Berti's church reaches out to villagers

It was good to hear yesterday from Berti Dosti about how the Way of Peace Church is helping the villagers of Bitaj, a place that was mentioned in God’s Secret Listener.

The Way of Peace Church is aiming to plant a new church among the 80 families there and is setting up projects for all ages.

Church members and teams from Holland performed Christian dramas to youngsters in the very modern school.

More than 50 women also gathered in two of the classrooms. The first group was taught to use a sewing machine while the second group went to a beauty salon.

Church leaders were touched by the words of 55-year-old Bajame, who said: “I have never had the chance to feel beautiful since I was born. Working in a field every day just for a little food, I had forgotten to look at myself in a mirror. I had forgotten that I am a woman.”

At first some of the women were shy and afraid of the others’ opinions, said Berti, who works for the European Christian Mission. But by the end they understood that God can change them both from the inside and the outside.

A poor family, pictured below, was overjoyed to be given a cow, a gift from the New Day Impact Foundation in Holland.

The father and the youngest son of the family had been ill for a long time, spending many months in hospital which had hit the family hard financially.

They welcomed the cow like a new bride, clapping and hugging each other. Now they will not only have milk, cheese, butter and yogurt, but also a better standing in the community.

The Way of Peace Church, which also runs the Victory School in Lushnje, was also able to help another family whose home had been destroyed by a landslide.

One of the daughters listened to the Waves of Gospel programme on the radio and joined the church.

Being aware of their difficult life, the church helped them to start a mini business, a small grocery store in their garden. It is a very small shop, but they now have a means of providing for themselves.

As Elona, a young woman in Bitaj, said: “Since God has entered in our village, we are feeling better. We are living our lives in a new hope now. We could never believe that God loves us so much, but He is good.”

There's more about what The Way of Peace Church is doing in the villages in God's Secret Listener, published by Lion Hudson. To buy a signed copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Joy in the country that banned Christmas

Christmas is special all over the world but no more so than in Albania where the festival was banned for a whole generation by the country’s Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha.

In 1967 Hoxha declared Albania the world’s first atheistic state and prevented all Christian witness.

So it was a great joy 20 years ago when Albania became a free country again and people could once again celebrate Christ’s birth as they did, pictured below, at the Victory School in Lushnje.

However, fewer than 1% of Albanians truly know Jesus so that is why the European Christian Mission is working to bring the Christmas message to Albania through word and action.

One of those helping to do this is Berti Dosti, who pastors a church in Lushnje and also is the principal of the Victory School teaching 750 Albanian children English.

“We’ve brought Christianity to the people in a practical way,” say Berti.

“We’ve been able to help the disabled, the homeless, the poor, the widows and orphans and many more in Lushnje and the surrounding villages.

“We’ve shown that God cares for the helpless and that He does so through His own people, the church.”

Kent Anderson, British director of the European Christian Mission, said: “A particular need in Albania is care for disabled people.

“Albanian society tends to ignore disability and there’s little support for families caring for disabled relatives. Many disabled people never leave their homes.

“In Lushnje, at least, help is at hand with short-term teams from Ireland regularly running camps for children with learning disabilities. The effect has been remarkable.”

There’s more about how these Irish workers are having a profound effect in God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Hudson/Monarch. To buy a copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

One of the Irish team, Charis, said: “I was overwhelmed by how special these beautiful children are to God. The plight of their parents, often feeling isolated, overwhelmed, frustrated and worried for their children’s future touched my heart.,”

Tony, another team member, said: “To see the effect the work we were doing had on the children had to be the crowning joy of the whole experience.

“The church hall echoed continually with laughter and cheers. Here was a place for those on the margins of society to receive love."

Kent Anderson added: “The work in Lushnje is a start, but there so much more still to be done. A donation from you this Christmas will allow us to continue sharing Christ’s love in ways that meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Albania."

To find out more contact the European Christian Mission, 50 Billing Road, Northampton, NN1 5DB or go to http://www.ecmbritain.org/.

An added bonus is that ECM will send a free copy of God’s Secret Listener to anyone who gives £50 or more.

Happy 30th wedding anniversary, Berti and Tatjana

Happy wedding anniversary to Berti Dosti and his wife Tatjana who were married 30 years ago yesterday on October 24, 1981.

Weddings were very different in Albania 30 years ago. Arranged marriages were the norm then and Berti’s father, Shefit, told him he had had discussions with the family and he would like him to consider marrying Tatjana Dervishi, his stepmother’s niece.

Born on June 4, 1959, Tatjana had an older sister, a younger sister, and a brother.

Tatjana’s father, a chief accountant, was a Communist although, like his wife, he had been brought up following Bektashi, a little known strain of Islam, founded by a Persian, Haji Betas Veil in the 13^th century.

In Albanian tradition, a younger brother had to discuss the marriage arrangements with his older brother to get his agreement before talking to his bride-to-be.

In December 1979, having got his brother Iliri’s consent, Berti told his father he would marry Tatjana and on September 2, 1980, both families gathered for an engagement ceremony meal.

In the following autumn Berti and Tatjana, pictured below in their wedding outfits, were married in her village of Melcan on Saturday, October 24, 1981.

And it was his childhood friend, Ladi, who played a vital part in getting Berti to the ceremony on time. Ladi’s father made the bridegroom’s wedding suit, but the tailor was very busy, and so after making the final adjustments, there wasn’t much time for Berti to catch the Lushnje train to Korçë.

An added problem was that with all the heavy rain that Saturday and puddles everywhere Berti didn’t want to get his new suit muddy. So Ladi carried him the 700 metres from his home to the railway station – on piggyback.

Tatjana, who married in a white wedding dress, said it was a memorable day. There were more than 100 guests in the village hall for the Saturday night event, which lasted for up to six hours and included food, drink and dancing.

There were no bridesmaids and no wedding photographs. The only wedding photograph Tatjana has of her and her new husband was taken in a studio three weeks later – in black and white.

But 30 years later what did the couple think about the arranged marriage.

Tatjana said the authority of parents was always respected, particularly in the villages. “As for moving from a village to a big town I knew life was good in the towns and I was looking forward to going from Melcan to Lushnje,” she said.

And what did  she think of the two families’ choice of her bridegroom? “I was very, very happy with that,” she said blushing slightly.

To which Berti, who now works for the European Christian Mission, chipped in: “All Albanian girls say that, particularly in front of their husband.”

There’s more about Berti and Tajana’s wedding in God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion/Hudson. To order a signed copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Why I will be watching The X Factor tonight

I shall be doing something I have never done before on a Saturday night – I shall be watching The X Factor tonight.

The reason is I actually made it on to the new McDonald’s advert which is being shown during the advertisement breaks of the popular ITV programme, which starts at 8pm.

You may remember that I wrote in a previous blog that Severn Casting sent me to Huddersfield for one day to be an extra on the food giant’s latest advert.

It was a fascinating break from marketing and selling my two books, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel and God's Secret Listener published by Lion Hudson of Oxford.

The film crew spent four days filming in and around Brook Street in the West Yorkshire town – for just a one-minute advert.

We were paired off as couples and I spent most of the day inside McDonald’s with my ‘wife’, Megan James, whose claim to fame was that she was Nora Batty’s stand-in on the TV series Last of the Summer Wine.

Megan is pictured below with the make-up artist (right) preparing her for filming.

Much to my surprise I actually made the advertisement and not the cutting floor. Sadly, my scene with Nora Batty’s stand-in was cut.

If you are Strictly Come Dancing fan and won’t be turning over to ITV you can still see my two seconds of fame on YouTube.

I am right at the end of the advert appropriately reading a paper with my back to the actor as he sings On The Street Where You Live  from My Fair Lady before he eats his Big Mac.

To see the advert go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJzDW8hudeo

May Libyan Christians be encouraged by Albania's story

With the death of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi yesterday it is quite a week for dictators.

One hundred and three years ago this week one of the world’s worst dictators, Enver Hoxha, was born on October 16, 1908, in the town of Gjirokastra in the south of Albania.

Both Gaddafi and Hoxha (pictured below) were ruthless leaders who campaigned particularly against Christians.

When Hoxha came to power in 1944 he turned Albania into the world’s most isolated country, closing its borders to the rest of the world for 47 years.

He said: “There is no religion in Albania, except being an Albanian” and proudly announced in 1967 that “his country was the world’s first atheist state”.

With a ruthless campaign, this fanatical despot waged war on religion just as he had done with the Fascist Italian and German occupiers during the Second World War.

He destroyed churches or converted them into post offices, schools, weapon depots, cafes, barns, storehouses or museums.

The cathedral at Shkodra was even turned into a volleyball court and in 1972, a museum of atheism was opened in that city.

For the last 23 years of his Communist rule there was not a single functioning church in the country.

All 2,169 religious establishments, which included mosques, 268 Roman Catholic churches and buildings of other denominations, were closed.

Of the country’s 1,600 Orthodox churches, monasteries and cultural centres in 1967, fewer than 80 were still standing 23 years later when communism ended in 1991.

Many Orthodox priests and evangelical Christians were sent to prison, tortured and then executed by firing squad.

During Hoxha’s reign of terror, 335 Orthodox priests died by execution, mistreatment, untreated illnesses or exhaustion. By the time it finished, only 22 Orthodox priests were still alive.

In the Handbook of Prayer for the Persecuted Church produced by Open Doors, Libya is rated the 25^th most difficult country in the world to be a Christian.

It says: “Libya adheres to Islamic law and all citizens are Sunni Muslims by definition.

“The government criminalises evangelism and converting from Islam brings social pressure and ostracism.

“Most Libyan Christians are afraid to meet with other believers.

“Small Christian communities mostly consist of sub-Saharan migrants and Western expatriates.

“The large network of secret police makes it difficult to organise church activities.

“Many expat churches have had their permits withdrawn.”

When Hoxha died on April 11, 1985, it ushered in a new era as the borders were opened in 1991and Christians came into the country and churches were reborn.

Twenty years later there is an evangelical church in every town and there is a growing church with more than 20,000 believers out of a population of 3.5 million.

One of the pastors of this growing church is Berti Dosti of the European Christian Mission who has experienced both life under Hoxha and the religious freedom since the dictator’s death.

It is to be hoped that Libyan Christians will be encouraged by the story of Albania and they too will experience the same religious freedom now that Gaddafi is dead.

To read more about what life was like under Enver Hoxha, see God’s Secret Listener, published by Lion Hudson Monarch. Signed copies can be ordered from John@jbutterworth.plus.com

From Kosova to Albania - and back to Kosova

I am delighted to report that two people who played a major part in helping the young Albanian church and whose story is told in God’s Secret Listener are due to fly into London Gatwick today.

Gani and Adile Smolica met Stephen Bell from the European Christian Mission while they were working at Prishtina University in Kosova and as Stephen said: “We both changed each other’s lives.”

When Stephen left Albania in 1993 to get married in Germany he persuaded the Smolicas (pictured below) to give up a good university job in Prishtina and look after his four Albanian churches in Fier, Berat, Tirana and Patos while he was away.

They stayed there for seven years before leaving to work for ECM to church plant in Gani’s birthplace of Peja.

        

Now Gani and Adile are spending just over five weeks speaking at churches around the UK who have been supporting them in their work.

These include Hook Evangelical Surbiton; St John’s Fareham; Rising Brook Baptist in Stafford; Ballymena Presbyterian; Portglenone Prresbyterian and Sharnbrook Evangelical.

In their last letter before leaving for the UK they wrote that it had been a long, hot summer in Kosova with no rain for two months.

Gani said he had recently found some old photographs on his computer and realised it would be ten years next year since they moved to their premises in Peja.

He said: “God has been faithful with us during those years.”

Thanking his supporters he added: “Your prayers and support were always there to take us forward and to make us feel important in His plan to build His church in Peja. We thank you so much for being loyal to us with your prayers through many difficulties and problems.

“Working for God and living by faith is an excellent experience, and we are here to prove so. God kept us here in the church for His glory and for His purpose.”

Gani and Adile said they were looking forward to meetings so many supporters and to tell them how God is building His church in Peja, Kosova.

They added: “Do not miss the chance to learn more of our church’s history and to see for yourselves how you have helped God build His church by praying for us and by supporting us. We are very much looking forward to seeing you.

If anyone would like to contact them their mobile phone number while they are in the UK is 07835893446.

Gani and Adile’s incredible story of their call to Albania is told in God’s Secret Listener. To buy a signed copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

Death at 85 of Albania's first president

I was interested to read in The Times yesterday the obituary of Ramiz Alia, who was Albania's first president and who appeared in God’s Secret Listener.

Alia (pictured below), who died this week aged 85, became Albania’s Secretary-General of Labour in 1985 after the death of dictator Enver Hoxha.

He was born in the northern town of Shkodra on October 18, 1925, to Muslim parents fleeing from Kosovo.

As a teenager he joined the Albanian Communist Youth Organisation in 1941, then the Albanian Communist Party and at the age of only 23 was promoted to the central committee of the Albanian Party of Labour where he became a close supporter of Enver Hoxha.

When Alia came to power in 1985 he promised to remain true to his country’s Marxist principles at the same time as trying reluctantly to reform his country’s extremely repressive system.

He introduced a programme of cautious liberalisation, freeing the press, allowing opposition newspapers and opposition political parties.

But these changes had to be accelerated with the collapse of Communism in the rest of Eastern Europe in 1989 and because the Albanian people were impatient for more radical moves.

When rioting broke out all over Albania Alia ordered the military to draw up a Rapid Defence Force to quell the riots and to protect public buildings from the mobs.

One of those the Defence Ministry called up first was Berti Dosti, who was sent to a special base at Kavaja at the end of 1989, ironically the scene of his greatest military achievement where he had been presented with his top medal.

While the units were in training, the political situation deteriorated further. In January 1990, thousands of Albanians fled to Greece and crowds, mainly young people, seized many of the foreign embassies. Then there was the first students’ protest on December 8, 1990, which started in Kavaja.

Tanks were stationed on the Albanian streets and Berti’s job, as communications chief at Kavaja, was to be the link between the soldiers in the tanks and his Commandant.

Berti admitted the soldiers were unhappy to be deployed against their own people, but they were told not to confront the protesters who wanted democracy, and to avoid trouble if possible.

The protests on the streets continued throughout 1990 and into 1991, when on February 21, crowds pulled down the large statue of Enver Hoxha in the central square of Tirana.

 “That was the day Communism in Albania ended,” said Berti.

The political situation was defused in the short term in March 1991 when the first democratic elections in Albania were held, which the partially reformed Party of Labour won, mainly because many of the rural people didn’t want change and couldn’t see on television what was happening in the rest of Europe.

The elected Parliament then voted Alia into the new post of president on April 29, 1991.

However, the new government lasted only two months when a three-week general strike in May forced its resignation and led to a national unity coalition government, including non-Communists.

With food riots and troubles everywhere, the new government put the country on the highest military alert. Reserves were called up and the Rapid Defence Forces, including Berti, was redeployed on the streets again.

Eventually a third election was held in March 1992 and the Democrats swept to power with more than 60 per cent of the vote.

It was the beginning of a new era as Albania came in from the cold after nearly 50 years of Stalinist isolation. The new president and first post-war non-Communist was 48-year-old cardiologist, Sali Berisha.

He symbolised the new era by refusing to move into the Presidential Palace, deciding to stay instead with his family in their two-bedroomed flat on a rundown Tirana housing estate.

Alia was placed under house arrest in his modest flat in Tirana where after a trial accusing him of corruption he was jailed for nine years in 1994.

But he was released after only a year as his incarceration became an embarrassment to an Albania eager to be seen to be moving towards the European norms on human rights.

He was detained again in 1996 after being found guilty of charges against humanity, but he escaped from prison during the chaos after the collapse of the pyramid investment scheme in 1997 when the prison guards deserted their posts.

He fled the country but when the charges were later dropped he returned to Tirana, where he died on October 7 aged 85.

More about this troubled chapter in Albania’s history is told in God’s Secret Listener. To buy a signed copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Encouraging letter from ex-ECM director in California

It was good to hear from another Christian, Jack Murray, who appears in God’s Secret Listener and who now lives in California.

Jack was very involved in helping the Albanian church once the country had opened up its borders to the rest of the world in 1991 when he was then European Christian Mission international director.

In October 1991 Christians decided one of the ways to help the new church was to form an umbrella organisation, which they called the Albanian Encouragement Project, to encourage the Albanian Christians to plant churches and to help them grow.

The first chairman of the Albanian Encouragement Project was Jack Murray, who spent one week in every three months for three years in Tirana developing the project.

Also to provide teaching for the new Albanian church leaders the European Christian Mission, together with the Ancient World Outreach and Greater Europe Mission, started up the Albanian Bible Institute, pictured below.

In the summer of 1994 it moved to a permanent base at Durres, where one of the first ABI students was Berti Dosti.

Now Jack writes in October 2011: “Of all the countries where I was privileged to serve either preaching, teaching, or providing leadership, Italy and Albania stand out above the others. 

“Let me share news first of all from Albania.  I'm quoting from the newsletter of Shirley, who used to be my secretary.

“She writes about the 15th anniversary of the Albanian Bible Institute. ‘It was a blessing.  It was a great encouragement to see all the students who had studied there over the years and who are in many cases in a pastoral position or leadership role in the Albanian church’.

“I remember the day when we dedicated the school, and I brought the dedicatory message. My former ECM colleague, Will Nevin, who also appears in God’s Secret Listener, is now the chairman of the board, and Shirley herself is the secretary.

“Shirley also said that the annual conference of the AEP (Albanian Encouragement Project) would take place in Moldova in Montenegro from October 25-29.  

“This again stirred up memories when, for the first three years of the life of this organisation, I travelled into Albania every three months and chaired the meetings.”

Jack concluded by encouraging his friends to phone him on the American number 530-432-7872, or email jmmissions@gmail.com

There’s more details about Jack’s story, the Albanian Bible Institute and the Albanian Encouragement Project in God’s Secret Listener. To buy a signed copy email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

A different Christmas present

Here’s another unusual Christmas present which I came across when I went to Sheffield recently to speak to a group of churches.

The event was organised by Lillian Miller, who is an Albanian Evangelical Mission supporter and also helps Logos Studio, a media company based in the Albanian capital, Tirana, which produces Christian DVDs and programmes for their national TV.

There we also met her daughter Karen Murdarasi, who is married to an Albanian, is fluent in the language, had worked for AEM – and was at the University of St Andrews at the same time as our older son Andrew.

Karen has produced a Beauty of Albania 2012 calendar to help raise funds for work in the Balkan country and pictured below is one of the 12 lovely pictures she took.

It is of the ancient ruins of Apollonia, near Fier in the south west of the country, which is where local Christians believe the Apostle Paul preached.

In the Bible in Romans 15 verse 19, the Apostle Paul states: “So from Jerusalem all the way round to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”

Illyricum is the Roman name for what is today part of Albania, the Dalmatian coast, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro with the River Sava being the northern border.

The Catholic historian, Daniele Farlati, states that Paul came to Dyrrachium, the modern port of Durres, and many Albanians believe it, although there is no proof.

However, the theologian Professor F F Bruce points out that in Acts 20 Paul travelled through Greece and it was likely that he travelled along the Egnatian Way, which continued to Thessalonica and on to Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Dyrrachium was the western end of that great Roman road.

What is fact is that by 59AD, Dyrrachium had its first Christian bishop and up to 70 Christian families were living there, showing what a great Christian heritage Albania has.

If you would like an Albanian calendar at £7.50 plus postage email LM@clanmiller.freeserve.co.uk

Brazilian and Ukranian help for the Balkans

It was great to hear exciting news from Stephen Bell, pictured below, who is now working for the European Christian Mission in Croatia having moved on from Albania.

Stephen’s story of how he became a Christian, his call to work in Albania and when he was one of the first missionaries into the country after they opened their borders in 1991 is told in God’s Secret Listener.

He and his wife Tabita and family are working in Zagreb where tonight they are hosting a Balkan Conference in Croatia for 100 people.

Eleven Brazilian and five Ukrainian Christian leaders are joining members from churches in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and hopefully Serbia to look at church planting in the Balkans with the Operation Fifty Years in Five project.

They will be joined by ECM’s Johan Lukasse and Stephanie Shackelford and also by the Rev Paul Kingman, the vicar of Christ Church in Stone, who flew out today for the conference.

Stephen said the aim of the conference was to seek to mobilize 12 or more Brazilian missionaries plus six or more Ukrainians to start the project next year.

After it finishes on Monday three minibuses will travel more than 2,000 kilometres on a vision trip from October 10-17 so the overseas leaders can meet and travel with the seven Balkan church planting project overseers.

“We will have meetings in six churches and church plants, as well as praying over six envisioned new church plants,” added Stephen. 

For more details contacts the European Christian Mission, 50 Billing Road, Northampton, NN1 5DB, or email ECM.GB@ecmi.org or go to www.ecmi.org/revivalinthebalkans

Successful weekend for me - and the book

Although I have been involved with Albania for more than 30 years there is one major missionary society working there that I had never come across - until this weekend

Then like London buses I bumped into the Albanian Evangelical Mission twice in three days.

The first time was in Sheffield where I went on Saturday to speak to a group of churches at an event organised by Lillian Miller, who is an AEM supporter and also involved with Logos, a media company based in the Albanian capital, Tirana, which produces Christian DVDs and programmes for their national TV.

To show what a small world it is we also met her daughter Karen Murdarasi, who is married to an Albanian, is fluent in the language, had worked for AEM – and was at St Andrews University at the same time as our older son Andrew and knew him quite well.

The third AEM supporter was 90-year-old Gordon Thomason, who still drives a car and celebrated his latest milestone birthday by going to Zimbabwe. I only hope I am as fit as Gordon when I am 90.

He is pictured below with Karen on the left and Lillian on the right.

Then on Monday I drove over to Wrexham to meet David Young, a director of the mission, who is retiring on Christmas Day when is 65.

The mission grew largely out of prayer meetings for Albania which began in 1976, visits to the country in the 1980s and the annual weekend prayer conferences which began in 1979.

They believed that a group was needed whose sole aim was to make Christ known among Albanians and the mission was formed in 1986 with the first missionary going out in 1989.

We talked about whether I could help their workload as they have so many speaking engagements all over the country and if they could support me by promoting my book, God’s Secret Listener.

I was delighted when David gave me some of their literature and bought 33 of my books.

I am now meeting Paul Davies, who is taking over as head of the mission in a few weeks’ time.

Even more encouraging Paul said he would like to take 100 copies of my book and probably more in the future.

What a successful weekend. It was even better because when I bought a copy of David Young’s book, Turned East, which is the story of half of his life being involved with Albania.

It was when I read about AEM holding annual prayer conferences at such places as Cloverley Hall in Shropshire that everything clicked.

In the 1980s my wife Jan and I and Liz and Pete Mason ran the Cornerstone youth group at Christ Church in Stone and every autumn we took the teenagers to Cloverley for a weekend away.

While we were there one year there was also a group at the hall praying for Albania. I joined them briefly but never knew their organisation until this week when I discovered it was the Albanian Evangelical Mission.

I'm set to appear on The X Factor

I am set to appear on The X Factor – now there’s a headline I never thought I would write about myself.

Let me explain. Last Thursday Severn Casting sent me to Huddersfield for the day to be an extra on food giant McDonald’s latest advert which will be shown within the next few weeks during the breaks on the popular Saturday night ITV entertainment programme.

It was a fascinating day off from marketing and selling my two books, God's Secret Listener and Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

The film crew (pictured below) spent four days filming in and around Brook Street in the West Yorkshire town – for just a one-minute advert.

McDonald’s marketing manager Steve Hill said "We looked at various places to film the advert, but we picked Huddersfield for the architecture and the backdrop of the hills."

It was an early start as I had to be there at 7.15am and didn’t finish until 6pm, but it was interesting seeing the film crew and the one professional actor in action.

We had to bring three changes of clothing for the wardrobe manager to decide what she wanted us to wear for the filming.

I had to smile when I heard about one young lady extra who packed her car with 16 small cases full of clothes only to be told she was fine as she was.

We were paired off as couples and I spent most of the day inside McDonald’s with my ‘wife’, Megan James, pictured below, whose claim to fame was that she was Nora Batty’s stand-in on the TV series Last of the Summer Wine.

With free food and drink and hearing about Megan’s career and meeting the other extras it was a fun day – and I got paid for it.

I just hope that I make The X Factor – and not the cutting floor.