St. Mary Day 1 of 2

The month of September has given us a great opportunity to meet and become friends with two other couples in Ohrid. As our relationship has grown, they both separately invited us to go with them on a trip this weekend. Why?

This Sunday is the day they celebrate St. Mary and everyone will go to a church or monastery named after Mary in order to celebrate. Nearly every single church or monastery in Macedonia is named after some kind of saint and almost every single day of the Orthodox Calendar is given to celebrate a saint. The days on which you celebrate the saints who are the most honored in Macedonia have become holidays and a good reason to party/get together. Since this weekend we are talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, it is a big deal and nearly everyone will be celebrating. There is a monastery named after Mary about 6 miles in the mountains outside a town called Kicevo and it is one of the few areas where everyone in the western half of Macedonia will go if they want to go somewhere outside of their local church named after Mary. Both couples invited us to go to this monastery and fortunately one wanted to do it on Saturday night, and the other wanted to do it Sunday morning. Tonight Mandy and Kate stayed home and I went with the first couple. It turns out it was a great night to go because tomorrow they are expecting over 10,000 people to visit the monastery throughout the day and there was practically no one there when we got there. The absence of a lot of people gave me a good chance to look around and take pictures. First let me show you a couple of pictures of the monastery:

This is the entrance to the monastery. The compound itself is not that big, but it is high in the mountains which makes for a beautiful view.

This tent is where they have three HUGE vats of soup that they are making for Sunday. The table one the left is covered with bowls that they will use to serve the people.

Here is a picture of the church right after you come through the main entrance. The church is so tall that this was the only spot on the compound where I could get a picture of the whole church!

Here is a picture of me with L and A in front of the entrance of the church. I made a mistake when I smiled ... you are not supposed to do that in pictures over here.

This is what I always call "the money changers table". When we got there, this table had not been set up yet. You will notice the box in the background and the person on the very right is unwrapping more candles. In the period of about 20 minutes, they had already made over 10 dollars in sales from candles. The reason this is so sad is because they believe that by lighting the candles they are actually giving good health to others as well as helping the dead by honoring them. I almost recorded the conversation I had with a couple of these people, but that would have been strange to them. We all pray for peoples health and it doesn't matter to me how you express that, but the people I talked to distinguished between the prayers and the candles as if the candles themselves did something

This is the living quarters of the monastery

This is a spring and above the spring is an icon of Jesus and the Woman at the Well. (This picture is going to become a tool!)

Here is the backside of the church and the end of the living quarters. This is a beautiful and well-kept compound.


While we were there, the "Vladika" or bishop of all the churches in the area came to the monastery along with an escort of other priests. The bishop is the second black robe from the right with the white beard. You will notice a the head of a man who is returning upright after kissing the bishop's hand.

We ran into one of the friends of L and A and were invited into the kitchen for coffee. We spend about 45 minutes in the kitchen talking with about 20 people about life in the villages in the area. It was one of the best experiences of the year for me because I learned a lot about their life and a lot about their beliefs. They are in many ways different than the people in "big-town" Ohrid and it gave me a huge heart for them.

I was able to enter the church and inside the church was much bigger than most churches, but still was nonetheless normal. They had several stands for lighting candles, several icons for kissing and gifting, one special area where there was "Blessed (literally "crossed") water, and a hole. A hole? Yes, see below:




This woman was a part of a LONG line of people waiting to pass through the hole under the icon of Mary three times in order to be blessed by Mary. People were lined up for so many different reasons, but they all believed that passing through the hole three times would give them a better chance of getting what they wanted/needed. Some people were passing through for relatives, some people were passing through for friends, but most were passing through for themselves to get health as well as something else. This was one of the saddest parts of the day for me. This old lady was complaining about her knee hurting (and she touches it at one point in the film), but she had to do it the third time to be heard. At the same time (at the beginning of the video) you will see a beaded necklace/loop passed three times over the body of the lady on the right. This is supposed to represent the transference of blessing from Mary to her. That is why she kisses the necklace as well as crosses herself to Mary at the end. I am sorry for the dipping camera, but although I was allowed to record this, some people were offended that I was recording this very serious event so I made it look like I was reviewing pictures.

We traveled about an hour to get the monastery and while we there, the crowd started pouring in. I sat in the corner of the church and watched people light candles, kiss saints, drink holy water (after they paid for it), and climb through a hole 3 times. There were many people there who were doing it because others were doing it or it was tradition without meaning, but there were also several people who really believed in what they were doing. The reason this is so sad is because although they desire to please God, they are far from understanding Him and knowing Him. God is not reached through lucky charms and dances, and candles are not rabbit's feet. While I was there, they marched a sheep around the church three times and people were touching it for good luck. When everyone had touched it, "for health", they released the sheep into the herd to bless the herd that it might prosper... again "for health". The crowd had dissipated by the time I took this picture. A hireling for the sheep and these two women were the last to touch it.

I prayed hard for these people that someone would tell them that they could know God, that they could talk with Him personally, that they could know His will, that they didn't have to climb through a hole three times to be blessed or any other sort of hokus pokus. I really prayed that someone would explain to them that it was too late to do anything for the dead but it was not too late for them. I wanted to read Luke 16 and harp on the fact that their is no warning from the dead and the dead are fixed in their place, but there still is a chance for us. I also prayed that if God would allow us, we would come back here when our work in "big-town" Ohrid was done ... but I also prayed that people from Ohrid would already have carried the message here before we got the chance! It was a wonderful experience in terms of meeting people, drinking coffee, and learning more about their view of the faith.

Pray for the villages and villagers of Macedonia!

Fun Days

Yesterday was a GREAT day at the coffee house. The team finished handing out the 700 packets of school supplies that they had made and enjoyed some fun times with the kids in the coffee house.
Elley was the official capuccino maker for the day. She has mastered the art.

Jeff manned the "ball toss" for awhile and did a great job letting kids throw a hackey sack at some cups.

Liz did a great job of face painting and "tatooing" the kids.

Mrs. Magaret did a great job at the craft table. I caught her taking a break. :0)

Here is a little girl making a craft with Mrs. Magaret.

All so that Brian and I could have conversation after conversation with the parents who came in with their kids.


Bradley, Misty, Doyle and Wilson were all out with M and K handing some supplies out to the kids in front of the schools. They have some good, exciting stories from their day.

The team has been absolutely phenomenol this week. They have adjusted without complaint to the many changes we have had to make, and they have done it all with a smile. Today is their day off and Brian is taking them on a little site-seeing tour. Tomorrow morning they will do a little more prayer walking and literature distribution, and Friday night they will be giving a concert at the coffee house. We are planning on a BIG crowd! Pray for Wilson, Elley, Liz and Doyle as they prepare to sing. Pray that God would use this concert for His glory and renown in this city.

Thanks so much for praying for this team. God is doing amazing things in the people of Ohrid because of their faithfulness to go.

Assembly Line

This is a group of hard workers. They put together 700 bags full of school supplies in 3 hours! WOW!



We had an overflow of bags all over our house when they finished. Here they are lining the steps of our basement.


They are all currently at the coffee house giving out the bags and doing prayer walking and literature distribution. In the last 2 hours, they have already had about 30 kids with parents come in. Brian said all the parents have sat down and had coffee with them and the kids are busy making crafts with Mrs. Liz. Great! Continue to pray for a good response!!! And we will keep you all updated!

Treats from America

Bradley and Misty brought me some great stuff from the states. Blow Pops, cheese-nip crakers and Cheerwine. OH BOY!!!! What a blessing! Thanks so much guys!

Update

For an update on the trip stay tuned to http://missiontomacedonia.blogspot.com This is a blog that Jeff, the team leader, put together to keep their prayer partners updated, and we thought you might want to take a look at it too.

School Supplies Part II

The supplies.

We are gearing up for the team from NC to come in Saturday night to distribute school supplies, (see post below) and I wanted to make one correction. The team is made up of 8 people: 6 from Stanly County and 3 from Philadelphia Baptist Church in Connelly Springs, NC. We are so excited about their arrival. Their first flight leaves from Charlotte tomorrow at 3:45 PM. Please be in prayer for safe travel and a wonderful experience for them here in Macedonia. Pray for the many people they will meet. We have already had several people come by the coffee house to ask about the group with the school supplies. Pray that we will see spiritual fruit from the labor and sacrifice of this precious group.

School Supplies

Please be in prayer now for a group from the Stanly County Baptist Association who raise money to hand out school supplies for kids from September 1st to the 6th. Our plan is to hand out school supplies to 700 children along with the first part of a seven part children's magazine. The magazine is the main point of the distribution and is a translation of The Mailbox Club in America. Each magazine has a very simple Bible lesson working all the way through to salvation. On the last page of each magazine is a test of 4 questions and when they answer the questions they cut out the test and mail it in to receive the second magazine. We are offering more school supplies after 4 lessons and a surprise after the last one. This is good because each parent will read through the magazine and learn as well. Hopefully through this distribution God might call more people to himself! We'll let you know how it is going as the week progresses!

With Delight

"Let us not forget that any relationship whatever between God and man rests today on the fact that God lived the life of a common man-was born in a stable, sweated in a carpenter's shop, preached from a little fishing boat, sat down tired beside a well and conversed with a courtesan, ate and drank and walked with ordinary men, and submitted to an ignoble death--in order that we could recognize Him. Nobody called Him a hero or a martyr. He was simply doing what His Father told Him to do, and doing it with delight."
--Jim Elliott

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love... These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."
-- Jesus Christ; John 15:9, 11

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."
--Paul; Colossians 2:6-7

"Behold, the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be unto me according to your word."
--Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ; Luke 1:38

Visitors from Skopje

A couple of weeks ago, the pastor of the Baptist church in the capital city was here on vacation. He came by to have coffee with us, and he and his wife were such an encouragement. And God sent them at the perfect time when Brian and I were feeling almost as low as we have ever felt here.
Bore and Rule (the pastor and his wife) are on the love seat.


And last night, He, my great and loving Father, sent another encouragement, Elena, who was much needed at that exact time. He is so faithful!!! She is also from Skopje, and I regret I don't have a picture of her to show you. She and her friend Maya stayed with K and M, and their boyfriends who are also great, stayed with us. These are college students who show amazing spiritual maturity. They love their Lord and loved on us while they were here. And boy did it come at a perfect time.

Elena's boyfriend, Alek, and Kate hit it off immediately.

I question my role (wife and mom) here a lot. I shouldn't, but sometimes that is just where satan attacks me, and sometimes he uses other people to do the attacking. I never pictured this being what my job would look like here, home a lot, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, etc. I love those things because I do them for the people I love most in the world. Its my act of service to them and I strive to glorify God in that role, while also trying to get out among lost people and invite the lost into my home for coffee. But, when I was in college and God called me to serve Him in a foreign country, this is not what I imagined. I guess I imagined being surrounded by beautiful orphans who loved me and who loved hearing about Jesus. I imagined hanging out with the women in my host-culture for days to learn their way of life. HA! Expectations can kill you if you don't check them at the door. All of that to say, Elena, a 20 year old college student, spoke amazing truth into my heart last night after a difficult conversation with another person. She said exactly what I knew in my head, but struggled with in my heart. I am so grateful that she was there. What an amazing blessing! God used her so mightily!

PLEASE pray for Brian and I, as I feel like, I know, we are under spiritual attack. We have been for awhile now, and I am just now mustering up enough strength to ask you for prayer. Please pray that we will not grow weary in doing what is good--running this race-- and that in abiding in our Savior, our joy will remain FULL at all times no matter what is thrown our way!

Pray that even though our life may not look like we thought it would here, that we will be perfectly content, resting in Him and His perfect plan. Pray that we will have the courage to carry on even when it looks different from how we wanted.

Pray for all of our colleagues here as well. Stories of an "m" being discouraged is not a rare thing to hear, and I have been hearing it A LOT lately. Pray that we as laborers in this great field of souls, will not fear, nor be dismayed, for our God will never leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1). He knows our path, and our lying down and is acquainted with ALL of our ways. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me (Ps. 139). Pray that we will cling to His testimonies and not to the dust (Ps. 119). Pray that we will be still and know that He is God, and He is on His throne.

Thanks!

Chilly

So it has gotten cold this week. Last night we had to close the windows, turn off the fan and get our big comforter out. I am enjoying it though. I keep forgetting it is July. The tourists are all pretty mad. They come to Ohrid to swim and get a tan. There can be none of that this week. Although I did see people sitting on the beach yesterday with sweatshirts on. One lady was wearing her bathing suit bottoms and a sweatshirt. :0) I guess when you want a tan bad enough, you'll freeze to get it.

Campus Crusade is here doing beach evangelism (well now they are doing street evangelism cause its too cold to go to the beach). There are about 60 students here from 4 or 5 countries including South Korea! Pray that God would guide their time here, and that we would see people come to know the Lord this week.

Stomach Virus: Rakia, Coke, and Tea

Last week, 2 days after we got back from our annual meeting, we got the worst stomach virus I have ever had. I got it first and then, the next day, Brian got it. Kate stayed healthy. Praise the Lord!!! Let me preface the following with: from our bedroom (where we were camped out) our doorbell is the loudest most annoying sound you have ever heard, and people like to lay on it like a car horn in New York. Doorbell ring #1: the wonderful JW's. SMILE. They're not my favorite people in the world, and every time I see them I have to remind myself that God loves them and so should I. Try it when you are ready to fall over from exhaustion and dehydration... Doorbell ring #2: K brought us over some juices to keep our fluids up. I asked her to do this so it was ok. She was being a great friend, and yet the when the doorbell rang, I still mumbled under my breath. "Stupid doorbell." Brian rolled over and watched me leave the room only to go right back to sleep. Doorbell ring #3: Our neighbors, who are really great, heard that we had the virus and came over immediately with their home remedy.

Rakia, the strongest homemade alcoholic beverage you have ever even dreamed of. They put a little in a bottle for us because they know we don't drink it and brought it right over. He insisted that we both take 2 shots with some Coke a Cola. "You will feel better immediately." He said. I mustered up as much thanks as I could find inside and let him know I appreciated his gesture (just please don't ring the doorbell again). I set it on the counter and proceeded up the stairs to join Brian in trying to sleep it off (the virus, not the rakia). A couple of hours later, doorbell ring #4. This time it was our dear teammate, K, again. She had just been visiting with these same neighbors, and they sent her with some homemade tea for us. Very sweet, but by this point of getting up and down out of bed to do more than change my wee one's diaper, I was ready to find a big stick and beat the doorbell to a pulp. Thankfully, by this point, Brian was able to get out of bed to do more than run down the hall to the bathroom. So he got the door.

The tea came with instructions: rakia, coke-a-cola, and then tea. About 2 minutes after K left, he called (this was the 3rd time) to tell us the instructions again just to make sure we understood what to do. Oh! All the bells: doorbells, cell phones, house phones, and we didn't even touch the rakia or the tea, except to take a picture of course. :0)

More Fun in Greece

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet???"

Kate did beautifully on the 8 hour drive down. Good baby!

We recently had our annual meeting in Greece. We have written about these before (every June since we have been here), and this year was just as wonderful as others, maybe even better. We enjoyed fellowship--real biblical fellowship--that was much needed. We heard awesome stories of what God is doing among our coworkers and their people groups in neighboring countries. God is working. And while no one in our region is seeing people come to know the Lord in droves, God is moving and we give Him all the glory! We had a wonderful praise band come from Apex, NC--yeah that was cool. I met people who knew people I knew and places I knew. The pastor for the week was Pastor Rob Zinn from Emmanuel Baptist Church in California and boy did he preach! He preached every morning, and every morning I thought he was speaking directly to me. Many of my friends said the same thing. God used him to encourage us and spur us on in our call. Plus he gave really great hugs--like my PaPa used to. Kate had her first experience in daycare. There were people there to keep our kids. What a job?! I am so grateful for them as I was able to sit in a worship service and focus on worshipping and not on keeping her quiet and occupied. I needed that SO much! We came back feeling revived and pumped. Sure we have a ginormous task ahead of us, and we are so unworthy of the calling before us. But God is with us. "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9).
The herd of sheep hanging out outside our bungalow. They had bells on. :0)

Swim time.

This is where we spent most of our afternoons. See the net on the left side of the picture. It was the cause of many bruises on my hubby. But he so enjoyed the competition in "WATER POLO!!!"

Mt. Olympus

Last week from June 4th to June 6th, several friends and I from the occupied territory of Northern Greece (explain later) climbed Mt. Olympus. I have posted ALL 258 of the pictures on my website: http://flickr.com/photos/brispics which Mandy gave me as a birthday present. But because I need to have some picture on the blog, here you go!

This is me at 2918m or 9574ft (the highest point in Greece and slightly higher than what is in Macedonia)

Spine Anyone???

We were recently in Skopje for lunch with some friends. We all met at the Cuban restaurant which was pretty exciting and random (Skopje has a Cuban restaurant?!). And Brian ordered this. He obviously had no clue what he had ordered, but ate it anyway. As he began to scrape off some of the very bright sauce, he discovered he had been served a spine. Yuck!!! Don't look directly at it. You might puke.

Pictures and Parents

Brian said he would post pictures today and here it is midnight (here) and no pictures. So in order to help my husband keep his word, I am posting some pictures. I think he intended pictures about Easter, but he will have to do those later. There are more exciting things going on right now. Brian's parents are here. They have almost been here a week and we are having a blast. They love this place but not as much as they love their granddaughter. Brian's dad has taken a couple hundred pictures already and mom is finding her way as "grandma."

Easter in Ohrid

This year, the Orthodox Easter was a whole month after the Catholic Easter which means we just had Easter two weeks ago! I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you guys from the Easter service, and to tell you about some things that I "learned" the weekend of Easter.

One thing that I really like about Macedonia is how they celebrate Easter. On Thursday/Friday, they die eggs red to symbolize the blood that Christ spilled on the cross. On Saturday night at midnight, they crack the eggs to celebrate his resurrection and that he is no longer in the grave. As great a symbol as that is, there are some who don't even know it, and some other traditions added onto it ... just like everything in Orthodoxy. For example: When you boil and die the eggs, you always keep one for the house until next year and simply because you set it aside for your house it never spoils whereas the other ones would. The following year on Easter you either bury it in the ground where you are farming to receive good crops for the year or you throw it in the lake if you are a fisherman for good fishing. "Obviously" God blesses the egg the year it sits in your house and will give you health and success. Interesting.

Praying that truth reigns in this city.

Saturday and Sunday

Well, I am having a tough time keeping up with my days. It's been what, 3 weeks now??? So I have decided to combine the last two days so you get a glimpse of our weekends before May. ;0)

Saturdays, once again, are much like the previous 3 days. We try and meet with people for coffee either at their home or ours or if the company is younger, we meet at a coffee house. I try and take care of things around the house, and Brian always spends some part of the day studying for Sunday morning church.

Sundays always start off with Brian finishing up his studies for the approaching Bible study and I get myself and Kate ready while also throwing in a load of laundry. Sundays are cheap electricity day so I do laundry all day on Sundays. Yea. We practice music, as Brian is also the music director and head off to church. We are meeting at K and M's apartment right now. Everyone arrives with a great welcome from K and M. This is where is gets pretty crazy. Since church is in a living room, the only cultural thing to do is to have food, something salty and sweet, and coffee or cold drinks. M and K always do such a great job of having the food already out on the coffee table and offering coffee (yes, there's always coffee) and drinks to all who enter. Once everyone has their drink of choice in front of them, we start. (Does this sound like church as you know it???) Someone leads us in prayer and Brian, or sometimes K, leads us in a time of worship in music. Its always fun to sing familiar songs that have been translated into Macedonian. That is the highlight of my Sunday. After we finish singing, K takes the children into her bedroom for what we call children's church. She is doing a great job with them--reading with them through the Macedonian children's Bible and having them draw pictures of what they learn. She has also taught them some songs. Very fun. Brian leads a semi-open discussion through a passage of scripture. That normally lasts for at least an hour depending on how many questions people have, and then we wrap it up. Where are Kate and I during this time??? Well, we are normally up and down, in and out of the room. Kate never seems to cooperate during church, and I am the official nursery worker. :0)
We had a big group this day.

K and the kids, Ana, Filip and Angela


Brian and I like to go to lunch afterward, but there is no rush--there's no Sunday crowd at any of the restaurants ;0). We then spend the afternoon in a semi-state of relaxation--me doing laundry and Brian trying to get some random work done. Sundays nights bring on more coffee and more conversation with people. Yeah. We have a great job!

We hope you have enjoyed your glimpse into our lives. It's not so different from yours, right?!

We've Been Tagged... Twice

And so I guess we will fill it out. We are normally those people who never do stuff like this. But, here goes...

4 Jobs I have had in my life:
(Mandy)
1. Tour Guide at Reed Gold Mine
2. Office Assistant at Helzburg Diamonds
3. Respite care worker for mentally and physically handicapped and autistic children
4. Teacher at Ruby Reid Child Development Center
(Brian)
1. Manager of Golf Carts at Wake Forest Country Club
2. YMCA Counselor
3. Nortel Network Switch Information Operator
4. Design Engineer at Troxler Electronic Labs

4 Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once:
(Mandy)
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Hitch
4. The Patriot
(Brian)
1. Tombstone
2, Hero
3. Count of Monte Cristo
4. Army of Darkness

4 Places I’ve Lived:
(Mandy)
1. Siloam, NC
2. Locust, NC
3. Wake Forest, NC
4. Macedonia
(Brian)
1. New Jersey
2. Connecticut
3. North Carolina
4. Macedonia

4 TV Show I Watch/Watched

1. The Cosby Show
2. Andy Griffeth Show (only on DVD now)
3. Judging Amy
4. Law and Order SVU
(Brian)
1. Thundercats (when I was a kid)
2. Simpsons (HS and college)
3. Firefly (you should own it!)
4.

4 Places I have Been:
(Mandy)
1. NY, NY
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. Greece
4. Bulgaria
(Brian)
1. Todd, North Carolina
2. Danville, Virgina
3. Trumbull, Connecticut
4. Kozel, Macedonia

4 People who email me regularly
(Mandy)
1. my mom
2. Amanda
3. Amy
4. Sarah
(Brian)
1. Kyle (because he has to)
2. Ed (because he has to)
3. Tami (because she has to)
4. Evelyn (because she has to)

4 of my favorite foods
(Mandy)
1. Cheeseburgers
2. Atlantis chocolate
3. Mexican
4. My dad's BBQ chicken
(Brian)
1. Hamburgers
2. Hamburgers
3. Chicken Filet Biscuit Combo at Bojangles
4. Hamburgers

4 Places I Would Like to Visit
(Mandy)
1. Germany
2. London
3. Kenya
4. Italy
(Brian)
1. China
2. Japan
3. Germany
4. England

Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year
(Mandy)
1. The Davises coming to visit for three weeks!!!
2. AGM
3. seeing some of my family in the fall
4. Kate's first birthday
(Brian)
1. My parents coming
2. Seeing new believers in Ohrid
3. Seeing a new church
4. Watching Kate learn to talk and walk

Thursday

Sorry I am not posting this until Saturday. Things never really seem to go exactly as planned.

This Thursday turned out to be pazar (market) day. I like to go at the beginning of the week, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. So, I finally made it to the pazar Thursday afternoon when Brian got back from making some visits. He had some work to do at home on the computer and so I left Kate with him and headed out the door. I always love going to the open market. The fruits and veggies are always so fresh and good and the smells of the vendors' homemade cheese (like feta), honey, olives and flowers fill the market this time of year. I love it!!! Plus the vendors are so very nice, and I love talking with them. I loaded up on what looks like the last little bit of carrots for the season, cucumbers, oranges, and kiwi. This time of year spinach is coming out and is very affordable. I normally buy that with some lettuce, but Brian had just received two HUGE bags full of both while visiting some of our friends earlier in the morning. They were out planting and harvesting in their garden, and so he was sent home with some green goodies.

I took some pictures on my walk to the pazar.
The road.

St. Clement--the patron saint of this city

Small altar set up in city center.

The Pazar


On my 10 minute walk there, I passed 4 beautiful church buildings and a mosque and yet the people couldn't be less interested in spiritual things.

Thursday nights, Brian leads a Bible discussion at the coffee house. This discussion is geared mostly toward seekers. Although we have not had too many come yet, it is a great outreach that Brian enjoys. I try to use my free evenings to have ladies over for coffee or to go see the neighbors. This Thursday, I went next door to see Nade and her daughter Fane. We had a great time. I was able to share a little about the meaning of Easter using their own traditions to share the Gospel with them. They were so open to all I had to say. But the subject was interrupted by the news--the NATO summit. This led into an hour long discussion (them talking, me listening, learning and respecting) of the history of their country.

And that was Thursday! :0)

Wednesday

Wednesday are much like Tuesdays. Brian attempts to get out among the people. and I do my first and main job, be a mom to Kate, which entails a lot! Brian and I always try to eat lunch together and rarely see one another after lunch due to the fact that he is out visiting people and working at the coffee house. This particular Wednesday, I spent most of my free time--time while Kate was sleeping--studying for my Bible study time with the ladies. It normally takes me a good 2 hours to study because I have to study in English and then make sure I know how to say everything I need to say in Macedonian. The ladies and I met for discipleship in the evening. We did a quick review of the Gospel and then we worked our way through Ephesians 4:17-24 and 5:1-2 (check it out. it is a great passage). Every time we meet I see more and more growth in the ladies. Awesome.

Brian had to feed Kate last night, so I could catch my taxi to the coffee house. Rushing is no fun! But Kate had fun with dad. (Yeah. Yeah. I know. A high chair would be better than feeding her on the couch. We're shopping around for one.)

About two hours later, Brian met me at the coffee house with Kate in tow. I grabbed Kate and headed back home.

Tuesday

Well, you know how I warned you that days were subject to change. Yesterday was a prime example of that! Brian got up and out the door to go check the status of our visas. While he was gone, I prepared to throw a load of laundry in the washer and while doing so, I realized that we had no water. This happens quite frequently here, and it always is a lesson in learning to be content in any situation (Phil. 4:11). No water means no laundry, no cooking, and the worst of all, no shower. So, the many plans I had for me and Kate outside of the house this Tuesday morning, just couldn't happen, mainly because no one would want to be around me due to the stink. So, I tried to be diligent to get things done around the house, things that didn't involve water, of course. That didn't leave much to do. So Kate and I listened to a cd of a sermon and played with finger puppets. Yea!

Brian was out visiting contacts-having coffee and conversation with some of the people we know. He does this at least once a day. Once the water came on, at 3:30, I hit the shower.

We spent the evening hanging out with people, sharing life.

Monday

So what does our life look like over here? For the next week, I am going to give you a little glimpse. Hope you enjoy.
PS--All days are subject to change at a moment's notice. So learn how to be flexible with us.

Monday
Monday's are normally our day off. We take the day to be together as a family, get stuff done around the house, and spend extra time with the Lord. We always wake up and make biscuits and eggs. Yum! We enjoy the morning, doing little to nothing except getting ready to go out for a walk if the weather permits. We go to coffee which is the thing to do here, and we have really grown to love it. Depending on how well Kate is cooperating we normally stay at coffee for at least an hour, people watch, talk and just enjoy being together with no responsibilities. We walk a little, come home, read or watch some European tv, and always enjoy hamburgers for dinner. Monday evenings are normally movie night, that is, if we can find a good one to watch.

Here we are at coffee. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a very enjoyable time.


This particular Monday we had to cut our "off" day short. Brian was needed at the coffee house.

Smithfield's BBQ Anyone???

Macedonians know nothing of yummy BBQ (pork, that is). I finally found a recipe that sounded good, and oh boy was it?! Thanks to some imported Texas Pete (thanks mom and dad), we were able to enjoy some delicious sandwiches the other night. Sad day, we finished off all of the leftovers for lunch today. But this is definitely something I am going to have to do when I am craving Smithfield's again. Maybe next time I will try hushpuppies and brunswick stew with it. Yum.

Yes!!!

"Yes, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring;
That He who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior"
--Lyrics from the song "My Savior, My God"
--Aaron Shust



"Oh bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard, who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved." Psalm 66:8-9

Turkish Coffee or Instant Coffee

Turkish coffee takes a while to make. You need time to let the coffee boil together with the water, then when you put it in the cup, it is imperative that you wait until the coffee grounds have settled to the bottom before you drink. Otherwise you will be chewing on coffee grounds, and take my word for it, that is no fun!!! But Turkish coffee is strong--like you would not believe. There is no way you can miss the coffee taste or dilute it with enough sugar to drown out the taste. I have tried and failed. :0)
Instant coffee, on the other hand, is easy to make, its quick (hence the name instant), and it is easily diluted. Without much work, I can turn a cup of instant coffee into an enjoyable drink for a cold day. Sugar, milk and yes, more sugar turns my coffee a lighter shade of brown.

Tonight, while working with D, we came to a point of decision. Confess. Believe. Become a child of God. I have no doubts that she understands it all and is even ready to make this, the most important decision of her life, and yet, she sat quiet again. That is ok. I believe that the Holy Spirit is working and she is being "discipled to conversion."

What does all of this have to do with coffee. Well, my dear, precious, honest friend compared D to Turkish coffee. The coffee and water are there, but they must boil together, and then once that happens you must wait a little while before you take a sip so you don't get grinds in your teeth. The point being: It takes time. But the final product is strong and engrossed in Christ, steeped in and infused with The Savior. There is no diluting the final product. There is no watering it down or drowning out the taste. Pray that as we wait patiently for non-believers to receive the Truth that we will remember always, that God is working in our midst. He brings about the final product, and it is oh so good!!!

Osmi Mart

The 8th of March is a big day in this country. All women, not just moms or gandmas, or aunts, ALL women are celebrated on this day. So we decided to join in the fun.
We bought a hundred carnations.

And on each carnation, we placed a tag on each of them with Proverbs 31:25-26, 30 "Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." On the back side of this verse was an invite to all women to come to the coffee house to receive free muffins that we had spent the previous day making. We handed out all of our flowers to women we knew (the cashiers at the grocery store, boutique workers, neighbors) and women we didn't know at all. From the hundred carnations we handed out, we had about 12-15 women come in the coffee house. That may not sound like a lot, but we have regular flow of men through the coffee house and rarely any women. So, this was huge. They were all treated to muffins and coffee! Praise the Lord for the awesome turn out. Pray that we will see fruit from our labor for the glory of God.