Moores in Macedonia: January 2021

Hi everyone, we hope all is well with you and your families at this time. Here is our latest update from Macedonia:.

Luka

Those of you who have been reading our updates since we arrived in Macedonia (Back in February 2018) will remember Luka who became a follower of Christ early on in our time here. We met Luka on a day out with the children, got to know him and he was baptised in May of that year. Since then he has really been growing in his faith and we asked him to share in his own words some more of his ‘story so far…’

“Hello brothers and sisters, I'm Luka Cvetkovski, 24 years old from Skopje, Macedonia

In March this year will be almost three years since I meet Ian and my life changed, and in May three years since I became a Christian. I want to share with you some of mine experience with the Lord Jesus Christ:

At the beginning when I became a Christian my soul was on fire for Jesus, I was thinking that miracles will happen in a few days, Christ will come back in a few weeks etc... I had a lot of joy. Sharing the gospel with the people was like "Hello! How is going?"

After a few months I started to feel the opposite: repulsion, sadness, disappointment, discouragement ... many ups and downs, but he was always in my heart. A few months after I became a Christian, I went with Ian to start to share the gospel on the streets. In the same year I became Young Life Leader, Young Life is an organisation that is trying to reach the teenagers with Gospel. The next year I learned to play the cajon/drum and I became part of the worship team at church, also I'm volunteer at the church.I have also shared my testimony at 2 churches.

In March 2020 I started to live alone and experienced that is a big challenge for a young follower of Christ. Now I'm living with Scott ( A missionary from Warrington ) and we have a great time together.

Prayers for courage and hope are welcome.

Blessings from Skopje, Macedonia”

It is encouraging for us to see how God has been at work in Luka’s life and to see him grow in maturity in his faith over the years. We can see how he is walking with Jesus in the highs and lows of life and it is fair to say that he has been an inspiration to us in how he puts Jesus first in the decisions that he makes. It has also been wonderful to see God’s timing in how he has been able to move in with Scott, our friend and recent addition to the full-time team here in Skopje. Please do continue to pray for him as he continues to walk with Jesus.

Visiting the UK

We had hoped to have a few weeks visiting the UK this month, however with the new restrictions issued in the UK we felt it would not be an appropriate time to visit. We are hoping to reschedule another visit later in 2021.

We wanted to take some time to say a big thank you to the huge number of individuals and churches who worked hard on the build up to January, looking for a place for us to stay for the quarantine period and remainder of our visit. Not an easy thing to do when it is not possible to stay in other people’s homes! We had offers of accommodation that would have given us space to have a relaxing and restful break. Even though we were unable to visit we can’t explain how much you touched our hearts by your thoughtfulness and desire to look after us so well. We have been left feeling incredibly looked after and cared for.

Although there is disappointment that comes with the cancellation of plans, we are feeling encouraged. After we cancelled our August 2020 visit to the UK, we were grateful for how God used our time here in Macedonia. He facilitated fresh inroads into the local community here and we had the opportunity to meet new people and make new connections. We are trusting that yet again he will use this opportunity for his kingdom to be built.

Other News

December and January are quieter times in Skopje. The neighbourhood is often quieter with many people staying home out of the cold and the smog but we are still able to see how God is leading us in this time:

• We are having some great times in the town of Stip with the street evangelism (which has also become ‘coffee shop evangelism’ as the weather gets colder!). Many people are open to prayer and we are hoping to begin regularly meeting with a few people soon. We have also been able to help facilitate opportunities for a member of the church to share the gospel with people they already know, as well as new people we meet on the streets. The picture here shows Ian with Goran, a member of the church in Stip who faithfully comes out every week to join in with this work.
• Coronavirus restrictions still impact what we are able to do in our local community but we have still been able to connect with other families. The weather has been quite dry and compared to previous years there seems to be smog free days more often. This has meant that we have been able to meet people outdoors more than we would have expected. Katie and the children have started to get to know a few more families in the local area and they have been spending time together outdoors.
• We are leading a team working on a Macedonian translation of a book called ‘You can Change’, by the British author Tim Chester. Hopefully this book will go to print in the next couple of months and will be of some support to those who are seeking to be disciples who make disciples.

Prayer

Thank you so much to all of you who take time to pray for us, it is very much appreciated. Please would you keep the following in your prayers:

• Please give thanks for the story of Luka and how God has been at work in his life over the last few years.
• Please pray that we would be able to make the most of every opportunity, and that God will use us in this season to help be part of what he is doing here in Macedonia.
• Please pray for increased fruit for the work in Stip.
• Please pray for our physical health as we are still in the middle of the smog season.

Thank you so much for reading, supporting and praying for us. We really do appreciate it and we hope that at some point we will be able to visit the UK and see many of you. Please do keep us updated with your news, we do love to hear what is happening with you all.

Thank you
Ian, Katie, Kristen and Josiah.

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