach. The national church observed 21 days of prayer and fasting in January, culminating in a victory service that Kurt preached. There was greater hunger and faith than ever before, and many shared life-changing testimonies. Kurt led a vision trip to a nearby Muslim country in February with Albanian and Italian leaders. They felt touched and challenged. The general superintendent of the Albania AG and Kurt represented Albania at the Pentecos-tal European Fellowship/Mission Confer-ence in Stockholm in March. They made sev-eral new European contacts. We hosted Convoy of Hope Europe in Alba-nia in March. COH would like to establish two new Adopt-A-Community projects here. Hannah is now serving in the Middle East, learning Arabic, teaching English, and reach-ing refugee women. Sarah was licensed with the AG. Also, she was honored to be selected by NCU faculty to present a theological paper at the Un-dergraduate Bible and Theology Conference.

Pastors’ Retreat The first Albania AG pastors’ retreat was held in Durres in March. Nearly all the pastors and their families attended. It was a time of refreshment, bonding, rest, and fun. We spoke on “Balance in Life and Ministry.” The pastors were encouraged and strengthened.

The Forsaken Find Living

Water at the Well It all started eight years ago. A woman named Dile felt called to preach the gospel in Fllakë, Albania, which has been labeled the “forsaken” town. During Communism, the government sent dissenters there, and it became a community of outcasts. The town became filled with despair, drugs, alcohol, and abuse, but Dile had faith that the gospel could penetrate those barriers. The town had no running water to peoples’ homes, but only a solitary well where people gathered daily to draw water. Dile spent time each day standing in line sharing the gospel with the spiritually lost. One by one, people began to come to Christ. They went to draw natural water but found living water! Now there is a thriving AG church of 60 adults and 70 children. Money has been donated to purchase land for the church, but the land must be rezoned. Please pray for it to be rezoned.