To be part of the Authentic Leadership seminar was a blessing for us. We started and finished our studies at ISTL with this course. It has been a great blessing to learn so much, and to feel the many things the Spirit has revealed to us throughout this seminar.

It has revealed to us areas in our lives that are weak and empty, and others where we are doing things wrong; it has revealed to us which identity we tend to resemble with and which one we should actually be. We have discovered what our identity in Christ as the Father and the Son should be, and that we sometimes forget this, and instead focus on things that are of no consequence in life. It was a blessing when we learned about Zoe, an abundant life according to the life of Christ, which we pray to live daily.

We learned that while seeking our own peace we made dealings with Satan, forgetting that true peace can only be found in God.  One of the things we really liked was the knowledge of inner emotions. In Albanian culture, we are not used to sharing our emotions; instead, we suppress them in silence, we hide them in our hearts until there is nothing but anger. We feel Authentic Leadership has helped us to acknowledge our emotions, and not to ignore them. To accept them as a gift from God, to discover what is hidden (AL).

And what about the Spiritual Gifts? “Even as for the spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 12: 1). It was indeed a revelation to understand that, in addition to spiritual gifts, we should pay attention to the non-spiritual gifts, especially when there is a lack of maturity, or when the identity of the heart is not that of a Son or Daughter.

The professor gave us a chance to put our own title to this session and we called it “Be Wise and use your Gifts right”. We know that what we have learned in the Authentic Leadership seminar is just the beginning of a lifelong process. We know that our aim in life is to strive to be like Christ.

The last session is titled “Jesus is our life”, and we have understood the full meaning of this sentence. We will embrace and hold fast to this it until eternity, because Jesus is our life. “How much the Father has given us He has given us His full self-poured out on us because of His great love” (Colossians 1: 26-27) … Amen.

Thank you Wes Boldt, Paul Pascoal and Dan Rossi for writing and presenting in Albania for us, for this curriculum which is such a blessing in the life of a believer, we thank God for you and pray for you.

Blessings and endless respect for you all. With love from Albania,

Genta Manxhari, 26, Language Teacher
Albano Manxhari, 31, Non-Commissioned Officer (Drone Operator) with the Albanian Army