Profile in Mission: Susan and Jack Dabney
Ministry Leadership Training
Location Tirana,
Albania
Partners Albanian Evangelical Alliance
and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
What Need Is God Showing Us?
Christians in Albania
make up a small
minority of the population, which is mostly Muslim. Many pastors
have only a high school education; some don't even have that. Their lack of
theological training means many don't have a big-picture understanding of God's
Word, so messages,
while fervent, are frequently out of context.
What Is God Telling Us to Do?
Church leaders in Albania
need direction, mentoring, and training for their calling to help converts
become disciples. They need materials in their own language that help them
better understand the Bible and what it means to follow Christ.
How Are We Doing What God Is Asking?
RCA missionaries Jack and Susannah Dabney have a heart for the Albanian church.
Jack works at several pastor training schools: he's chaplain and professor at
the Center for Christian Leadership (CCL), and he also teaches at Albanian
Bible Institute and Evangelical
Theological College.
Jack is in the process of overseeing the translating and publishing of a dozen
books for church leaders about the Bible and Reformed interpretation of Scripture.
Susannah works with Roma (gypsy) people, a very poor and isolated group in Albania.
She also meets with students and staff from CCL, inmates at one of Tirana's
women's prisons, patients and their families at Mother Theresa
Hospital, and unmarried
missionary women. Almost since they arrived in Albania, the Dabneys
have led a home Bible study for Albanians from their local church and
neighborhood. They also run Upper Room, a retreat facility for Albanian
pastors, church leaders, and missionaries. "Our goal is to be faithful to
the Scriptures in living and sharing the gospel and making disciples of Jesus
Christ in Albania
and the Muslim world," says Jack.
Who Is Our Partner?
The Albanian Evangelical Alliance (VUSH in Albanian) represents more than 150
evangelical churches and Christian organizations in Albania. The churches are young and
have been started since the fall of communism in 1990. VUSH is still learning
how to live out the gospel across traditional denominational, socioeconomic,
and gender barriers. It strives to come alongside new believers and help them
grow in faith and knowledge of God.
Up Close and Personal
Jack and Susannah Dabney became RCA missionaries in Albania in 2001, but they have been
praying for the Albanian people since 1978. Susannah had made a black and white
striped curtain to hang in front of a window in their home where their family
prayed, to remind them of people in prison because of their faith. The curtain
remained closed most of the time, but every time the Dabneys
heard of a prisoner being released, they opened it for three days. Before going
to Albania, the Dabneys served congregations in West
Virginia, Virginia, and Oklahoma. They have nine
children, 20 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
October 2007 www.rca.org/missions