Ep 49: Children of Change - Albania's Journey From Streets to Sanctity

"From distributing Christmas shoeboxes to children in 98 villages to the life-altering initiatives aimed at rescuing Albania’s street children, hear one groups mission of mercy that plants the seeds of Jesus’ message in young hearts today."

Albania's story is one of resilience and rejuvenation, a narrative brought to life as our guests join us to share their incredible journey of faith and transformation in a land still healing from its turbulent past. One can't help but be moved by their tales of distributing Christmas shoeboxes to children in 98 villages, an act that not only spreads joy but plants the seeds of Jesus' message in young hearts.

Our conversation also uncovers the life-altering initiatives aimed at rescuing Albania's street children, a mission of mercy and transformation that has changed the trajectory of countless young lives. Stories of children who once faced exploitation but now embrace education and spiritual growth offer a beacon of hope. We marvel at the establishment of a new church in a predominantly Muslim town and celebrate the successful reclamation of child beggars from the streets. Plator and Nicole's narratives are not just tales of change—they are invitations to witness the power of persistent love and faith in action. And as our guests reflect on the importance of sponsorship and evangelical outreach, they remind us how each of us can play a role in continuing this glorious work, through prayer, support, and/or a helping hand.

Interview with:
Pastor Plator Collaku, Senior Pastor
Nicole Collaku
Kisha Ungjillore Libonik-Maliq (KULM)

Hands of Providence International
https://www.handsofprovidenceinternational.org/giving
Click "Donate" and then under "Fund", scroll to choose 'Boys Residential Home' or 'Day Care Center'

Have a question or want us to dive deeper in any of these segments? Let us know here:
https://playsonword.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/podcast-reviews

To Support Plays On Word Radio and Plays On Word Theater, please visit:
https://playsonword.networkforgood.com/

Plays On Word website
Plays On Word YouTube
Plays On Word Instagram
Plays On Word Facebook
Email us: team@playsonword.org

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Lord, you know you listen on the place of word. Radio is the best.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Because we don't see children how they are today, but how they become tomorrow. And even Jesus want to have them a good life. He loves children. Let the little children come to me. But we are not only just serving socially towards them, but also we share with the program each day the stories of the Bible. We teach them how to pray, how to have a personal relationship with God, and their life is tremendous change.

Speaker 4: 0:59

Hello and welcome to plays on word radio, where we discuss, analyze, work and play on the word of God. Thank you for joining us on this excursion. Today let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenny Jr, the founder of plays on word theater, as he does a deep dive into the word of God.

Speaker 3: 1:20

Amen, amen. Okay, all right, this is the last podcast of 2023. Thank you, guys, and welcome to plays on word radio. My name is Fred David Kenny Jr. Yes, also known as Pastor Teddy, and I never got into that story. Maybe we'll do that in 2024. We'll explain that today. We are going to wind up our year with an interview we did with Plattor and Nicole Colacu. I think I said their last name right. I hope I said it right. If not, I'm sure I'll be getting a phone call and they are in Albania.

Speaker 3: 2:05

Plattor. We've talked about Plattor when we interviewed Mike Durante when we were in Albania and when we came back from Albania. Plattor is the pastor over there, the point man for the mission, for step of faith mission, and when we went over there plays on word, he's the point guy and I jokingly call him the mayor of Malic, which is a village in Albania, and I jokingly say I'm going to be his campaign manager to have him run for prime minister of Albania. But there is an element of seriousness in that, because everyone knows Plattor, everyone. He is the darling of the village in Malic and Lebonique and everybody loves Plattor. I don't know anyone that doesn't. So we wanted to interview him and what's going on in Albania, something we were our part of and we just wanted to bring this interview.

Speaker 3: 3:08

I know that you guys will be blessed by this interview, so I'm not going to talk too much more. Let's just get right into this, all right. All right, so we are here with Nicole and Plattor. Thank you guys for being on plays on word radio. This has been in the making for for quite a while, quite some time now. Let's get to the some of the most important stuff that we need to let the listeners know about the things that are going on right in Albania, that you guys are overseeing the work that's going on. What is the Lord doing over there? And then we'll talk about the need.

Speaker 1: 3:39

We have been very busy with delivering shoeboxes to all 98 villages that are within our municipality, so we got the Christmas shoeboxes donated to us by an organization in Ireland. Our evangelical team is working on visiting each school and handing out the shoeboxes to all the children and then also doing a children's program with the children so that they can also learn the story about Jesus. So some villages are very close by to us, others are very, in very remote parts of the mountains.

Speaker 3: 4:20

We all guys need a helicopter. Plattor is the only guy I know that could probably pull that off. He could probably get a helicopter.

Speaker 4: 4:29

You know, you're the only guy you know, a guy you know a guy for everything.

Speaker 3: 4:34

You know a guy for everything. Man, I would not be surprised if you're like hang on, I know a guy, We'll get a helicopter and make sure you know a chopper showing up.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Yeah, but also we want to make it this Christmas special, even for our communities around. We're going to have on our main church, lebanon Church, the main service on 24 in a Christmas Eve for Christmas at night. So it's going to be a concert. It will be a small drama and a message, and a message for this year is Emmanuel God with us. In a country that God hasn't been with the people, emmanuel God with us is very important because it gives hope to people that has lived in a desert, in a spiritual desert, for 550 years 500 under the Ottoman Empire and 50 years under communism has taken away the spirit In the area we work. We work in nine villages and towns but there's never been a church. We're the only church around here and it's to thank God and glory be to God that we can see a generation of people changed by the grace of God.

Speaker 3: 5:38

Yeah, that's fantastic. You're actually able to see with your own eyes the Lord working in the lives of people. So communism had a pretty bad effect. It was before communism, the Ottoman Empire and then communism just made it completely worse. I mean because you grew up under the communist as a little kid, right?

Speaker 2: 5:56

Yes, I remember. I mean, I remember I was around 14 or 15 years old, but I remember communism. Communism was the worst system ever. Albania is coming from very strange situation. In the beginning of the 15th century we was occupied by the Ottoman Empire and Albania was a Christian country. It was mentioned in Romans, chapter 15, verse 19, that with signs, Apostle Paul says with signs and wonder, I preach Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum. Illyricum of that time is Albanian and Illyricum was related from Croatia down to Harbour of Durach or Durci, on this time through Ignatian road. Ignatian road got to Albanian and connected Greece and East. So even today, if you go some places in Albania, you can see bridges and roads that are connected to the Ignatian road and it was said that on those roads Apostle Paul walked to those bridges.

Speaker 3: 7:01

Yeah, he most likely had to walk. It was the only way. It was the only highway.

Speaker 2: 7:06

Albania was one of the first Christian nations, but in the 14th century Ottoman Empire occupied.

Speaker 3: 7:12

Albania.

Speaker 2: 7:13

And if you were a Christian you'd be treated very bad. You have a higher tax your first born son would take as an exam as a soldier to Ottoman Empire. And with the fire and the killing they changed the spirit of the nation and turned the nation to Islam. Because there was an Ottoman Empire, was preaching Caliphate, and that's what happened. And then we have the first world war, second world war and then 50 years of communism, and during communism time Albania declared themselves as the only at the state in the world and in fact they make it the first law of the constitution. We are the at the states, so for them God is dead, god does not exist.

Speaker 2: 7:54

So all these 550 years destroyed the spirit of the nation. And then the beginning of 90s, it was like a whole that all the religion was trying to feel it and that's where I become Christian too. And that was the moment, moment in history, that everybody was a poet or writer and was people with hope, because they think the democracy, this new system, is gonna bring hope. For sure, there are opportunities, but anyway it ended in a desert and something different than before, but it's still, because if God is not in the middle of the heart of the people, it's still be desert in the heart of people. So God is the only system that can change the heart of the people.

Speaker 3: 8:37

Amen, and you're seeing. Now you're seeing the Lord working and changing. It's interesting, I like he said that, the soul of the nation. Are you seeing any changes? I mean, you're like on the ground level, you're right there.

Speaker 2: 8:51

You are seeing some of these villages, and the work must be overwhelming, though, yes, you can see a new generation coming to Christ and you, ted, you have experienced it by yourself when you come to Albania yes, that the majority of the churches we have is a young people high school and university students Because we can see a new generation coming up to God. I think it's the future and it's promising. I'm so great to see it, the heart they have to serve God in this side of the world. And Nicole can ask something as American. Nicole.

Speaker 3: 9:26

What is that? Yeah, nicole, who is now your wife, is there, and so you have, I guess, a unique American perspective on the work that's going on. What do your eyes see and report back to the folks listening right now, what you're seeing?

Speaker 1: 9:45

Well, like Pastor said, the church is mostly university and high school students, but the group of university students in particular. They go out to all the different villages and they're spreading the gospel every day, doing children's programs and taking the gospel and bringing it to the other villages so that those villages are learning about God and are also being raised up as well.

Speaker 3: 10:14

Wow, yeah, I have firsthand experience with seeing that work with my own eyes. It's very inspiring, I must say. We've reported back a bunch of times, even from Albania, but there is still a major need. Let's just say plural. There are needs that you guys need. I'd like to just let people know if they want to be involved in any kind of way. But before we even get to that, can you tell us about the residential home and the work that's going on even there in Malic, the town you're in, where you are the unofficial mayor, latour, I know you're the mayor or the unofficial mayor of Malic, you and Nico Hi Hi.

Speaker 2: 10:55

Thank you. We started the work with street children 13 years before. We saw a need because if you come in some side of a big city of Albania, you can see people knocking on the windows of the coffee places or in the street and thank you for money. Most of those children are in the danger of human trafficking or in their use by other people to make money. Most of the money they win from this begging doesn't go to them, but the people who are behind them. So and, by the way, that's a tragedy because they can stay on that circle all their life and then never come out of the pit they are. They are failing. So we saw the spiritual need and we want these children to be changed. We saw that need in this community so we started a million a day for them and also to take care for those children, like take a shower, and after the shower we help them to do the homework. But we saw that maybe 91 92% of them was a register in the school.

Speaker 2: 12:08

So the first thing, we registered them to school, we bought the school books, we encouraged them to continue with education, because we don't see children how they are today, but how they become tomorrow. And even Jesus want to have them a good life. He loves children. Let the little children come to me. But we are not only just serving socially towards them, but also we share with the program, each day, the stories of the Bible. We teach them how to pray, how to have a personal relationship with God and their life. With tremendous change, we can see children now from 13 years before that. They have their own future and it's great to see some of them finishing university and some of them are a good worker in a factory but this was the beginning of the work and it started with two twins, brother.

Speaker 2: 13:00

Then when we say now we are gonna have a shower, they refused it because it was December when we opened. They say no, we are not gonna have the shower because they thought we are gonna have a shower outside. That's how grandmother treated them. They sent them to the river and washed them with water of the river and we say, no, that's not true, it's a real shower. They never saw that with their own lives. That's how it began. It began 13 years before and right now we have a center of 52 children on a daycare center.

Speaker 2: 13:30

We found out that a lot of them coming with a lot of social problem and a social background around their, their area, a lot of time their life is in danger. So I have a friend and a friend came and saw this, the daycare center from England, and he said where they sleep and I I allowed him to send them home when they sleep. But they were sleeping. Some of them were sleeping on a bounded building, spark old factories. He said that's not right. And he had two houses. He sold one and he gave us the money to buy the residential home, but even that was a struggle. A residential home is totally different project for the day from the daycare center. This is one is for children that doesn't have any eye, any help, coming from very difficult situation. They don't have parents, so that mostly of them are orphans of our parents that are problematic and they are in prison. So we care for for those children, so we are family for them and so we open the residential house. But even opening them, what, as I saw, told you in the beginning, was a, was a struggle.

Speaker 2: 14:40

We tried to buy a house to open as a residential home. For six months we could have found, and then when we agreed with a person to buy a house with a hundred thirty thousand dollar, the mayor refused. The mayor refused it because he said he changes mine. He said my house cost 160. I was so disappointed. Then we we pray. And next morning I received a phone call from the mayor of the town. He said, but did you buy the residential home? And I say no, I can't, because the mayor is surprised, I don't have that money. He said yes, you can, and I say no, I can't. He said yes, you can, and I said I can't, I can't trust me, I can't. He said hold the horses. There is a house in the end of the town with a glass in front you can buy that house and I said I don't have money for a smaller than that.

Speaker 2: 15:31

How can I buy the luxury one? He said yes, you can, and he said that the men went bankrupt, the men who own that house, and the bank is selling that. Just call the manager of the bank. I call the manager of the bank, that's the bottom name. And I asked him. I asked him do you sell that house? He said yes, but it's on the beat and already there are six people who are beating for that. And I say I want to be tuned. He said okay. Then he said what do you want to do with that?

Speaker 2: 16:00

Because, it's a big house, he said hotel and I say no, no, no.

Speaker 2: 16:03

He said you want to open a business with that and I say no. I say house, and I say no. And he said well, what are you going to do? And I say I'm going to open orphanage for children. He said wait a second, let me call the board. And the board came with an offering for us. If you buy that for orphanage the men on us $42,000. You pay that $42,000 and the house is yours. Wow, it was three times cheaper than the house we was trying to buy and it's a miracle, in a sense, of how God provided for us, because it's not money to run for two years.

Speaker 2: 16:37

And not only just that, but in the same town we was opening a new church. It's called Malic. It's a town that has been a 99% muscle and never has been a church. So we will have a group of 100 people, usually women, and they like you, ted, because you preach there and the noisy women. So we bought the building with $100,000. We bought another building as a church and it's still under construction. So this is the way that our ministry started and in every step is the hand of God.

Speaker 3: 17:15

Wow, Let me just ask you how disappointed were you? You said for two years it was the bank with the house, the residential house. It was when you, when he said it's going to be more money than you had, and you're like I don't have the money, how long of a period of time were you Because you said you were disappointed? What was that like?

Speaker 2: 17:33

Because we was discussing with a man for six months to buy his house and he changed the mind in the night and in 24 hours God provided another building, so much better than what we were thinking.

Speaker 3: 17:47

Wow, what was it like being disappointed? I mean, were you discouraged?

Speaker 2: 17:51

I thought I'm not for that kind of work. I cannot do this. I'm six months just going around and I couldn't find the house. I disappointed my donator for the house.

Speaker 3: 18:04

Yeah, that's a tough feeling. You, instead of like accusing yourself.

Speaker 2: 18:08

just go to God, and next morning we have the new house.

Speaker 3: 18:15

That's a lesson for all of us right there. Man, the next time I have to complain about something, I'm going to try to remember that I'm going to wait till the morning because I don't know. I'm going to give God time, man.

Speaker 3: 18:30

Oh, that's very encouraging, and I've been to both the residential house and the big care center, the daycare center, is absolutely incredible Seeing these kids and how alive they are and there is a spirit of joy around the place. That was not there before you guys stepped in the gap. There there was kids on the street, just on the street, not knowing where they were going to go to sleep some of them yeah, I will mention.

Speaker 2: 19:02

Because this is public, I will not mention the name. But what you see from outside is beautiful, life change and everything. But it's a struggle of life for a lot of children. Like one month before, nicole was working with one of the girls that tried to kill herself three times.

Speaker 3: 19:19

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:20

And we try to save lives through those centers. Their life has been miserable. It's only by the grace of God, of God, when the children are today, and one good thing I will say is we are the only town in Albania we don't have any more beggars on the street. Children beggars on the street because of these images.

Speaker 3: 19:43

I haven't seen. When I was in Malic, I didn't see any beggars on the streets. In fact, when I was on the street, walking down the street, I had a bunch of young kids coming up to me. Hey, hey, man, and they recognized me and they were all you know. They weren't begging, they were just excited and the thing we share is the Lord. So that's just a testimony. Right there I'm still excited.

Speaker 3: 20:03

I'm trying to figure out a way to get back to come visit you guys. So if, how can? Anybody listening if they want to be involved in some, you know, really radical on fire work that is effective for the kingdom of God. I mean this work is it's producing fruit. While you're planting seeds, there's fruit being produced. This is some next level farming right here. You know, a lot of times you have to put the seeds in the ground and wait for a long time. But I mean we're seeing like a lot of fruit coming forward from the ministries you guys are involved in over there and it's almost like the fields are just waiting for somebody to harvest. It was hard ground for such a long time. But if somebody wanted to help out, where could they go? I'll put a link. Do you tell me where to put it? I'll put a link up on the webpage and or they can Google it as you say it. Where would be? How could that? What would be the best way to help you guys out?

Speaker 1: 20:56

So we do have a website, handsofcovidanceinternationalorg, and there's a giving page there that they can make a donation straight on that webpage. Our biggest need right now is with the residential home and the daycare center. So if anyone feels led to sponsor a child, once we get that donation I can email a specific child to them so that they can read about them and continue to pray for them, and I will go ahead and send pictures and updates throughout the year so that they can learn about their child and how they're doing and how they can pray for them further.

Speaker 3: 21:43

Amen, that's actually. I think Katie might've told me about that, but for some reason that it seems like news to me. I didn't realize we could even sponsor some of the kids there. You know the sponsor the kids. That's awesome. So, yeah, I'm gonna look into that myself, Cause that's I mean, I put it this way, I know all the kids there and they're all superheroes. And for you guys to share the gospel and the hope, that's the key, the hope of Christ to a young world. It just makes all the difference in the world. You know, it makes the difference between somebody being either a criminal or just someone with no hope compared to someone with hope. It's just a different type thing. So, yeah, I'll put a link up so people can they wanna go to hands of providenceinternationalorg and I'll put a. I thought it would be Mayor Plattore of Maliche, I thought that would be the website, you know. But we have bigger plans for Plattore. We're gonna make it. I think we have a better team, Prime minister.

Speaker 2: 22:46

What you saying. I think we have a better king than the mayor or the prime minister. Yeah, we do.

Speaker 3: 22:51

Yeah, that's okay, I'm the president.

Speaker 2: 22:54

I still wanna be, I'm gonna be your campaign manager.

Speaker 3: 22:56

We're gonna get you to be a prime minister of.

Speaker 3: 22:59

Albania. Yeah, okay, so that's what we'll do. And number one, though, that every single person listening like everybody listening to this program can do, is they absolutely can pray and lift up the work that's going on in Albania. Lift up Nicole and Plattore, lift up the residential house. You know the home and the work that's going on. That's something that everybody can do. And then, if the Lord puts it on your heart, if you wanna stand in the gap and stand with these guys, by all means reach out. You can shoot me an email, a me and Katie an email here, if you can't get in contact with them or go directly to handsofprovidenceinternationalorg, and if you have any issue connected with them, you let me know and we'll get you connected. I have their phone number. Yeah, so is there anything else? Am I forgetting anything else? Cause it's a different time zone and I had a long play last night, so I don't know if I'm thinking straight. Are we forgetting anything else?

Speaker 2: 23:58

You. I would love people to pray for our evangelical team that goes in different villages and share the gospel with the children and people door to door, with a group of six evangelists that goes every day and share the gospel with people and give them Bibles. Pray for our day and residential house.

Speaker 3: 24:21

Hold on one second, don't move off of that too. I forgot about that's right. You guys have. You have guys and girls that are going out. We go in the house folks that are going out into these different villages and bringing food and bringing the gospel to people every day.

Speaker 4: 24:38

Every day evangelical teams.

Speaker 3: 24:41

Wow, wow, that's actually Pray for this group. Yes, you guys, I tell you what all the listeners you absolutely can be involved in that. You can be involved in that by praying for the group and praying for them to have success, and praying that the Lord would soften the hearts of the people that they speak to and that they would be able to see a harvest. It's difficult a lot of times when all you do is plant seeds and you never get a chance to harvest. It is such a joy to actually lead somebody after a lot of the work's been done when the Lord's worked on them to lead them to Christ. So pray for these young people to have a harvest. Anyway, plattar, you keep going. I didn't mean to cut you off.

Speaker 2: 25:19

No problem, my brother. We pray for our vision to be fulfilled, to feel it by God. We have a vision, one village at a time, one town at a time. We want to see a church in 98 villages in town. We already are seeing church plantings and churches in nine villages in town, but we still are far away from our goal and I think God, who started this good work, is going to finish one day, because it's not our power, it's the power of God.

Speaker 2: 25:47

Gospel is the power of God for salvation. It's supposed to be in Romans. And also pray for the Dacar Center and the residential house, especially for our staff that will be mothers and fathers, for those who never had a mother and father in their in their life. I pray that God will be providing for our Dacar Center and residential house because every day we have, we have seen a miracle, like God provided every day the food of those centers and has been like miracle every day to see it with our own eyes and sometimes I remember me George Mueller often edges when he fit like thousands of children, and every day someone donates.

Speaker 2: 26:26

Something is like that even today, and we need for people with a good art. We are not looking for treasures. We are looking for people who are willing to help in this ministry to see the life of those children change, and even if they cannot give, they just can give the heart and hold us in our prayer, in their prayer. Yes, sometimes prayer is more important and more powerful. It's only God. God can change the story. God can change the history of this country too. It's only by him, not by us.

Speaker 3: 26:59

Amen, amen, well, okay, well, thank you, thank you guys so much. I tell you what let's. Let's do this again. We'll schedule another one just to get an update and see how things are going, because we want to, we want to partner with you guys as far as just continue to get the message out and what's happening, because there are people that are, I know for a fact, people that listen to this radio program, that are invested in prayer for you already, and they love hearing reports from from what's going on. So we will be back with you and I'll make sure we put links up so that if anybody wants to get involved at another level, by all means let the Lord lead you in that and we will. And Merry Christmas and happy, blessed New Year to you guys. The newlyweds, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:44

Merry Christmas to you too.

Speaker 3: 27:46

That's right, and do me a favor. Let everybody know, mario and all of them, let the whole family know we said hello, leo and and gain on all my boys. You know golly, all everybody. Let everybody know I said hello, we said hello. We miss them and Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Hope to see them soon.

Speaker 1: 28:05

Thank you All right, merry.

Speaker 3: 28:07

Christmas. Amen. Okay, we love you much. God bless you guys. Thank you guys. Amen, amen. Yes, like I said in the interview, there will be links that we're going to put up so that, if the Lord puts on your heart that you want to be involved. This is the last days y'all Not too much times left. So I'm encouraging you to be involved in the Lord's work because that's something you'll be able to look back from glory and be proud of. Yeah, one person comes to the Lord man. All heaven just breaks out into rejoicing.

Speaker 3: 28:48

So that is Nicole Plator and Nicole Colacu, and Nicole and Plator. We were blessed enough to go to their wedding in Albania and it was absolutely fantastic. Maybe we'll get them to tell their story the next time we have them on on the program. It's all the time we have for 2023,. You guys, lord willing, we'll be back in 2024. And thank you for all your support and thank you for listening. Until next week, next year, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.