For quite some time now I have struggled with how to start back up with this blog after so long. I have tried to come up with something clever, but it's just not coming! Suffice it to say that we somehow got caught in the blog bog, but have finally stumbled out. Here's to not getting lost again!
We spent the summer in the States on furlough. We loved being with family, like in this pic with Rainey (Jackie's mom) and the cousins (Nancy's kids). This was a much shorter trip than we've made in the past, but with the children getting older, we must now work around the school year.
One week before we arrived in the States, my 22-year-old niece Kate Crews was in a car accident. I am so thankful to God that he graciously worked it all out so that I could go to the States. Through the years, the most difficult part of living so far from family is knowing if and when we should go to the States when crisis hit. This time was by far the biggest crisis and we already had tickets in hand. Our time in the States was short, but we're so glad we could be there. Kate was in a coma the entire time we were there but has now come a long way in a rehab hospital in Atlanta.
Kate is living with my sister Janne and Kate's younger sister Sarah and she's now in an out-patient program. (Kate's dad, Charlie, is a pastor and is still in Louisiana but visits Atlanta often.) Kate sometimes has therapy with Fitz the Doberman, as you can see in the pic. Kate speaks slowly and with effort, but keeps a good attitude and even makes jokes. She is also working hard to get her left arm and leg to work. She can walk in therapy but still uses a wheelchair to get around. We are amazed and so thankful to God for the miracles that come with each new day. Please pray for her continued improvement and for her to be encouraged with her own progress. She has begun to realize all that she cannot do. Pray also for Janne to lean on Christ daily for strength.
Since returning to Macedonia. the biggest news is that we returned to a new home – in a new city! We are now living in Prilep, which is in central Macedonia.
Prilep (which you can see behind us in the pic) is a much smaller town than the capital Skopje, where we lived for just over 11 years. There is no evangelical church in this town of 70,000. The decision to move was very difficult but we are now convinced that this is where God wants us. We're pretty much settled in and the children seem to be adjusting well. They have friends, though none of them have found a best friend yet. Please pray for Rebekah, Joshua and Daniel to shine brightly for Christ. We'll share more details about their adjustments soon. Pray also for Kyle and me as we meet people. Pray that we would be lovingly bold from the very beginning, not missing any opportunity to tell of the wondrous salvation that comes through Christ. Pray for our passion for the people; Kyle has been travelling a lot and I've been distracted with survival in a new town! Thank you, Lord, that Kyle won't be travelling much in November!
We have a volunteer team here from Indian Springs Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. The pastor of the church, Tom Williams, is the father of our teammate here in Prilep, Jeff Williams. Tom and three other men from the church are here on a vision trip to get a feel for the town and how their church will be able to help us in reaching the people of Prilep in the future. We are so excited they are here and look forward to a partnership with them. They will be prayer-walking and also helping us get our Education Center ready for opening. We have rented a place near the center of town where we hope to hold English classes, as well as using it to make Christian literature available and as a meeting place for teaching the Bible. It needs a good cleaning and painting and the team will help with that. Tomorrow and Tuesday they will also be visiting in the homes of some of our English students. Pray that they will have the opportunity to boldly share their faith, and pray that the students' hearts will be ready to receive the Word as it is sown.
I think this is enough for now. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much after so long! I'll give more details and pics about Prilep and more soon; we'll catch you up little by little! Thank you for your continued faithfulness to our family and to the people of Macedonia. We know of two believers here, Riste and his son, Gabriel; they are meeting weekly with Jeff and Amy for Bible study. Pray that the body of Christ will have an enormous growth spurt in Prilep!!!
Our volunteers from Indian Springs Baptist Church left last night and are now on their way home. We had a great week with them prayer walking, cleaning and painting our new ministry center, and brainstorming the possibilities of future projects with them. We also used them as bait (they said they didn't mind!) to get into homes of some of our students from English class. Of course the team was curious about how Macedonians live and this was a chance to move our relationships to a deeper level, out of the classroom and into homes! We are so thankful for the spiritual soil that was cleared and for the seeds that were planted, and we look forward to the harvest that He has promised to give when we are faithful to his plans! Pray with us for these seeds to sprout!
