Scott Jackson

I pray that you are having a beautiful start to your summer. Something that has been stirring on my heart lately are the words of Jesus speaking about the end times in Matthew 24.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14 NIV

We can see many of these things going on around us in the world today. But the thing that has always caught my eye here especially is where Jesus says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” When we see the increasing depravity around us, and that becomes our focus, it is very easy for our mindsets to become one of judgement, and because of that our love loses its heat. We need to keep our focus upon Jesus. We need to keep our eyes upon that intimate walk with Him, because it is only then that the love of God will not only keep burning within us, but will grow. When we see what is going on around us, we need to let the love of God speak into our prayers for our communities and nations. Because our Father desires more sons and daughters. He longs to redeem. He longs to set people free and see lives transformed by the power of the gospel. He wants the nations as His inheritance.

April - Visa Process

Praise be to God that my visa renewal for my stay in Macedonia came through on time. For some reason it seemed to take slightly longer to complete this year, but it was all approved in the end, and that will take me through to April 2024.

April - Kaleo Madrid

April brought with it our trip from Macedonia to Spain for the Kaleo Madrid Conference. I was able to take with me two Macedonians, which was a real joy. The conference spoke many times into the themes of intimacy with God, and following His calling for our lives, coming during times of incredible worship and prayer. Alongside this, we had the joy of being able to meet up with a British team that had travelled to the conference, many of whom from my sending church in the UK. We were able to share some great times of fellowship and even some time doing evangelism in Madrid’s main city park, which was wonderful leading to some great conversations.

April - Young Life

As you may remember from my last newsletter, earlier this year I joined Young Life as a volunteer leader. April and June (following my return from the UK at the end of May) allowed me to start attending clubs more regularly, and getting to know some of the kids. It has been wonderful to see the youth engage in the various different activities at the gatherings, growing in their peer relationships, and most importantly, listening and engaging with the Gospel. The clubs have finished now for the summer until September, but July brings with it the annual Young Life camps which are incredible times.

May - UK Trip

The month of May was spent back in the UK, and it was amazing to spend time with so many of you. Beginning in Malvern for Elim’s Missionary Conference alongside many other Elim cross-cultural international missionaries, we had a refreshing time being invested in and being able to fellowship with each other. Following on from the conference, being able to meet with family and friends from across different congregations was very special.

June - Aspire Trip

June also brought with it a womens team mission trip to Skopje from Elim’s Aspire Women’s Ministry. It was a great time with the team, and also giving us some extra capacity, we were able to engage more in prayer and evangelism with encouraging conversations.

Holocaust on the Vardar (HOV)

HOV is a newly establishing NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) that is being set up. Its aim is to locate the ‘last freely chosen residences’ of the Jewish population of Skopje, before they were deported to the Treblinka concentration camp in 1943. Because of the almost complete redesign and rebuilding of the city since then, many of the streets and properties no longer exist, and so to locate these last residences, it requires going through the city and national archives to find details of these, the street plans where these residences were and the Jewish people who lived there, with the aim being and beginning digitally, creating memorials for each person deported and killed. Education also will play a big part in the mission of the NGO, increasing the level of Holocaust learning across the youth population. As a part of this NGO, I have been asked to join as a volunteer board member, with responsibility for communication with external holocaust and educational organisations internationally.

Thanksgivings:

• That my visa renewal was completed.
• For the wonderful time at the Kaleo Madrid Conference, both individually in our walks with the Lord and the things that He spoke to us there, and also our time as a team.
• For the Aspire trip in June. The times of prayer, evangelism and fellowship together.
• For my time with family and friends in the UK in May.

Prayer Requests:

• For the Young Life Camps in July. I will personally be attending three, the Albania and Macedonia camps (as prayer coordinator), and the Skopje City Camp (as a cabin leader). Please pray for God’s grace upon all these camps, and even more widely upon all the christian camps taking place, that more youth than ever before will hear and respond to the message of the Gospel, with relationships in place to help them in their discipleship walk with Jesus.
• For conversations about inter-church prayer gatherings will increasingly grow and will move forward with plans to put them into action. They are increasingly being discussed which is encouraging.
• For the business of setting up the NGO Holocaust on the Vardar will be completed with all of the relevant Government officials.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my latest newsletter. Please let me know how you're doing. It's wonderful to stay in contact. I pray each of you have a blessed summer with time to rest and seek the face of the Lord.

With much love and every blessing in Christ,
Scott

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