Thank you for praying with us during this time of fasting. It has truly been a learning experience for us and we needed your support!
I want to share with you a few things that I have learned during these days.
1) God is truly more interested in who I am than in what I can do for Him. While my focus going into this fast was on praying for others to be saved, I think God's focus was on rooting some sin out of my life. While a fast is partly "denying the flesh" there were times I was so "in the flesh" that I nearly made myself sick! Times of irritability, grouchiness, plain old selfishness. A lot of things like that bubbled to the surface during this time of fasting. I think God did that on purpose! To make me take a hard look at myself and see my sin for what it is, an offence to His holiness.
2) True Thankfulness!! I have always prayed a prayer of thanksgiving before eating, but now I realize how mechanical those prayers often are and how truly thankless I was. I promise that from now on I will truly be thankful for my daily bread and realize what a wonderful gift it is from God, a sign of His daily grace and my need for daily dependence on Him.
3) Discipline. For the last 10 years I have battled my weight, usually a losing battle. I have always had a sweet tooth and often said, "I can't not eat it if it's in front of me!" Well, this fast has taught me that I can hold back, that God does give me the strength. I believe that God has taught me discipline, not for a season, but for a life-style. This includes eating and spiritual disciplines as well. For example, memorizing scripture. I have done that well for the last 40 days. Why shouldn't I keep that up in my normal day-to-day living?
There are also some concrete answers to prayer that our team have experienced in the last 40 days.
1) On Day 6, we had a good visit with Dule, Suzi, Elena and Hristijan. Elena later said that her dad, Dule, had never been a part of such a conversation that was full of Biblical information.
2) On Day 8, we prayed for Vale. She took a copy of "Purpose Driven Life" and has been reading faithfully. She is still closed to attending a Bible study and often has other plans that coincide with the times of such studies.
3) On Day 10 we prayed for the lost people of Ohrid. Maria, one of those we prayed for got saved a couple of days later! She is now being discipled by Mandy and she and her boyfriend, Alex, are the seeds of a new church in that city!
4) On Day 12 we prayed for the church in Skopje as it began 40 Days of Purpose. The church is now in the third week of the study and it is going well. We started 3 new home groups to enable better discussion and increased involvement of church members. Praise God!!
5) On Day 19 we prayed for Alex, mentioned above as the boyfriend of Maria. He is growing in the Lord and just turned down an opportunity to go work in America in order to stay in Ohrid and help Brian and Mandy start a church!
Alex and Brian in Ohrid.
6) On Day 28 we prayed for a small group Bible study to form in Ohrid. That group began before we even reached this day of the fast!
7) On Day 32 we prayed for the volunteer team from Grapevine, Texas. The three guys who came on this team were excellent. We kept them busy with prayer walking, home visits, Bible studies and ESL classes. It was a great chance (despite constant rain!) for them to see what God is doing in Macedonia and where their church can jump in to be a part of planting new churches here.
John, Bryan and Wade from FBC Grapevine on Lake Ohrid.
8) Today, Day 40, we are praying for he Macedonian people to have their eyes opened to God's Truth. At this point, including the new group in Ohrid, I see the potential for two new churches in the next year and one more a year after that!
God is so good and we thank Him for what He is doing. We also thank Him for you and your prayers for our team during this time of fasting. Please continue to pray for the Macedonian people and that hundreds of churches will be planted across this land!
Thank you!
Kyle
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