We want to introduce you to a wonderful worship and arts ministry based in Albania and reaching out to the Balkans and beyond. Engage Worship have been journeying with Selah WAM for 10 years. We want to make people in the UK and beyond aware of their work so that you might be encouraged, pray for them and perhaps even show them your support.

Selah is run by Arben (Beni) and Irma Xhako (right side of photo), who were born and raised in Albania. Initially they worked planting churches, but in 2011 they felt a call to help their nation find their worshipping voice and raise up generations of worship leaders for the future. They have given their lives to this vision through the ministry of Selah and have lived by faith for over ten years. They are joined by their children and other volunteers and partners.

Their ministry resources Albania and also reaches out to other Balkan countries, including Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro. Their work includes:

  • Running training for churches in music and worship.
  • Putting on conferences and worship camps.
  • Hosting regional worship nights and leading worship for events.
  • Setting up a residential School of Worship (read more about their activities here).

It is amazing to see the amount of worship training and leading Selah does - take a look at their Blog for the string of dates they have coming up! 

This is all the more remarkable when you consider that Albania has only been free from a severe communist dictatorship since 1991. The church in Albania has very little historic root and minimal financial backing. Beni and Irma live by faith and trust in God to provide for them and their dreams for this ministry.

Back in 2014 Sara and Sam went out to teach at a Selah worship camp. We were bowled over by the welcome, the passion of the worshippers and the vision Selah has for the future. Since that time, our charity Music and Worship Foundation (which oversees Engage Worship) has been supporting Selah with regular financial gifts. We also have plans to go out to Albania again in the near future.

We'd love to ask three things of you:

The third point is one we can't stress enough. In the UK, churches will pay Engage Worship to come and put on training. We can easily sell books and resources, and we're blessed to have people giving regularly. In Albania churches generally cannot afford to pay for training. Selah cannot sell resources in the same way and there is only a small number of dedicated financial supporters. The vision is exciting, the need is great, please consider giving.

Selah has a Stewardship account and a board of trustees meaning that you can trust your money will be delivered safely and used wisely. We are excited to see what God does through Selah in the years to come!