Macedonia Update April 2025

Hi everyone, here is our latest update from Macedonia.

UK Visit

In February we had the joy of a visit to the UK. We were there for the whole month! During our visit we had the privilege of speaking in a number of churches about the work God is doing in Macedonia. We also spent time with family and friends and the wonderful team in the Elim Missions Office. Additionally we were able to take the children to visit some sights of the UK, including days out in York and Liverpool and a visit to Jodrell Bank. For two children that have spent the majority of their lives living overseas, there are a lot of parts of their ‘home country’ they have never experienced and it was a blessing to be able to take them to places that are familiar to us but are ‘foreign’ to them.

Philippians 2 gives us this command:

“Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

We were overwhelmed by how others put that scripture into practice in how they welcomed us as we travelled around meeting people, sometimes for the first time. Here are just a few examples of the generosity we received:

• A family gave us the use of a flat for the duration of our stay, this was especially valuable as it gave us our own space as a family.
• Others provided accommodation for us when we were visiting churches.
• We were very well fed, people were incredibly generous with hospitality.
• Someone we had never met before gave up their Sunday afternoon to do an emergency repair on our car when the window came down and wouldn’t go back up again!
• We visited many different churches and families.  The children were welcomed into different children’s classes and we were made to feel part of the big family of God.

As much of our time was spent travelling up and down the UK, and we were away most weekends, we were unfortunately unable to visit everyone we would have liked to. A big thank you from us to everyone we did see who looked after us, supported us and cared for us at any time we were in the UK.  It was a lovely visit and we are grateful to those who made it possible for us. 

Back In Macedonia

We arrived back in Macedonia on the 3rd of March and after a day of restocking the kitchen cupboards and unpacking and sorting next year’s home education resources (purchased while in the UK), it was back to work. 

We have re-started our children & families Bible Study with a series on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5. We are keen to focus that this fruit is not produced by our own efforts, but from having our roots going down deep into the love of God (with reference to Ephesians 3:17-18) and that we live by the Spirit as to not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 

The other bible study groups we lead were continued in our absence by Scott Jackson and some of the other church members. We are delighted that they were able to continue and this year we aim to continue to invest in and train up people to lead, so that this work can grow and multiply. 

We have also seen God do some amazing work in the lives of people we are journeying with, including people growing in their discipleship by putting Jesus first and some renewed opportunities to share the gospel with people. 

In March, Macedonia experienced a considerable tragedy when there was a major fire at a concert in the town of Kocani which killed 59 people and injured nearly 200. Most of the victims were young people. Many of the injured were transferred to other towns, including Skopje. As a church, we have been doing what we can to support relatives of people that are injured and we hope to continue to be involved in this important work.

Prayer:

• Please give thanks for a blessed time in the UK and a safe and uneventful journey back.
• Please give thanks for the continuation of the work in our absence. 
• Please pray for those affected by the fire in Kocani and for the church as we take steps to support people where possible. Please also pray for those in Government, that the incident would be properly investigated and any necessary changes made to prevent future tragedies. 
• Please pray for the work in our local community, for more opportunities to share the gospel, for people to come to Christ and for the discipleship of those who are walking with him. 
• Katie & Kristen will be at the Young Life discipleship weekend in April. Please pray for a fruitful weekend.
• Ian will be at the Elim Missionaries conference in London in May, please pray for safe travel.

Thank you for all your support, prayers and for reading our news!

Ian, Katie, Kristen and Josiah.