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.