A New Playground for a Preschool

During March, a team from Indian Springs Baptist Church in Arkansas came to refurbish and improve a playground at a local preschool and to lead in a leadership seminar. The existing playground was old and not safe for the children to play on. OSHA doesn't exist here! The team decided to clear out a section to build and install a new "fort" playhouse. A local carpenter designed and built the fort from scratch! He did a great job! So, the land was prepared and somewhat leveled, concrete boarders set, plastic laid for the gravel, holes dug for the foundations for the fort, a walkway of bricks laid, three benches built and painted, and finally the fort was put in place, secured and painted. Seeing the look on the kids faces as the teachers brought them out for the first time to try out their new playground equipment was priceless! The kids no longer have to fear getting tetanus, but can run wild with no worries! Everyone at the school was very appreciative of the work this volunteer group did to improve the playground.

Later in the week, the group led in a two-day leadership seminar. It was a great seminar with a wonderful turnout and has allowed us the opportunity to follow up with many people.

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!!!

Guys Mexican Food Night + Movie

Spencer hosted a guys night at our house this week and introduced some of our friends to the wonderful world of Mexican Food.
It was quite funny listening to him explain the food in Macedonian, explaining how to make a fajita, and the difference between the hot and mild salsa.

On the menu was enchiladas, homemade tortillas, pinto beans, homemade salsa, ground beef, grilled chicken, and tortilla chips.

Following the main course came American Chocolate Chip Cookies (a local favorite) and No Bake Cookies (also a local favorite) with coffee.

The damage done in the end: 8 very hungry guys satisfied, only beans left, a lot of dirty dishes. It was a great time and a full house...we look forward to next time!!!

Feliz Navidad and Merry Christmas!

We wrapped up our English and Spanish semesters with a celebration Christmas party and certificate ceremony last Thursday. 74 Certificates were earned this semester from English and Spanish classes--Spencer and I also earned our Macedonian Certificates..and we celebrated in stlye...traditional Macedonian style!

Our good friend Irena arranged for students to each bring some sort of Macedonian food, and several came in traditional Macedonian costume and preformed the Oro, a traditional Macedonian dance. There was so much food, and it was all delicious!
I am continuously encouraged by the friends who have come alongside us to help us and support us for His purpose, and I thank the Father for these dear friends: Irena, Boro, Mario, Tomas, Aneta, Hristina, Alexander and Vale. Your help and support throughout this last semester at Izgrev has been such a blessing to us!
Only two semesters left for Spencer and I to teach. Three if you count the summer. Time is running short. But, a lot can happen in one year. A LOT.

Macedonian Charades

Since Spencer and I have finished our formal language classes, we have determined to speak more and more Macedonian and less and less English.

In attempt to answer a challenge from some of our new friends, we hosted a game night last friday night during which Spencer and I could only speak Macedonian.

It was quite comical, but also challenging at times. Some of the words used were English cognates, like "altar" and "bazooka" but others referred to Macedonian movies or Turkish words.

Needless to say we were clueless most of the time, but did have lots of fun trying. Because both of us being on the same team would prove to be a pretty big handicap, we were on separate teams...in the end, I'm not sure who won.

We did have lots of laughs and enjoyed the challenge.

Enchiladas + Salsa + Karaoke + PlayStation = Fiesta!

We hosted an outreach at our house this last Thursday to try to get to know some of the students in the Spanish class a little better. It was a "Girls ONLY" event, and was announced only to the girls who had been coming to both Summer and Fall Spanish classes. Out of the 20 or so girls who had been coming to class, we were expecting 8 at the most, but we weren't sure because we hadn't done anything like this before.

I prepared some enchiladas, hot and mild salsa, rice and beans, as well as some Crystal Light Lemonade. The tortilla chips came from a local grocery store which imports them from Spain; so, we just waited on the 7pm hour to roll around.
It turned out we had 14 guests and we were so excited to be able to have more than what we initially thought. We started the evening off with a round of Crystal Light Lemonade (who would have known Crystal Light could be such a ministry) and EVERYONE wanted to try the lemonade from America.

Next was the unveiling of the enchiladas and tortillas, hot and mild salsa as well as the rice and bean mix. Then the explanations began of what was in what and how to make it and so on...It was the first time for most of these girls to try Mexican style food. One of the girls remarked, "I'm in love with enchiladas!" It made me laugh!

The HOT salsa was more popular than the mild, the enchiladas, tortillas, and chips were gone before the night was over.

Cue dessert, a spread of NO-Bake Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. The NO-Bakes went in a flash...as we all enjoyed the company and sheer silliness of watching friends Karaoke to English songs as if there wasn't a care in the world.

Everyone has asked for the recipes, so I look forward to sharing those in the near future. It was suggested to have another party but next time to invite people over before the cooking starts so they can learn the art of Mexican food too. Others suggested a "Girls ONLY" movie night...so I look forward to future events as I get to know this group of girls even better.