We couldn't be more excited as we just got word that the Dovers were approved for their visa and will be on the plane coming to live in Ohrid in one week from today. YAY! Please pray that they will have safe travel and that their two young boys, Josiah and Judah, will do well on the long trip. Pray that they will adjust quickly to their new home and that they will find peace and rest in the Lord on the good and bad days. Thanks to God for sending us this new family to work with.
We will be stateside one month from today. We are getting pretty excited, but are totally overwhelmed at all that has to be done before we take our place on the airplane. Please pray that we will prioritize, listening to the Holy Spirit for every step, that we won't be anxious or stay awake worrying over what didn't get done the day before, and that we will bear fruits of the Spirit in all that we say and do.
We hope to see all of you while we are stateside but are realizing that six months really isn't that long, especially when you are having a baby right in the middle of it. Let us know if you want to meet one day and we will do our best to work it out to see everyone of you who we so dearly love.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sayonara Ya'll
Logan, Stella and Sacchio at the fort
Japan and Alabama came to Ohrid. Our volunteer team from Jacksonville State University Baptist Campus Ministries just left on Friday morning. It was comprised of a Japanese exchange student, a "non-traditional" student and a sophmore who, like most, isn't sure what God wants him to do long term. All of them had a refreshing passion to see the nations worship. They did a fabulous job and we had a blast working with them and getting to know them. They were able to help us with a cookout with our Sunday night Bible study group. They were able to share with the whole group how Christ had changed their lives. The group was especially interested in the Japanese student who had come with the team. He shared how he was the only Christian in his family and he had come to know the Lord through IMB workers in Tokyo.
God also used the group to distribute 2000 tracks throughout a part of the town that we hadn't gotten to yet. They prayer walked, helped with English classes and just spent time sharing their time and lives with Macedonians. It was a fabulous group and we are so grateful for their faithfulness in coming.
Sacchio with two Macedonians at the cookout.
The team getting ready to share their testimony with the Bible study group.
Brian manning the grill. He is a grill master.
Japan and Alabama came to Ohrid. Our volunteer team from Jacksonville State University Baptist Campus Ministries just left on Friday morning. It was comprised of a Japanese exchange student, a "non-traditional" student and a sophmore who, like most, isn't sure what God wants him to do long term. All of them had a refreshing passion to see the nations worship. They did a fabulous job and we had a blast working with them and getting to know them. They were able to help us with a cookout with our Sunday night Bible study group. They were able to share with the whole group how Christ had changed their lives. The group was especially interested in the Japanese student who had come with the team. He shared how he was the only Christian in his family and he had come to know the Lord through IMB workers in Tokyo.
God also used the group to distribute 2000 tracks throughout a part of the town that we hadn't gotten to yet. They prayer walked, helped with English classes and just spent time sharing their time and lives with Macedonians. It was a fabulous group and we are so grateful for their faithfulness in coming.
Sacchio with two Macedonians at the cookout.
The team getting ready to share their testimony with the Bible study group.
Brian manning the grill. He is a grill master.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Another Day in Another Village
We recently went with our friends, to her home village about 3 hours away from Ohrid. We had a good time, and boy was it interesting. The time with this family was great and our relationship is continuing to grow. We were their for the villages Saint George Day celebration. They had a concert until about 3:00am and Kate was trying to sleep 100 yards from the speakers. It didn't go over that well :). Anyway, here are some pictures:
Her family is a family of farmers. They grow LOADS of cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelons and sell them throughout all of Macedonia. Here is one of the ginormous green houses, it was about 120 yards by 80 yards. This is the biggest one, but by far only a small percentage of the crop.
We were there on a holiday and the music literally never stopped. They played ALL night long.
This is a picture of their cucumber plants.
I ate a lot of cucumbers. I guess, even though I am through my first trimester, some food aversions just aren't going away--like, for instance, the lamb we ate after they 'sacrificed' it in their front yard and then said, "Oh, don't worry. He was sick." Um, can we say lamb flu? I did try a bite, but couldn't bear to eat it. It was ok, cause I ate their cucumbers like bananas the whole day. Brian did eat quite a bit of the sacrificed lamb and I am happy to say we have seen no signs of the lamb flu. PTL!
Her family is a family of farmers. They grow LOADS of cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelons and sell them throughout all of Macedonia. Here is one of the ginormous green houses, it was about 120 yards by 80 yards. This is the biggest one, but by far only a small percentage of the crop.
We were there on a holiday and the music literally never stopped. They played ALL night long.
This is a picture of their cucumber plants.
I ate a lot of cucumbers. I guess, even though I am through my first trimester, some food aversions just aren't going away--like, for instance, the lamb we ate after they 'sacrificed' it in their front yard and then said, "Oh, don't worry. He was sick." Um, can we say lamb flu? I did try a bite, but couldn't bear to eat it. It was ok, cause I ate their cucumbers like bananas the whole day. Brian did eat quite a bit of the sacrificed lamb and I am happy to say we have seen no signs of the lamb flu. PTL!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Inductive Bible Study Sets
After (and a result of) our team leader training in Prague in February, God inspired the idea of using Bible Study sets in Ohrid. As a team, we have a lot of friends, but they did not want to seem to commit to a Bible Study. The idea of a set of Bible Studies was a perfect solution on both ends. When I say set, I mean a course that meets once a week for 8 weeks, 10 weeks, or 12 weeks. On their end this works because they do not need to commit to anything longer than the course. On our end if someone is not really serious at this moment in time we have an excuse to move on temporarily. We of course never close the door on anyone, we just focus our time on better soil. Currently we are working on a 12 week Chronological Bible Study that covers 12 key Bible Stories. When we asked our friends if they wanted to do a 12 week course, many of them said yes. Until now they were skeptical in some ways, but this offers both of us a chance to discuss the Bible.
Not only are we doing sets, but we are doing them inductively. The model of church we have in America is built off a tradition of mainstream Christianity. We preach the way we preach in churches on Sunday morning because we think most people in the congregation have a Biblical understanding on which they can understand the material ... well until the last couple of years. In America, this is changing because the younger generations are not being raised in a Bible teaching church and many of them can not tell you the difference between the Old and New Testament. In Macedonia, people have very little Biblical knowledge so before we can even preach, we need them to read and understand basic principles of the Bible. An inductive approach is the best way for THEM to learn. It is the easiest for ME to tell them (preach), but it is best for THEM to interact with the text and see it for themselves. What we do is read a text of Scripture as a group (for example Genesis 1 - Creation) and I (the facilitator) ask a set of questions that gets the group to read the text and process it. In the end, the points that I would preach on end up coming out in the form of questions.
There are many different types of inductive approaches, and I am using an approach of Observation, Interpretation, and Application that I learned from Kyle. (We may not be Baptists here yet, but we can teach them early about 3 points that all end the same ... golf analogies come later :) ). Actually, we have to get a golf course in Macedonia first!
Observation: Observation questions are questions where the answers come from only the text. For example, what did God create on the 5th day? or What did God ask Abraham to do? The answers to these questions are non-debatable because we are only getting our answers from the text. If you are good facilitator you know what points you want to bring out and then you ask the appropriate questions. It is also good because I cannot bring out a point that is not found in the text so it keeps me honest as well.
Interpretation: Interpretation questions are usually always the same, and we only have three. "What does the text teach us about God?"; "What does the text teach us about man?"; and "What is the main point of the text?." The questions are obviously less grounded in the text but they come from the things we learned in Observation. For example, since we saw that God created X on day X, Y on day Y ... in Observation, we learn that God is the Creator of all things. Or from Observation with Abraham and Isaac, we learn that God wants us to be obedient to what he asks of us not matter what it looks like will happen.
Application: What does this text mean for me in my life? or How does it apply to me? Please note that we did NOT say "What do I think the text says?" The truth of the text is not debatable, but the application of it can vary from person to person and situation to situation. For example, from Abraham and Isaac we learned that God wants us to be obedient in all areas of our life and I know that he hates a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-19) so I will be honest in all my conversations at work no matter what I THINK might be the result.
So in a nut shell we are using this inductive approach throughout the whole Bible in order to lay a solid Biblical foundation. This way people are reading what the text says instead of me telling them. People who have been in our earlier Bible Studies like this approach much better. One guy, Igor, who I have been friends with since the beginning told me he is glad we are using this approach because "we get to see for ourselves what God is trying to say." One day I hope that we will be able to have more in depth preaching, but we have to have a foundation before that can take place.
I want to close with a comment that this approach might be used effectively in America. There are many people who sit in the pews and really do not know basic principles of the Bible nor do some of them know how to read and interact with it. We are assuming that people are on the 3rd and 4th floors when they might be on the ground level or 1st floor. A lot of our material that we use for Sunday School and small groups makes the same assumptions. It might be the best thing for some Sunday School classes to put the material in the closet for a while and open up the Word and start interacting with it and see what God has to say for Himself. Once that foundation is laid, bring the material back out and go deeper!
****
I just uploaded the inductive Bible Study for creation (translated into English :)) here for you to look at. Creation is pretty straight forward, but if want to see another example from a harder text, please let me know.
Not only are we doing sets, but we are doing them inductively. The model of church we have in America is built off a tradition of mainstream Christianity. We preach the way we preach in churches on Sunday morning because we think most people in the congregation have a Biblical understanding on which they can understand the material ... well until the last couple of years. In America, this is changing because the younger generations are not being raised in a Bible teaching church and many of them can not tell you the difference between the Old and New Testament. In Macedonia, people have very little Biblical knowledge so before we can even preach, we need them to read and understand basic principles of the Bible. An inductive approach is the best way for THEM to learn. It is the easiest for ME to tell them (preach), but it is best for THEM to interact with the text and see it for themselves. What we do is read a text of Scripture as a group (for example Genesis 1 - Creation) and I (the facilitator) ask a set of questions that gets the group to read the text and process it. In the end, the points that I would preach on end up coming out in the form of questions.
There are many different types of inductive approaches, and I am using an approach of Observation, Interpretation, and Application that I learned from Kyle. (We may not be Baptists here yet, but we can teach them early about 3 points that all end the same ... golf analogies come later :) ). Actually, we have to get a golf course in Macedonia first!
Observation: Observation questions are questions where the answers come from only the text. For example, what did God create on the 5th day? or What did God ask Abraham to do? The answers to these questions are non-debatable because we are only getting our answers from the text. If you are good facilitator you know what points you want to bring out and then you ask the appropriate questions. It is also good because I cannot bring out a point that is not found in the text so it keeps me honest as well.
Interpretation: Interpretation questions are usually always the same, and we only have three. "What does the text teach us about God?"; "What does the text teach us about man?"; and "What is the main point of the text?." The questions are obviously less grounded in the text but they come from the things we learned in Observation. For example, since we saw that God created X on day X, Y on day Y ... in Observation, we learn that God is the Creator of all things. Or from Observation with Abraham and Isaac, we learn that God wants us to be obedient to what he asks of us not matter what it looks like will happen.
Application: What does this text mean for me in my life? or How does it apply to me? Please note that we did NOT say "What do I think the text says?" The truth of the text is not debatable, but the application of it can vary from person to person and situation to situation. For example, from Abraham and Isaac we learned that God wants us to be obedient in all areas of our life and I know that he hates a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-19) so I will be honest in all my conversations at work no matter what I THINK might be the result.
So in a nut shell we are using this inductive approach throughout the whole Bible in order to lay a solid Biblical foundation. This way people are reading what the text says instead of me telling them. People who have been in our earlier Bible Studies like this approach much better. One guy, Igor, who I have been friends with since the beginning told me he is glad we are using this approach because "we get to see for ourselves what God is trying to say." One day I hope that we will be able to have more in depth preaching, but we have to have a foundation before that can take place.
I want to close with a comment that this approach might be used effectively in America. There are many people who sit in the pews and really do not know basic principles of the Bible nor do some of them know how to read and interact with it. We are assuming that people are on the 3rd and 4th floors when they might be on the ground level or 1st floor. A lot of our material that we use for Sunday School and small groups makes the same assumptions. It might be the best thing for some Sunday School classes to put the material in the closet for a while and open up the Word and start interacting with it and see what God has to say for Himself. Once that foundation is laid, bring the material back out and go deeper!
****
I just uploaded the inductive Bible Study for creation (translated into English :)) here for you to look at. Creation is pretty straight forward, but if want to see another example from a harder text, please let me know.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Back in the Day... at the Village
We recently spent the day at the village home of our friend L. He no longer lives there, but he goes back with his family regularly to visit. We had a blast walking through the village and grilling out with their family. Here are some pictures of our day (they are in no particular order).
This is the whole village from a distance. Beautiful.
The abundance of meat. We had everything from chicken wrapped in bacon, to hamburger meat stuffed with cheese to good ol' fashion sausage.
This is what Kate thinks of the village. Stay tuned to her blog for more pictures of her day at the village.
The men preparing for the BBQ.
Just some of the houses we saw on our walk around the village.
We stopped and talked to this lady. She was stoking the fire in her stove to make bread.
She invited us to come back later to have some of the bread, but sadly we never returned that way.
Check out his hat--Charlotte Hornets. We asked him about it, and he had no clue what the Charlotte Hornets were--although who really does nowadays. Ah, Mugsy...
This is the house L grew up in. Cool, uh?!
Poor donkey. That looks heavy.
L and Brian--buddies.
Kate found a feeding trough. I guess she was hungry.
This is the whole village from a distance. Beautiful.
The abundance of meat. We had everything from chicken wrapped in bacon, to hamburger meat stuffed with cheese to good ol' fashion sausage.
This is what Kate thinks of the village. Stay tuned to her blog for more pictures of her day at the village.
The men preparing for the BBQ.
These are some OLD shoes, but what they would have worn back in the day.
Just some of the houses we saw on our walk around the village.
We stopped and talked to this lady. She was stoking the fire in her stove to make bread.
She invited us to come back later to have some of the bread, but sadly we never returned that way.
Check out his hat--Charlotte Hornets. We asked him about it, and he had no clue what the Charlotte Hornets were--although who really does nowadays. Ah, Mugsy...
This is the house L grew up in. Cool, uh?!
L and Brian--buddies.
Kate found a feeding trough. I guess she was hungry.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Bittersweet Times
We are getting pretty excited about our new teammates getting here. Charlie, Jennifer and their boys, Josiah and Judah will be arriving in the next few weeks (we hope). They are going to be career m's here just like Brian and I, which means they are in for the long haul. We are so excited to have some more help and are thrilled that it is coming soon.
Our time with M and K, our journeymen, is quickly winding down.
M plans to leave August 6th to return to the states and pursue a masters and K is planning on staying here until October 16th. Please pray for these girls. They have been so wonderful to work with and have become a part of our family here. We are going to miss them greatly! Pray for them as they finish up their time. Pray that it will be fruitful and that they will work diligently. And pray that they will know where to go next. There are many questions from, "Where will I work?" to "Where should I go to seminary?" to "Should I continue to pursue a life of foreign missions?"
With the girls leaving we are hoping to have two more girls or guys come and fill their spot! That is a huge prayer request. Pray that someone will answer the call to work for two years in Macedonia teaching English and working at the coffee house, among other wonderful things. If you know anyone who might be interested in filling this spot. Please let them know we are looking and would love to talk with them.
Our time with M and K, our journeymen, is quickly winding down.
M plans to leave August 6th to return to the states and pursue a masters and K is planning on staying here until October 16th. Please pray for these girls. They have been so wonderful to work with and have become a part of our family here. We are going to miss them greatly! Pray for them as they finish up their time. Pray that it will be fruitful and that they will work diligently. And pray that they will know where to go next. There are many questions from, "Where will I work?" to "Where should I go to seminary?" to "Should I continue to pursue a life of foreign missions?"
With the girls leaving we are hoping to have two more girls or guys come and fill their spot! That is a huge prayer request. Pray that someone will answer the call to work for two years in Macedonia teaching English and working at the coffee house, among other wonderful things. If you know anyone who might be interested in filling this spot. Please let them know we are looking and would love to talk with them.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The BSU of WCU
The Baptist Student Union of William Carey University sent 5 talented musicians to assist us in our work here. While they were here, they did two concerts at the coffeehouse and one at the big name coffeehouse downtown. The concerts were fantastic and the coffeehouse was the fullest we have ever seen it for their last concert there. On the days when there were not concerts, we did prayer walking and literature distribution and have already heard back from 2 people (which is a big deal). Here are some pictures from the last concert:
Before coming, the group prepared a song by Tose Proeski, who has recently passed away and is as big as Elvis was in his time. People would come and stay just to hear the group play it. I recorded it, but my camera does not quite give the song justice. Nontheless, here is the group playing Tose's "The Hardest Thing" (one of the few songs he sung in English.)
Overall, the group was a huge success and I am grateful for their time, effort, practice, and faithfulness to come. I know they did have an impact and they helped us spread the word about the coffeehouse.
Before coming, the group prepared a song by Tose Proeski, who has recently passed away and is as big as Elvis was in his time. People would come and stay just to hear the group play it. I recorded it, but my camera does not quite give the song justice. Nontheless, here is the group playing Tose's "The Hardest Thing" (one of the few songs he sung in English.)
Overall, the group was a huge success and I am grateful for their time, effort, practice, and faithfulness to come. I know they did have an impact and they helped us spread the word about the coffeehouse.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Great Video
As much as I can remember, this will be only the second time since we created this blog that we posted something outside of our own thoughts, comments, or activities. My brother-in-law forwarded me this video that he saw at a pastor's conference and I think it would be good for all our brothers and sisters in Christ to watch. As a matter of fact, watch it once and once you understand the message, watch it again!
This video is comprised of the full length speech called "The Year of Living Dangerously". If you would like to download the whole speech click here. If you would like to see a list of all Al Mohler's sermons and speeches, they can be found here.
This video is comprised of the full length speech called "The Year of Living Dangerously". If you would like to download the whole speech click here. If you would like to see a list of all Al Mohler's sermons and speeches, they can be found here.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A Baby in the Making
We, Jackie and I, were able to throw a baby shower for our colleague and great friend, Amy. She is due to have a little baby girl in April. We are so excited to meet their new baby and had a blast celebrating this new life with her.
Some of the attendees.
The cute pregnant Amy and me.
The beautiful cake done by Jackie. Isn't that amazing?!
A wreath made out of diapers. Brian is quite crafty. :0)
And the food. Yum.
But wait, there's more...
There is another baby in the making. We found out last week that we are pregnant with our second baby. I am 7 weeks along and have started having all the normal symptoms of pregnancy. We will be having this baby in the states around November 1. Having just come out of a miscarriage, I am a little nervous about this one. Please pray that I will rejoice in my Sustainer and Provider--the Giver of Life. Pray that I won't focus on what could happen. And most of all, please pray for a full healthy pregnancy. YAY!
Some of the attendees.
The cute pregnant Amy and me.
The beautiful cake done by Jackie. Isn't that amazing?!
A wreath made out of diapers. Brian is quite crafty. :0)
And the food. Yum.
But wait, there's more...
There is another baby in the making. We found out last week that we are pregnant with our second baby. I am 7 weeks along and have started having all the normal symptoms of pregnancy. We will be having this baby in the states around November 1. Having just come out of a miscarriage, I am a little nervous about this one. Please pray that I will rejoice in my Sustainer and Provider--the Giver of Life. Pray that I won't focus on what could happen. And most of all, please pray for a full healthy pregnancy. YAY!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
In Prague
Prague is the home base for our region of Central and Eastern Europe. This is where a great deal of training takes place. We are here for team leader training for 3 weeks. We are so grateful for this opportunity and we are having a blast learning tons and eating lots of great American food. :0) We are right in the middle of training now, and although we are enjoying the time and fellowship, we are looking forward to returning to Macedonia. Kate spends the day with 3 other kids, but we hurry home to pick her up and take her out on the town with us as we look for dinner.
In January, we celebrated our 5 year!!! anniversary in Paris and then came back to celebrate my birthday just a few days later. It was good to get away for an extended weekend. The Kirkpatricks were kind enough to look after Kate. They kept resisting and coming up with excuses not to take care of a 15 month old who walks around and talks to everyone, but in the end they caved and took care of her :). Okay, that was a bit of sarcasm/ They willingly and kindly offered to take care of her for us.
We have had a very productive month and are excited to see that God is doing some awesome things in our city. We hope to be starting a Bible Study the beginning of March so please pray for God to bless that!
In January, we celebrated our 5 year!!! anniversary in Paris and then came back to celebrate my birthday just a few days later. It was good to get away for an extended weekend. The Kirkpatricks were kind enough to look after Kate. They kept resisting and coming up with excuses not to take care of a 15 month old who walks around and talks to everyone, but in the end they caved and took care of her :). Okay, that was a bit of sarcasm/ They willingly and kindly offered to take care of her for us.
We have had a very productive month and are excited to see that God is doing some awesome things in our city. We hope to be starting a Bible Study the beginning of March so please pray for God to bless that!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I am not "in the company"
I have a friend named L, who was born in a village outside of Ohrid. He has told me several times that we should go out to visit the village together and I always tell him I will be there. Well, last week I had my first opportunity to go. This village isn't much different than other villages around Ohrid, but this would rank somewhere in the middle between abandoned and fully functional. While I was there, I learned that in 1953, the population was 1050 and last year there were only 95! That means that in 50 years, 90% of the people moved out of the village!
Anyway, it turns out that there is a special tradition for the village on the days following Orthodox Christmas and I happened to be there on the second day. My friend, L, was very excited about it and told me that the men "of the company" went house to house while the women stayed home the previous day, and the women "of the company" went house to house while the men stayed home the day I was there. As I already mentioned, this village is pretty much a dead town and there was absolutely no work in the town except farming and one convience store. When L said "of the company" I had no idea what he meant. So I asked him to clarify and he said that this village was made up of 5 companies (which confused me even more). After I asked him to clarify again, he said that there were sets of families in each company and his company had 8 families, but others had more or less. In the end I realized that he was basically explaining a gang. There were these set of families who hung out exclusively with each other, and not only that, but no one else in town was allowed to dine/drink coffee with them on these days (not even guests)! So after understanding what he was saying I was facinated and he started explaining it further. It turns out that every year there is someone like the "Godfather" of the group who hosts everyone for lunch and dinner and stays home all day for anyone of the gang who wants to come over for coffee. Every year, the role of Godfather rotates through the families. As we were walking through the town, he stopped someone and said (I am quoting this word for word ... well translated:) ) "This is my friend from America. I know the rules state that we are not allowed to have guests and he is not from the company, but he wanted to see what was going on, so would it be okay if he came to observe lunch?" The guy rubbed his chin and said, "If he is going to observe (implying not partaking) then he can."
Afterwards L told me he was the Godfather and we needed to get his permission. If he approved then no one else in the company could disagree. I loved it! So anyway, after meeting other people in the company throughout the afternoon and talking about the history of the village, I went to observe lunch. Surprisingly, the people enjoyed my company and allowed me to eat with them. It was obvious that some people were not used to having guests, so I kept trying to leave. But everyone kept reassuring me that I was welcome. It had to do more with the fact that I was American more than it did my charming personality. I heard several American jokes and constant references to former presidents and what they had done for Macedonia. Also surprisingly, we talked about "our faith" verses "your faith" in a good context. One man had a son in America and was impressed with "our faith." Although I didn't get to talk much about it, I was able to give them a good taste of "Protestantism."
At the end they told me that everyone in the company donates money to the company to help pay for dishes, utensils, and the necessary items. L told me that other companies even had their own house that they use and maybe one day they would buy their own company house, but he didn't think that would happen anytime soon. Before, I left I gave them $4 and I think I made friends for life. Pray for the people of this village.
Anyway, it turns out that there is a special tradition for the village on the days following Orthodox Christmas and I happened to be there on the second day. My friend, L, was very excited about it and told me that the men "of the company" went house to house while the women stayed home the previous day, and the women "of the company" went house to house while the men stayed home the day I was there. As I already mentioned, this village is pretty much a dead town and there was absolutely no work in the town except farming and one convience store. When L said "of the company" I had no idea what he meant. So I asked him to clarify and he said that this village was made up of 5 companies (which confused me even more). After I asked him to clarify again, he said that there were sets of families in each company and his company had 8 families, but others had more or less. In the end I realized that he was basically explaining a gang. There were these set of families who hung out exclusively with each other, and not only that, but no one else in town was allowed to dine/drink coffee with them on these days (not even guests)! So after understanding what he was saying I was facinated and he started explaining it further. It turns out that every year there is someone like the "Godfather" of the group who hosts everyone for lunch and dinner and stays home all day for anyone of the gang who wants to come over for coffee. Every year, the role of Godfather rotates through the families. As we were walking through the town, he stopped someone and said (I am quoting this word for word ... well translated:) ) "This is my friend from America. I know the rules state that we are not allowed to have guests and he is not from the company, but he wanted to see what was going on, so would it be okay if he came to observe lunch?" The guy rubbed his chin and said, "If he is going to observe (implying not partaking) then he can."
Afterwards L told me he was the Godfather and we needed to get his permission. If he approved then no one else in the company could disagree. I loved it! So anyway, after meeting other people in the company throughout the afternoon and talking about the history of the village, I went to observe lunch. Surprisingly, the people enjoyed my company and allowed me to eat with them. It was obvious that some people were not used to having guests, so I kept trying to leave. But everyone kept reassuring me that I was welcome. It had to do more with the fact that I was American more than it did my charming personality. I heard several American jokes and constant references to former presidents and what they had done for Macedonia. Also surprisingly, we talked about "our faith" verses "your faith" in a good context. One man had a son in America and was impressed with "our faith." Although I didn't get to talk much about it, I was able to give them a good taste of "Protestantism."
At the end they told me that everyone in the company donates money to the company to help pay for dishes, utensils, and the necessary items. L told me that other companies even had their own house that they use and maybe one day they would buy their own company house, but he didn't think that would happen anytime soon. Before, I left I gave them $4 and I think I made friends for life. Pray for the people of this village.
Friday, January 09, 2009
"Stara Ama Kavalitetna"--Old but Quality
This week, we have been celebrating Christmas Macedonian style. Their Christmas falls on the 7th and doesn't involve Santa (he comes on New Years), and is really more "religious" than our Christmas. There is a lot of visiting to be done this week. You basically go see everyone you know and drink coffee and eat kifli (yummy bread), ham and cheese and pacha, a gel with pig leg cartilage, joints and bone in it (yep, it's about as good as it sounds). I have been forced to eat it in the past, but praise the Lord, no one has forced it on me this year. On Christmas day, K, M and I went over to A and L's house to visit for a little while. We ended up dancing the oro with their neighbor, and her two cousins.
The older lady, leading the dance, made a comment about the how she was old. The girl beside me responded, "You're old, but quality." I thought that was cute. We had a blast, and I am happy to report that our relationship with them, their neighbors and their whole family is growing.
We have been in homes pretty much non-stop for three days now. Fun times.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
A Belated Christmas Party and SNOW!!!
After a whirlwind of a few weeks, we were finally able to get together with our team to have a Christmas party last night. It was SO much fun!
Here we are after chowing down on some yummy Mexican food.
K and M with their Christmas presents.
K and I went out in the massive amount of snow to collect some for snow cream.
YUM!!!
Brian and I went out today after another full night of constant snowing. It was beautiful.
This is our town covered in snow. How beautiful!
This is the giant mound of snow in the center. It's not so beautiful, but it calls to me to climb it.
That's our car behind me. I think we need to start shoveling.
Brian, scraping the snow off of our neighbor's yard roof (not sure what else to call it). He was busy helping our neighbors dig their way out of the snow most of the day.
And after 12 inches of snow, it's still snowing! WOW!
Here we are after chowing down on some yummy Mexican food.
K and M with their Christmas presents.
K and I went out in the massive amount of snow to collect some for snow cream.
YUM!!!
Brian and I went out today after another full night of constant snowing. It was beautiful.
This is our town covered in snow. How beautiful!
This is the giant mound of snow in the center. It's not so beautiful, but it calls to me to climb it.
That's our car behind me. I think we need to start shoveling.
Brian, scraping the snow off of our neighbor's yard roof (not sure what else to call it). He was busy helping our neighbors dig their way out of the snow most of the day.
And after 12 inches of snow, it's still snowing! WOW!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Trust
Christmas brought twinkling lights, pretty ornaments, presents under the tree, stockings full of goodies and good smells from the kitchen. Christmas came as it always does and it wasn't that much different from Christmas stateside. Sure there were no candle light Christmas Eve services, no Christmas cantatas, no extended family (well, if you don't count Skype), no Christmas carolers, no rush to beat the crowds at Walmart, no... But it came as it does every year. Christmas is one of those things we can trust will be there every year. It is the holiday that children start looking forward to the day after Christmas, and the parents also recognize, the day after Christmas, that they better start saving for next year's big day, because it's coming with all it's wonder and fun, hustle and bustle. It will be there. We can trust that fact. I have spent a lot of time this Christmas season thinking about trust, steadfastness, hope, fullness of joy.
About a month ago, we found out we were pregnant for the second time. We were thrilled! It seemed to be the perfect time to be pregnant. It would mean that we would be able to have the baby while we were stateside next year and that our precious family would all be there to welcome the arrival of our new little baby. Our hope of this fact began to be crushed over two weeks ago. We had many ultrasounds and blood tests to check the pregnancy hormone in my blood and things weren't looking good. It looked as if we may not carry this baby to term, and then my levels went up and I was sure everything was going to be ok. The Lord had answered our prayer! But the doctor told me my levels had not risen enough and that it could be a hetero-ectopic pregnancy (one normal pregnancy, one tubal pregnancy), but that neither would survive. She had me meet with the surgeon who would do the operation if indeed I had a tubal pregnancy. To make a very long and emotional story short, the doctors told me Monday night, 4 days before Christmas, that I would miscarry in the next few days, and as sure as Christmas came, so did the miscarriage of this little life.
There has been a rising and falling of emotions all week. Of course we have been sad, and at times overwhelmed with grief that we will not meet this precious baby in 8 months, but then there has been comfort, hope, joy. There is comfort in the knowing our Lord, the one who holds life in His hands, the one who creates and sustains, the one who loves us with an everlasting love. He is our Savior. He has called us by name. We are His. There is comfort in knowing that He knows me altogether. I have committed Psalm 139 to memory over the last couple of months, and His words to me in this chapter are so full of hope. He has not only hedged me behind and before and laid His hand upon me, but He has also hedged our unborn baby behind and before. He has laid His hand upon it. His thoughts are precious toward it. They are too many to count. That I can trust. He, my great Savior and Sustainer, is more trustworthy than the coming of Christmas. He is steadfast. He is good, and all that He is does is good even if we don't understand it at the time. I can hope in and abide in Him and there is fullness of joy there, in His presence.
Pray for us. Pray that our focus will be on our Lord and not our loss. Pray that we will remember His goodness and that we will trust Him. He is faithful and worthy of praise.
About a month ago, we found out we were pregnant for the second time. We were thrilled! It seemed to be the perfect time to be pregnant. It would mean that we would be able to have the baby while we were stateside next year and that our precious family would all be there to welcome the arrival of our new little baby. Our hope of this fact began to be crushed over two weeks ago. We had many ultrasounds and blood tests to check the pregnancy hormone in my blood and things weren't looking good. It looked as if we may not carry this baby to term, and then my levels went up and I was sure everything was going to be ok. The Lord had answered our prayer! But the doctor told me my levels had not risen enough and that it could be a hetero-ectopic pregnancy (one normal pregnancy, one tubal pregnancy), but that neither would survive. She had me meet with the surgeon who would do the operation if indeed I had a tubal pregnancy. To make a very long and emotional story short, the doctors told me Monday night, 4 days before Christmas, that I would miscarry in the next few days, and as sure as Christmas came, so did the miscarriage of this little life.
There has been a rising and falling of emotions all week. Of course we have been sad, and at times overwhelmed with grief that we will not meet this precious baby in 8 months, but then there has been comfort, hope, joy. There is comfort in the knowing our Lord, the one who holds life in His hands, the one who creates and sustains, the one who loves us with an everlasting love. He is our Savior. He has called us by name. We are His. There is comfort in knowing that He knows me altogether. I have committed Psalm 139 to memory over the last couple of months, and His words to me in this chapter are so full of hope. He has not only hedged me behind and before and laid His hand upon me, but He has also hedged our unborn baby behind and before. He has laid His hand upon it. His thoughts are precious toward it. They are too many to count. That I can trust. He, my great Savior and Sustainer, is more trustworthy than the coming of Christmas. He is steadfast. He is good, and all that He is does is good even if we don't understand it at the time. I can hope in and abide in Him and there is fullness of joy there, in His presence.
Pray for us. Pray that our focus will be on our Lord and not our loss. Pray that we will remember His goodness and that we will trust Him. He is faithful and worthy of praise.
Friday, December 05, 2008
What's New?
We wanted to keep you all in the loop on some things that are going on here in Ohrid:
It is wood-cutting season, and Brian has been around helping neighbors and friends with their very large piles of wood.
We had a great Thanksgiving and hope you did as well. If you would like to see pictures of our Thanksgiving with our team, you can click on the Kirkpatrick's blog link to the right. Jackie has posted pictures of some of the festivities. Yes, Brian did get to play football with the guys and had a blast.
Brian is going through team leader training which is requiring a lot of reading and writing papers. He has an assignment to read every week and report due on it every Friday. We will be going to Prague for three weeks in February for the final part of his training. He is encouraged at how much he is learning. Pray that he will remain diligent for the next three months and that he will learn all that God has for him to learn through this training.
I am currently working on a cookbook to be given to the Macedonian women. It seems like every time I make something for Macedonians, they want the recipe, and my other American friends say the same thing. So, we decided to compile our recipes and put together a book of American recipes in Macedonian. This project has been more than overwhelming for me because I am not so proficient in Macedonian kitchen words and I am not at all computer savvy, but I am excited to see what God is going to do with this project as we give this book out all over the country. A couple of the ladies who contributed some of their American recipes, like American pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, have also submitted their testimonies to be put in the book. I am currently working on adding Bible verses, Bible stories and the Gospel presentation to the book. Pray for this project to be completed to God's glory and in His timing, and pray that many women, and maybe even men, will come to know the Lord because of this.
As for other things, we are still keeping up with contacts and trying to meet with them to build our relationship stronger and stronger. Our relationship with A and L is growing and we are beginning to meet many members of their extended family.
On a sad note, you should know that our small group Bible study, or what we sometimes referred to as "church" is no longer meeting. It has been a very hard road for us and the cause of much discouragement, but the Lord is teaching us so much through this time. We feel very much like we are starting over from scratch here, but God's grace is more than sufficient to give us the strength we need. I, personally, have struggled with resting in the Lord and finding joy solely in Him during this time, but He is restoring me and teaching me so much of Himself through this. I am overwhelmed at His great love for me, and assured now more than ever that He is GOOD. Pray that Brian and I will cling to Him and His word. Pray that we will not grow weary in doing His will and that He will be glorified in our lives. And do pray for the church here in Ohrid.
Thank for keeping up with our lives and for praying.
It is wood-cutting season, and Brian has been around helping neighbors and friends with their very large piles of wood.
We had a great Thanksgiving and hope you did as well. If you would like to see pictures of our Thanksgiving with our team, you can click on the Kirkpatrick's blog link to the right. Jackie has posted pictures of some of the festivities. Yes, Brian did get to play football with the guys and had a blast.
Brian is going through team leader training which is requiring a lot of reading and writing papers. He has an assignment to read every week and report due on it every Friday. We will be going to Prague for three weeks in February for the final part of his training. He is encouraged at how much he is learning. Pray that he will remain diligent for the next three months and that he will learn all that God has for him to learn through this training.
I am currently working on a cookbook to be given to the Macedonian women. It seems like every time I make something for Macedonians, they want the recipe, and my other American friends say the same thing. So, we decided to compile our recipes and put together a book of American recipes in Macedonian. This project has been more than overwhelming for me because I am not so proficient in Macedonian kitchen words and I am not at all computer savvy, but I am excited to see what God is going to do with this project as we give this book out all over the country. A couple of the ladies who contributed some of their American recipes, like American pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, have also submitted their testimonies to be put in the book. I am currently working on adding Bible verses, Bible stories and the Gospel presentation to the book. Pray for this project to be completed to God's glory and in His timing, and pray that many women, and maybe even men, will come to know the Lord because of this.
As for other things, we are still keeping up with contacts and trying to meet with them to build our relationship stronger and stronger. Our relationship with A and L is growing and we are beginning to meet many members of their extended family.
On a sad note, you should know that our small group Bible study, or what we sometimes referred to as "church" is no longer meeting. It has been a very hard road for us and the cause of much discouragement, but the Lord is teaching us so much through this time. We feel very much like we are starting over from scratch here, but God's grace is more than sufficient to give us the strength we need. I, personally, have struggled with resting in the Lord and finding joy solely in Him during this time, but He is restoring me and teaching me so much of Himself through this. I am overwhelmed at His great love for me, and assured now more than ever that He is GOOD. Pray that Brian and I will cling to Him and His word. Pray that we will not grow weary in doing His will and that He will be glorified in our lives. And do pray for the church here in Ohrid.
Thank for keeping up with our lives and for praying.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Interesting Article
I found this article on google news. Very interesting. I would say that about 95% of his list is right on target concerning this beautiful country. But there are some things that are debatable. Take a read and let us know what you think or better yet get on the next plane and come see for yourself.
Learn more about your country, you'll love it more
I ran into a great article on Macedonia, conveniently titled “Do Macedonians know Macedonia?”. One can wonder what the answer to this is going to be. If it leaned towards “No”, it did so, rightfully.
After dissecting the information in the article which was in Macedonian, I must admit, for several of the things there I was not aware of.
Only two years ago, under the Gruevski Government did Macedonia started protecting its national treasure, specifically archeological finds, who for years were illegally dug out with the artifacts sold outside the country.
I can't forget a conversation I had with a Houston Archaeologist who had worked in Macedonia for a week, back in 1995. She had been kicked out from the country by the Macedonian police for not having a license to conduct archaeological research. According to her, and I quote 'in Macedonia you can dig half a meter and uncover priceless relics that go back thousands of years'. Don't get any ideas.
What is the first thing Macedonians say when a foreigner asks “What can I see in Macedonia?”
The response given to them is short, usually two or three words - Go to Ohrid, Mavrovo.
If someone asks “What is Macedonia unique for” some may say “Churches and Monasteries” but wouldn't be able to name a few, or give a specific number or locations. In other words, foreigners have to be very lucky to meet Macedonians who know even the basic things on their country.
How many of you have been to the Berovo or Debar lakes, the Strumica waterfalls, the incredible church Joakim Osogovski in Radovis. Have you ever visited our old cities, villages, monasteries, who judging from the numbers, we could export them.
Did you know that the most expensive coin collection ever sold was from Macedonia? The coins were dug up (stolen) from Macedonia and sold without any consequences to the seller at a Sothebys auciton.
The commercials about Macedonia, financed by the Government, produced and directed by Milco Mancevski are shown across the world. Good, but instead of being shown on CNN and the likes, these commercials should first make the rounds on Macedonian television.
It has become increasingly evident that Macedonians don't know the basics on their culture, riches, even the history.
Time to start with the basics, though I won't follow any particular order.
Macedonia is the only place in Europe to have rubies.
How many of you have known that the city of Prilep has rubies, precious gemstones who can be seen on world catalogues. And how many of you knew that foreigners are purchasing these rubies at dirt cheap prices. Decades ago, the people in the Prilep region had been told (lied) that the rubies found near Prilep's dolomit marble mine were not gemstones, rather a low quality mineral called corundum.
The Macedonian mine “Alshar” on Kozuv mountain is the only world source of Thallium, and a potential 'mine' for ecological clean energy. Since 2004, the Alshar mine is a member of the “Emerald” network, an organization for protection of nature's rarities.
The highest quality of opium is the Macedonian. Second is Pakistan's opium who has seven morph units. Third is the Columbian with around 3.5 M.E. The Macedonian opium has an incredible 14 M.E., doubling that of Pakistan.
The most famous of all Roman roads has its largest part in Macedonia – Via Egnatia.
The cave “Peshna” in Makedonski Brod is described in the New York Times as identical to the 'imagined' caves in the Lord of the Rings.
Parts of Jesus' Crucifiction cross are layed in the foundations of the monasteries of St Bogorodica Precista (Kicevo), St. Jovan Bigorski, and St. Georgij Pobedonosec in Rajcica (Debar).
The tomb of the famous Greek “Zorba” is located in Skopje's city cemetary “Butel”. Alexis Georgios Zorba was the inspiration behind Nikos Kazantzakis work “Zorba the Greek”. He had remarried and had children in the Macedonian capital. His tomb is on prominent display at Skopje's cemetary.
Apart from Mother Theresa who is born in Skopje, the founder of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk was born in Bitola.
The father of the modern military engineering is Dijad, from Alexander the Great period. He invented the catapult among many other things.
Music in Macedonia dates back to the 11th century. The Bologna psaltir is written in Cyrilic in the Ohrid village Raven. If you visit the Ohrid Musem you can find written songs and music notes dating back from the 10 to 14th centuries.
The most famous song in Palestine and today treated as an anthem of Palestine and the Arabic world is written by a Macedonian. Bitola journalist and writer Pande Manojlov wrote the theme in 1982 and published it in the Skopje daily 'Nova Makedonija'.
The oldest tree in Macedonia is the Platanus Orientalis in Ohrid. Whether a coincidence or not, the tree is growing since St. Kliment Ohridski time, in the 9th century.
The nuns at the Macedonian church of St Gorgjija Pobedonosec hand make the special archbishop clothing worn by the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, as well as the heads of the Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian Orthodox Churches, including the ones in North America and Africa.
The world famous Manaki brothers of Bitola won the first golden medal for cinematography in the Romanian city of Sinaia in 1905.
The Macedonian capital Skopje has been continuously populated by people for over 8,000 years. The Skopje fortress, the neolith areas of Madzari and Chair are among the oldest in Europe.
The Macedonian city of Ohrid is the oldest on the planet, most recently featured on ultra famous US show “Jeopardy”. The Ohrid lake itself is over 3 million years old. It has over 200 endemic species not found on any other place on the planet. Apart from its ancient theater (which is still in use today), the ancient Ohrid (called Lychnidos : the City of Lights) boasted a classical agora, gymnasium, civil basilicas and temples to the Gods.
One of the Titanic Survivors was a Macedonian. Stojko Dodolovski, from the village of Chucher (Skopje area), made a last second purchase of a ticket to the Titanic from a British priest. When the ship started sinking Stojko jumped into the ocean. He swam towards few of the rescue boats, but was not allowed to climb aboard. Stojko stayed calm and floated on the ocean until one of the rescue boats came back to look for survivors, several hours later. Stojko was one of the 12 survivors picked up.
The first ZOO in the Balkans was opened in Skopje.
The 120 stone dolls in Kuklica, Kratovo, who are 10 million years old, were almost accidentally flooded by the Macedonian Government in an attempt to create an artificial lake in the area. The legend behind the stone dolls who are lined up next to one another is that they were guests at a wedding, but were turned into stone, cursed by a forsaken bride.
According to NASA, Macedonia's Kokino is fourth on the list of oldest observatories on this planet. The number one is Abu Simbel (Egypt) , Stonehenge (England), Angkor Wad (Cambodia). Take a moment to connect the dots on a map.
Macedonia has 34 mountains, 53 lakes, with the oldest of course being Ohrid lake, also deepest in the Balkans.
Macedonia annually produces 135 millions liters of wine, 150 million liters of rakija, and 850 million liters of beer.
The first railway route in the Balkans is between Skopje and Solun, in the 19th century.
Anastasie I (Anastasius Flavius), Bysantin king (491 – 518) is someone who should be credited with good portion of Macedonia's infrastructure. Justinijan gets the credit for Samoil's fortress, Marko's Tower, the Skopje fortress.
The first Church in Europe is the Macedonian Church. 50 years after Jesus, Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man asking for help, as written in the Bible. Paul does come to Macedonia, and pays a visit to Filipi, Ber, Stobi and Ohrid. His symbolic trip if looked on Macedonian map, forms a cross. The first woman in Europe to be baptized was Lidija, a Macedonian from the town of Tiatir who in nearby Filipi was selling RED textile fabric. The Red color has always been prominent in the Macedonian folklor, materials and fabric, on the flags of all uprisings throughout the centuries.
The Lesnovski Monastery was the First Monarchy in the Balkans. Until the 1940's the Lesnovski Monastery had the largest library in Southern Europe. The books were later taken out and distributed throughout Macedonia.
According to Archaeologists and Geologists, traces of life in Macedonia date back to the Pliocene, i.e. before the first ice age. In the city of Negotino, bones of an animal are discovered that date back between 2 and 10 million years, while the man found in Aegean Macedonia is believed to be older than the Neanderthal found in Germany (30,000 – 100,000).
This is only a small part on Macedonia. Get to know your country, you will love it more. //Gorazd V.
Learn more about your country, you'll love it more
I ran into a great article on Macedonia, conveniently titled “Do Macedonians know Macedonia?”. One can wonder what the answer to this is going to be. If it leaned towards “No”, it did so, rightfully.
After dissecting the information in the article which was in Macedonian, I must admit, for several of the things there I was not aware of.
Only two years ago, under the Gruevski Government did Macedonia started protecting its national treasure, specifically archeological finds, who for years were illegally dug out with the artifacts sold outside the country.
I can't forget a conversation I had with a Houston Archaeologist who had worked in Macedonia for a week, back in 1995. She had been kicked out from the country by the Macedonian police for not having a license to conduct archaeological research. According to her, and I quote 'in Macedonia you can dig half a meter and uncover priceless relics that go back thousands of years'. Don't get any ideas.
What is the first thing Macedonians say when a foreigner asks “What can I see in Macedonia?”
The response given to them is short, usually two or three words - Go to Ohrid, Mavrovo.
If someone asks “What is Macedonia unique for” some may say “Churches and Monasteries” but wouldn't be able to name a few, or give a specific number or locations. In other words, foreigners have to be very lucky to meet Macedonians who know even the basic things on their country.
How many of you have been to the Berovo or Debar lakes, the Strumica waterfalls, the incredible church Joakim Osogovski in Radovis. Have you ever visited our old cities, villages, monasteries, who judging from the numbers, we could export them.
Did you know that the most expensive coin collection ever sold was from Macedonia? The coins were dug up (stolen) from Macedonia and sold without any consequences to the seller at a Sothebys auciton.
The commercials about Macedonia, financed by the Government, produced and directed by Milco Mancevski are shown across the world. Good, but instead of being shown on CNN and the likes, these commercials should first make the rounds on Macedonian television.
It has become increasingly evident that Macedonians don't know the basics on their culture, riches, even the history.
Time to start with the basics, though I won't follow any particular order.
Macedonia is the only place in Europe to have rubies.
How many of you have known that the city of Prilep has rubies, precious gemstones who can be seen on world catalogues. And how many of you knew that foreigners are purchasing these rubies at dirt cheap prices. Decades ago, the people in the Prilep region had been told (lied) that the rubies found near Prilep's dolomit marble mine were not gemstones, rather a low quality mineral called corundum.
The Macedonian mine “Alshar” on Kozuv mountain is the only world source of Thallium, and a potential 'mine' for ecological clean energy. Since 2004, the Alshar mine is a member of the “Emerald” network, an organization for protection of nature's rarities.
The highest quality of opium is the Macedonian. Second is Pakistan's opium who has seven morph units. Third is the Columbian with around 3.5 M.E. The Macedonian opium has an incredible 14 M.E., doubling that of Pakistan.
The most famous of all Roman roads has its largest part in Macedonia – Via Egnatia.
The cave “Peshna” in Makedonski Brod is described in the New York Times as identical to the 'imagined' caves in the Lord of the Rings.
Parts of Jesus' Crucifiction cross are layed in the foundations of the monasteries of St Bogorodica Precista (Kicevo), St. Jovan Bigorski, and St. Georgij Pobedonosec in Rajcica (Debar).
The tomb of the famous Greek “Zorba” is located in Skopje's city cemetary “Butel”. Alexis Georgios Zorba was the inspiration behind Nikos Kazantzakis work “Zorba the Greek”. He had remarried and had children in the Macedonian capital. His tomb is on prominent display at Skopje's cemetary.
Apart from Mother Theresa who is born in Skopje, the founder of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk was born in Bitola.
The father of the modern military engineering is Dijad, from Alexander the Great period. He invented the catapult among many other things.
Music in Macedonia dates back to the 11th century. The Bologna psaltir is written in Cyrilic in the Ohrid village Raven. If you visit the Ohrid Musem you can find written songs and music notes dating back from the 10 to 14th centuries.
The most famous song in Palestine and today treated as an anthem of Palestine and the Arabic world is written by a Macedonian. Bitola journalist and writer Pande Manojlov wrote the theme in 1982 and published it in the Skopje daily 'Nova Makedonija'.
The oldest tree in Macedonia is the Platanus Orientalis in Ohrid. Whether a coincidence or not, the tree is growing since St. Kliment Ohridski time, in the 9th century.
The nuns at the Macedonian church of St Gorgjija Pobedonosec hand make the special archbishop clothing worn by the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, as well as the heads of the Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian Orthodox Churches, including the ones in North America and Africa.
The world famous Manaki brothers of Bitola won the first golden medal for cinematography in the Romanian city of Sinaia in 1905.
The Macedonian capital Skopje has been continuously populated by people for over 8,000 years. The Skopje fortress, the neolith areas of Madzari and Chair are among the oldest in Europe.
The Macedonian city of Ohrid is the oldest on the planet, most recently featured on ultra famous US show “Jeopardy”. The Ohrid lake itself is over 3 million years old. It has over 200 endemic species not found on any other place on the planet. Apart from its ancient theater (which is still in use today), the ancient Ohrid (called Lychnidos : the City of Lights) boasted a classical agora, gymnasium, civil basilicas and temples to the Gods.
One of the Titanic Survivors was a Macedonian. Stojko Dodolovski, from the village of Chucher (Skopje area), made a last second purchase of a ticket to the Titanic from a British priest. When the ship started sinking Stojko jumped into the ocean. He swam towards few of the rescue boats, but was not allowed to climb aboard. Stojko stayed calm and floated on the ocean until one of the rescue boats came back to look for survivors, several hours later. Stojko was one of the 12 survivors picked up.
The first ZOO in the Balkans was opened in Skopje.
The 120 stone dolls in Kuklica, Kratovo, who are 10 million years old, were almost accidentally flooded by the Macedonian Government in an attempt to create an artificial lake in the area. The legend behind the stone dolls who are lined up next to one another is that they were guests at a wedding, but were turned into stone, cursed by a forsaken bride.
According to NASA, Macedonia's Kokino is fourth on the list of oldest observatories on this planet. The number one is Abu Simbel (Egypt) , Stonehenge (England), Angkor Wad (Cambodia). Take a moment to connect the dots on a map.
Macedonia has 34 mountains, 53 lakes, with the oldest of course being Ohrid lake, also deepest in the Balkans.
Macedonia annually produces 135 millions liters of wine, 150 million liters of rakija, and 850 million liters of beer.
The first railway route in the Balkans is between Skopje and Solun, in the 19th century.
Anastasie I (Anastasius Flavius), Bysantin king (491 – 518) is someone who should be credited with good portion of Macedonia's infrastructure. Justinijan gets the credit for Samoil's fortress, Marko's Tower, the Skopje fortress.
The first Church in Europe is the Macedonian Church. 50 years after Jesus, Paul had a vision of a Macedonian man asking for help, as written in the Bible. Paul does come to Macedonia, and pays a visit to Filipi, Ber, Stobi and Ohrid. His symbolic trip if looked on Macedonian map, forms a cross. The first woman in Europe to be baptized was Lidija, a Macedonian from the town of Tiatir who in nearby Filipi was selling RED textile fabric. The Red color has always been prominent in the Macedonian folklor, materials and fabric, on the flags of all uprisings throughout the centuries.
The Lesnovski Monastery was the First Monarchy in the Balkans. Until the 1940's the Lesnovski Monastery had the largest library in Southern Europe. The books were later taken out and distributed throughout Macedonia.
According to Archaeologists and Geologists, traces of life in Macedonia date back to the Pliocene, i.e. before the first ice age. In the city of Negotino, bones of an animal are discovered that date back between 2 and 10 million years, while the man found in Aegean Macedonia is believed to be older than the Neanderthal found in Germany (30,000 – 100,000).
This is only a small part on Macedonia. Get to know your country, you will love it more. //Gorazd V.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
St. Mary Day 2 of 2
In order to understand this post, please read the last post, St. Mary Day 1 of 2, first.
So today was a completely different experience than yesterday! They still had all the same things going on, but add about 1000-1500 people and it gets crowded! Here are a couple pictures:
Just after we parked the car it was Mandy, Karen, and Kate's turn to get in a picture.
While we were climbing up to the monastery, many people were coming down. It was a constant flow in and out the whole time. When we got there, we went into the church first and the priests and the bishop were singing. It just so happened that they finished and were going outside to conduct one of the three communion services. There was one in the church, one behind the church, and the one in the common area was the big one. Below are pictures of the people in the common area. The priest are the group of white robes in the middle. The ceremony was about one hour!
This last picture below is the soup tent which was being made the night before. After the communion service had finished, it was a race to the tent. They were serving hamburgers and sausage outside of the monastery on the road, but they were insistent that we eat some of the soup because it was made by the church and therefore it would be "for health"
Today was not much different than yesterday, but the line for the hole and the amount of candles was tremendously longer and bigger. It was good for Mandy and Karen because they got to see it for themselves as well. I was able to record this video which shows clearly what people try to do to receive blessing and health. I thought of this verse as I was watching it and decided to call the video "Praising the Bishop" instead of praising the King.
Matthew 14:35-36 (NKJV)
"And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."
Sorry about the shaky camera, but it gets settled.
So today was a completely different experience than yesterday! They still had all the same things going on, but add about 1000-1500 people and it gets crowded! Here are a couple pictures:
Just after we parked the car it was Mandy, Karen, and Kate's turn to get in a picture.While we were climbing up to the monastery, many people were coming down. It was a constant flow in and out the whole time. When we got there, we went into the church first and the priests and the bishop were singing. It just so happened that they finished and were going outside to conduct one of the three communion services. There was one in the church, one behind the church, and the one in the common area was the big one. Below are pictures of the people in the common area. The priest are the group of white robes in the middle. The ceremony was about one hour!
This last picture below is the soup tent which was being made the night before. After the communion service had finished, it was a race to the tent. They were serving hamburgers and sausage outside of the monastery on the road, but they were insistent that we eat some of the soup because it was made by the church and therefore it would be "for health"
Today was not much different than yesterday, but the line for the hole and the amount of candles was tremendously longer and bigger. It was good for Mandy and Karen because they got to see it for themselves as well. I was able to record this video which shows clearly what people try to do to receive blessing and health. I thought of this verse as I was watching it and decided to call the video "Praising the Bishop" instead of praising the King.
Matthew 14:35-36 (NKJV)
"And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."
Sorry about the shaky camera, but it gets settled.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
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!
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!
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