Macedonia Update July 2023

Hi everyone, here is our latest update from Macedonia.

In Our Community

An interesting thing happened recently. We came across a copy of one of our old newsletters from September 2020! At this time, we were just coming out of the Covid restrictions, and this is what we wrote:

“In this season we feel a call to focus more on our local community and we are excited for what God will do over the next few months. In many ways it feels more like a fresh start than a restart and our aim is to try and stay as close to his word as possible and see what he does!

We believe it is important to remember that it is God’s mission, not ours and we have the privilege of joining in. One of the things we have felt quite convicted of is the importance of being obedient to his commands, and that we remain obedient regardless of results. We would really appreciate your prayers in this time as we believe this next season will be a significant one and we really want to see the kingdom of God advance.”

That was three years ago. Many times it has felt like a hard ground, with challenge, discouragement and delay. We really should have written ‘the next few years’ instead of ‘months’. Recently, we have begun to see some breakthroughs. It would not be appropriate for us to share many details right now, but it does seem like some of the small shoots are beginning to grow a little taller!

Many of you reading this will be familiar with the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Jesus introduces this parable by saying the following:

‘“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like…’
Luke 6:46-47

It seems to us that Jesus is telling us what it is like to really follow him: We come to him, listen to what he says and then live in obedience. As we do so, John 15 tells us that we will bear fruit. It is not for us to decide how Jesus wants to do something, how he will use us or how long he will take to do it. It is for us to just do what he says and let him take care of the results. As we try to do so, we trust that his (not our) kingdom will come. We are delighted with all Jesus has done so far – let’s see what is next!

Aspire Visit

In June we had a team of five ladies join us as part of the Elim Aspire ministry. It was fabulous to have the team with us and they were able to join in with a number of our ministry activities including a visit to the Kisela Voda clinic, street evangelism, homeless feeding and our work in our local community. They also hosted two events for the ladies at Oaza Church and supported another team of missionaries who reach out to the Albanian community.

A particular highlight for us was when we hosted a community meal in our apartment one evening. We had a few guests from our local community, including some who were attending for the first time. It was lovely to be able to bless the community and pray with some of our neighbours that evening.

The Summer Months

We are now firmly in the ‘holiday season’ which runs from mid-June to the end of August. Children are off school, many people will be away and we ourselves will be taking a break too. Please pray that the momentum of the past few months will be continued in a time when routines and everyday life are a little more disrupted.

Prayer

Thank you to all who pray for us. Please would you pray for the following:

• Please give thanks for the breakthroughs that have occurred these past few months, the success of the Aspire team visit and for the new opportunities in our community.
• That our community Bible study would continue to grow both numerically and spiritually.
• Please pray for continued momentum in the summer season and that we will be obedient to God’s word.

Thank you for taking the time to read our news!

Ian, Katie, Kristen and Josiah.