A word from Deana Dickerson:

What an incredible privilege it is to partner with Macedonian Outreach! One of my greatest joys as the Missions Director at CPC is to visit our partners and see first hand what God is up to. This July we took a team of eight to Bulgaria and Greece. Being back in Yastrebovo with Gopi and Reni is like being home. I am immensely blessed by them and consider them dear friends.

As a team we spent quality time with the children in Yastrebovo helping run a small kids camp and even took them on a day trip to the Black Sea! We also got to see the almost completed 13 homes being built in Pamukchii, truly an answer to many years of prayer! I was moved to tears as I remember my first visit to this village years ago where there was nothing. In Greece we enjoyed some downtime with Vula and visited two refugee centers and a soup kitchen. We also did a few small projects around the ministry house.

Lastly, Aaron came to help us capture the beautiful story of Macedonian Outreach. While there are many moving pieces and we could not possibly capture them all, we look forward to sharing an impact film with you all later this Fall. We are so grateful to have had this time together!

A word from Gracie Carpenter:

During the trip, God highlighted one specific verse to me, which was 1 Timothy 4:12. “Do not let anyone look down upon you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” Going on the trip, I was a bit nervous that since I was so young, my words would not hold enough weight to impact people. I came to find that leading in these ways that the Lord calls us to lead in, age does not hold the weight anymore. I saw this when I was given the opportunity to lead worship in English for the people of the church in Bulgaria. Most people did not understand any of the words I was saying, but still every person was impacted by the energy of Jesus flowing through me. My age no longer mattered and neither did the “language barrier”. With God, the weight of our authority is held in love. You are respected for the way you love others. When people see your heart, they will see Jesus, and that’s the goal..to make heaven crowded.

A word from Caleb Van Randwyk:

When you think of kids living in poverty in a country where they don’t have a lot of the things we take for granted you might assume they would be unhappy. However, I was recently blessed with the opportunity to interact with kids in a couple small villages in Bulgaria and I found completely the opposite. Even as we first walked into the room with the kids they were already smiling and wanting to talk to us. The joy they had was apparent on their faces and it’s crazy to think that I might have envisioned a scene with sad and dreary looking children. In fact the joy in these children was almost unfathomable coming from somewhere like the US. These kids didn’t cry or throw fits like I’m sure I did when I was younger. They were just happy to be around us and play with us. Somehow, despite their circumstance they had joy in their hearts and I feel we should all learn from this.

In Galatians Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit and joy is one of them that many of us struggle to exhibit or feel. Often I find that my happiness can determine how I act or speak and the problem lies in how happiness is temporary. Fortunately joy is eternal! If we can learn from these kids and base our joy in Christ then we can bear much fruit. If I let my actions and words flow from this joy then I will be better able to reflect Christ through my life, and be better able to witness to those around me. I feel like God really taught me to find my joy in him through this experience and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of this trip so I could have this experience and have a lot of fun.

Roma Pastors’ Conference
by Jim Krouscas

If there is one word to summarize the recent Roma Pastors’ Conference, it would be joy. There was joy in reuniting with old friends. Joy in coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ to sit under the preaching of God’s Word. And joy in being reminded that God is accomplishing His purposes by bringing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself.

The conference was held at a retreat center in the mountains of Yundola, Bulgaria, and began on June 22. During our five days together, approximately 25 Roma pastors, along with their wives, gathered for a time of training and refreshment. Hitting the ground running, each day began promptly at 7:30am with a time of prayer. This was a rich way to start the day as many would gather in a large circle on the dew of the grass to offer prayer and praise to the Lord. After a quick breakfast, we would then gather in a classroom that was just barely large enough to fit the entire group. Yet the fullness of the room brought much energy and life to our time of singing and teaching. Through the help of some amazing interpreters, I, along with Pastor Pantelis Sidiropoulos from Greece, gave a series of messages throughout the conference. My messages took several passages from 1 Samuel to demonstrate how Jesus is pictured in the Old Testament.

More teaching continued in the afternoon, where the pastors were provided training related to the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. While the men were meeting and discussing these topics, the ladies also met as a group and were led through a study on Mary Magdalene. At the conclusion of both sessions, the entire group (men and women) reunited for some Q & A. Although we scheduled one hour for this part of the conference, I think we could have gone on well into the evening! What does it mean that there are no contradictions in the Bible? What are the roles of men and women in the church? How should the church respond to the sexual craziness that is going on in the world? What is the relationship between the church and politics? These are just a sample of the thoughtful and serious questions that were asked. As you can tell the Q & A was anything but boring!

By the end of the week, we were all sad to go and with many tears we said our goodbyes. But even those goodbyes were undergirded in joy. The joy of the Lord! The joy of having been taught from His Word. And the joy of knowing that our labor (especially as pastors) is not in vain.

Praise God! And praise Him and praise Him again. Over 20 years ago when we first went to this village called Yastrebovo in Bulgaria, everything was desolate, poor, no school, no church, no clean water, no decent housing. Today, all of the above needs, through the grace of God and His people, have been met. Still no school but another miracle. A bus comes in every morning and picks up all the children to take them to school in the next town over. Most of the original children, now teenagers, have finished high school and found jobs that can provide them their daily needs.

The hardest part of these days is the drive away from the village— we can drive away in our safe cars, to our clean homes, with four solid walls and a roof over our heads, with a full pantry of food, multiple pairs of clothes, to fresh water, supportive parents… the list goes on. It breaks my heart to see the conditions in which a human can survive— it shouldn’t be this way. Cigarette butts fill the ground, and trash as well— bottles, wrappers, and paper. This is where the children are told to play, this little gazebo is filled with trash. Mere feet away from this gazebo are two large dumpsters, yet the villagers still leave the trash on the ground. My heart breaks, I just want to pick up every little piece of trash and make the space clean and safe for these kids to play. I don’t even know if words can sum up what it was like to be here.

We handed out dresses for the girls and snacks for everyone. The older boys helped pass out snacks as I passed out dresses. Each girl smiled as I offered her a bright-colored dress and tucked it under her arm— her hands were full of the snacks we’d given them, chocolate, crackers, and cookies.

Again, I cannot articulate what it’s like to witness this— you have to see it, and you need to let it move you. Here, the kids have a couple of pairs of clothes— maybe. I pray that each dress given to each girl will be worn until she grows too tall for it and then it is passed down to the next girl. I pray that the shoes we’ve sent over stay on their little feet and see hours and hours of games and adventures until the soles are worn. I pray that they have the bare necessities to grow safely.

My eyes, as well as heart, have been opened today by my time in Skopje. I will remember the smiling faces of these kids, excited to talk to us in broken English and the silent language of gestures and smiles. I hope to return for longer next time. The hardest part of the day is the drive away— praying and praying that a couple of hours spent with these kids was enough to share the radical love of Christ with them.

-Annette

The Village of Saraj, on the western outskirts of Skopje, North Macedonia

New dress!

Snacks after story time— older boys love to help

The kids listening to Florence give the Bible story for the day.

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