Twelve years after hearing the gospel and joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Alban Matohiti, a 29-year-old from the Albanian capital of Tirana, is now the first Albanian native ordained as a pastor.

Surrounded by past and present Albanian Adventist church leaders, Matohiti, who leads a congregation in Durres, Albania’s second-largest city, was ordained by Pastor David Currie.  Currie is a former regional church leader who led the meetings where Matohiti first responded.

Initially invited to be a trainee pastor in Albania, Matohiti was sponsored for formal theological training at Newbold College in England from 1996 to 1999. After graduation, Matohiti returned to Albania and served as a pastor in Elbasan, and, now, Durres. He has begun studies toward a master’s degree in leadership and management by distance learning from Avondale College, an Adventist institution in Australia.

“Pastor Currie awakened my call for ministry, arranged sponsorship for my study, and has modeled evangelistic ministry for me,” Alban said. “It was significant for me that he was here today.”

Currie, who has conducted three evangelistic series in Albania since retiring as a church leader in Australia, recognized the importance of this event: “This is an emotional time for me,” he said. “I am witnessing a significant milestone in the development of the Albanian church.”

The ordination was the central feature of the local church’s Festival of Faith—a biannual gathering of members and friends of the church from throughout Albania. Nearly 100 worshipers gathered for the festival, with more than 20 members and visitors coming from Durres.

“The attendance of this group from Durres is testimony to the ministry of Alban in that city,” said Leigh Rice, leader of the church in Albania.

An evangelistic center is currently being developed in an old villa in Durres’ city center. The worldwide Adventist Church’s 2000 Thirteenth Sabbath School Offering funded reconstruction and furnishing of the villa for its new purpose.

More than 260 people worship in eight Seventh-day Adventist congregations in Albania each week.