Board Members

God has assembled a diverse and talented group of people to shepherd this ministry, each one of us from different backgrounds and different regions of the United States, but each one of us united in purpose.

“To plant and establish healthy growing churches in the nation of Albania and beyond.”

Dan Peterson
President of Illyricum Movement

Dan, husband of Deb, father of Kate and Daniel, and grandfather of four, is a pastor of St. Lucas Community Church in Lake Elmo, MN.  He enjoys fishing, hiking, basketball, and reading and watching true inspiring stories. One of his favorite verses is Revelation 5:9 – And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by our blood you ransomed people from God from every tribe and language and people and nation…”  Albania is one of those nations and he is glad to be a part of the Illyricum Movement.  Dan and his family live in Minnesota.

Lindsey Williams
Vice President of Illyricum Movement

Lindsey is the Head Pastor of Midtown Community Church in Raleigh, NC. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997.  After working for IBM, he received his Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary.  After serving as the associate pastor at Uptown Church in Charlotte for 5 years, he moved to Raleigh to plant Midtown Church. Lindsey and his wife Kara have been married 14 years, and have 3 children.

Robert (Bob) Cordell
Treasurer

It has been my privilege to assume the role of the Illyricum Movement (IL US) treasurer since mid-2016. I served as treasurer for a church for over twenty years. I worked in a medical office for six years doing billing and payroll and other accounting work. I have taught high school math and science, worked in a medical office doing accounting work, and I was a Child Protective Services social worker for the state of Washington for 28 years. I have been married for 45 years and have three adult children and one grandchild. I live in north Seattle..
 

Thomas G. Adair
Board Member

Thomas is a fellow believer in Jesus Christ, having asked Jesus to be Lord and Savior of his life as a youth. He is a member of Trinity Community Church and is married to Diane Adair. Thomas and Diane have two adult children. Thomas believes that the Illyricum Movement is strategically positioned for the advancement of the Kingdom. He has known Edi and Bona Demo for many years and is a long time supporter of their ministry. He and his wife have hosted meetings in their home to expose many others to the ministry in Albania. He is honored to serve on the Board for the Illyricum Movement. Tom and his family live in California.

Trina Hottes
Board Member, Washington

Trina Hottes was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She became a Christian as a young child, and when she was in seventh grade she read some articles about communism and atheism in Albania.  The Lord moved her heart to begin praying for Albania. She jumped at the opportunity to go to Albania in 1999 and show the Jesus Film in rural villages with Albanian college students from the local Campus Crusade for Christ ministries in Albania. She went again the next summer, and was on a ministry team with Edi Demo, who later went into full time ministry and began Illyricum Movement. Trina was working at Boeing as an engineer at the time, and got married to Chris Hottes in 2004.  Chris and Trina now have four children, and Trina works in asset management, homeschools the children and enjoys gardening and reading in her spare time.

JD Hamby
Board Member

JD Hamby graduated from North Carolina State University in 2015 from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. A native North Carolinian, he currently resides in Raleigh working for Restoration Systems, LLC as a project manager overseeing stream and wetland restoration sites across the state. JD first met Edi while he was visiting his hometown in 2011 and has been following Edi’s ministry at the Illyricum Movement ever since then. Travelling to Albania himself for the first time in 2018 allowed JD to truly appreciate the great opportunity to bring the hope and peace of Christ to a land that can be lacking in both. That trip, and a return trip the following year, placed the country of Albania forever in his heart. Now serving on the board supporting the work being done in not only Albania, but also Mongolia and Kosovo, his prayer is to witness and be amazed at the great things the Lord is doing among the peoples there. JD attends Holy Trinity Anglican Church where he is involved in the Men of the Church and Young Adult ministries. He also co-leads a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) discussion group for young adults with his fiance, Shanley every Tuesday evening. They plan to be married in June of 2020 and they live in North Carolina.

Eduart and Valbona Demo
Children: Noel and Sion

Under communism we both grew up thinking that there was no God. After Communism fell in 1991, we both learned that we came from a muslim background. When I (Eduart) was exposed to the Gospel for the first time, I was skeptical about the resurrection of Jesus which I had never heard before. I wanted to know God and thought my background religion would help me. But I became more attracted to exploring the truth of the death and resurrection of Jesus. In 1993 I became totally convinced of this truth and surrendered to Him totally. I (Valbona) heard the message about Jesus at school when some missionaries spoke to our class. I was deeply moved by the great message and was ready to respond to it immediately, knowing I would face many difficulties in the coming years with my parents for changing my faith. As a couple we have been in full time ministry since 2001. It is a great joy to spend our lives telling others about the Gospel as we plant and establish churches. 

Saimir and Enkela Braho
Children: Adriel, Anja and Aron

We were both professionals in acting and singing. Our career was our god. In 2001 I (Saimir) was disappointed by artistic success and tried to find meaning and happiness in my life. In the same year I (Enkela) started to question the importance of having a good artistic career. When we both heard the Gospel, we realized who the real God was, where we as sinners were destined for eternity and what Christ did on the cross for our salvation. We believed in the Gospel and since 2001 we have been serving Him. We were married in 2003 and we have been involved in the local and national ministry of the Gospel since 2004. It is our joy to serve Him in evangelism and establishing churches in our country.

Rodolf and Oli Tahip
Children: Esther and Noel

The very first time I (Rodolf) heard about Jesus and his redemption story was when I was 9 years old, when in our neighborhood a group of missionaries from the USA had come to a house nearby my house and were sharing the story of Jesus, but it was not the time when I got converted to a Christian. After few years I was invited by a friend to go with him in a church, I was paying attention to the teaching and I understood that I was not a good boy but a sinner that needed a savior. So I repented of my sins and I got baptized in 1999. 

I (Oli) also came to know the Lord Jesus through missionaries who invited my family to come to church. I got saved when I was ten years old. We are very thankful to our Lord and Savior for His miraculous work on our behalf that he saved us from the sin and its penalties from a young age. We are hoping and praying that God will help us and be gracious with us that we may bring our children to Christ for His glory and honor.

Artur and Teuta Lelaj
Children: Artens and Isabel Tiara

I (Artur) had been living under the Communist regime, for twenty years, as an atheist. I was exposed to the gospel for the first time in 1992; I understood it intellectually but not in my heart. Seven years ago, God brought the gospel to our family through our son Artens, who was going to participate in a summer camp. Because of that summer project my wife and I heard the gospel, repented and believed. Today I have the privilege of leading the same Church now, as a Pastor and my wife helping ladies to know Jesus. We are changed by the grace of God.

Marsel & Denila Lela
Child: David

I (Marsel) was brought up by a Muslim father and a Catholic mother. I had some knowledge of both the Bible and the Quran since I was a child. And I (Denila) come from a Muslim family.

In 2014, we both wanted to improve our English. We heard about an English course offered by one of the Illyricum Movement Church plants and we decided to attend. There we were exposed to the love of people toward us as well as the message of Christ. During that time we received the answers for questions that we had about the purpose of life. We both repented and believed. After a wonderful six-year journey with God, since December 2019 God has given me the privilege of serving as an elder in the same Church in which I got saved.

Fabian and Jona Tozharaku
Children: Rona, Noe and Sea

The first time I (Jona) heard about Jesus Christ was in my neighborhood at the age of 6. Then a year later the friend of my mum who introduced me to Christ took me to church. I was the first one from my family to go to a Church. Later, my sister and my mother joined my Saturday trips to Church Service. My father was the hardest to accept our Christian faith because he came from a strong Muslim background. But prayers have the power to bring change even if it takes 15 years. 

It wasn't until i reached the age of 21 when I fully decided to follow Christ my entire life. That day would mark the start of a new beginning, with lots of storms ahead but with a deeper closer relationship with Christ. To this day, I am grateful to our Potter who never gives up on me.

Lefter Roko

I (Lefter) come from a Muslim background, and it was the mid 90s when I heard about the gospel for the first time. It was a time that I was searching for meaning in my life, and when the gospel was presented to me it was exclusively good news to me.

But as time passed by, my heart was convinced and I repented of my sins and found new life in Christ Jesus.

Xhevat & Valentina Bytyqi

Coming from a Muslim background, as a child, I started to go to a Mosque in my village. There I learned to recite Muslim prayers even though I was not a very dedicated Muslim. At the age of twelve, I started to attend a Christian church because some of my friends went there. I kept going at church to have a good time with my friends and do various activities for children. Soon, I started attending Bible study with the missionaries. I did not understand a lot about Christianity and was not a believer, but the people in the village started to call me a Christian just because I was going to a church, and I liked that.I had a hard time understanding how the man Jesus could also be God and my brother, being a Muslim, made sure to give me enough arguments to prove that Jesus was only a prophet sent by God. Being convinced that this was true, I stopped attending the church and thought Christians were wrong about Jesus. One day, the pastor of that church invited me again to Church service. I was still believing that Jesus was only a prophet until I read the verse from John 8:58 where Jesus says “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Then, I read in John 14where Philip asked Jesus, “Show us the Father and it is enough for us.” And Jesus answered: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus was more than a prophet. The moment I repented and began to believe the Gospel was when I understood that I could not save my life just by doing good deeds. I had to accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. As I studied the Bible, it began to make more sense to me why Christ is the only way to salvation.

Call to Ministry

When I received my salvation, I began to feel a burden for my family and my friends because I wanted them to know Christ and be saved. As one day, we were doing a Bible study in a field near my village, I was thinking to myself, “When can I be in this position to lead others to Christ? When can I disciple other people?” Then, two years ago, I finally had the privilege of leading a Bible study with some young people in that very same place. I understood that this is what I would like to do with my life. I see a great need for the gospel to be preached in the villages around, a need to plant new churches and to teach sound doctrine according to Scripture. But most of all, I have a passion to see Kosovars come to Christ and be saved so they can worship Christ who alone deserves to be worshiped.

Merita Binaku

I grew up sometimes going to the Catholic Church, but over time I was becoming an atheist. I was not happy with many things in life. This viewpoint was strongly challenged when I started to go to an evangelical Church with the purpose of improving my English. As I got to know the people there and I heard more about the Lord, I came to understand more about who Christ is and how to have a personal relationship with him. For some years now I have found the meaning of life and I am so thankful to Christ.