The Lord put Albania on the heart of Najua in the year 1979. She didn`t know anything about Albania, its religion, culture or politics, - nothing at all, but to her it was clear as crystal that God wanted her to come to Albania and so she started to pray specifically for this country. She went to her pastor in Brazil and told him about her calling but he said she could not go there because it was not her calling, (ironically this pastor and his family were from Albania). She prayed until the pastor allowed her to go. Next, Najua met the director of Antioch Mission in Brazil in 1984 and told him about her calling. He immediately said to her, - "you cannot enter that country, even if you do enter there you will die." Najua humbly replied to him, - "It is my calling!"

The mission gave her a scholarship to learn English in the U.K. Antioch Mission had partners in the U.K. from various churches. Antioch missionaries came to learn English and engage in cross-culture mission before they went to the respective countries where God had called them. Nahua spent time in Leamington Spa and Birmingham. Douglas Lewis from Leominster had a particular interest in Albania and arranged a coach tour in 1986 to visit Albania. All the tourists on the trip were Christians and Doug offered a free seat to Najua. This was one of the very first openings to visit Albania which was a closed country since 1945 and the first declared atheistic country in the world. Christians from all over the world were praying for Albania to open up its doors. There were not many places for people to visit because the government did not permit them to see many places or to contact people.

Najua stayed in Kosovo for 4 years where she studied the language, culture and traditions. Kosovo at that time was part of Yugoslavia. She could not live in Albania because of the dictator Enver Hoxha and his extreme communism, he ruled for 40 years and when Albania opened its doors to the world only a handful of Christians remained. Najua proclaimed the Gospel there and served from 1987-1991 with John and Joe Milner and other missionaries. She visited Albania in 1987, 1989, 1990 on short trips.

Najua was among the first missionaries to enter Albania when the boarders were opened on 16 April 1991 and she came to stay in Albania for only 5 days but she stayed permanently, she never went back to Kosovo. Leaving everything there in Pristina she settled in Tirana. It was very hard in the beginning, things which are not possible to explain in a letter. Despite the difficulties she started preaching in the streets and making visits to people in their homes.

Together with John Quanrud she founded the Emmanuel Church in Tirana. After that, Najua planted the church in Kamza in 1992, starting with Children’s Meetings and with a small group of women. In 1997-1998 she and the team from the Kamza church started to plant a church in the village of Valias. Each of these churches is serving the Lord today. Najua was helping a missionary couple to plant a church in Rreshen, the last year of her life.

I first met Najua when she came to the U.K., at that time I was a trustee of Mission Antioch Trust which had been set up to care for Antioch missionaries who came here as a stepping-stone to their respective mission-fields – we provided a base for them to learn English and to engage in cross-culture mission. It was a wonderful partnership and our church provided a house for them in Birmingham which served as their mission base and office. We have many wonderful memories of those fruitful days of co-operation in mission. I visited Antioch Mission headquarters outside San Paulo when Helcio and Angela stayed there and for one month, I visited churches and homes of Antioch missionaries I had come to know in the U.K.

When Najua went to be with the Lord after contacting COVID-19 my son Steve reminded of when we were building the church in Smethwick; Najua was on the building-site and made a model in the building sand of "the praying hands" by Albrecht Dürer (he was an artist and engraver converted through Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation). Najua was a woman of prayer and she was an evangelist. She spoke to everyone about the Lord; she was direct in her approach to people but captivated them with her warm smile and engaging manner. She was such a beautiful personality and she said things that no one else would have got away with! She witnessed to the electrician who came to fix the questionable wiring on her house or the person in the street or shop.

To see her in the church was a revelation indeed. She had planted the church and when I first went over 13 years ago, they were meeting in an old dilapidated building opposite a block of former communist apartments. I noticed the young teenage boys and focused my attention on them. They are married now and working for the Lord in the church. Najua did not only plant the church but she was "hands on" to the very end. The children she won for the Lord were her children, she loved them passionately, she corrected them constantly as any mother would do, - she mentored them, prayed for them and felt responsible for their welfare as if they were her own children, which of course they were! She was dearly loved by her family in the church, in return for her total givenness to them.

There is something very special about the church in Kamza, I am part of their family and dearly loved by them. I remember the early years when I visited with Barbara, I discovered a depth of love and brokenness which bound me to them, they were mostly young people and it has been wonderful for me to see them grow, get married and now having children.

Najua was a single missionary who had been born again and filled with the Spirit in a tide of renewal in Brazil when the Lord was moving powerfully in the country and there was a depth of spirituality which came out of those days when the Holy Spirit was moving. She was a woman of the Spirit and birthed a church where the Lord was very real and where successive generations of children came into the church. It is also true that she began the work not only with children – a work which continues today, but also a group of women she trained to work and to pray.

She was an evangelist with great vision and heart for mission, not only in her church but in Albania, and the surrounding countries. Barbara and I stayed in her home year after year, enjoyed her cooking - Najua was Lebanese and she was a superb cook. She always took us to Durres, where in the Amphitheatre there; it is believed that Titus was martyred, certainly the church in Albania was founded by New Testament apostles and how the enemy has sought to destroy the church in Albania. Najua always took us to the same restaurant on the edge of the sea because the owner was one of her many contacts! Whenever Barbara met the sea on our missionary travels, she always had to paddle in it!

I think what stands out most about Najua was her amazing smile which went from ear to ear and said everything about her: her warmth, her fun, her humour, her winsomeness. How many souls did she disarm by her smile, opening up their hearts to listen to the gospel? I remember when I took my granddaughter Amy from America to stay with Najua how loving she was to her and how gentle and kind. Only by dwelling deeply in the love of Jesus do we see such beautiful fruit manifested in our human nature.

Obviously, in Brazil, Najua was highly regarded and honoured as a veteran missionary and she was relentless in her endeavour to get financial support for the Lord’s work in Albania, not only for the new church building which is now finished – probably the most prestigious church built in recent years in Albania, but Najua also financially supported workers in the church, the church has sent out Jephthed and Liliana as workers in Kosovo. Christa is a single sister who works full-time in the church with Erise who is the pastor and we are praying that Erise’s wife Nila who is a bank manager, will be able to join him as a full-time worker in the church. They have two children, Era who is 10 and Edon who is 2; he is my special friend and I have not been able to stay with them because of COVID-19.

Najua "dwelt deep" in God and it was a great privilege to have enjoyed her friendship, wisdom and love. The dear brothers and sisters in Kamez deeply mourn her departure from them because they were so dearly loved by Najua. The disciples of Jesus must have felt deeply His departure from them but He knew that He must depart to make way for the coming of the Holy Spirit who will initiate a new beginning and empower the disciples to engage in the mission of God.

"Holy Spirit come and fill every vacuum in the church and move amongst us in your power – do among us what only You can do, quicken and activate your gifts and energize your church for mission."

I know there will be friends reading this who have precious memories of Najua and the early days of Antioch Mission and you are very welcome to send your own personal reflections to me by email and I will include them in revised editions of this tribute.