Mission to Macedonia
Phil Andrews reflects with the mission team on their recent trip together to Skopje.
If you ask most British people what they knew about North Macedonia, you might get the occasional person who’d tell you it’s in the Balkans. Others might know that it’s part of former Yugoslavia, but quite a few people will stare back at you blankly! New Life Church has a long relationship with Trinitas Church in Skopje, the capital city. That’s why we know and care about North Macedonia. We are invested!
A few weeks ago, it was to Skopje that our School of Supernatural Life* sent its first mission team. SSL is a free 10-month course over Zoom that seeks to release students into the fullness of the missional life we are called to live as disciples of Jesus. You can find out more about the next course here.
When our team of eight touched down in Skopje, some were very experienced in doing mission while others were brand new to it. One of the team, Rachel said, ‘As a first-timer on a mission trip, I didn’t know what to expect, but I had been praying to God to use me as his vessel.’
As a small landlocked nation, North Macedonia suffers from pressures placed on it by its neighbouring countries – some even maintain that it should belong to them and make claims on its culture. Greece would say that Alexander the Great belonged to them, and yet a large statue of Alexander, the 4th Century empire builder, dominates the central square of Skopje – a city that is definitely not short on statues honouring past glories and illustrious former citizens! Another great Alexander is Aleksandar Vuletic, known as Sasha to everyone, who runs Trinitas Church in Skopje with his wife, Marija. They were our hosts, guides and translators on our trip. We loved the warm welcome and care they and their family showed to us.
Throughout our days there the team felt sustained and carried by the prayers of the SSL and NLC family. There were many standout moments from the trip. As we prayer walked the streets of Skopje, soaking up the sights and sounds, we all began to get a heart for this nation, its people and their needs. Stepping into a tiny Orthodox church, full of icons and incense, we seized the opportunity to pray for the custodian who opened it up specially for us. To our amazement he told us that no other visitors had prayed for him before. May God have started something new and powerful in his life.
The Sunday service with Sasha and Marija’s church was very special. When Frank and Nic from our team joined with the Trinitas worship group, we felt the Holy Spirit come. As we praised God together in English and Macedonian, we were of one heart, connected by the grace and glory of our God. Sharon preached about the name of Jesus and Marija translated. Njideka shared the moving significance of her name (You’ll have to ask her if you want to know the story!). It was a privilege and very humbling then to be given free rein to prophesy over and pray for members of the church – all our prophetic words fitting together to demonstrate the amazing promises God had set aside for them. Again and again, these words proved life-giving to individuals – only God could orchestrate so powerful an encounter between people who had started the day as strangers!
A standout moment for the whole team came when we visited a nursing home to put on a short service for around 30 residents. We led them in a few hymns and songs – who knew ‘How great thou art’ would be such a big hit with elderly Macedonians? Cherry and Becca shared powerful testimonies and I preached the gospel using Psalm 23. When, at the close, I asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus, I was amazed when maybe as many as ten hands shot up! God truly did more than we could ever have hoped or imagined. As Njideka shared later, ‘I couldn’t tell that the residents were as open as they were from their expressions. It’s taught me that focusing on Jesus and being obedient to his direction is more important. The key thing is, as it says in 1 Samuel 16:7, ‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ We finished our time at the nursing home by dancing to Macedonian folk tunes with the residents. Some of them could really move!
For every team member the most powerful things to have happened on mission is the warmth of the friendships we made with people at Trinitas, and also the depth of sharing that we had with one another. For Becca, it was life-changing: ‘God revealed my purpose on the trip when he gave me a wonderful, powerful friendship with one of the teenagers in the church. He told me he’s going to use every bad experience that he has healed me from to help her and fulfil his will.’
Nic summed up the trip in reference to the giant cross, the Millennium Cross, erected on a mountain above Skopje to mark 2,000 years of Christianity: ‘At night it’s lit up, so the darker it is, the brighter it shines. It reminds me of the worship song:
“The cross stands above it all,
Burning bright in this life,
The cross towers over it all.”
It’s my hope for North Macedonia, that faith in Jesus will set every heart on fire.’
I leave the last word to Becca, which serves as an encouragement to everyone to try short-term mission for themselves, because it has the power to unlock God’s purposes for your life: ‘God told me that I’d be going back to Macedonia and that my mission wasn’t finished there, which caused me to leave half of my heart there. I’m so thankful to God for lighting a fire in me by giving me such a powerful sense of direction.’
* Please note that the School of Supernatural Life is changing its name to the School of Missional Life. The commitment to releasing students into Spirit-filled discipleship remains the same.