Albania!!

Hey everyone! I wanted to start by saying thank you for all your prayers and support over this last year, I really appreciate it! Knowing I am doing missions full-time, fuelled by the prayer and support of believers, is really special! I also wanted to apologise for the lack of updates. This has been a super busy season for me, but I’m excited to finally share what God has been doing! 

I'm in Albania!! It’s funny, I never chose or particularly wanted to come here (in fact, I cried right before we left in not wanting to go), yet I put it in the hands of God, and it unexpectedly has been so sweet and amazing, and I wouldn't change a thing! Albania is so beautiful and full of life, especially the capital, Tirana, which is a true melting pot of Albanians from all over since so many people come here for work. Our contacts are also the best! True men and women of God who live in such communion with God and each other, carrying the joy and peace of the lord, a heart of compassion, a burden to pray, worship and intercede and living to love and serve this country so well.

There’s a really beautiful and valuable part of God’s heart that is labelled Albania- while small and sometimes so hidden, God loves this land and His sons and daughters. I’m honoured to be here and witness His love at work! 

Ministry

The base here hosts weekly events similar to YWAM Kona—worship nights, intercession, and outreach events—and they’ve been so fun! One cool thing we’ve been doing every Wednesday is “Bless a Neighbourhood.” We gather at a church in a different area, start with worship and prayer, bless the pastors with encouragement, and then go prayer walking and evangelizing in the streets! We typically do this with the two other teams here and our local contacts, and it has been so fulfilling! 

There’s something powerful about inviting God’s presence into these places. A few years ago, the team here set out to do this in every neighbourhood—and they did! They’ve seen the incredible fruit of prayer, worship, and evangelism—hearts softening, the spiritual atmosphere shifting, and the power of God moving! Now, we get to build on that legacy and keep seeing His kingdom advance! 

We’ve also partnered with a couple of churches, which has opened doors for us to serve in worship, preaching, youth groups, kids’ ministry and community centres. And, of course, we’ve spent a lot of time in prayer, worship, and intercession! 

But our biggest focus? Evangelism! Albanian culture is incredibly relational, which means we’ve been able to share Jesus through friendships alongside street evangelism. We’ve encouraged the team to ask the Lord for creative strategies—and it’s been amazing to see what has come out of that! Some fun things we did

• Holding up signs with questions like “What is the purpose of life?” or “Where is hope from?”

• Street worship

• Making prophetic watercolours/ notes and handing them out.

• Praying for healing

• A 12-hour prayer burn

• Prayer walks/ hikes

• Reaching people through social media

• Faith days

• “Night To Shine” (a prom hosted by the Tim Tebow Foundation that celebrates people with special needs, with joy, dignity, and God’s love!)

• We are hoping to put on a revival gathering next week!! 

It’s been so incredible to see people encounter Jesus in so many different ways! 

Leading 

A big part of my role right now is co-leading this team with my amazing co Lexi! That means planning ministry, scheduling, leading intercession, discipling, managing team finances, and so much more. It has been a humbling and stretching experience, but through it all, God has been so good and faithful! 

At the same time, I’ve loved getting to put into practice everything I’ve learned—leading, serving, and working hard. There’s something so fulfilling about pouring myself out for the Gospel and seeing God move incredibly through our obedience! 

The realities of leading an outreach - doing finances and schedules in bed, leading intercession, many screenshots and late night/ early morning co-meetings!

Kosovo!!  

We were given the opportunity to go to Kosovo for a week! As a team, we went with a few of our contacts to connect with missionaries there, establish relationships, encourage them, learn from them, pray and worship together and participate in what God is doing there through evangelism! We did street EV, a late-night street worship session, prayer walks and, again, a lot of prayer and worship. It was super amazing to experience another part of God’s heart labelled Kosovo! It’s always so special to worship in a new place and intercede on their behalf! I have so much faith in what the Lord is doing there and that Kosovo will know the love and truth of Jesus!! 

Our hosts were such amazing families, so on fire for the Lord, with a resounding ‘yes’ to the Great Commission and to see the lost saved and believers activated! They were also super hospitable! Every morning, they would set up a spread of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and biscuits (for our 17-person team and the other families!!) It was a beautiful picture of the love of Jesus.  

Fun fact- these pennies are stuck to the wall purely by the power of God and childlike faith!!

Heart

Lately, the Lord has been reminding me of His perfection—in His character, direction, provision, protection, plan, and timing. So much so that I can't even comprehend or understand that level of perfection. But what I do know is this: I can fully rest and trust in Him. My prayer is that this truth becomes my first thought and response in every situation. 

God has also been showing me the power of worship, prayer, and intercession on the mission field. He calls us to stand in the gap for others—just as Jesus does for us: 

Romans 8:34 – “Christ Jesus… who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” 

Romans 8:26 – “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” 

Through prayer and intercession, we align with God's will, invite His presence, and release His power. It shifts the atmosphere and makes room for Him to move!!

Ezekiel 22:30 shows the impact of a lack of intercession: “I looked for someone to stand in the gap on behalf of the land… but I found none.” 

Israel was deep in sin, and God sought just one righteous person to intercede on their behalf—but He found none. As a result, judgment came, the nation was destroyed, and the people went into captivity. 

What if there had been one, just one person, who would have stood in the gap between God and Israel? Imagine the relief so many could have experienced, the condemnation that could have been spared. 

In Psalm 106:23, Moses stood in the gap- “So, He declared He would destroy them. But Moses, His chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged Him to turn from His anger and not destroy them.” 

Because of one man’s prayers, an entire nation was spared.

He looks for people who will stand in the gap, build up the wall of righteousness, and pray on behalf of nations. 

So, what's next?! 

Great question. I don’t know all the details yet, but I know I’m called to go, and I will keep saying yes! I love missions and plan on doing this for a long time, why? Because I really love Jesus and want everyone to know and love Him too, and to step into the call of God on their lives. I refuse to ever become indifferent to who God is, who I am, the reality of the unreached and the inactivation of believers around the world. I refuse to become complacent or comfortable enough to outgrow my need for God or comfortable enough with the idea there are 3.4 billion people who do not know Jesus. 

Fundraising

But to do this job, I need $2,000 (£1600) in monthly support to cover my living costs, training, outreaches and future opportunities!  God has been so faithful, and I am currently 25% to my goal of monthly support! I’ve been a full-time missionary for a year and a half, living off savings from many different jobs over many years, but now I am relying fully on God and the support and generosity of others to continue this work!

I am looking for people to partner with me monthly to fulfil The Great Commission and make Jesus’ name known to the unreached! Please prayerfully consider partnering with me, and if you cannot and know someone who can, please share this with them!   

I now have a UK missions account that gives me 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate!! (if you are a UK taxpayer). Which makes such a difference!  

Click here: www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/Oliviawarren  

Thank you to everyone who supports me!! It makes more of a difference that you can know! To be able to give my life to see the unreached reached, and believers activated, funded by the prayers and finances of believers, is so amazing!  

Prayer requests:

I would so appreciate your prayers!

• Peace and clarity as I seek God’s direction for my next steps, and that He would make His will clear and that I would step into it with excitement and full faith. 

• Really great, stable, fun, Godly friendships and community wherever I am! 

• Deeper intimacy with Jesus, always. 

• To look like Jesus more every day, with wisdom, grace, patience and joy! 

• God would provide me monthly financial partners so I can continue missions with stability and for the long haul! 

Thank you for being a part of this story and helping sow into my calling, people all around the world, and the Lord’s plan to further the Kingdom.  

I love you all!!  

Olivia