God's Secret Listener: The Albanian army captain who risked everything

by John Butterworth

Enver Hoxha, Albania's dictator during the Communist era, proclaimed his country the world's first atheist state. Meanwhile Captain Berti Dosti, one of the elite team monitoring Albania's borders for American incursions, was leaving his country unguarded for 15 minutes a week as he tuned into Christian broadcasts from TWR. Had he been discovered he would probably have been shot. With churches destroyed and Christian leaders executed or jailed, post-Communist Albania with its Muslim heritage was tough ground for Christian mission. But Captain now Pastor Dosti helped to lead the new wave of church planting that has swept the country. Combining integrity with social compassion, he and his colleagues have reached thousands: there is now a church in every major community.

Genres: Christian, History, Biography, Nonfiction

222 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2010

Reviews

[Jonathan Sussex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book which tells a story of how God builds his Church in Albania, despite the fact that its leader Enver Hoxha proclaimed his country the worlds first atheist state. The book gives testimony to how God plans can't be thwarted. It was also good to learn the history of a country i knew nothing about.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and well-written account of the remarkable transformation of one man who listened to Christian radio in "atheistic" Albania and the bigger transformation of Albania itself.
As author John Butterworth relates, Albania's dictator Enver Hoxha infamously declared his country to be the world's first atheistic state in 1967. This got the attention of the Christian media mission agency Trans World Radio (which now usually goes by TWR), which began transmitting its evangelical programs into Albania in 1968 in partnership with the European Christian Mission, ECM. Among those who heard these broadcasts was Berti Dosti, an Albanian army captain whose job as a radio specialist was to monitor the world's airwaves. Soon, he was a faithful, if secret, listener to those 15-minute Christian broadcasts. It was the beginning of a spiritual transformation that culminated in Captain Dosti becoming Pastor Dosti.
If this were just Dosti's story, it would be good enough, but Butterworth packs this short book with one remarkable account after another illustrating how God was at work in a country in which God had been declared dead.
The spiritual hunger that remained in Albania blossomed quickly after the communist government collapsed, and produced delicious ironies. Dosti preached the gospel via radio on a frequency that had been used during the Hoxha regime to promote communist propaganda. A Christian church celebrated its first service on Christmas Day 1993 in a room with an interesting history:

Party officials had used the room where the Christians met in Hoxha's time. Workers came there to study Hoxha's books, to discuss and underline passages, and then to memorize them, finishing by saying praise to Enver Hoxha. Now Christians were using the same room to study God's Word, to discuss and underline passages from the Bible, and to memorize verses, before finishing by saying and singing praises to God.

Full disclosure: I serve with TWR, so perhaps I have a bias in favor of this book. It's not our book, but I've read few works that so clearly illustrate the power of mission-focused media, and particularly radio, to "closed" countries.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I knew absolutely nothing about 🇦🇱 Albania...I think of the Scripture verse in Isaiah 55:11 - "So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

[Adam Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

An inspiring account of God’s work in 20th-century Albania. This wasn't the book I expected it to be - most of it isn't directly about the "secret listener" of the title. Instead, the story of Berti Dosti is the beginning of a wider story about the recent history of the Albanian church, and the work of Trans World Radio and other radio ministries. The book does jump around in time quite a bit, and includes more background info on people than is needed. But as a whole, this is an encouraging read.

Two particular takeaways:

1) Perseverance - European Christian Mission began radio broadcasts into Albania in 1968. The first letter from a listener in Albania arrived in 1991 - 23 years later. We don’t always see the fruit of our work, but God’s word never returns void.

2) Transformation - In 1967, under communist dictator Enver Hoxha, Albania declared itself the world’s first atheist state. Now, Christian messages are broadcast on the same frequency Hoxha used for anti-religious propaganda. All the raging of the nations is ultimately in vain.

[Bekah McFarland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, as biographies are always encouraging. However, this book was so poorly edited and jumbled that it was difficult to keep the timeline, and as well as keep track of the characters. What could have been a heartening biography was lost in the overabundance of unorganized information. Overall the story is inspiring of how the Lord used a Christian radio station to save people in atheist-state Albania, but it could have been a much more powerful and dramatic story had it been edited and organized well.

[Sarah W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a bit difficult to read. One thing I wish I had on hand while reading was a map of Albania and the surrounding areas!
I found some of the story to be overly detailed to the point of confusion. (That's the reason for three stars)
But, the movement from one person's story to another's really showed how God works in every detail all over the globe to gather His people to Himself. Amazing to see all the pieces come together by His hand to bring the gospel back to an atheistic Albania!
I read and reviewed this book for the library at my church.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat difficult to read. The author introduced way too many people and it became confusing who was who and what was being discussed. The blurb on the back of the book indicated it was one man’s life story, yet more was written about a variety of other people and organizations than the man mentioned. The book premise is great, and it draws attention to the overall story and power of God to build His church through adversity.

[Elizabeth Ziegenfus · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing story of God at work in Albania. The story can be a little confusing at times because there are so many people involved. But it is a great testimony of how God works in small ways through ordinary people.

[Deevena Jemima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inspiring book. When God guides, he provides. The beautiful way the radio ministry was set up, the years of not knowing whether anyone was listening in Albania or not...but when each obeyed their call to serve, how wonderfully God used their efforts. Inspired.

[Mike And]

Christianity v Stalinist Communism two ideologies built on faith and maintained through oppression. There is no textbook to life. Unfortunately

[Mel Jaeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it jumped around a lot. Hard to follow as talks about so many different individuals. Still glad I read it. Good to learn about Albania's history.

[Gareth Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took a while to get going but I really enjoyed the second half, which focused more on Berti Dosti and the rise of the Albanian church post communism.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good read especially for those who have an interest in evangelism and missions. An inspirational read

[Melanie Mead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars as I really enjoyed reading it (I was motivated!) but found the writing style quite dry. It's so wonderful to read what God has done in Albania. Not that long ago it was an extremely isolated, atheist country. It's so awesome to read how the Lord reached Berti through Christian radio. Four people from our church went to Albania last summer on a mission trip and connected with Pastor Berti's ministry. Our church is seeking solidify that connection and we are sending a larger team this August. So it was really good to read the back story!

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about Albania and the journey from communism and atheism to being an open country. There were a lot of different people mentioned and it was hard to keep track of them. The book would be much clearer with a map. However, even with these faults, it was an inspiring and interesting story. It is wonderful to see God working to build His church through and during corrupt governments, wars, anarchy, and other difficulties.