Media Matters

Lately, the Church in Albania has been blessed with excellent coverage by the media. In December, Sister Shupe gave a half-hour television interview about the symbols of Christmas, and even though she was not supposed to talk directly about the church, the television camera zoomed in on her missionary tag as she spoke. There were newspaper articles and television coverage about the church donations to flood victims in Shkoder in January. When the Snow's, our humanitarian aid couple, met with Dr. Berisha at a convent and home for older women in March to deliver wheelchairs, the television cameras and newspaper reporters were there.

Last week a reporter from Top Channel, the most watched television channel in Albania, showed up unexpectedly in the mission office, and inquired about doing a report on our church to include in a series on small churches in Albania.

The reporter wanted to begin almost immediately, so our assistants scrambled to find a family that could demonstrate a Family Home Evening that night, and arranged the next day for some elders and the Grimci's, long-time members who help with public relations for the church here, to be interviewed. This is the result of that filming and interviews.

While the film editor cut all testifying by the Veliu family, and also the personal interviews, we are happy that the final result was positive toward the church. The missionaries pictured are Elder Monson and Elder Dittmer.