Josh & Ali Reeve: From SMBC to Albania

Josh and Ali Reeve came to SMBC already with a heart for Albania, and particularly children living with disability. After completing their studies, Josh continued on to research and write his PhD on the Bible’s perspective on disability. Josh and Ali, with their four children, are now serving with ECM in Southern Albania.

On first moving to Albania they focussed on church planting and disability ministry. This has expanded to teaching and mentoring at the Crossroads Bible School – a Bible school in a cross-cultural mission setting.

“SMBC prepared us for ministry in almost every way imaginable”

The teaching and mentoring they received at SMBC equipped them for global mission and now informs their ministry in an under-resourced, post-communist part of the world. By God’s grace, they are starting to see the gospel changing lives in a difficult mission field.

Josh shares –

“SMBC prepared us for ministry in almost every way imaginable. Living cross-culturally, every day we’re using principles that we learnt here at SMBC in terms of discerning between things that are matters of core gospel importance and doctrine, and matters that are simply cultural.”

“The friends that we made at SMBC are friends for life. We were there for all the important stages of each other’s lives.”

“We studied together, we did missions together, we learnt to preach and teach together, we started our families together at the same time. And then of course we’ve been going into ministry in different parts of the world and supporting each other, praying for each other in those ministries.”

Ali reflects on her time at SMBC –

“I enjoyed it so much… that sense of community, I think was the main thing for me.“

“I find classes so interesting and just loved being in lectures, but also I think I appreciated their grace and compassion so much. Some of them have even been to visit us in Albania and there’s a sense of continued encouragement, like it doesn’t stop when college finishes.”

“There are over 3 billion people in the world still unreached with the good news of Jesus”

Albania is a Muslim majority country, with less than 0.6% Evangelical Christians. Over 96% of the population are considered ‘minimally reached with the gospel’ (according to Operation World and Joshua Project).

There are over 3 billion people in the world still unreached with the good news of Jesus. SMBC exists to see thousands of graduates share the light of Jesus to a dark and needy world.

We are thankful for our students and supporters who have a heart for SMBC and partner in this vision, to see God’s kingdom grow.

“I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6