Wedding Bells

Sunday our good friends Gabriel and Monika got married! They are both strong believers in Jesus and are a part of our Bible studies here in Prilep. Gabriel has a protestant background but Monika is Orthodox, so the wedding ceremony was very Orthodox!

We have lived in Macedonia for a long time and we've been to several wedding ceremonies, but they have been either purely protestant or mixed. Actually, often only family and very close friends are invited to the ceremony (if there is one at a church) -- so we were very honored to be invited. Many Macedonians only register at the civil office and then some couples take pictures outside of a church building. But often when people say they are going to a wedding, they mean that they are going to a restaurant to celebrate someone's marriage, with dinner and folkdancing.

Anyway, until yesterday I had never been to an Orthodox wedding ceremony -- a completely Orthodox ceremony. We all squeezed into the small building and stood watching while the priest chanted blessings on the couple. He gave a very brief sermonette and then led them in some wedding traditions, like lighting a candle and holding it on their shoulders during the ceremony; placing wreaths (sometimes crowns) on their heads and trading them back-and-forth three times; kissing the Bible; making the sign of the cross with the rings three times and then kissing them before placing them on their fingers; the bride, groom and two witnesses held hands and followed the priest around the altar three times while the priest chanted and dispensed incense. I'm not sure yet of the meanings of all these traditions, though obviously kissing the Bible shows devotion to the Word of God.

Two things that I noticed were very different from Protestant weddings: first, after crossing the rings three times, the priest was the one to place the rings on the fingers of the groom and bride. The second big difference was that no vows were exchanged. The bride and groom said nothing at all the whole time (except to confirm that they were not related more closely than 4th cousins and that they were entering marriage willingly rather than being forced!). Kyle and I speculated that perhaps words are not necessary because the very act of having a church ceremony is the vow (since few do it).


Of course, the Bible itself does not tell us how a wedding ceremony should look. The most important thing is to commit your life to your new spouse and to God. Gabriel and Monika have done that and we were so blessed to be able to join them on such a special day!
We love you Gabi and Moni! May God bless you both as you grow daily in love for each other through Christ Jesus, the One who shows us what True Love is!

"I Give My Life and Love to You in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit"

18 fantastic years and counting!

Last Sunday was our 18th anniversary so Jeff & Amy Williams offered (well, Amy offered!) to keep the kids while we went away for the weekend. We drove just about an hour and arrived in a charming little town in Greece.
We had a fabulously relaxing time. Thank you SO MUCH, Jeff & Amy!

Just Like a New Bride
We may have been married for 18 years but I have to share this: two weeks ago we had our new teammates over for dinner. That same day we had made a trip to Ohrid to see our other teammates there and arrived back in town half-an-hour before the Fullers were to arrive for dinner! Remember, we must cook everything from scratch here so I hit the kitchen like a Tazmanian Devil and whipped up a delicious meal of beef stroganoff with salad and veggies. (Don't I sound humble?!) Anyway, they arrived at 6 pm and by 6:20, we were eating. While we were eating I stuck a blueberry cobbler in the oven to bake -- now I had also "whipped up" the cobbler (i.e. in a tizzy!) and when I checked on it about half-way through the baking time I realized something was terribly wrong. In my haste in making the batter, I had left out the baking powder, so it was not rising at all! Figuring I had nothing to lose (except my dignity!), I stirred in baking powder right then and returned it to the oven for the remaining time.

Half-an-hour later I served our young and impressionable new teammates some very unattractive black stuff with whipped topping! (It wasn't burned at all but the now-stirred-in blueberries baked extremely dark purple that really looked black!) Thankfully, it was actually quite tasty as long as you ate with your eyes closed! Some of us even had seconds, so it goes to show: you can't judge "tar cobbler" by its looks! NOR you can't judge a cook by her years of marriage!!!

WE LOVE MILTON!!!
Our friend Milton Perry visited us in early May. We met Milton shortly after we arrived on the field in 1997; he was an ISCer (a two-year missionary) serving in Croatia. That began a deep friendship which has remained strong despite our distance. He lived with us for five months in mid-1999, working as financial support (bookkeeping, that is!) for the IMB's efforts during the Kosovo Crisis -- and keeping our dog Jessie when we went to Greece for Joshua's birth! Through the years he has visited us several times here in Macedonia and also in the States when we've been on furlough.

This last visit was in coordination with his job at Samaritan's Purse distributing wheelchairs to contacts we have here in Prilep.

The pic below was taken while we were hiking on the mountain above Prilep. These are old graves cut into the rock about half-way down the mountain; centuries ago there was a fortress and town on the top of the mountain.
Milton, we love you and even though we have no clue when or where we'll see you again, we can't wait!

Early May Comes . . . and goes so quickly!!!

New Teammates
Our new teammates, Spencer and Janae Fuller, arrived late in April. After much prayer and red tape, visas were issued! Here's a picture of Kate (1-1/2 years old) with Josh, Rebekah and Maggie (Williams). (You can see Spencer and Janae in the red and black t-shirts, respectfully, in the picture below.)

The Fullers are here for a two-year term; Spencer hopes to head up efforts in sports evangelism, while Janae takes over our ESL program. We are so thankful to have them join us in Prilep!!!

May Day
May 1st is a big holiday here and some of our friends from the church in Skopje came down to celebrate with us!
They arrived on Saturday and we hiked to Treskavec (the monastery we hiked to a few weeks ago).

Our new teammates Spencer and Janae Fuller made the hike with us, along with their 1-1/2 year old Kate, who is riding on Spencer's back.
Even though they couldn't communicate in the same language, Kate made a new friend that day!



The weather was beautiful so the long hike, though exhausting was also somehow energizing! It is such a blessing to see how God is using the young people from Skopje to touch the hearts of the young people here in Prilep.

God works through missionaries in some ways and through national believers in other ways, all with the same goal of bringing the lost to a saving relationship with Him! All members of the same body with Christ as the head!


It was dark by the time we made it back to the car! Here's a pic of our sweet town of Prilep!


Once again I just have to say "Geaux Tigers!!!" (And apparently God says it too!!!)



2nd Day of May Day!!
On May 2nd we had a big picnic in a nearby glade. Some of our folks got there at 6am to "reserve" a spot for us! We cooked out on the grill and spent all day hanging out! It was a great day to be together and enjoy the blessings of beautiful weather and scrumptious food! Everyone that came is either in a Bible study or comes to English class. What a fantastic group!

Way back in April . . .

We have a lot of things to catch you up on. Sorry for the delay in posting – just always had something else on my plate. In a couple of days I'll do another posting so I don't overwhelm you with one huge posting! Please check back!

R&R on our Team Retreat

We had a FANTASTIC team retreat in late April. Unfortunately, because of the volcano in Iceland, the team from FBC, Ruston, Louisiana, arrived two days late. They arrived in time for the retreat but we are so sorry they didn't get to see Prilep and meet some of friends there. Instead they came directly to the hotel in Bitola and had to hit the ground running, jet leg or not!



The REALLY great news is that, despite the delay, they arrived with all their luggage. Our kids wallowed in fabulous American treats like Goldfish, Fritoes, Cheetos, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and Super Bubble Bubble Gum! The team even brought some comics from the Sunday paper. As you can see, our kids didn't waste any time getting down to business!












We all really needed the time to retreat a bit and regroup with Jesus! Despite several more getting this stomach virus (ugghh!!!), the fellowship was great and the kids absolutely loved the class times with the team! All the children (well, those who can talk!) are still talking about the great time they had! Thank you SO much, FBC, Ruston for sending a team and thank you SO VERY EXTRA much to Sharon, Penny, Ellen and Mary, for all your time and effort! You truly blessed us and we desperately needed it! There is no way we could have done it without you!

Here are a few pics from the retreat: