Released by: Rick Kajiura
Phone: +31-30-955-324 (June 29-July 8) or +301-680-6300
Written by: Catia Carvalho Mills
          
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 1995
          
A FAITH THAT CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
          
Utrecht, The Netherlands... Her smile is wide and bright as she glances
at curious faces from her wheelchair.  Her little frail body is
contrasted with the firm and energetic grip of her hand and the
immediate impulse to kiss anybody with whom she.  Behind her
eyeglasses, a pair of eyes tell a long and gripping story of courage
and strength, and at the same time they express innocence and
child-like security.  She likes to smile. The excitement of being in
the midst of a family of believers at the 1995 General Conference
Session can be seen in her happy glow. Meropi Gjika is 90 years old,
and this is the first time she has left her home country of Albania. It
is also the first time she's seen so many of the family of God
together.
	It is sometimes difficult for us to accept that religious persecution
could take place in the Twentieth Century, that intellectually advanced
minds could oppress people just because people don't believe and behave
the way the intellectuals think they ought.  But after almost 50 years
of a communist regime in a self-declared atheist state, where many lost
their lives because of religious convictions, Meropi was one of the
many Albanians that grew closer to Christ in the midst of darkness and
adversity.
	Meropi has quite a dramatic story to tell.  Born and raised an
Albanian Orthodox, Meropi first accepted Christ in the 1930's when
Daniel Lewis, an Albanian living in Boston, Massachusetts, was sent by
the General Conference to spread the Adventist message in Albania.  By
1939 there were five converts who accepted the good news of the Lord's
return and six more who were ready for baptism.  Meropi was one of
them.  For years they had daily Bible studies where Daniel shared his
knowledge of the Gospel truth.
	In 1943 Daniel married Flora Sabatino, an Italian born Adventist.  The
1940s brought the hardships of the war, and even after the war the
liberation didn't bring the peace Albanians desired.  The Stalinist
regime closed the country, and it eventually was declared the "only
atheist state" in the world.  Every type of religion was banned, and
churches were turned into sports stadiums, cinemas, workshops and
warehouses.  Under the Penal Code, the sharing of one's religion
received the harshest punishment.  As a result, Daniel, Flora and their
two children were put in prison, where they were separated.  Daniel was
subjected to physical torture because he would not work on Sabbath, and
the two children were sent to an orphanage.  Meropi recalls taking food
to them in prison, but after she married she and moved away, she never
saw them again.  Daniel Lewis died in prison in 1953.
	In 1991 as communism started crumbling across the globe, and as the
Albanian freely-elected parliament had its first session, Rajmund
Dabrowski and John Arthur were the first Seventh-day Adventists to
visit the country after nearly 50 years of isolation.  They only had
the address of Flora Sabatino Lewis whom they soon discovered lived
with her only daughter (the other child had died years earlier) and her
grandchildren.  As they searched for other Adventist believers that had
remained from Daniel's Bible study group, they found Meropi Gjika.
	The day they met was a very happy one for Meropi.  It was the day she
had waited for nearly 50 years, when she would meet other fellow
believers and talk openly about her faith.  She happily told how
secretly she read the Bible and taught her children Bible verses and to
observe the Sabbath, always in constant hiding from the Secret Police. 
But the culminating part of their meeting took place when Meropi
expressed that one of her greatest desires was to be relieved from the
burden of hiding away her tithe.  She then brought out a plastic bag
from under her bed which contained a "Nipiol" biscottini carton full of
Albanian leke and a few American dollars.  Meropi all these years had
hidden her tithe under her bed despite the hard conditions and even
pressure from her children to use the money for necessities.  The total
amount for 45 years was exactly US$533.89.
	As her children recalled, it was very difficult to be a Christian and
keep the Sabbath when you were in constant fear of the Secret Police. 
Viktor, one of her sons, kept the Sabbath by translating the Bible from
Greek to Albanian.  Meropi never let her children leave the house until
they had read their Bible verse for the day.  Thanas, her other son,
said, "My mother not only translated the Bible verses but she used to
write down her comments and thoughts.  Religion was prohibited and if
anyone should discover these note-books, one for every year, these were
reasons enough to arrest her."
	Meropi today has a happy and healthy glow which doesn't denote a life
of deprivation and suffering, but a faithful walk with God.  He is the
One who kept her strong all these years when it seemed she was the only
one who accepted and knew Him.  The faith of such a devoted lady who
overlooked financial and political obstacles to make sure Jesus came
first was an inspiration to many Adventists in the General Conference
Session.  When congratulated on her amazing faith and dedication to
paying tithe, she simply replies, "Well, isn't that what we all do?  I
simply did what God asks."  Many, with tear-filled eyes, indeed agree,
Yes, that's what we all do.
	                         -end-