Caleb and Haley Patty
Albania | 32937
Our Story
Caleb and Haley moved to Vlorë, Albania in 2017 with a desire to see the Gospel transform lives, families, and neighborhoods. Since the fall of 2023, they have served with Greater Europe Mission (GEM), focusing on equipping everyday disciples to grow in Christ, bear lasting fruit, and multiply into the lives of others.
In 2024 they launched URA, a Mission Outpost designed to bring the presence and love of Jesus into the rhythms of daily life. Through a specialty coffee shop and roastery, URA has become a hospitable, Spirit-filled space where Albanians, Ukrainians, internationals, students, and families experience community, prayer, and a glimpse of Jesus’ Kingdom. The outpost functions as a base for relational evangelism, discipleship, and acts of mercy within the neighborhood.
As URA has flourished, a new organic church community has begun to emerge from the relationships formed there. Caleb and Haley are prayerfully walking with this growing group as it takes shape as a local expression of the Body of Christ.
They live in Vlorë with their three children—Charlie, Jenna, and Wesley—and are passionate about helping people learn to be with Jesus, become like Him, and join Him in His mission.
Where We Work
Vlorë is a vibrant coastal city in southern Albania, known for its long seaside promenade, Mediterranean climate, and a growing blend of Albanian, Balkan, and international influences. Yet beneath its beauty and rapid development, Vlorë carries the weight of significant spiritual, social, and generational challenges. Many families experience economic instability, educational limitations, and the lingering effects of decades of communist atheism that left deep wounds in the nation’s spiritual and relational foundations. Most people have little exposure to the Gospel expressed in everyday life, and many have never seen a healthy, vibrant Christian community up close.
While the city is warm and community-oriented, loneliness, anxiety, and broken family relationships are common. Young people especially feel pressure to leave Albania for better opportunities, creating a sense of transience and uncertainty about the future. Churches exist, but they are few, small, and often stretched thin. Many believers long for deeper discipleship, spiritual formation, and fresh expressions of Christian community that speak to modern life in Albania.
In this context, a place like URA meets a deep and growing need. It offers a welcoming, relational environment where people can experience genuine hospitality, encounter followers of Jesus, ask questions safely, and taste a different kind of community marked by peace, prayer, and love. Through this outpost, discipleship becomes accessible and everyday, and the seeds of a new, indigenous church are taking root—not through programs, but through relationships, presence, and the transforming work of Jesus in ordinary spaces.