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:

Sick Days

We've all taken turns with a stomach virus this last week. The first one to get sick was Maggie, our teammates' one-year-old who was staying with us while they celebrated their fifth anniversary with a weekend in Greece. Within a few hours, Daniel was also sick and Jackie was too a few hours later. Then we skipped a day and Josh got it; the next day Kyle got a milder version. Rebekah is the only one who escaped. Oh, and Maggie's mom, Amy, got it in Greece! (And dad Jeff got it yesterday.) Needless to say, this was not our most fun week!

You will be relieved to know I am NOT posting pictures!

But here are some pics of a religious festival from the week before we got sick. People hiked up to a particular monastery and near the top there was a carnival then inside the monastery they had a liturgy.
And people brought eggs to be blessed by the priest and then the eggs were redistributed to the people. People also light candles for their health or for mercy for a loved one who has died and fill bottles with blessed water to take home with them, again for good health.

Time to Party
Also of note was Maggie's first birthday party. This was two days before we all got sick! Don't we look healthy and happy?! Who'd have guessed what the next week would hold?!

Fruity Kids
Also here is a picture of Josh with his extraordinarily straight banana – and Daniel showing off some Cheetos that someone blessed us with!!!
Coming Up:
We're off to a MUCH NEEDED team retreat April 22-25. All of our team (here and in Ohrid) have been sick with this virus and/or had various extremely stressful kid health issues, so we are all really looking forward to it. First Baptist Church Ruston is coming to take care of our kids.

Please pray for our team retreat to be a time of refreshment and spiritual renewal as we focus on Jesus. Pray that we would leave behind all burdens, distractions (and strategies!!) and rest in Jesus and His unfailing love.

Thank you so much for caring for us and the people of Macedonia!

Easter Week in Review

But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)


On Wednesday before Easter our living room was jam-packed as Kyle taught about Jesus' death and resurrection! God continues to amaze us as He brings more and more people to study His word. Easter last year we were thrilled to have 11 people join us; this year 23 people came! Seven of those who came had never been to any of our Bible studies!

On Friday night we watched The Passion of Christ at the club. The group was small, mostly our regulars. The film is so intense, and watching it on Good Friday – or Black Friday, as it's called here – makes it even more moving.

Saturday and Sunday were fantastic family days for us! Saturday we drove about an hour away to a mountain on which we had camped several years ago -- the trail winds through pastures and follows a meandering stream. With the snows melting, the stream was deeper and wider than last time, with more white water and new side-streams finding their way down ridges to meet the rushing waters of the bigger stream. Absolutely beautiful!

We hiked

and picnicked

and waded in the icy stream

and played chase

and read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Josh is sitting on our own Stone Table)

and cloud-watched (sorry no pic; I guess I was too engrossed in the cloud!)

and wrestled.

We just feel like God gave us a glimpse of heaven that day!!! Wow!














On Sunday we went out to a nearby mountainside to hide (and hunt) eggs. Jeff, Amy and Maggie Williams went with us. We hid eggs around a couple of huge boulders and the kids found them all. Then the kids took turns and re-hid them for us. I think there was only one egg that's still hiding up there!

Sunday night we had an Easter worship time with friends at Jeff & Amy's house. Some friends from Skopje (who are from Prilep) were home for the holiday so they joined us and brought some friends too.

Fantastic movie with a poignant message: MOST

Ten young people from our church in Skopje arrived by train Friday morning. They passed out flyers across town inviting people to a movie we were showing that night. The movie was an award-winning Czech film called "Most," (translated: "Bridge") and is a modern day story of a father and son who have a great relationship but in the end, with anguish, the father must choose to allow his son to die so that the lives of many will be saved. The movie is really good – I'm getting chills just remembering it. (To see the trailer: http://www.mostthemovie.com/ )
We were pleased to have about 70-80 see the film. After the film, one of the students from Skopje gave a brief presentation of the Gospel and we invited everyone to come to a seminar Saturday night at the club.

Saturday is Market Day so the streets were filled with people going to and from the market. Our "mission team" from Skopje made the most of the crowds by passing out tracts throughout town. Tracts were put in the hands of many people and on the doors of many homes.














Saturday night at the club we had questions about Easter for discussion and one young girl shared her testimony.












The group was small – in fact many of our regulars weren't even there – but there were a few new faces. At the end of the seminar, we handed out copies of Josh McDowell's More than a Carpenter.






Sunday we all had brunch together and then a worship time before they headed back to Skopje.








It was really a great weekend. The evangelistic efforts don't seem to have produced much immediate fruit, but many, many seeds were planted and we pray that God will continue to nurture those seeds to grow into strong fruitful trees deeply rooted in Him.

One immediate blessing from the weekend was the fellowship times between the young people in our Bible studies and those from the church in Skopje.













It was so wonderful to see how quickly they bonded and to see how encouraged those from Prilep were just having other young people speak so openly about their struggles and their love for Christ.






Two young girls from Skopje stayed in the home of one of our regulars and they stayed up until 3 am talking Friday night and until 4 am Saturday night! Not only did they enjoy each others' company, but the girl from Prilep told me Sunday night, "I was so exhausted when I left work on Friday afternoon but after spending the weekend with Tanja and Marina, I feel so refreshed – as if it's been forever since I was at work!"

It was also such a blessing for us to be with "our folks" from Skopje.
We have known most of those who came since they were in elementary school, and some even since they were toddlers! Rebekah in particular enjoyed being with old friends!

Thank you so much for praying for this past weekend. Please continue to pray that the seeds that were planted would sprout and grow. And pray also for the new friendships that God is building among believers.

Coming Up:
Wednesday night, March 31: All our Bible Studies will combine to have a joint Bible study to prepare us for Easter.
Friday night, April 2: The film „The Passion of Christ“ will be shown at our club.
Sunday night, April 4: We'll have an Easter worship time with our Sunday night small group.

Hike to Monastery Treskavec

Kyle's Theme Song: Climb Every Mountain . . .

Kirkpatrick Kids' Theme Song: Ain't No Mountain High Enough . . .


Sunday morning a group of us hiked three (???) hours to a monastery called “Treskavec.” The weather was absolutely lovely and the scenery exquisite. Wow! God really went all out when designing Prilep and her surrounding mountains! The hike was very long but only a few spots were even slightly difficult. It's a hike we hope to do again before it gets too hot (very few trees along the way!).

Hristina, one of our regulars for ALL our Bible studies, was acting as monastery hostess for this Orthodox holiday, serving guests who came for a day trip or helping those spending the weekend. Some of those who went are part of our Bible studies and some are from our English classes, but all together we were a pretty big group! Here we are (along with the monastery guard dog, Bruno):

Treskavec sits at 4100 feet and was built in 14th century. The monks built it in a secluded area to keep the flame of the Orthodox faith alive under the persecution of the Turks. Just beyond the monastery is the “Golden Apple,” a metal ball on top of a cross used as a lightening rod, to reroute the lightening that often strikes in the area. In the pic below, it's the peak on the right.












It may look impressive, but this perspective doesn't do it justice -- it's even higher and more terrifying (or higher and more fun -- again, depending on your perspective!) The second pic below shows better how much higher the Golden Apple is. You can see the white cross painted on the same rockface in both pics (above & below).

Most of the group, including Kyle and the kids, hiked to the Golden Apple. They had a blast but from all reports I am thankful I wasn't there to see the path they took my children on!! In the picture below you can see the specks on top: that's our group.


There's also a rock formation that looks like a lion silhouette. Kyle and the kids and few others climbed that too. It's not quite as high as the Golden Apple, but equally as dangerous in my book!
The hike back home was an easy one. The views were just as spectacular in reverse! We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was a good exhaustion – and our beds never looked so sweet!

PS God is so good to us. On the hike He even gave us reminders of our beloved LSU:

Ladies Day Out

Early Saturday morning six of us from Prilep headed to Skopje for a Ladies' conference. Our speaker, Ana Maria Granados, is originally from El Salvador and is part of Project Ruth which seeks to encourage women to find freedom in Christ.
The conference began on Friday evening and was held at our church in Skopje. Because of our responsibilities as wives and moms, our Prilep group went only for the day on Saturday. It was scheduled from 10 am until 7 pm, with lunch provided.

Ana Maria taught in Spanish and had a fantastic translator, Maja, who had learned her Spanish from the Spanish soap operas that were popular here several years ago! Several others chimed in when Maja struggled to find a word, but I think for the most part, everyone who spoke Spanish had learned it from those soap operas! I was a little afraid that the vocabulary built from a soap opera may not be adequate, but somehow (obviously by God's grace!) she was quite successful!

Ana Maria taught on women in the Bible, some from the Old Testament and some from the New, and shared from her own life experiences. She is a dynamic speaker and her testimony was poignant.
It was a fabulous day: the teaching was great and the time to visit with other Macedonian believers in Skopje was such an encouragement to our ladies.

Here is our Prilep group with Ana Maria in the middle.

March madly marches on!

Snow, Snow, Go Away! Don't you know it's Women's Day?!

I never thought I'd hear my children groan at the sight of snow falling! This morning, as it "rained snow" (and it was quite a downpour), we all voted for spring. Unfortunately we were apparently overruled!

Today is March 8th, which throughout the Balkans is celebrated as Women's Day. The joke is that March is women's month because the weather can change in a split second. (Are you laughing with me?) Anyway, today would be the rough equivalent of America's Mother's Day, however, ALL women are honored here. Teachers especially must not be forgotten, so all our kids took little gifts to school today. Not so hard for Joshua and Daniel since they each have one teacher; Rebekah however has five women teachers! As I said, she gave small gifts!

I returned home this morning to find Daniel sitting on the couch looking pale. I asked what was wrong and he handed me a sign, penned in his own hand, which read, "I'm in time out! I put myself here! I am a doofise!"

Poor guy. He tearfully told me that he had spent close to $10 on a toy this morning and then realized that he had no money left to buy me something for Women's Day. I suggested he cook dinner for me.

A few hours later Josh came in brandishing a new toy he had bought on the way home from school (the LONG way home!) Have you guessed by now that yesterday was allowance day?

Anyway, I'll now have at least two cooks cooking for me tonight. Who knows? Rebekah just may join them (though she'd be distraught if I didn't point out that she DID NOT buy a toy for herself).

It may turn out to be the best Women's Day ever!

Ladies' Coffee Update

Saturday night we hosted our Ladies' Coffee Time in celebration of Women's Day. Three young ladies from our church in Skopje came down to lead the program. Twenty women listened as they sang and shared their testimonies. What a blessing for Amy and me to sit in the background while a Macedonian shared a clear presentation of the gospel with these ladies!

Those who are already involved in our Bible studies seemed to really enjoy visiting with these other believers. They almost seemed like old friends together! It was really a fantastic evening. Please pray that God would continue to use their testimonies to touch the hearts of those who heard. Pray also for the Bible study on New Testament Women that we plan to start tomorrow (Tuesday).

Sunday Night Group

We had our second meeting of our new Sunday night Bible study – the group of those who want to study the Bible deeper. We focused on what the Bible says about God's glory and how we are created to praise and worship Him and only Him. Traditions were discussed; this is a difficult topic. Pray for us all to be wise and seek, through all that we do whether in Bible study or out, to bring God the glory He alone deserves.

Newsworthy?

In the News
In February, the local newspaper wrote a story about our family. When we first moved to Skopje there were not many foreigners there, but through the years – through the instability in Albania and then international conflicts in neighboring Serbia and Kosovo, more and more foreigners moved to Skopje, so we became one family among many. But here in Prilep, it's a different story. Other than our teammates, Jeff & Amy Williams, and baby Maggie, there is one American girl, maybe two, from Peace Corps. And with a poor economy, most Macedonians are looking to move away from Prilep, not to it! So the local newspaper apparently thought we are a strange phenomenon and worthy of a story!

It's just an informative article, with no editorial comments (Praise God!). I won't translate the whole article, but here's a bit for you. (Note: I'm changing the word order so it makes sense in English!)

The title of the article is: "Prilep became home for an American Family," and the subheader (which is written above it!) says, "Kyle Kirkpatrick is at home in Macedonia." Then in the gray box under the header, it says, "They wouldn't exchange the town under Marko's Towers for America" (Prilep sits below a mountain with two peaks, called "Marko's Towers") and "The people of Prilep are hospitable." The picture is about 1-1/2 years old (Rebekah especially looks young in that pic!) and is of us on top of Marko's Towers with the city of Prilep behind us, and the caption says, "The Kirkpatrick family is thrilled with Marko's Towers and the history of Prilep."

Sunday Night's Bible Study
Our new group met for the first time this past Sunday. This was the group of those already involved in one of our other Bible studies, but who are looking for something deeper. We invited nine and five came. We were a little disappointed at the turn out, but those who didn't come had reasons and all plan to be here next week. Thank you for praying for the group's start. Next week we will be focusing on what the Bible says about Worship and Praise within a community of believers.

Coming up:
Saturday we will be hosting women at the club for our Women's Day Coffee. Several of our young women have mentioned that they first met us at this event last year and this is the event that really kicked off our ladies' ministry. Last year we invited 22 and 20 came! This year, we have about 35 on our invitation list, most either from English classes or Bible studies. Several young women from our church in Skopje will be sharing in the program, and we'll hand out a book, Women of the New Testament, and hopefully will begin a Bible study using it the following week. Please pray for these women on Saturday night, that the Holy Spirit will stir their hearts for Him.