Zefjan Nikolla is a pastor and the General Secretary of IFES in Albania. He is also the Executive Director of the Albania Leadership Forum.
When did you trust Christ?
I decided to trust and follow Jesus as a freshman at university. I joined an International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) group that was studying the Gospel of Mark. I had many questions about the existence of God, pain, suffering, and more. It was not until I found satisfactory answers to my most profound life questions that I trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. My life has not been the same since.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
Some defining moments have been my participation in the IFES student group in Albania, my involvement in the local church that I pastor, my Bible reading and study, many Christian brothers and sisters in my life, and good Christian literature.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
Through the Cultural Apologetics Year-Round Mentoring, I expect to grow in my apologetic skills. I expect to learn about current cultural issues and strategies to grow and help others grow in defending the faith. I hope to be challenged to read and study more about effective evangelism and how to present the faith in meaningful and helpful ways. I want to gain a deeper understanding of the issues of the day and how to respond to them. As a result of attending the Forum, I have been better equipped and trained to be effective in my ministry leadership roles. I have received great resources. The Forum has also given me a lot of encouragement, partnerships, and a greater vision of God's work in Europe.
What is your ministry?
I am the General Secretary of IFES Albania, a student ministry present in nine cities nationwide. I am also the senior pastor of Emanuel Evangelical Church in Tirana, one of the first churches that started in Albania after the fall of communism in 1991. I am also the Executive Director of the Albania Leadership Forum, an ELF initiative that began in 2019. I am involved in national and regional initiatives to train university evangelists and preachers. I am interested in apologetics because I lead an evangelistic student ministry. In the student ministry, apologetics is extremely important. Young people, and especially students, are open to the Gospel, but they have a lot of questions about the faith. It is usually a long process of questions and answers that leads to their conversion.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
I have served on staff with BSKSH, been involved in youth and pastoral ministry, and worked as an interpreter / translator for various Christian events and books. I have also been a board member for several major Christian organisations, such as the European Evangelical Alliance, the European Youth Network, and the Wilberforce Foundation.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
Someone should invest in my ministry because I believe it's strategic. The ministry God has entrusted to me includes working with students who are the leaders of tomorrow. The local church ministry context is very challenging as we mostly evangelise and disciple people from a Muslim background. The other aspect of my ministry has to do with leadership development, which is a real need in our country.
