Sunday, July 3, 2011

Update:

I traveled to Kavadarci around 6:00pm and met a young man by the name of Marian there who has recently graduated from the university in MK with a degree in theater and dance. He became a Christian during his college years, and his mother attends Pr. Goran’s church in Negotino. He translated for me at the Roma church in Kavadarci. We arrived at the church, waited for a little while, and then the pastor prayed. During that prayer Marian had a vision for two of the youth to become missionaries. He didn’t share that vision until later. After that prayer, we sang one song and then I was given the opportunity to share. I preached on the Greatest Curse and testified about sin and Jesus on the cross. Afterward I sang a song and had us all join hands and prayed, and I asked the pastor to pray too. Then Marian shared his vision. One of the boys’ grandmothers said that these two specific boys had been given the same prophecy/word before by another speaker who had visited them, and so they took this as a confirmation of that word. Pastor Goran called soon afterward, because Pastor Mirco and his wife were at the church in Negotino, and were to take me home, and were waiting for me. I had to leave, therefore, and grabbed a taxi and left Kavadarci for Negotino. When I arrived in Negotino, they were waiting, but the decision was to stay for dinner rather than leave. Thus, we stayed for a couple hours and then left for Skopje. On the way home they asked me to share about my experiences in MK and then we spoke a little about pastor Mirco’s vision for a theological school in MK based in Kumanovo. Please be in prayer for this dream/hope/desire as it would be strategically purposeful for teaching and guiding new Kingdom leaders. As it is, the brothers need to leave the country to gain theological educations. I arrived at the BL office a little late and met Tim and DeeJay in the room already. I chatted with them about the evening, and then I organized my things a little before heading to bed.


This morning I woke to read, pray, and ate some leftover pizza for breakfast. Then I went downstairs for the service. I spoke first this morning after we sang a little and Pr. Goran introduced me again. I spoke about a faith that isn’t stagnant, but is added to continually (2 Peter 1). I also spoke about the requirement of a disciple to forsake all in following Jesus – to realize that you give up nothing of worth in following Jesus and gain all that is worthy. Tim and then D.J. spoke after me. Then we had communion. I have a video clip of the worship going on during communion. After service, we had coffee time with the brothers and sisters and I learned some new Macedonian phrases. After that I had a lot of free time, as I’m even now (5:40pm) waiting before heading to Kavadarci for the service. I went with the American brothers to get some lunch and we had some good long talks about testimonies and all sorts of other things. Coming back I worked on my message for this evening – I plan to talk about the worst of all curses. Then I spent time singing and talking with some of the guys individually about their lives – time on the mission field, experience in the States, eschatology (a lot of people here are asking me about the end times…), and some other theological topics. Thanks for your faithful praying. When I return to Negotino tonight, I’ll leave with Pr. Mirco for Skopje, and I’ll be there tonight, Monday, and I’ll leave for Vranje, Serbia on Tuesday.