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In late August 2003, the Mission Spokane
team was invited
to join in a covenant of prayer with the
pastors of Macedonia as they began
to come together to reach their nation.
After many months of prayer, we were invited
to send at least two representatives to
Macedonia to facilitate a Pastors Prayer
Summit and to visit pastors around the
country.
On September 13, Ezra Kinlow and
I (Glen Weber) traveled to Skopje,
Macedonia. Also joining us were two men
representing the "Church of Tacoma"
- Pastor Jay Palmer of Crossroads Church
in Tacoma and Dennis Fuqua of IRM (formerly
of the Tacoma team).
The first morning we met for lunch with
most of the pastors from the capital of
Skopje. We then traveled to a hotel in
the mountains of centralMacedonia - literally
at the end of the road. We spent three
days with over30 pastors, several intercessors
and our facilitating team in prayer andworship.
Although language was a slight barrier
at times, the Lord truly blessed us with
one heart and spirit during the times
together. About 50% of the pastors at
least understood English and quite a few
spoke English, making mealtimes a great
time of fellowship and connecting.
We returned to Skopje on Saturday afternoon
and prepared to speak in the churches
on Sunday. We drew the names of four congregations
out of a hat. Each of us had a wonderful
experience speaking in very lively congregations.
We were able to spend the afternoon with
the local pastors before again dividing
into two groups for evening services.
For the evening services, Ezra and I
went to one Romani (Gypsy) congregation
while Dennis and Jay spoke in the other
Romani congregation. What an inspiring
group of people to fellowship with even
though they live in terrible poverty.
Macedonia has an unemployment rate of
over 40%, however the unemployment rate
among the Romani is well over 60%.
Click
here for pictures of the trip
Monday we left for a tour of the western
half of the country. The western portion
of Macedonia is inhabited primarily by
Albanian Muslims, while the eastern part
of the country is inhabited primarily
by Orthodox Christian Macedonians.
We traveled through a couple cities of
150,000 to 200,000 where literally less
than 5 believers live in each city. We
stopped and prayed through some of the
city squares, walked through the shops
meeting locals and experiencing the life
there.
One of the most inspiring visits was
to a family in a small village about
15kms out into the mountains - literally
a one lane gravel road passes
through the village of about 5 homes.
The village is a Muslim village
except for the one family. The Muslim
father grew up in the village but
left over 20 years ago to visit the Netherlands.
After about 24 years and a marriage to
a believer, the family returned to the
village when his parents died. They are
now the only believers for miles around
(the father has since accepted Christ,
although he is more reserved than his
wife and two sons.)
They are some of the most dedicated believers
I have ever met. I went thinking we would
have to encourage them - and went away
having been encouraged BY them. They have
no church to attend, no Bible classes
to attend and no other believers around
to even visit with - yet they are devoted
to Jesus Christ. The sons are now learning
the language so they can reach their neighbors
and family for Jesus. The day we were
there, the 13 year-old boy had been severely
persecuted by his teacher for being the
only Christian in the school.
After leaving the small village we traveled
on to the south of the country to another
city of over 100,000 to meet with most
of the Christian leadership - a missionary
from Texas and a church planting pastor
sent out by a church in Skopje. They are
working together and now have a congregation
of about 20 people - now even having their
first Muslim converts.
The next day we spent visiting a pastor/missionary
in the city of Bitola.
We also visited another pastor's church
building in the city. Each pastor serves
a congregation of about 20-30 people and
they are all actively reaching out to
expand the kingdom.
We traveled back to Skopje for another
day of more prayer walking, meetings and
shopping before flying back to Frankfurt
and home. Ezra and I were truly blessed
and came home with much more than we left
with the pastors of Macedonia.
The pastors of Macedonia said they felt
we should be "sent" by the church
of Spokane. We sent out one email mentioning
our plans to all of you. Your response
was just want we needed - covering all
of our travel costs from what you gave
to Mission Spokane. Thank you for your
generous support of Ezra and myself.
In His love,
Glen Weber
Click
here for pictures of the trip
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