Economic Prosperity & the Bible

Last week was a great week for our team here in Tirana. We had the great privilege to host a conference on Economic Prosperity. Our keynote speakers were Dr. Wayne Grudem and Dr. Barry Asmus. The conference was put on by some private investors and friends of our team as well our ground organization here. It was a wonderful week of fellowship and great teaching under God’s Word.

The theme of Economic Prosperity is an attractive one for many Albanians. Since the fall of communism in 1991 the country of Albania has gone through some of the hardest transitions from communism to capitalism, perhaps the hardest out of any of the eastern European countries where communism fell during that same period. Today we live in a city that is completely different than it was twenty years ago, or even three years ago for that matter (since we have moved here). There is a great desire to prosper, but that desire has caused much set back because it is not rooted in anything godly. Rather, it is a man-centered and self centered, “I want to prosper, no matter the cost to my integrity or others.”

What comes with this type of attitude in business is a lot of dishonesty and cheating all the way from the top to the bottom in the entire country (Albania is one of the most corrupt nations in the world).

So that being said, the content of the material that Grudem and Asmus worked through was titled “Harnessing the Power of God’s Truth to Transform Nations”. Grudem gave “50 factors within nations that lead to sustained economic growth or continual poverty.”

The study centered on the history of countries and if they were founded on more biblical roots, or if they were founded on other religious roots. Those that are founded on biblical roots tend to prosper far more than nations that are not. However that being said, this does not mean that all are believers, it just means that the view of the world is more through the lenses of Bible. A good example of this was the reformation. Those countries that went through the reformation today are prospering economically. Much of this had to do with the fact that the local church was thriving and that the puritan work ethic was passed down from generation to generation.

Barry Asmus was quoted, saying “Equal people are not free, and free people are not equal.” This quote has communism and capitalism in mind. Under a communistic regime everyone in Albania was considered equal, everyone had the same things and got the same wages, however what that produced was laziness. Today under a more capitalistic society Albanians are free, but they are no longer equal in their standard of living, there are rich and poor, etc. That being said, capitalism and freedom produces prosperity because people are free to invent and be creative and start things, and they have reason to do so because the reward of this is advancement. See the point?

The conference was divided into two parts. The morning sessions were for believers and church leaders throughout Albania; the evening sessions were for business leaders and politicians.

One of the highlights of the conference was that we invited the Prime Minister to come and he accepted and came the first night of the conference. Not only that, but he also scheduled a meeting with Grudem and Asmus that was supposed to go for only 15 minutes and it ended up going for 45 minutes. Awesome stuff!

You can pray for the relationships that were made as a result of last week’s conference and many meetings, pray that many who are in power in this country would repent and believe in Jesus, and that we as a team would have an opportunity to proclaim and live out Jesus to them.

Thanks,
Justin

(Above: Prime Minister of Albania entering the conference)

(Above: Albania PM giving opening remarks at the conference)

(Above: PM leaving)

(Above: Dr. Wayne Grudem speaking at the business and political leaders part of the conference)

(Above: Dr. Barry Asmus speaking to business and political leaders)

Above: I spent most of my time at the conference with these guys, the Murray Brothers (Mike on the left and Pat on the right). They own studio company in AZ, they came out to shoot video of the week with Grudem and Asmus. It was a blast hanging out and getting to know these guys.


Above: Saimir Braho (Albanian singer), Grudem (a really smart dude), Justin (no comment)

Above: Justin with Barry Asmus at Church last Sunday morning.

Above: Justin and Gretchen with Brian MacKay. Brian is a pastor at a Soverign Grace Church in AZ, he played football for Coach Rex (Justin's Grandpa) at Wheaton North High School,(back in 1984) Coach Rex shared the gospel with him...he got saved a few years later, now he wants to send a team to Albania and work with us. Justin didn't know he was coming, we met in Tirana. Cool stuff, only God could arrange.

Above: Walter Crutchfield and Justin. Walter works at Market Place One the company that helped host the conference for us. Fellowship with him was awsome all week!

The mess we call home...can anyone find our house?