As Pastor Jeton quietly speaks, one would never guess the horror he and his people have lived through in this picturesque area of the Balkans. Jeton is a Kosovar Albanian—over 80 percent of the population of Kosovo are Albanian, but in 1998, neighboring Yugoslavian Serbs sought to wipe them from the land. Thousands were slaughtered and over a quarter-million were driven from their homes into Albania during the bloody conflict that pitted neighbor against neighbor,
leaving deep hatred and distrust. Those who fled to Albania received a bleak welcome in a land that had been isolated from the world for decades. While both Albania and Kosovo are predominantly Muslim nations, Albania holds the distinction of being the first nation to officially write a belief in atheism into their constitution as it did in 1967. A dictionary published shortly thereafter doesn’t include the word “God.” He, nonetheless, chose to remain in both countries incognito. READ MORE
