The Evangelical Church in North Macedonia has seen God working in astounding ways over recent months. The church’s dedication to spreading the message of salvation continues to bear fruit, as exemplified by Viktoria’s testimony:
A surprising miracle!
"Last year, my husband surprised me by saying, ‘On Sunday, we will go to church.’ This was quite unexpected, considering that Bojan, my husband, was well-known in our town for his troublesome habits and practices. Nevertheless, that Sunday arrived, and my husband, our three-year-old older son and I attended the church service.
During the worship, a miraculous event took place. Our son sneezed and a corn seed that had been lodged in his nose for three months suddenly came out. We were astonished because we had sought medical intervention multiple times to remove it without success, and we had even scheduled surgical intervention. This became a profound sign for our family, urging us to continue attending church.
ECNM 2020 07 Church service in Skopje
Meanwhile, I was six months pregnant with our younger son. On two separate occasions, two different doctors recommended that we terminate the pregnancy due to a suspected Down Syndrome diagnosis. We had only attended church services a few times when we decided to heed the doctors‘ advice and proceed with the abortion at a clinic in Skopje. However, the doctor there showed great kindness and asked, ’Why do you wish to abort the baby?‘ We explained, ’We don’t want to, but we were informed that the baby has Down Syndrome.‘ The doctor conducted scans and tests and confidently declared, ’I am entirely certain that the baby is perfectly healthy, and I do not recommend an abortion.' Glory to God, three months later, Theodor was born completely healthy."
“How could I not choose to be baptised and follow my Saviour, Jesus?”
Viktoria was among 13 others, most of them young people, who were baptised recently. But that’s not the only highlight of the last few months – a group from the Evangelical Church in North Macedonia went on an encouraging and fruitful mission trip to Turkey. Breaking through language and cultural barriers, church members came away with many amazing stories, including this one from Petre:
A surprising encounter!
"While we were in Turkey, we prayed that the Lord would guide us on who should receive copies of the New Testament that we were giving out and how best to share our Saviour’s message. While we were staying at a hotel, the Lord opened an amazing opportunity for us to witness.
There was a man in his seventies called Selchuk who led the musical evenings in the restaurant there. I approached him and asked if he could play ‘Hevenu Shalom Alechem’ [‘Peace Unto You’, a well-known Christian song]. He not only sang that song but others as well. Katya and I approached him afterwards, expressing our gratitude for the special attention he had shown us.
The following evening, we prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide us on what to write inside a New Testament to present to him. I couldn’t find a suitable bag to conceal the gift and I was concerned that he might be embarrassed since it would be evident that he was receiving a New Testament.
To our immense joy and surprise, he accepted it with profound gratitude, holding it against his chest and carrying it around the restaurant for over half an hour. The next day, as we returned home, we received a message from him saying, ‘Thank you for giving me the Bible, I read it with great joy.’ More recently, we exchanged further messages, and he shared that he was grateful for receiving and was continuing to read the New Testament.
Ask God to reveal Jesus to Selchuk and pray that we would be able to stay in touch with him."
Praise God for the way He is at work through the Evangelical Church in North Macedonia, making disciples of all nations, baptising and teaching them. Pray that the team would know the strength and wisdom of God as they serve Him.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
