Another rewarding visit to the Balkans

Lyn, Susan, and Melanie reflect on their August ministry journey in Greece and Bulgaria. Read their stories below.

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By Lyn Kern

On August 10, I made my 12th visit over to the Balkans to join Vula at the ministry center in Litochoro, Greece. The weather was hotter than normal, but always warm and inviting. The joy of the Lord is felt every morning as we read a devotional and prayed for the day.

Five days after I arrived, we were joined by Susan Timm and her niece Melanie Couch.

Our first opportunity to serve was at the Ukrainian refugee center in Katerini. We unpacked many boxes of clothes and got them organized by gender in preparation for donations.

August is a month of vacation in the Balkans so not everything is open, but there was sufficient work to do around the ministry center.

We took a trip to Bulgaria and visited Yastrebovo and the minister of the area Gopi and his wife and music minister Reni. We attended Sunday service with the people of the village. It is so rewarding to see the joy on the faces of the adults and children as they are able to worship in a church through the donations and the generosity of the people connected to the Macedonian Outreach. In Pamukchii we were able to attend Saturday service with the people of the area and see the eight new houses that are waiting for electricity. There is much red tape, but we pray that soon the houses will be completed and the families will be able to move in. It is the prayer on our hearts. With Gopi and Reni we drove to Pazardjik, where back in 2003 Vula led a group of 24 CPCers on our first mission trip where we experienced the poverty and yet joy of the Roma people of Bulgaria. This time we visited with Christina, the secretary and coordinator for the Pazardjik area.

God has surely blessed this ministry and its tireless leader, Vula, with His joy and energy!

Lyn

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By Susan Timm

This is a trip that I’ve been preparing for, for three years. Three years ago a small group of us were all prepared to go to Macedonian Outreach to learn about and serve the needs of refugees and be of service to the ministry. Due to circumstances beyond our control the trip was cancelled two weeks before we left. This year an opportunity came up and I asked my niece Melanie to come with me.

It was such a pleasure to travel with her. She was a trooper being with 3 older women for 2 weeks that moved slower and were less adventurous/energetic than herself. We did small projects around the ministry center, visited shut-ins and other ministry partners in Greece, we hosted a BBQ for ministry partners and their families from North Macedonia (you will read more about that by Melanie) and then visited Bulgaria for four days.

In Bulgaria we helped celebrate the 16th year of the church being recognized by the government! A very big deal since without their approval the church could shut them down. We visited a home for kids that are physically and mentally impaired. This was tough to see but their pure joy for life and seeing visitors was amazing to see. God truly knows and loves these 22 kids. The next day we helped Reni and Vula hold a special women’s service for the Roma women in a village where many live in chicken coops while their new home sits empty waiting on contractors to hook up electricity. The Roma people are considered less than 2nd class citizens, so their homes have sat empty for two years. But despite this they are proud, joyful people that blessed us with homemade treats and hugs and appreciation!

There are so many more stories and memories, like swimming in the very salty Aegean Sea, walks around Greece and Mt. Olympus and we discovered I graduated high school with Vula’s son! But all that has to wait for another time. Until next time…I will pray for the Macedonian Outreach and the work God is doing in and through the people.

Susan

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By Melanie Couch

One of my top memories while we were in Greece was while we were staying at Vula’s, there was another family staying in the other house on the MO property. We had a big barbecue one night and were able to meet the other family. They have a daughter my age and we instantly connected and talked the rest of the night. The family also invited me to go to the beach with them the next day and I said yes! I was nervous because while they knew English and could speak it, they mostly spoke Macedonian. We were able to compare our lives in America and North Macedonia and find out we have so much in common. We also learned the differences in our churches at home. I was very blessed to have this opportunity to meet a new friend and family. They were extremely welcoming and it made me feel so good.

My time in Bulgaria was also very memorable. One of the days in particular will stick with me forever. It was Saturday evening when we visited the families living in the chicken coops and we brought them food packages. After that we went to their church and the women and children were there for worship, then I went out and played with the kids. At first I was worried that it was going to be hard to play games since we didn’t speak the same language. After showing them what to, it was as if the language barrier didn’t matter at all. I was able to be creative and have fun with these kids while the older women were in church. I was thanked by some of the parents for making their kids feel welcome and including them in activities.

Melanie