Banica

Banica is a small village in the south of Macedonia, near Strumica. There are 1200 residents and earlier in the year there were about 600 of them at a screening of the Jesus film. We now have a church there of about 50 people. I went for the first time to last Wednesday - over 9 hours out from Skopje for a one and a half hour meeting! But it was worth it. There has never been a church in the village and it is all so new for them. But they are learning and experiencing God. Nearly everyone was prayed for at the meeting and lots came up to get a bible - many were asking me to sign theirs (so I put a bible reference: John 3:16). What we need is for maybe 3 people to go and live in Banica and serve the people there, instead of twice a week taking a group down from Skopje. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest field".

Love = Value

When God says that He loves us, it means that He values us. In fact He values us as highly as His Son, Jesus. I used to think that loving someone meant I had to do something for them, so I was often trying to find out the things I needed to do. But now I've had one of those "aha" moments, when it has dawned on me that to love someone simply means to value them. And when I value another person I will naturally treat them differently.

Sometimes I have found my sense of self-worth from what others think of me - if I do something well, or look good, people treat me well; but if not, they may ignore me or treat me badly. But as I value (love) God, I also value what He thinks, and one of the things He thinks is that I am so valuable that He would send Jesus to die for me! I am in incredibly valuable, no matter what others say or think about me. And you are incredibly valuable too. And so is everyone else.

Pictures from Skopje and Surroundings

Following a comment from a friend (Emma-Jane, it was you!), I've decided to add some photos from Skopje and Matka:

The Passing On of Tose Proeski

Over a week ago Tose Proeski, probably the most popular Macedonian, died in a car crash. Only 26 years old, and a very talented singer, likened to the "Elvis of the Balkans", his death has been a big shock to the people of Macedonia and neighbouring countries. His death seems as significant for the people here as the death of Diana Princess of Wales was for England, and some still seem to be in shock.

On Monday, at the Alpha course, a couple of women turned up almost by accident, not knowing we were having an Alpha course. They stayed and heard the talk about "Why did Jesus die?". One of them asked the question so many are asking: "Why did Tose die?". People at this time are asking the important questions of life and death and does God cause people's suffering. The woman who asked about Tose said that she had been talking to someone about how Macedonians are supposedly Christians but that she has never even read a Bible. She now has a Bible and she is open to knowing more. Maybe there is an opportunity now here to give people some answers to their questions...

Autumn Snow above Tetovo

The thin bright rays of autumn sun
shine on the mountains where snow's begun
to garnish the peaks like icing sprinkled
upon their craggy faces so wrinkled
as years gone by, like watchers observing
time's twisting tumults of fey policies swerving -
the whims of folk following false agendas
so ignorant of the great and mighty plans
of their Creator.

Freshers

The throng of people milling around in the courtyard at the front of the university created a buzz of excitement. Today is the first day of term for the students here in Skopje and there were thousands of young people gathered together. For some it was the first day of their course, and I found myself drawn to go inside the Law Faculty. Once inside I saw a multitude sitting on the stairs and lining the walls. As I looked around, my heart was so full of feeling I almost felt like crying. So many people, who will tell them about salvation through Jesus? I walked and prayed that God would send Christians to speak with them and befriend them, and show them the way of life. I'm very glad that on Saturday a team of 10 from Norway will come for 5 days to work with the students...