Monday, July 4, 2011

I woke this morning and went with Tim to breakfast at the local bakery around the corner from the BL office and we spoke about some of our ministry and more background information about our lives. He and DeeJay were going to spend time with the missionary family he (Tim) had interned with for a year a few years ago. They were going to have a 4th of July celebration. Hah. I went back to the room and read and met Stole in his office a little later. We talked a little and then Jonatan from Teen Challenge arrived and took orders for buric (that flaky meat/pizza/cheese filled pastry) and returned a little later with another late breakfast. We all went to the kitchen and ate there, talking about the educational/employment situation in MK. We spoke a bit about the desire to have government ministry positions by the youth in the country. After that and much telling of jokes I went back to reading. Stole’s brother came by the office while we were eating, and so he joined Stole and I in the office when Jonatan left. He made Stole and I some coffee. In the meantime, I worked on my message for Vranje with brother Vladica – so that translation would go more smoothly. After a little while, Stole wanted to go get my bus ticket, and so we headed to the Skopje bus station and purchased a ticket for the Tuesday morning. Maya, who also works at the BL office took my form that showed I was legally allowed to be in MK to the police station and had it approved that I could leave the country (the bus traveled across the border between MK and Serbia). After grabbing the ticket, Stole and I headed over to a local mall and took some time to explore, as I had not yet seen any of the shopping centers. While there, he helped me get some snacks for the trip and dinner for the evening and breakfast for the morning. Because of our purchases at the grocery we were given a coupon for a restaurant in the mall, and so we decided to use it and for lunch. After having some lunch, Stole took me to his home and we had some coffee while he showed me pictures of his family and his son’s recent graduation from high school. His wife and son Marco were there. As I mentioned a week ago, his son Philip was near Strumica (pronounced Strew-meat-sa – and Skopje is pronounced Scope-ía – and Kavadarci is pronounced Kav-AH-darts-ee). He and his wife were called on by another brother and sister, and so they needed to go for a visit and dropped me off at the BL office on the way. I asked if there was a local basketball court, and Stole said yes, and he checked with a brother (Goran, but called Mafa) to see if he could take me to it. Mafa and Maya were working on some things and said they would come by my room when finished. I said it wasn’t a big deal, and to not worry. Back in my room I transferred my message from notepad to computer and sent it to brother Vladica (Vlahd-eat-sa). Then I spent a good time in prayer. It was one of the most prayer-filled prayer times of the week, and so it was very encouraging and powerful for my heart and soul. I thought it was getting late and so hadn’t planned on Mafa coming to get me and go to see the b-ball courts, but he showed up at my door and so we left. We picked up another friend of his (Trayche – Try-chey) and went to the City Park and walked around and found a place to sit at the café on the man-made beach on the bank of the Varda River, directly across from the U.S. Embassy (the largest U.S. embassy in the world). We spoke a lot about business, and he called for his sister to come and speak with me also. Her name is Svetlana, and she has translated for Pr. Bob in the past. She is my contact with the government minister and might be able to get me a meeting. It was getting late, and I had my bus to catch in the morning, and so we headed back from coffee. The other brothers had just recently returned also. I cleaned up, packed, and headed to bed.