Thanks for your prayers for international military Christians. Below are this week’s prayer items.
Albania:
We are sad to report the death of the MCF of Albania’s founder, BG Spiro Kalemi (shown here). BG Kalemi died over the weekend from complications of several health conditions. Please pray for the Kalemi family – Emanuela Kalemi Haien, his daughter and an ACCTS staff member; his daughter Elda; and his three grandchildren.
We praise God for BG Kalemi’s amazing life and faith in God. Despite living and serving in the military in a Communistic, atheistic nation, BG Kalemi embraced faith in Jesus when he attended a Christian crusade with his daughter Emanuela. He initially attended the event only to protect her, as he wasn't sure what the event was or who the people were. But God touched his heart while there and BG Kalemi accepted Christ as his Savior. They began attending church, and BG Kalemi told his daughter, "We need to do something like this with the military conscripts, because if they learn about Jesus they can return and share Him with their families and friends." Emanuela recalls that in those days they couldn't do any ministry without permission of the government, so her father would go to the Defense Minister's office and sit in front of it, praying and waiting for a meeting with him. BG Kalemi often stayed there until midnight, waiting and praying for an opportunity. Finally he got an audience with the Minister, and BG Kalemi said to him, "I'm here to pray for you." After trust had been built between the two of them, BG Kalemi told the Minister about his vision of going to military bases to hand out Bibles and tell conscripts about Jesus Christ. With the MOD's approval, BG Kalemi and Captain Emanuela Kalemi, with help from their church, began doing just that.
In 1993 the Defense Minister received an invitation to attend a chaplains conference in Hungary, and he appointed BG Kalemi to attend, since he was the only one in Albania doing anything similar to a chaplain's work. Emanuela attended as his translator. While there they met a Norwegian chaplain, who said, "So you began doing this military ministry with no idea other people around the world were also doing it! That's wonderful. You need to get in contact with ACCTS -- they're doing the same thing as you are." Not long after that, an ACCTS staff member visited the Kalemi family and encouraged them in their ongoing ministry.
BG Kalemi's faith in God stayed strong throughout his life, despite suffering many health difficulties and other sorrows. He was a wise, tender-hearted, and visionary leader.
Even in his final days, BG Kalemi was praying faithfully for other people. Praise God for BG Kalemi and others like him who follow God's calling to share Christ with the armed forces of our world!
Coronavirus:
As we continue to pray for our world, which has had over
3.3
million cases of COVID-19 and over 239,000 deaths, please pray especially for the nations which have the most reported cases:
United States (which now is projecting/expecting over 100K deaths), Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia. Turkey, Brazil, Iran, Russia, China, Canada, Belgium, Peru, and India.
Pray for a mighty working of the Holy Spirit worldwide so that people will turn to God with hearts ready to hear from Him. Pray for God’s comfort to be seen and felt strongly among all people who are grieving and worried. Pray for wisdom on the part of all world leaders as they make decisions concerning the virus and how they should respond. Praise God for all those who have recovered; for the doctors, nurses, medical researchers, essential workers, and so many others who are working so selflessly; and for Christians who are sharing Christ’s hope and love. Take a minute to pray for your own nation and the military Christians in it, asking that God give them health, wisdom, and discernment.
Military Ministry Groups:
Pray for wisdom and discernment for all military Christian fellowship leaders worldwide and for the leaders of various organizations which minister to them, including ACCTS, AMCF, MMI (UK), and MSO (South Korea).
Developing military Christian leaders and military Christian fellowships around the world.
