14 Century Monastery

We went on a hike with our friends from Skopje and Prilep, both American and Macedonian. We began at noon on Saturday and returned about 8 hours later. Kate went on Spencer's back as we climbed up the mountain. We had a personal tour from the monk in residence--he told us the history of the church building, and how it is the oldest in Macedonia, it is dedicated to Mary and some would even say Mary originated from this area (highly unlikely). We walked on 4th century stone floors and were within inches of paintings that were 100s of years old. We were not able to take pictures inside the church, but were able to take some of the outside.

Our New House

Here is where we live in Prilep. We are just a block away from the city centre, where the majority of the restaurants and shops are located. Monday I went with Amy to the grocery story to locate familiar items as most labels are in Macedonian. Jeff and Spencer went to the meat market to get meat for a few days. Amy then took me to a boutique to buy some clothes; the owner's name was Lydia, and she imports most of her inventory from Greece and Turkey. She did show me a purple shirt, but I bought two others. I wondered if she was related to Lydia in Paul's day, the seller of purple from Turkey. I told her I'd come again to buy from her.
We went to English classes last night and met a whole bunch of people. We look forward to getting involved with teaching as soon as our Macedonian classes are over. Irena is our Macedonian teacher, and Kristina is Kate's sitter for now. Irena is a great English speaker, and Kristina is at an intermediate level. I asked Kristina to speak Macedonian to Kate so she'll learn too!
We had a team celebration lunch today at a local Thai restaurant-funny that it is the first time I have eaten Thai food. I was able to meet the other team members from all over Macedonia...12 in all. We had a great time!
We'll continue our language learning for 3-4 months and will gradually get involved and perhaps take over some responsibilities for our teammates who are going state-side this summer.
Please continue to remember us as we learn and practice, and en route meet new friends. We must learn the language well before we can serve well.

Our House

We live in the bottom floor of this house. We have two bedrooms, a bathroom/laundry room, a galley kitchen and living room. Our street is one street over from the main street that goes through the city centre.

Home Sweet Home

We arrived yesterday in Prilep, Macedonia, our new home!! Our friends Jeff, Amy, and Kyle picked us up at the airport in Skopje and drove us over the mountains to beautiful Prilep. A cross stands on the mountain directly above the town and can be seen from anywhere in Prilep. It is a great reminder of our task of telling how mankind's problem was solved on a cross so many years ago. We settled in our house, unpacked and met our landlords. Thankfully Jeff was still here to tell us we should invite them in for drinks. So, we did and they sat down while Jeff played the host so we could learn. Baba (the landlord's wife) gave me a box of chocolates and asked me to open them, so I did and offered everyone one, even Kate. Amy served as the translator for our conversation and mid-sentence broke into English to tell me the chocolates may have liquor in them. So, I carefully took Kate's away and discretely put mine back. As they were leaving they wished us happiness in our new home and Baba kissed me on both cheeks and they left. My mind was spinning after listening to so much Macedonian--and only caught two words: cat and good. Jeff gave us a key and told us to lock the door although it's very safe, the cat knows how to open the door if it isn't locked. So, we did. Later that afternoon Jeff and Amy brought us pizza as we continued to settle in. Sleeping was easy as we were so tired. We got a phone call at 11 this morning. It was Jeff saying we had 24 hours to get to the police station from the time we arrived in Macedonia to register, so we made the walk across town to the police station and a few other stops. Kate and I played at the park while Spencer and Jeff took care of legal matters. We ate dinner at Jeff and Amy's house. We walked about 20 minutes to a restaurant in the town center close to where Spencer and I live. We met Kristina, Turo, and Tomas who ate with us. We had a delicious dessert that is classic Macedonian called "palachinka" which tasted like banana pudding inside a flour tortilla with whipped cream and chocolate on top. I looked around as the center lit up at night with couples walking hand in hand, families with strollers, kids playing and others eating and the task ahead of me seemed so great. We were all at one time lost in the dark; someone once came along and helped us see the Light. That person is either like a bitter taste to those who are perishing or a sweet tasting lifesaver to those who chose to believe.

To the Embassy...

We got a call Monday morning confirming that our Visa was ready to be picked up in Washington D.C. We called our team leaders to see about when they would like for us to fly out, but it really came down to when Europe was clear of re-booked flights from the Iceland ash. Wednesday was the first available day, so we took it! We were also advised to pick up our visa ASAP, so we headed to DC Tuesday morning at 5, dropped Kate of at Vickie Walkers house, and continued on, arriving in DC around 2pm.

We parked out in front of the Embassy and walked to the fence gate, pushed the call button and were let in. We opened the big wooden door and stepped onto a marble floor; closed doors in front and to the right of us, and only a staircase to the left. We didn't know to knock on one of the doors or go up the stairs, so we were "peeking" around when a woman came down the stairs and said, "Please wait here." in a stern tone (yikes) and I felt as if we had our first cultural taboo.

Shortly thereafter, a Macedonian man named Mile came down the stairs, introduced himself, shook both Spencer's hand and mine and gave us two pieces of paper. He asked where we'd be living, and when we told him Prilep, his eyes lit up and said that Prilep was his hometown and that it was very beautiful. He shook our hands again, and said "best wishes" and he turned to go up the stairs as we turned toward the wooden door. That was it. No ID check, or signature, nothing.

We walked back outside toward the gate and reached to pull it to exit, only to find it locked again. We didn't know if it would be automatic or if we had to push the call button again on the other side. So, we just stood there for a moment, as the people inside probably got a good laugh. After a few minutes, Spencer reached over, pushed the button, and the gate opened. It's funny how awkward someone can feel in their own country! We walked to the car, called our team leader in Macedonia, and confirmed that was all we needed. Sure enough, so we headed back to Tennessee.

We confirmed our airline tickets now that we had our visa in hand, and soon thereafter received our e-tickets. We depart from Knoxville on Wednesday afternoon, layover in Austria, and then will arrive in Skjope, Macedonia Thursday afternoon. Now begins the rush to do everything we haven't done since we've been waiting!

The Visa Saga Continues

The one important piece of paper we needed for Spencer's visa was approved on the Macedonian side; that was all he lacked for a complete application to submit. It was submitted 3 weeks and two days ago and we were told in the beginning it would take 21-25 days. Our Macedonian counterparts are doing everything they can to get us there. And yet we wait. Meanwhile, as we wait, we are very blessed to be staying in a very comfortable log cabin on the lake with mountains all around us. I can't help but relax here and enjoy some down time with Spencer and Kate.
We have also enjoyed visits with the GA girls and the youth of FBC Greeneville, as well as with the ladies of WOM. How very fortunate Spencer and I are to be surrounded by such great prayer warriors. I look forward to opportunities we will have working with these groups in the future!

The Waiting Game

So, we still lack one small but important piece of paper for our visa to be able to be processed. We are hoping to get that by the end of this week. 21-25 days later our visa should be approved, and then a two week period for ticketing and travel. Sometimes we don't understand why we are delayed, or why we must wait. At times I get impatient. BUT, I must remind myself that I don't have to be overseas to do His work. I wonder what awaits us back home in Greeneville?