History in the Making

Today was an exceptionally good day. It was refreshing, therapeutic, and thought-provoking — all in equal measure. 

To begin our day of rest, the team ventured to Varvara. This neighborhood is the (hopeful!) future home of Shields High, the "impossible" dream given to Elizabeth Burton. It is located about 20 minutes south east of City Center. Just close enough to be convenient, but far enough for sheep to be grazing in the nearby pasture. 

If you've spent any time with Elizabeth, then you know how inspiring she is. Now imagine walking step in step with her as she unfolded the vision God has given her to build a state-of-the-art children's home on this land. From the Colorado-style administration lodge to the bridge over the babbling brook, her energy and passion for this project is nearly tangible. Combine that with the desire in each of us to provide a better future for the children of Macedonia, and you can understand how sweet it was to spend time prayer walking and rejoicing together. It's a moment I will never forget. 

And if that wasn't enough, our team also got to experience the beauty of Matka Canyon just outside of Skopje. The photos below hardly do it justice. Suffice it to say, it is home to the world's third deepest underwater cave (Vrelo Cave). But it's only #3 because they haven't reached the bottom yet!

It's no question that Shields High is committed to the Lord, and He is establishing the plans and steps of Elizabeth and all those involved. It is beyond exciting to witness HIS-story in the making. I invite you to join me in praying for Shields High, including all those who will one day call it "home"! 

-Stephanie Bond

Love Makes the Difference

I have so many thoughts and my heart feels so overwhelmed right now. I just hope I can effectively put those emotions into words.

First of all, you never really understand what you're walking into when you are new to a particular team. GlobalX is amazing in how it has strategically placed itself in many different areas around the world, with many different outreach objectives, all in order to tap into, and best utilize, each of the many different types of gifts of which we have been blessed. Every place and project is so unique. Even with the team building meetings held prior to the actual trip, it is hard to grasp 1) what type of hardships they have been through during their lives that ended up leading them to this home 2) what the connection will be like between them and us 3) their understanding of Jesus 4) how we can strengthen their desire for Him.

Immediately upon entering the children's home, I was able to answer #2.  These children wrapped their arms around us, and obviously knew that we were there for them, and we were there with much love to give. They surrounded us with sweet smiles and gave us every reason to feel welcomed in their home.

In keeping with our plan to set up various stations of crafts and sports to create an interactive environment, several of us gathered around a table to make rubber-band bracelets (this clearly wasn't their first rodeo with the bracelet making). As we sat around, casual talk began, and we were lucky enough to have Matt (an American missionary who had moved to Macedonia with his family several years ago) sitting at our table and translating for everyone. One thing led to the next and soon the children were revealing the whereabouts of their families. This talk gave me a lot of answers to question 1. These babies had been through so much darkness. Staring into their sweet faces while they told of such heartbreaking truths about their parents. I couldn't fathom being 12 years old having already faced so much trauma. In that moment, I realized how much our presence mattered, and I was so thankful to be right there with them.

We went through the remainder of our first day warming up more and more to them. They each have such distinctive personalities, but just about all of them are so full of energy and so full of words we wished we could understand.

After spending the day with the children, we went out to dinner with *Elizabeth. I had so many questions stirring around in my mind. I had already learned through Stephanie and Sheyna, who have been on this trip many times, that most of the orphans are Muslim. I just wasn't clear how accepted the name of Jesus was in the government-run orphanage and whether Elizabeth could see the Holy Spirit working through her in communicating God's love to these children. So, we talked. And questions 3 and 4 are now much clearer to me. Only IF and WHEN she's asked, Elizabeth is able to speak of God leading her here to be with these children and all because of His great love for them. She is really their only consistent form of strong emotional connect with an adult, as the orphanage keepers stay somewhat detached from the children. So, through Elizabeth's consistent presence and unwavering love through their many frustrations and aggressive outbursts, she has ingrained a steadfast loyalty with them to which they are not accustomed.  We are just the icing on the cake. They think of us as an extension of Elizabeth; a woman who has always been there for them through thick and thin. Without her long term commitment to them, our efforts would not be nearly as impactful. They know we will always visit them twice a year (once in May and once in October), and they trust that we are there because we care about them.
[*sidenote: Elizabeth is an amazing woman of faith who went on a short term trip through GlobalX, just like us, and felt God leading her to Macedonia full-time.]

I am so incredibly grateful to God for not only sending Elizabeth here, but I am especially grateful for her obedience to the calling.  She is setting a foundation by being their steady force of love in a confusing world where they have faced so much abandonment. She is the face of Jesus for them; Jesus is shedding light on their darkness through Elizabeth and the many globalX teams that continue to show up. Her impact on their lives will forever change them. I am so blessed to be a small piece of this operation.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

~Erin Thompson

Traveling to Macedonia!

Greetings All!  Welcome to the blog for the October 2016 Macedonia Team!  We are so excited to share everything we are doing and learning and experiencing!  So here goes...

Once upon a time, early in the year of 2016, 8 people came together... from all different backgrounds, and for all different reasons... but all felt the same pull on their heart strings from God to travel to a far away land called Macedonia.  There they would discover an orphanage full of beautiful children and one amazing missionary named Elizabeth, and all of their lives would be changed forever!

Well, here we all are... Jim, Jesse, Stephanie, Sheyna, Erin, Renee, Natalie and Lynn!  After months of meetings and prayers and preparations, here we are... all wide awake and eager as ever at the (FIRST) airport!  (Thank YOU Stephanie for bringing the selfie stick - No shame here!!!).  The devil may have tried to throw some obstacles in our way... a broken foot, a heck of a hurricane, a team member accidentally being put on standby... but nothing was going to stop THIS Elite 8 from getting where we were headed!

3 flights and 16 hours later - we FINALLY landed in Skopje, Macedonia (with ALL of our luggage PRAISE JESUS!)... however, not quite as bright eyed and bushy tailed as we were in the initial photo in Atlanta (hence the lack of an "after" picture) - but excited and feeling awfully blessed to be here nonetheless! 

Elizabeth met us at the airport to excitedly welcome us to Skopje with our driver and we then headed to our hotel.  Elizabeth mentioned how quiet we were on the ride to the hotel - we are not really that calm or subdued of a group... we were just simply too tired to form complete sentences at that point!  (Still super excited though :) We got checked in and grabbed a little lunch before resting up for a couple of hours.  

***I will add what I have learned so far at this point in the trip***  I still am unable to sleep on planes.  The Newark airport is not my favorite.  My team is AWESOME and every single one of us brings something special to the table.  I have a new favorite salad - It is called Shopska Salad and I am now obsessed.  If you order "grilled cheese" off the menu in Macedonia, it is simply that - a block of cheese that has been grilled - not a sandwich.  European bathrooms flood when you shower.  All of them.

Ok - after naps and showers - we are somewhat 'un-zombied'... Able to at least form sentences now, and we probably at the very least smell a little better.  We then head through downtown Skopje's City Center and get a glimpse of the town and some time to explore how beautiful this city really is!  The statues, the view, it's really quite an amazing place!  From there, we headed to SoulCraft Church to listen to the pastor Nikola's message.  Our group was introduced to the congregation and was welcomed with open arms by everyone.  It made our entire group feel wonderful about being in this new and unfamiliar city, and God's purpose for us traveling all this way was becoming more and more clear by the minute.

After a wonderful dinner with Nikola and his beautiful wife and daughter, it was time to head back to the hotel for some MUCH needed beauty sleep.  We definitely needed as much rest as we could get to recover from our long couple days of travel and to prepare us for the following day's excitement!  

We all hit the beds hard and were blessed with a good night's sleep...  

Day One at the orphanage was actually today - but there is simply more to say about today than I can possibly write about this evening as my eyelids are getting quite heavy and tomorrow will be another long day!  

On a more personal note before I close off for tonight... Can I just add what an incredible blessing this trip is to each and every one of us?!  It's only the beginning and I just can't even believe how lucky I am to be here right now.  It really just blows my mind how God has brought this all together - all the right people, all the right circumstances, and truly at the right time.  I am so excited about how He is going to work through us this week with these children!  Whereas fears and insecurities of all kinds plagued my mind leading up to this trip, now that I am actually here - in this city, on the other side of the world, away from everything I have ever known and been comfortable with - I feel more secure in my mind that I am EXACTLY where I am meant to be at this moment in time!

*~*~* Various team members will be adding to the blog throughout the trip... so forgive us if there is repetition of events or moments, but we thought it best to get various points of view and different perspectives along the way!  We all hope you enjoy reading about our trip and the way in which God is using each and every one of us here! *~*~*

~Renee Doddington