Mehmet Sopaj, a former history professor in Pristina, Kosovo's capital city, had established a congregation there, as well as others in Sallagrazhde and Suhareka, before being forced to flee to Albania.

Urs Schweizer, the secretary to United Methodist Bishop Heinrich Bolleter, met with Sopaj during a May 13-17 visit to refugee areas in eastern Albania. Bolleter, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is head of the church's Central and Southern Europe Area.

While Sopaj has had no contact with any church members from Pristina, he has found 10 families from the other two congregations whom "he now regularly visits," Schweizer said in a May 25 telephone interview. The bishop's office donated funds to buy medicine, food and clothing for Sopaj to distribute among the families.

Sopaj also has established relationships with six Muslim refugee families. "He feels responsible for them and he helps them," Schweizer said.

The Kosovar lay preacher and six family members are sharing a three-room house with an eight-member Muslim family. He would like to return to Kosovo as soon as possible, Schweizer noted, but is not confident that Serbs and Albanians will be able to share a country again.

"He said he prays every day for them (Serbs)," Schweizer added. "He even prays for (Serb President Slobodan) Milosevic."

During his visit to Albania, Schweizer toured a refugee camp in an old factory in Pogradec and met members of a United Methodist congregation in the mountains. The Rev. Freider Weinhold, a United Methodist pastor from Wismar, Germany, established that congregation. European Methodists have been assisting refugees in Albania through a humanitarian organization run by Weinhold and the city of Wismar, Bolleter said. They also are coordinating efforts with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and its ecumenical partner, Action by Churches Together (ACT).

"We've had a very good response from all of the European Methodists in regard to the crisis in the Balkans," said the bishop, noting that $250,000 had been raised so far from those churches.

The real need among refugees will come once they are placed in more permanent living situations for the winter, he said. ACT is working with NATO to build and staff refugee camps and to provide food for refugees and their host families.

UMCOR has formed a partnership with CitiHope International to address the health needs of Kosovar refugees in Macedonia. Funds from UMCOR will help equip the 230-bed Tetovo Regional Refugee Hospital and provide for two full-time staff.

A refugee trauma relief counseling center will be set up at the hospital to address psychological pain, and local United Methodists in Macedonia will be encouraged to distribute personal hygiene kits to refugees.

UMCOR and CitiHope also are seeking to procure at least $6 million worth of medical supplies and equipment for the refugee camps, to be airlifted to Macedonia in mid-June.

Bolleter pointed to the need to assist Albanians and, especially, Macedonians, who are struggling with the economic impact of an enormous influx of refugees. And he hopes the church will be able to help Serbians recover from the bombings once the conflict has ended.

Methodists are among the church leaders meeting to discuss the Balkans crisis during a May 26-27 conference in Budapest, Hungary. The consultation is organized by the World Council of Churches and Conference of European Churches, in cooperation with the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary.

Kosovar Lay Pastor Reaches Part of Flock in Albania

By United Methodist News Service

A United Methodist lay pastor from Kosovo is continuing to minister to scattered members of his flock, along with other refugee families, during their exile in Albania.