MENDING HEARTS: Ardita and her mother Suzana at home in Kosovo months after surgery.
Finding the Prince of Peace in War-Scarred Kosovo
God often uses simple shoe box gifts in mighty ways to build up His kingdom. Let me share with you just one example from our work in Kosovo of how His Spirit worked through the hearts of children to reach an entire community with the Gospel.
Kosovo has been out of the headlines since 1999, when hundreds of thousands of refugees fled from a civil war. However, the need remains great. The land still bears the scars of ethnic conflict and bloodshed. Jobs are scarce, medical services are limited, and many mothers are widowed.
Since 1999, the work of Samaritan’s Purse in Kosovo has transitioned from refugee relief to focus more on young people. We have handed out Operation Christmas Child gifts and Gospel literature from border to border, and our Children’s Heart Project has provided life-giving surgery for more than 140 precious children.
One of those children is a little girl named Ardita. She was born in 2005 with a serious heart defect and desperately needed an operation that is not available in Kosovo. We arranged for Ardita and her mother Suzana to fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they were cared for by a loving Christian family and host church. By God’s grace, pediatric cardiologists were able to repair the little girl’s heart.
When Ardita returned home healthy, the whole village rejoiced. As part of the celebration, local leaders invited Samaritan’s Purse to bring in shoe box gifts for the boys and girls in the village. Then they allowed our team to organize Christian “kids’ clubs.” Dozens of children and teenagers have been attending these clubs in recent months, and at least 17 of them have prayed to receive God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This spring, Samaritan’s Purse is planning to establish an agricultural cooperative in the village, as we continue to help new believers grow in their faith and sow the seeds for an even greater spiritual harvest.
Kosovo officially declared its independence from Serbia last year, becoming the seventh country to emerge from crumbling Yugoslavia. It is now the first predominantly Muslim nation in Europe. Yet through the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse to children, God is raising up a new generation of believers in this deeply troubled part of the world. Thank you for helping make this work possible.
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