Macedonia Update December 2023

Hi everyone, here is our latest update from Macedonia.

Capernaum Club

Katie and Kristen have been continuing to support the Capernaum Club special needs ministry that takes place in the city. They volunteer at an evening session for children with additional needs and their families. The children who attend join in with games and activities followed by a short talk, while the parents spend time with each other and some volunteers in a separate room. Capernaum Club also organises sessions at a school for blind and partially-sighted children where young people enjoy a variety of activities, games and a short talk.

It has been a privilege for Katie and Kristen, along with the other volunteers for Capernaum Club, to be able to develop relationships with the children, young people and the families that have been connecting with the group. We have seen the love of Jesus demonstrated in a practical way in a setting where children are valued and celebrated in a culture where there is limited support for, and understanding of, children with additional needs.

Little Foxes

Like cities and towns in the UK, Skopje is divided up into smaller sections called ‘municipalities’. Our municipality is called ‘Novo Lisiche’ which literally translates as ‘New Little Fox’ (next to us is an older part of the city called Lisiche or Little Fox, so when they built our area they gave it a ‘new’ prefix.) A scripture we feel has recently been highlighted to us by the Holy Spirit is from Song of Solomon:

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
Song of Solomon 2:15

In this scripture, we take the foxes to refer to things that would come in to destroy the work of God (there are multiple scripture references to God’s kingdom as a vineyard, including Isaiah 5, Matthew 21 and John 15). These could be distractions, relationship issues, illnesses and situations beyond our control that prevent us from fully engaging in all God has for us. So, the first thing we need to do is be wise to those things and pray for good decision-making and God’s leading.

It is also interesting that the passage describes the vineyard as being ‘in blossom’. In fruit trees the blossom comes as a sign the fruit is on the way! We are encouraged that fruit is on the way, but we are aware that there are things that may seek to spoil the fruit that God wants to produce in our community.

In considering this word it is important to remember the words of Ephesians 6:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12

Even though the actions and words of people may be the cause of some of these little foxes, it is essential to remember we are not battling people but are participating in a heavenly battle. And the best weapon… prayer! Recently, Ian and Katie separately felt a prompting to increase the level of prayer for the local community. For this season in particular, Ian aims to do a daily walk around our local area while praying for the community.

Kids Bible Study

The children’s bible study is developing well, although to be honest it is more of a whole family bible study as all ages seem to benefit from it! We have been learning about God from the scriptures in addition to learning about the lives of some Christians through the ages, such as St Augustine, Gladys Aylward and William Booth. In November, we began a series on miracles where we learn about a miracle in the Bible and what it teaches us about Jesus and his character. The children have been given a ‘miracle book’ which they can use each week and then keep at the end of the series. We also have a family meal together afterwards where discussion and conversation can continue.

Prayer

• Winter is here… smog is here! We are back in the smog season and in November there was a day where Skopje was recorded as 7th in the world for poor air quality. Please pray for protection and good health, not just for us but for all who live here. Please pray for the Macedonian government that they will be able to develop and implement a workable solution. We have an older model of air purifier in our home and as a result it has been difficult to source replacement filters some years (with many days searching the shops for replacement filters) but we are grateful that this year we easily found the filters we need and we have now bought a two year supply!
• Please pray for protection and wisdom regarding those ‘little foxes’ and that we would bear the fruit Christ has called us to.
• Please pray for both of the community Bible studies that are currently running. Please pray that all of us who attend will continue to grow in our journey with Jesus and that we will also see a numerical increase in those attending.
• Please pray for the relationships that we have been able to develop over the summer and autumn, that they would continue in the ‘hibernation season’ where the parks empty out and people spend time in their homes rather than outside together.

Thank you for reading, we hope all is well with you all. Feel free to get in touch and let us know your news as well!

Ian, Katie, Kristen and Josiah.