1. Meeting Slave (pronounced Slah-vay) and touring the sports complex
2. Meeting Asteria
3. Reuniting with the med students
4. Spending the evening in our hosts', Bob's and Becky's, home
5. London
First, in the town of Strumica, we met Slave, a local pastor who is so much more than a local pastor! Slave is a man of vision, the only evangelical pastor on TV in the country of Macedonia. It was Slave's vision to create a Christian sports complex--again, the only one in Macedonia--to use as a vehicle for the gospel. As we talked to him about our vision for Young Life, about how God has used Young Life to change the lives of millions of teenagers around the world, Slave began to formulate all kinds of plans for bringing YL into his city and how we could collaborate to accomplish that. Slave and his fellow workers have been continually persecuted by the local Communist government (The Republic of Macedonia is only 20 years old, and there is still much Communist influence). Their courage and determination to continue on mission with the gospel makes them heroes in our eyes. How privileged we feel to come alongside these brothers and sisters in Christ.
We were blessed to meet Asteria, a beautiful saint currently bed-ridden in a nursing home. As a young girl, Asteria, born in France, felt God calling her to be a missionary. She wound up in Macedonia. Her first husband was killed by the Communist regime because he was a Christian. She told us the police took great pleasure in telling her she would never see him again--and then they poisoned him. She continued to--in her words-- "preach the gospel" everywhere she went. Her second husband, also a missionary, died. Her son was murdered. She later approached her son's killer and told him that she forgave him. Asteria continues to "preach the gospel" from her sickbed in the nursing home. She said she would always "preach the gospel." And she prayed for us. It was a truly beautiful, powerful, and humbling experience to listen to her story.
On our last night in Macedonia, we arranged via Facebook to meet up with our med student friends that we had met in the park earlier that week. We met them at an Irish pub and then went for a walk around the city. We spent several hours just talking and laughing and hearing about each other's lives. It was a beautiful thing to be able to connect with people our own age from another culture. While there were definitely some differences, we found so many things we had in common. Their English was excellent and we had similar tastes in music and movies. Obviously all being college students, we shared ideas and desires about the future. Through the wonders of technology, we've been able to keep up with them and look forward to hopefully seeing them again when we return next May.
After we left Skopje, Macedonia, we headed to Sophia, Bulgaria, to spend the evening with our wonderful hosts', Bob and Becky. We went out to eat at a local Bulgarian restaurant and then back to their home. It was a great night to worship and brainstorm ideas for the future of Young Life in Macedonia.
God is so good in that He likes to surprise us with fun opportunities. On our way back to the States, we spent the night in London just for fun. We only had about five hours, and London is a biiigggg city. We ate dinner and then walked around for a bit. After seeing Buckingham Palace, which was the highlight of the night, we headed back to our hotel for a few hours of sleep before hopping on the plane to Chicago the next morning.
Our trip was incredible to say the very least. We wish we could write every detail of what God showed us and what He is doing in us as a result of the trip. We are so very thankful that He chose to share with us some of His plan for Macedonia, and we look forward to being a part of it for years to come.
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