Tales from the Macedonian Mission Field - June/ July 2025 Update

Scott Jackson

To say that this has been a hot summer so far is a bit of an understatement.  Knowing that the UK has had multiple heat waves, and here in Macedonia also, with temperatures regularly being above 40 degrees, has meant that most time outdoors has been confined to earlier in the morning, or later in the evening.

And for most people, summer means time off work or school.  Many people go away for holidays, so here in Skopje, the city becomes much quieter.  Everything slows down.  I hope that over this summer season, you will find more time to rest and enjoy the outdoors.

Young Life....

Since my last update, it's safe to say that the last few months have been more challenging within Young Life.  Staffing issues have meant that we have not been able to keep up our normal schedule as we would have liked.

However, we were able to have our final club in June, which is our traditional 'Water Club'.  As you can imagine, it was our funnest one.  We had the heat and sun, we had the water hoses and water games, and by the end, everyone was soaked, kids and team members alike.  At our final club, we always give the opportunity for older kids who follow Jesus and are graduating, to share some of their story with the other kids.  This time we had two,  and all of us on team were and are very proud of them.  The messages they shared were inspired, and the kids were all riveted to what they had to say.

As usual, we ended the season with our summer camp.  We had 38 kids with us, and including the team, we were roughly around 70 on camp.  It was a blessed week.  Katya, a member of the YL Bulgaria team was our speaker, and her daily talks, each about a different element of the Gospel led to some very positive cabin conversations. The kids increasingly shared their thoughts through the week, answering questions in relation to what Katja had shared.

Much fun was had whilst there, and it has been so encouraging to hear feedback from the kids as to how much they enjoyed it.

Wedding...

Since returning from the UK, wedding preparation has been gathering pace.  We have our date set, the 27th September.  Every week we have more and more tasks completed.  We still have a few things to do, but the majority of things are either organised or are completed.

The wedding service at the church is going to be live-streamed.  If you would like the link, please let me know, and we can send that to you.

Thanksgiving

• That the end of the season at Young Life and camp finished well.  Thanks also for new team members that have joined over the last couple of months.
• That the wedding preparations are progressing well.

Prayer Requests

• Please pray for more openness to the Gospel in the local community here in Novo Lisiche.  We have some ideas for new initiatives starting in September, which are currently being prayed into and processed with the possibility of partnering with local churches.
• For the remaining wedding preparations and the wedding itself.  For Hristina and my journey together as we start this new season and adventure.
• For more volunteers within Young Life.  A majority of the volunteers are internationals, some of whom left Macedonia in June, and others potentially later in the year.  Pray that as well as more leaders in general, specifically more nationals are able to join the team.

Thank you so much for reading my latest newsletter.  I pray that you are all blessed where you are and that you know more and more Him who calls you by name, who died on the cross and rose again, and who loves you with an everlasting love. 

Much love and every blessing in Christ,
Scott