SO WHY CORFU??

Some of you may be asking that question right about now.  “Why not stay in Albania and do this retreat center there?”  We have a few reasons for that, so let me share them with you.

Can you hear the waves?

Reason #1 – We wanted to be near the sea. In order for our refuge to be as restful as possible we tried to think of what helps us to rest and relax.  We found that being near the sea – or some other body of water – was very relaxing.  In fact, just watching the water is peaceful.  As we took breaks we caught ourselves just sitting on the balcony watching the water.  Now think about it – when you reflect on your most restful vacations or retreats, how many of them were near water?  See what I mean?  We thought about trying to find something along the Albanian coastline, preferably down in the south of Albania as the water there is much cleaner and it is less developed.  Ideally we wanted something that was easily accessible from anywhere in Albania (since our primary experience has been with workers here).  But the more we learned about buying property here the more we heard that…

Reason #2 –Buying land in Albania can be very difficult!  Buying land or buildings here in Albania can be a real challenge.  First of all, it is hard to find out who actually has the title to the land.  You see, when the communists took power after WW2, they wanted to make some “adjustments” to the class structure, so they confiscated land from the wealthy and forced them to work in communal farms.  Then they took poor villagers and placed them in the properties that belonged to the wealthy.  Once the communist system collapsed 50 years later, it is hard to determine who actually owned the land.  That puts us into a situation where multiple people have “claim” on the property making negotiations very difficult.  Add to that a system that is so corrupt that it is possible for several people to have “legal” documents for the same piece of property.  I heard of one instance in Durres where as many as 7 different people have “fully legal” documents showing they were the owners of one plot of land.  We had no desire to get involved in something that messed up, which led us to realize…

Reason #3 We needed to look outside of Albania. We talked and thought and talked some more.  We have had the pleasure of hosting the AEP Conference the last several years and a couple of those have been held in Montenegro.  Montenegro has a stunning coastline with incredible clear water and gorgeous mountain ranges. It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. However, prices there are really high – they are pushing it as a big tourist destination and the prices reflect that.  Additionally, we would, more than likely, have to learn another language – Serbian/Montenegrin – in order to fully function there.  You can understand how the thought of learning another language was less than thrilling to us.  So we started looking south instead.  When we did we saw that…

Reason #4 Corfu speaks English! Because of its history, and because it is also a major tourist destination, almost everyone on Corfu speaks at least some English.  English nobility has had a presence there for generations and English tourism is a large part of the island’s economy.  We will probably still need to pick up some Greek since that is the primary language, but we will still be able to get along nicely without it.  That also means that those who come to visit will not have any issues getting around on the island using only English.  Ask any missionary what contributes to culture stress and they will tell you that one of the factors is language.  When you don’t know the language, can’t read the signs, can’t ask for help, etc, the stress level rises pretty quickly.  Being able to get around easily in English will help make this retreat center more restful.

Reason #5 The Greek Economic Crisis.  Just in case you missed it in the news, Greece is experiencing a major economic crisis.  Rather than go into detail here, suffice it to say that this is creating a large market for properties as people are trying to get rid of tax liabilities or are facing personal financial difficulties and need to liquidate their property holdings.  We have heard stories that many foreigners who had retired to Corfu have found that they could no longer afford to maintain multiple residences and have decided to leave the island.  Because of this it is somewhat of a buyer’s market for properties right now.  Cindy has been diligently searching online listings for properties and flagging those that looked like possibilities and we recently made a quick trip down to look at 3 of them.  Before we tell you about that though we need to point out that…

Reason #6 Corfu is very accessible!  Virtually anyone serving in Albania can get to Corfu in less than a day.  Particularly in the middle months of the year (April through October) there are budget airlines that fly into Corfu from all over Europe and the Mediterranean basin opening up the possibility to serve literally thousands of Christian workers.  Now not everyone will need a place like ours, but for those who do need it, it will be pretty easy for them to get to us.  Even in the winter months there are daily ferries from Italy or the Greek mainland as well as flights from Athens and other parts of Europe, just not quite as often.  For those who come from places that are less developed, Corfu has great infrastructure – good roads, good electricity, and some American restaurants (McDonalds and Pizza Hut) for a little taste of “home”.

Hopefully, this will help you to understand more of our reasoning for choosing Corfu.  In the next post, I will tell you about a particular property we are looking into – we don’t know everything we need to know about it yet, but we are in the process of finding out what we can.  Even if this does not end up being the property we are able to purchase, it can serve as sort of a model for what we would like to have and how it could be used.