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From: Sokrat Apostolovski
Date: March 1, 2021 at 7:43:33 AM PST
To: Vula Rushdoony
Subject: Report on Christmas season 2021

Dear Vula,

I hope that you are well and that you are being safe.

Here is some update of what is going on with the children and their families.

Winter is the most difficult for Roma people in our community, especially for the children’s needs. After the holiday season ends, it is extremely difficult for parents to find day jobs and bring home some income. During the pandemic, the most needed thing is food and staying safe at home. For that, we are extremely grateful to Macedonian Outreach for being the Christmas miracle all of us were praying for. We were able to distribute food Boxes with all the necessities that they will need. Having food available protects the children from the pandemic and keeps them safe at home.

But this was not the Christmas miracle that the children were hoping and expecting for. One tradition we have for Christmas is to give a Christmas bag that is filled with candy, chocolate and other delightful snacks. Since these children come from very poor families, their parents cannot afford it. But thanks to the love of Macedonian Outreach for these children, we gave to all the children in the village a Christmas bag. The excitement and joy of the children is indescribable. This is the best gift that they have received in the entire year. Some of the children brought us drawing as appreciation for the gifts and to show us how much this means to them. For us maybe Christmas bags are nothing but for them it is their entire Christmas season.

We have attached some photos, so you can see the joy and excitement of the children.

We would like to thank once again to Macedonian Outreach for the wonderful support that they had provided these children. You have reached out and changed our lives for His Glory. May God Bless you and the amazing work that you do for Him.

Sokrat
—
Pastor Sokrat Apostolovski
Evangelical Church – Volkovo
Roma Network coordinator in
R. North Macedonia

Dear family and friends:

One of the very first persons we met at the beginning of the Ministry was Pavle, his beautiful wife Suzana and their little boy David. Soon after the Lord gave them a little angel Ana. Since then they have become our partners in the work of the Lord in N. Macedonia. Please read and enjoy their Christmas gift to us as we share it with all of you.

Have a Blessed Christmas!

—

Dear friends,

We want to wish you Merry Christmas, and a happy and blessed New Year. And we have a gift for you.

Suzana: I was inspired to write the words for this song by Ana, our daughter. Her joy during Christmas is immeasurable. She loves the music that surrounds Christmas. Although because of her disability her understanding of the meaning of Christmas is limited, her joy is not. There is no Christmas for Ana if there is no music. A good friend wrote the music and sang the words. I hope you enjoy the song as much as she does.

Merry Christmas and a happy New year.

Kostadinov family

Alexander is a young man who lives in Skopje, North Macedonia. He is legally blind but has achieved in everything he tried. Here is his email of gratitude to the board and his story, The Apprentice. We had the honor of sponsoring his doctorate program of three years in Aberdeen, Scotland.

—

Dear Vula and Macedonian Outreach Board,

I hope you are well and looking forward to a great festive season.

The last few days have finally brought the end to a crucial chapter in my life. My degree certificate has finally arrived in the post. It gives me great pleasure to share these glad tidings with you and the board of Macedonian Outreach. Looking back, I also feel extremely grateful for the opportunities to think and relax in Litochoro, the clothes on my back and the outstanding generosity of those who have partnered God in making my dreams come true in ways I could not have imagined.

As a small token of gratitude, I attach a short story which sums up the role you and MO have played in my life. I hope that it may be an encouragement to others. I also attach a few recent photos.

Blessings,

Alex

—

The Apprentice

In this time of major uncertainty, it is difficult for people to find reasons to be thankful. Many would be delighted to see the back of this taxing year, an altogether sorry and disorienting chapter in many of our lives. Yet, I am delighted to be able to reflect on the end of another chapter of a story to which you all have contributed a lot.

The weekend had finally arrived. A teenager got out of bed at the crack of dawn. He did not have any pranks in mind. He was not going hiking either. His exploratory expeditions were of another kind. Having prayed, he sat down at what he imagined to be his writing desk. While his friends would construct little forts, he would surround himself with books as if they were his dry mote. He had a burning passion for unlocking truths that few now bother about. He told himself that he was writing a Bible commentary, an obscure genre of literature that was as familiar to his parents as Haggis is to people in the Balkans.

The time for professional decisions came along. His friends went on to pursue careers in law, medicine and the arts. He had grades good enough to study whatever he desired. His mentor told him then that he was one of a handful of people who could study any discipline he chose and succeed in it. but his only fascination was with Scripture and theology. He longed to follow in the footsteps of Jeremiah, his hero who had shown him what a faithful youth could do, of Job, who taught him not to mince words when telling God of his pain and suffering, and of Silas, who was a model of a believing and practicing intellectual to him.

Five years of hard work followed. He mastered such obscure things as Biblical Hebrew and Greek. He deepened his knowledge and appreciation not only of Job’s frank talk with God but also of the psalms and of Jeremiah’s prayer life. He developed an interest in the discernment of wise intellectuals who expressed their deep convictions about the effects of a Spirit-transformed mind through their sharp-eyed, penetrative and thought-provocative observations. Like Job, he wished to share his wisdom with others. Like Jeremiah, he had doubts about the relevance of what he had to say. Like Silas, he sought to use his knowledge to make others better.

Thus God added a third string to his bow. Having gifted him a perceptive mind, a healthy dose of curiosity about Scripture and a love for the written word, God now added the charge to teach others. But the apprentice felt deeply uneasy about it. He was aware that he would require further training in a country of which he new nothing about.

An arduous journey into the unknown followed. Like Abraham, he was compelled to lean on divine guidance and trust that his everyday needs will be met. When he was growing up, he had been taught that whenever God calls people, God also equips them for their calling. His journey into the unknown demonstrated once again that God would meet his every need, from finding a good church to join and contribute to, to seemingly banal things like a Sunday lunch, a cinema ticket or numerous free rides, to a coveted University scholarship and a living allowance from people he had never met before. Indeed, there were times when the far away country did feel like home for a season.

The would-be researcher, writer and teacher could thus spend three years doing what he loved best, what God had put on his heart during the quiet hours of prayerful reading many Saturdays ago. His scanty teaching experience had brought a problem to his attention. this was a time when the Bible had never been more available that it is today. Yet, it was also a time during which it was read or understood by so few. The apprentice longed to explore ways in which he could let those who had never read Scripture read it in culturally appropriate, yet faithful, ways. So he explored ways of reading his favourite book of Jeremiah and its numerous depictions of reading, writing and intellectuals together with modern novels and movies about reading, writing and intellectuals. His contribution was deemed to be impressive by his examiners, leading scholars and committed Christians.

During the course of his studies, the apprentice had been asked to contribute a theologically insightful, yet accessible and culturally relevant, commentary on his favourite book of the Bible. But in amongst it all there was waiting. Waiting for God to open the right doors. Waiting for God to provide the means for the realisation of goals God had asked the apprentice to pursue. Waiting for the effects of an intensive work schedule to go away. Waiting for final approvals before the dissertation could be submitted. Waiting for the right examiners to be appointed. Waiting for lockdown to end. Waiting for the degree certificate to arrive. Yet, the apprentice was delighted that he could realise one of his teenage dreams in the meanwhile. Having travelled to the far away country, he had learned what Haggis is. Now God signalled to him that he was ready to fulfil one of his deepest longings. Now he was equip to pass some of the knowledge he had gained over the years to others.

Thus a chapter in the life of the apprentice came to its God-ordained end. As the artisans of old who used to benefit from popular subscriptions in order to further their professional goals, the apprentice could look back and see many generous hands extended in fellowship and partnership. There were indeed many eager hearts which had been moved to remarkable acts of kindness. The apprentice thought it fitting to thank them by using the words of a great statesmen which he uttered on a momentous occasion: “This is your victory”, he exclaimed. This chapter, then, is a testament to both the predictability and the reliability of Providence when disorienting realities assert themselves at the global level.

Aleksandar Apostolovski
What is impossible for man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27)