Trip to Strumica/Hiking Mount Vodno

This past weekend, we were invited to come out to the city of Strumica to visit with friends of ours there. Strumica is located in Southeast Macedonia. We met Zivko and Stephanie at youth camp in Struga. They are the leaders of the youth in the Evangelical Church in Strumica. When we arrived, we walked around beautiful downtown Strumica, which is nestled in between mountains. That evening, we went to the youth service, where Dustin was able to preach the Word and sing a few of his rap songs. After service we were able to fellowship with some of the youth we had met at camp and meet a few new ones. We had fun getting to know them better and practicing our Macedonian. The next morning, we went to the village church outside of Strumica and worshiped with the fellow believers. After that service, we went to the afternoon service in downtown Strumica for a wonderful service. When the service ended, Zivko and Stephanie took us to see the church that is being built in Strumica. When completed, it will be a beautiful building. The only thing they are lacking are funds to complete the building. Please pray that God will give them the money to complete this church. After visiting with the head pastor, Pastor Toni, his family, Zivko and Stephanie, for lunch, we headed back to Skopje.

Yesterday, Wednesday the 26th, we decided to climb Mount Vodno with Caleb and Daniella (the White's teenage kids) to see the cross up close. We live at the base of Vodno and see the cross daily from our window. The cross is at the peak 1066 m up (3497 feet up). Eddie took us halfway up toward the back. From there, it normally takes two hours to hike up hill to the cross. It took us 2 1/2 hours to arrive. But when we did it was well worth it. The millennium cross is 66 meters high (217 feet) and is the biggest cross in the world. We took many pictures and rested, then, we started the climb down. We were supposed to meet Eddie at a hotel halfway down which would take us 1 1/2 hours. We followed the main road some of the time and trails the rest. We never saw the hotel and got lost several times on small trails. After curving down and walking straight down the mountain for hours, we realized that we landed at the bottom right by the White's house. By the time we arrived at their house, we had walked about 3 hours!!! We may not do that again for a long time, but it was worth it! Enjoy the pictures that do not compare to the real thing.

Seven Days of Youth Camp!

We just got back on Sunday (August 9th) from seven days in Struga at the Evangelical Church Youth Camp for all of Macedonia. There were about 100 students from all around the country that came together for this event. It was a great time for us to build relationships with youth and meet people that we otherwise might not have a chance to meet. We had a chance to really work on our Macedonian language practice. The students were patient with us as we stumbled and fumbled with our words. Quite a few of them spoke English and were able to help us understand what was going on. Every morning, we had breakfast and a worship service with a devotional message from different leaders from around Macedonia. We then broke into small groups. We helped to lead a small group of students who were 15-16. We shared about our lives, played games, and discussed spiritual things. Two of the students in our small group were students from Negotino, where we will start working every week in September. It was especially great to get to know them on a deeper level.

We had lunch and them free time until dinner. We went to the beach, out on paddle boats, played soccer (or football as it is called almost everywhere but the U.S.), badminton, corn hole, swam in the lake, played volleyball, video games and had organized team relays. It was a blast!




Every evening we had a worship service with a conference speaker. The theme of the camp was "What is my identity?" and we discussed with the students what the Bible says about who they are. The worship team was called Tora, from Strumitsa, and they were incredible. We then played games after the service. The last night, we had a talent show. The students asked Dustin to rap and he shared "Redeemed" with them.




We had at least two students ask Christ into their heart for the first time and had someone get baptized on the final day.



We also had a chance one afternoon to go to Ohrid and see a few of the historic sites there. There were several churches with artwork dating back to the 13th century and earlier. We also got to see an ancient fortress. It is the most historic part of Macedonia and the history of the country is fascinating.






It was an exhausting week for us, but one that was invaluable. Now we have friends around the country, and were able to make connections with many students and leaders. We were also encouraged to press on in our language study because there was much that we were unable to say that we wished we could. Overall, we are glad to be back in Skopje, and will be busy preparing for weekly youth services and other prospective ministries beginning this September!