Two grants in Albania were awarded for a second time in 2025 due to their impact and results from the previous year.  

With the support of one grant, the Metropolis of Fier is renting storefronts in two locations where there is no Orthodox parish. These storefronts serve as catechism centers, where the Metropolis can offer liturgical services, activities, and programs. In the first year of the project, the Metropolis organized camps for the youth, took excursions to Orthodox sites, celebrated church feast days, and involved children and women in crafts and other activities –– touching the lives of nearly 400 people.  

A report provided by the Metropolis noted, “Groups of women for the first time had an opportunity to meet a priest, see an iconostasis, [and] light candles in these two new centers.”  

In one community, 16-year-old Samuel had a zeal to learn about Jesus Christ. There was no Orthodox church in his community, however. Once the storefront opened, he began attending regularly and did not miss any weekly meetings. He also brought his brother and sister to attend. After several months, touched by the teaching and the love they witnessed, Samuel and his siblings were baptized. 

Through another grant to the Shen Vlash Orthodox Theological Academy in Durres, Albania, students engage in a field catechism program – traveling to villages on the weekend, and leading catechism lessons conducted at churches, schools, summer camps, and centers for disabled children and seniors. Through these lessons, participants prepare for baptism and grow in their knowledge of the faith, while the theological students (who are the future clergy and lay leaders of the Church) gain hands-on experience.  

The grant from the Mission Center not only covers costs of travel and teaching materials, but also continues the works of past Mission Center Missionary, Anastasia Pamela Barksdale, who started the catechism program during her service in Albania.