Valbona is a full-time missionary with Illyricum Movement, serving in Albania. She is married to Edi and they have two teenage children, Noel and Sion. As a family they have been serving for 22 years in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, Turkey, and many other regions, making Christ known by planting and establishing churches.

In the last few years, her kidneys have gradually been losing function and now she needs a kidney transplant. During their visits to Ohio State Hospital last year they found out that her case is complex; Valbona has a 99% chance of rejecting the new kidney due to the extremely high level of antibodies in her blood. Very few hospitals could help her case and Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles is among the few.

The great blessing is that while she was in Ohio State Hospital, 54 Christian believers from all over the USA offered to be kidney donors and were tested to see if they would be a match for Valbona. This was a great testimony, to our family and the hospital, of the love of Christ and we were overwhelmed by the desire of so many brothers and sisters in Christ who sacrificially offered themselves. Through this process, however, no match was found.

Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles has accepted her case and she will go through a process called desensitization, in which the blood is cleaned of antibodies. This is the only way she may be qualified to receive a kidney transplant.

By God's grace, Valbona has kidney donors, but the entire process of desensitization, kidney transplant surgery, and recuperation will cost $700,000. Since Valbona is not a US resident or citizen and because of her preexisting situation, she can't have insurance coverage for her case. Through the generous, sacrificial help of brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been able to secure $300,000. But still, there is an immediate need for $400,000 to be met. Currently, they are located in Los Angeles and have already started the visits to the Cedar Sinai Hospital.

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