April Update

We have been very busy here in Ohrid and things are getting settled. There are two big things about which we want to update you, but overall things are going well. Some interesting things to note this time:

• Yogurt only exists in liquid form. When you ask for yogurt, you get a cup of yogurt. I haven't tried it because I am not a fan of yogurt to begin with but Mandy is not yet used to drinking it.
• They have something called Burek which is layers of filo dough and either meat or cheese and sometimes you can get pizza, but the most common forms are meat and cheese.
• The grass and flowers are green and beautiful all over the country ... naturally. It rains much more often then in North Carolina, but it is not for extremely long periods of time. It seems to be a perfect balance for all the plants.
• It is not uncommon to see flocks of sheep and their shepard moving their way across country. We don't quite know yet from where they are coming or to where they are going.
• Cafiches (like a cafe) are more popular in Macedonia than Starbucks in America. They are coffee bars that sell different kinds of coffee, but not as much variety. There are no chains, just many many owners who make them with their own twist. This is the main social gathering place where we are.

Our prayer requests this time would be:

1. Language Learning. This is more important than people think and just pray that we will continue to persevere in our acquisition
2. Continued interaction with people from our city. We have made many contacts, please pray that the Lord will grow them as well as make more.

Language

Ah, the joys of language learning. This is to what Mandy and I are dedicating ourselves pretty much full time at the moment. On weekdays we learn at least 30-40 new words from our lesson every day. We are going along quicker than expected, but the road is still very long. Imagine going somewhere where you can’t even order a cheeseburger, or when you finally can, barely being able to understand the amount that gets speedily read back to you, and then know that you have to effectively tell people about the Bible, about separation from God, and the atonement of Christ’s sacrifice…whoa! But as the Macedonians always say, “Ima Vremay” (there is time), the good news is that we are 2/3 of the way through our first book on Macedonian and are able to effectively use everything we are learning. We have two tutors working with us at the moment; one is in high school and the other is in college. They are our first friends in this town and we look forward to when we can really talk to them in Macedonian. The store owners know us when we walk in and look forward to hearing us attempt to speak their language. But overall, things are progressing very well.

Lunch with the Rankins

Hey everyone,

We have been having some trouble with our posts, but I think we have it ironed out now. We are still doing language full time and it is really taking all that we have. We have been doing well learning our material as well as using it and practicing it in the stores. Storeowners smile every time we come in because they are starting to get to know us. It also helps that I am about 6 inches to a foot taller than everyone else in the town and still the only man with blond hair that I have seen.

We were trying to post about a one day ski trip we took with our Strategic Coordinator that has many funny stories that come with it, but I will make sure I post that next. But now I just wanted to let everyone know that Jerry Rankin, the President of the IMB, and his wife, Bobbie, came through the South Europe Field and stopped off in Skopje for a couple of hours to eat lunch. Mandy and I took the bus up on Sunday and ate lunch with him on Monday. Overall, there were 17 of us who were there from the area and it was an encouraging time to spend with them. It is always a delight to hear them talk as well as hear their reports from the other areas of the world. Sometimes you find yourself in a black hole when it comes to what missionaries are doing elsewhere in the world (and we have only been here a month). Now that we have our posts working, we will make sure to post more regularly.

Please continue to pray for us with language. We have reached somewhat of a saturation point and we need to be able to press on.

Thanks for your support and emails

And the Job Begins...

Zdravo All!

This last week has been incredible. God has been so good, and He has been very near to us as we have struggled with the beginnings of a new job, new language, and new home. His strength and grace have been sufficient as they always are and we give Him all the glory for sustaining us. Ohrid is amazing. It has a very ancient old world feel with a modern worldview hanging over it. The people are incredibly nice. Most are very willing to help us with our language and are very patient with us as we say our five sentences. There is a great blessing in knowing English though... the vast majority of music is in English, and I caught myself listening to 'Gangsta's Paradise' visiting in someone's home yesterday. And then, as we struggled to listen for words of recognition in the conversation, we heard 'I'm a Survivor' playing in the background. Brian and I looked at one another and spewed out a few words and then realized we were in the company of other people. :)
Our last week consisted of attempting to make Ohrid our new home, starting language school and getting to know our area. We have two language tutors who come for two hours five days a week. They are very sweet, and we are getting to know the rest of their family as well.
We spent one night with one of the tutors and her mom. They took us for our first trip to one of the many cafes. Before the cafe, we went by several other shops to meet some other family members. The cafe was great. They suggested that we order toplo chocolatto... hot chocoloate... but this hot chocolate is none like you have ever tasted. Its like hot pudding served in a glass with a spoon. Its amazing. The chocolate is incredible here, and I think a small addiction might be just under the surface. ;)

Please pray for us as we make Ohrid our home. Pray that we will have boldness to speak in spite of the barrier of language. Pray that we will have patience in learning this language, and that God will give us a deep love for the people around us as we learn.
We believe He is going to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine.

We love you all, and we thank God for you!!!

We made it!!!

Sorry it has taken us so long to get a post on the site, but we haven't had a chance until now. We flew into Skopje and met with our Strategic Coordinator who spent two days getting things in order with the US Embassy with us. Thursday, he took us down to our city and the first thing we did was sign a lease for our apartment. We are on the 5th floor with a beautiful view from our balcony. The town is beautiful and we will tell you more about it, but we are in an internet cafe at the moment since our apartment will not have internet for about 2-3 weeks. Don't worry, we will definitely give more details and pictures later. Thanks for praying, you have no idea how God has worked things out so smoothly for us. Until we can post again ... thanks!!!

In Vienna

Well, we just arrived in Vienna, Austrian at 2:30 AM, well 8:30AM here. So far this trip has been absolutely fantastic. For those of you familiar with RDU, we flew out of Terminal C instead of Terminal A which was drastically less crowded and made for ease of checking luggage without the long lines. We arrived with our 7 suitcases and 4 carry-ons at 8:30 and were walking to the gates at 9:00. However, there is one funny story to mention.

We were given an allowance from the IMB for any cost associated with getting from Raleigh to Skopje. This money is generally used for porters and such considered the large amount of suitcases and dufflebags most families are bringing with them (we know a couple with 5 kids which was 22 suitcases !!!) We had a shuttle bring us to the airport and due to the fact that you can't park a vehicle in front of a terminal anymore, we and our 7 suitcases and 4 carry-ons were dropped of, in Mandy's estimate, half a mile from the terminal entrance, which is the very beginning of the terminal and the entrance is in the middle. Smiling because of our allowance and the fact we could get a porter, we were greeted with a "there are some carts in the cart machine at the other end." So I walk all the way to the other end, which is now a mile, only to find out the machine is broken. So after 4 trips, we move all of our luggage to the entrance, once we get inside the entrance, we find a fully functional cart machine ;).

Dulles was once again a very easy transition and before we knew it, we were boarding Austrian Air. Note to international travelers: If you don't want to wait for you zone to be called so you can be seated, just pretend you don't understand the language of the announcement and you can just walk up and board out of order. It was actually kind of funny to watch.

Anyway, here we are after a 8 hour 13 minute, 4476 mile flight sitting in the Vienna airport writing a blog in a cafe and paying 4,80 EUR for a chocolate muffin and a 0,5 liter Coca Cola Light. Mandy is sitting next to me, nearly comatose, wishing that everyone here thought it was 2:50 AM so she could go back to sleep :)

We should be arriving in Skopje at 8:30 AM EST (3:30 PM Macedonian Standard Time). I am not sure what kind of internet access we will have when we get there because we are no longer just sitting around at the airport, but as soon as we can make a post, we will.

Taking Off!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!! To everyone who was praying for us and our visas. Our application was uncharacteristically fast. This is not because of anything on our end, or the efficiency of the Macedonian Embassy (because many others have gone through the same thing with different results) but because of your prayers. Because of your prayers we will be arriving in Macedonian at 3:30 PM (Macedonian Time) on Tuesday, March 7th!!!!

Pray for safe travel on Monday because we leave at noon!

Don't worry, we will be posting VERY frequently when we initially get there. Thanks again for following us, supporting us, and praying for us.

The Last Post from MLC :(

A little bittersweet though it may be, this is our last post from MLC. We have made some amazing, lifelong friends who have encouraged us in our walk and spurred us on to be more like Christ. They have also been quite the competitors in Ulitmate Spoons, spades, basketball, Cranium, and Phase 10 (yes Ashley, I finally figured out how to play it). I am so grateful for these precious people who allowed us to lean on them through the stresses of MLC and laughed with us through the joys. God is so good in continuing to give us relationships with people so that we can learn more about Himself. Praise be to God for friends, laughter, love and tears.

The last week consisted of language learning techniques. Brian taught French, and I learned a little bit of Arabic. That won't really help in Macedonia, but thats ok. :) It was fun, and we learned a lot of techniques in learning a language.

This week has been wonderful! We have seen God answer an abundance of prayers, and we can see how He is still working. This week has been too short as now we are having to say goodbye to our friends and colleagues who God is sending out all over the world. We are so excited to see what God is going to do through them all. Pray for them as they say goodbyes to families and to American soil. Pray that the Lord will grant them peace and strength. Pray especially for the many kids who are leaving with their families. Pray that they will transition to their new country well and that God will give them new friends and relationships.

Thank you so much for praying us through this orientation program. We have learned so much, and God is continuing to teach us. We thank God for you, and we love you all so much!!! Our hope and desire is that you will know the love of God like we do, and that He will grow you in the knowledge of Himself for His glory!!

• Pray for those who are going out to the nations: that God would be honored in their obedience.
• Praise God for bringing our dear friend through surgery, and while the results are still uncertain, God has remained faithful in glorifying Himself through it all.
• Pray for safe travel on Monday.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. We praise God for you!!!

Happy Birthday to Brian!!!!

Let him know how much you love him!!!

Visas

• Praise the Lord!!! We just received word this morning that our visa has been approved. We still have a little more red-tape to go through, but we are so excited that it went through so quickly! Thank you so much for praying!!!
• Please continue to pray for our friend who just went in this morning for his lung biopsy. It will be at least a week before they get the results. Pray that they will have peace and that God will be glorified.

Thank you so much!!!

MLC: Week 6

Well, one more week left. I can't hardly believe it. God has taught us so much while we have been here, and we have been challenged in so many ways. Thank you again for praying us through MLC. There have been some very stressful times, but we made it!!!

This week we have been able to meet with our regional leader to get some more specific questions answered about our area of service. It was very informative and actually really fun. We have a great group of people going to CEE, and we were able to spend the majority of the week with them. We ended up the week with a speaker who is serving in India. He was great. We laughed a lot, and we cried a little as he told us stories of the amazing things God is doing in India and throughout all the world. People are turnng in mass numbers from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam to the one true God who loves unconditionally. Its awesome!!! Saturday, he did a overview of world history that covered the history of religions and how they spread throughout the earth. Very interesting. This is different than what you may have been taught in school or from other books that you may have read. So, I am going to try to get all of my notes typed up and post them here in the next few days. I am so excited to share it with you!

That's our week in a nutshell. Brian and I would love to get feeback on what you think we could do to make this a better site. We want to keep you as informed as possible, so let us know what you think, and be honest because this site is for you.

Prayer and Praises:

• We want you to know that we thank God for you. All of you have been such an encouragement to us, and we are so excited to partner with you in this journey. We prasie God for you.
• We have a dear friend who is having a lung biopsy Wednesday. He will have to remain in the hospital for a few days for drainage. Pray that the Lord will comfort him and his family as they deal with the stress of not only the surgery but also waiting for results. Pray that the Lord will heal him, and that this will be used, no matter what the outcome, for the glory of God.
• We are going into Washington D.C. tomorrow. Pray that God will be glorified in that trip, and that many will have an opportunity to hear the Gospel.

"Trust in Him at all times you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:8

We Love Ya'll!!! :)

Just a little reminder:

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:5-11

MLC: Week 5

You could call this week Bibly Storying and Chronological Bible Storying. This week we learned some interesting information. Over 70% of the world is an oral culture. Although this is attributed to illiteracy, there are some literate cultures who still prefer to hear a story rather than read about a story. Here is a poll:

• Would you rather read a newspaper or watch the news?

Even though we are not an oral culture, most people in America prefer some form of oral communication. How about:

• Would you rather have someone tell you a story or would you rather them give you a book?

Even in America we can see the importance of stories. It is also interesting how much of the Bible we don’t know because we know we can go to the Bible to get it. How many of you can give a Biblical story that would apply to a friend going to a tough situation? Better yet, how many of you can tell any Biblical story and remain true to the text and without leaving anything out? These are some eye opening things that hit us this week and we have seen the importance of transferring the Bible from the pages to our head. This does not neglect the importance of the written word, but rather shows the importance of writing it in your hearts. How many more people could understand God and the Bible if we could accurately give them a story that would impact their lives.

Even though this was directed at people going to places in Africa and South America, its application applies even in the most booming metropolis.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that we will continue to learn and grow in the Lord.
• Pray that He will reveal His vision for our work with the people in Macedonia. We want to follow His direction and only His direction.
• Pray that our visa will come through quickly.
• Please, don't ever fail to pray for the Macedonian people. Pray that they will be open and receptive to the truth of the love of Christ, and that many will be saved.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or would like to talk further.

MLC: Week 4

Thank you so much for the amazing outpouring of love on my birthday. I counted and got some 35-40 emails, e-cards, and blog posts combined. Amazing!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much that meant to me. Thanks! I did have a great birthday. Brian threw me a wonderful surprise party with all of our friends here at MLC.

Last week was great. Our time here has been so beneficial, and I can't believe we are more than half way through. Your prayers for us have been felt these past few weeks, and we are so grateful for them. Last week we learned about the church planting movement and how to implement them into our people group. We were also able to attend a conference on health concerns overseas which was very helpful. We learned a lot, but we have much more to learn!:)

Answered Prayers:

• My knee has been doing much better in the past few weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers.
• We finally got all of our information for our visa filled out last night and were able to fax it all in to the embassy this morning. YEA!
• God is continuing to teach us incredible things about Himself. What a joy to be His child!
  Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We love you and appreciate you all!
  

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1

M.A.W.L.

One of the main things we covered was more in depth examples of Church Planting Movements (CPMs) and using the MAWL approach. The MAWL approach breaks down like this:

M-Model. We are to disciple and model a biblical lifestyle and biblical church for new believers. This will focus on studying and reading the Bible , prayer, and applying it to our lives. We will also show them how church is to function according to the Bible. This week was a great way to expose areas that some churches have moved away from following the Bible and started following traditions. It happens in every church, but we learned how to prepare people to keep it from happening.

A- Assist. Once a new believer from our church has grown with a good biblical foundation and sees the need to plant a church somewhere where one doesn't exist. Assist them in discipling others as well as assist in having them start their own church.

W- Watch. Following one of the disciples of the person you trained, watch and make sure that everything they learned is being applied and they are continuing to follow the principles of the Bible.

L- Leave. After you watch, let it go!!! We cannot make it dependant on us, the nationals have to take over sometime and it is definitely by this point.

We covered this material in many areas of the world where this is taking place. It was good to see how the IMB sticks to the Bible and see how it is rewarded in their efforts. This is just a blurb so please feel free to contact us if you want us to elaborate.

Happy Birthday Mandy!

Today is Mandy's Birthday. Make sure to send her and email to wish her a Happy Birthday!!!

Sunday Night Worship

Every Sunday night, we attend a cultural worship service. Every week, a different region of the world is represented. Last week we worshipped in the form that African’s saved from African Traditional Religions, Islam, and Animism worship their Lord and Savior. Tonight was very different and very sobering. We worshipped like the believers in the Pacific Rim Region (ie Indonesia and Japan). Part of tonight’s service touched on the persecution that these believers are enduring because of their unwavering faith in the Lord. Most of them were once followers of Islam, but found the truth in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is persecution that most of us could not imagine, and some of us would be unwilling to endure for our Lord even though He suffered at the highest point for our sins because of His deep, abounding, unconditional love for us. Fortunately, some of us will never be asked to endure this, but may we encourage you to be on your knees asking the Lord to strengthen and comfort those who must endure this. And may we examine our own hearts and make sure we are willing to suffer, even to the point of death, to glorify our Lord.

• An Estimated 52 million killed for their faith in Jesus Christ throughout history.
• But half of those, 26 million, were killed in the last one hundred years.

“For it is given you, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him but also to suffer for His sake.”
Philippians 1:29

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.”
James 1:2-3

“…Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Revelation 2:10

MLC: Week 3

This week we shifted from focusing on our personal lives in the field to focusing on the people to whom we will be going. We had a solid day of studying Anthropology, and as exciting as it sounds it was actually very enjoyable. It is amazing how different the worldview of other cultures is compared to ours and how people approach things differently. In some cultures, talking with your hands in your pocket is extremely rude and shows that you want to have nothing to do with them!

In light of the anthropology lesson, we spent another day studying the state of Orthodoxy in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region. The people to whom we will be going in Macedonia are a predominately Orthodox. The Orthodox do not believe in the sufficiency of Christ. They believe that they must believe in Christ’s work on the cross as well as do good works. It is interesting to see how this theory of works has over time slowly grown far away from the Truth of the Bible in Ephesians 2:8-9.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Unfortunately so many in Macedonia believe they have to be good and/or keep the Church Sacraments and keep up doing good works to earn their salvation. They do not know that they need and can have a relationship with God. They do not even know what having that faith means. It is our prayer that we will have an opportunity to share the truth of the Bible with them. Please be praying for the Macedonian people that we might be able to have open doors with which to talk to them.

Ohrid on the Web!

For those of you who are interested in seeing where we will be serving, keep your eyes posted on the THIS website in the future. Maybe we can even try and pose for your :)

MLC: Week 2 (late)

Last week, we had the privilege of attending a three-day seminar on spiritual warfare led by Dr. Jerry Rankin, the president of the IMB. It was a challenging and refreshing time of examination of the Bible to see what the word had to say about this subject. Dr. Rankin taught very thoroughly on the fact that Satan is going to use anything he can get his hands on in our life to distract us from glorifying God, our ultimate goal. From our own anxieties and fears to pride and bad attitudes. He can use anything we don’t fully surrender to the Lord, and he does. We will guard ourselves from thinking that Satan doesn’t attack us in indirect ways and are now not ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). This is an interesting subject for anyone looking to study it.