Mission

Albanian Health Fund is a Christian organization that exists to glorify God through compassionate, quality healthcare and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Albania.

Vision

Albania transformed for Christ through Christian healthcare professionals.

For much of the 20th century, Albania was one of the most isolated and repressive nations on earth. Under a harsh communist regime, religion was outlawed, churches were closed, and the country was cut off from Western medical knowledge and resources. By the early 1990s, Albania’s healthcare system was antiquated and under-resourced, and its people were spiritually hungry. Few had ever heard the Gospel. In 1991, as communism collapsed across eastern Europe, Albania cautiously reopened its doors. It was in this moment — one of deep need and historic opportunity — that God began the important work that would one day become the Albanian Health Fund.

The earliest spark came through an unexpected conversation involving Robert McFarlane of Canada, then head of a Canadian Christian health relief organization, who was urged to bring humanitarian medical aid into Albania. In a remarkable turn of events, the Albanian Minister of Health gratefully received this aid, stating with tears in his eyes that no one had ever helped Albania before without expecting something in return. Soon after, McFarlane was invited not only to return, but to reopen churches and even read Scripture publicly from the same platform where Albania’s dictator had once declared God dead. Recognizing the profound needs of the country, Albanian leaders asked a simple but urgent question: “Could you bring doctors to help us?”

The request led to Dr. William “Bill” Johnson, a Christian physician with a lifelong calling to medical missions. In November 1991, Dr. Johnson paid an exploratory visit to Albania and found physicians eager to learn, students desperate for modern training, hospitals lacking basic equipment, and people hungry for hope. In March 1992, Dr. Johnson led the first medical teaching team to Tirana and that same year, AHF hosted Albania’s first-ever medical-surgical conference. AHF was formally established in 1992 by Bill and his wife Bobbie Johnson as a vehicle to serve Albania through medical education while openly and unashamedly sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From the beginning, AHF focused not only on improving clinical skills, but on shaping the hearts of healthcare providers. Conferences combined professional instruction with ethical teaching, friendship evangelism, worship, and prayer. Albanian physicians and students encountered not a denomination, but the living reality of the Body of Christ working together in love. In 1995, a student program was launched, eventually leading to separate annual student conferences held each spring. These gatherings brought together students from medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health fields for hands-on training and Gospel-centered teaching. Over time, hundreds of students made commitments to Christ through these conferences. Many are now physicians, professors, clinic leaders, and Christian servants throughout Albania and beyond.

AHF’s ministry has extended well beyond conferences. Over the decades, the organization has:

• Established a Christian medical library near Tirana’s University Hospital
• Donated vital medical equipment, including endoscopic systems
• Provided up-to-date medical texts where none existed
• Supported Albania during national crises, including the Kosovo refugee emergency of 1999
• Built enduring relationships with hospital leaders, universities, and government officials

Today, more than thirty years later, the Albanian Health Fund continues the mission it began with: to glorify God by equipping healthcare professionals and proclaiming Christ. What began as a small step of faith has become a multi-generational ministry, shaping both the practice of medicine and the eternal destinies of countless individuals.

To God alone be the glory.