Building a Solid Foundation for the Next Hundred Years: Afrim Karoshi, Albania
Afrim Karoshi is excited about building a quality library of resources that will grow and mature the Albanian evangelical church for the next hundred years. He shares the opportunities and challenges of Christian publishing in the open country of Albania, and the kinds of books he’d love to publish were money and time no object.
A solid foundation for the Albanian evangelical church
My wife Lavdi and I are passionate about helping Albanians know Jesus through well-written resources. We are excited about laying the foundations for a church with good resources for the next generation. We want to play our part in helping the church grow in maturity.
Our aim is to provide a library of resources that will help the next generation of Christians have a firm foundation of faith in Christ, grow in health and reach, and provide a solid foundation of the evangelical church in Albania—that will help the church grow for the next hundred years.
If money and time were no object, we would love to publish the following:
- Books for children
- Books for teenagers addressing current and relevant issues, including theology
- Leadership resources from a Christian perspective
- Theological books
Our journey into Christian publishing
We have a passion for books. It started with reading. Then, I (Afrim) wanted to write. I trained at Dallas Theological Seminary, learning from excellent Christian authors like Dr. Reg Grant and Dr. Sandra Glahn.
God then provided people around us in Albania who have a passion to bring the same resources in Albanian. We now partner with some great translators and editors. My brother and sister-in-law own a graphic design company; they oversee the whole printing process for us.
God provided all the pieces of the puzzle together: friends, translators, editors, graphic designers, and then financial resources that helped us start. We observe God’s hand in the whole process, which led us into this vision and effort.
We provide resources which are lacking in our context. We are not competing with other Christian publishers. We are trying to fill the void, similar to Paul’s call in Romans 15:20, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” (Romans 15:20, NIV)
We want to match the quality of content with the quality of printing, to provide tools that are all-encompassing and honor the gospel of Jesus. We’re encouraged that people commend the quality of our products.
Every time we think that we can’t continue, God provides encouragement to continue: through finances, friends who write encouraging messages and requests for books through our online channels.
Opportunities and challenges for Christian publishing in Albania
There are great opportunities here. For one, Albania is an open country. We are free to create and distribute Christian content. We have opportunities to bring resources not only to church members, but to seekers and to the general public as a whole.
Resources for the church are lacking, despite our freedom to produce them. There’s lots of work to do to help the church grow in health and depth. Healthy theological perspectives and biblical leadership are among the greatest needs of the young evangelical church of Albania.
While there is freedom in Albania to publish, we do face challenges. We lack distribution and marketing channels. More resources, particularly to produce books that are costly, are also needed. We currently have a small team of three working towards our vision
We are grateful for our partnership with MAI. We have been encouraged by the MAI community as we hear similar challenges and opportunities faced by other Christian publishers all over the world. Thank you for your work. It is a joy to serve together.