Ammunition

He met us at the door with a wrapped parcel. Holding 30 Bibles. "We bring you ammunition!" he said with a smile.

We had an amazing opportunity to meet the folks who are responsible for bringing the first Bibles to Macedonia. About 15 years ago, the only Bibles available were in Old Slovenian language (which wasn't the common language spoken) and only the Priest could read the Bible. Still, when people would go to church to hear the priest read, most of the time the ordinary lay person couldn't understand Old Slovenian. This is another reason why Icons are so important to the Orthodox Church. They tell the story in pictures what the people couldn't understand in words.

Lucas Foundation has provided Bibles translated into Macedonian for free distribution throughout all of Macedonia. The neat thing is, each Bible has a picture of the specific city to which it has been given. These "City Bibles" have been distributed throughout all of Europe, and have been for many years, even during the Communist years. How interesting it was to hear their stories of smuggling Bibles into former Communist Yugoslavia (which Macedonia was part of), and how their hearts still race upon approaching the boarder with their van and the precious cargo it holds. Their motivation and determination to continue distribution and production and working their way into closed areas was so encouraging to us. They brought a message of "Jesus says COME TO ME but that He also says GO AND TELL." What a pleasure it was to meet such mighty warriors for Christ.

On Thursdays, between Spanish classes, we have been conducting a "spiritual" type discussion for about 15 minutes. This time is called 2nd Coffee, where the first class' students stay and the second class' students come early if they'd like. The first discussion was about love, and the second was about truth. I (Janae) was able to give my personal testimony in Macedonian and afterwords we gave out 25 City Bibles. The following week, a man who had been hesitant to come to any Bible Studies or outreaches asked for one of the Bibles. He simply asked, "Can I have one of those books?" Isn't God good? We look forward to many more Thursday 15 minute-ers to follow!! 25 Bibles handed out, 475 to go!

Pancakes, Anyone?

In Macedonia, on almost any menu at any restaurant, one can find a selection of desserts. One of these desserts is called Palachinki (translated as pancake), one that we have very quickly picked up as a local favorite!! It consists of a crepe like dough with chocolate, eurocreme and bananas rolled up ( like a burrito) with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top.

It turns out, pancake is just the English word used for this delicious dessert because English doesn't have an equivalent. But because most Macedonians haven't experienced an American Pancake, there is no way for them to tell the difference. We are asked quite a bit, "Which one is better, American Palachinki or Macedonian?" and we just say they are too different to compare.

Finally, this last week, the American Pancake was introduced to Prilep, Macedonia, complete with a cooking class and demonstration, followed by an all you can eat pancake feast. Here are just a few of the pictures from this cultural experience! One of the challenges was to make sure the pancake was ready to be flipped. Others tried their skills in flipping the pancake in the skillet and one guy was a regular pro!!

The next cooking even will be for women only, in celebration of Woman's Day, celebrated in March. Up on the Menu: Snickerdoodles!!!