The Imbalance

Day 5: Hello! Yowza-it hot…hot…hot in Macedonia! Our teams woke up nice and early, had breakfast, and headed out to Bitola. Two of our crews went to work on the Roma church and the other two crews worked on a play field in Bitola where Roma children are known to play.

In Macedonia it’s against the law to publicly speak to anyone under the age of 18 about religious beliefs. We knew going out into the community that we couldn’t speak Jesus’ name, but we knew that we could show his love! So, that’s exactly what we did.

The two crews that began working on the Roma play field started by sweeping the blacktop, setting up the sound system for songs and setting up the stage for puppets! There were a few children standing beside a concrete structure that serves as an education center for the Roma. As we began pulling out puppets and setting up equipment the children slowly began to appear. The puppets (and their masters) put on another great show! The Roma children (and adults!) laughed, danced, clapped, sang, and even demonstrated some of the moves. When puppets ended we began pulling out sports equipment along with relay race equipment. Children covered the blacktop. Some wanting to jump rope (they are incredible at jump rope), some wanting to play basketball with a makeshift net, and some wanted to throw the colored dodge balls around. Our team spread out to make sure that every child had someone to love on them. At times several of us would stop to take in the view. Here we are, playing with these children on a blacktop that over looks the town of Bitola. It was just a blacktop. There were no toys, no basketball or soccer goal nets, and the area around the blacktop was surrounded by trash. How can children play here? We wondered. How can they run, jump, and play on a surface with no toys, no sports equipment, and with broken beer bottles all around. We would never let our children at home, in America, play in conditions like these. The imbalance of Roma life here in Macedonia and life in America is far greater than any of us realized before coming here. It’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking to see children go without and equally as heartbreaking to know that we only have two days left. Please pray that where our work ends…someone else’s begins. We are believing in that for this Roma community and the many others like them. If our team was not playing outside with the children they were inside working on crafts. We made sheep puppets and tic–tac-toe games. They loved to take their lamb puppet and tickle us while they made “bah!” noises. The Roma are quite good at tic-tac-toe, too! They loved to receive a thumbs up and smile when they learned to play…and beat us!

While we were playing we noticed a little boy who would cry quietly on the side of the play field. We assumed that he felt left out or that he wasn’t getting a turn. Throughout the day this one child began to tug at all of our hearts. He was not crying because he felt left out or because he wasn’t getting a turn. He was crying because he had an abscessed tooth. It was infected and it hurt. What happened next would be a moment that all of us burned into our memory. We saw adults and crew leaders hold his hand, kiss his forehead, and love on him. Jackie and others let him know that we would help him if he’d go get his mom. This little boy said, “I’ll bring her tomorrow…I want to stay here.” This little boy was willing to brave the heat and brave an abscessed tooth all because some Americans showed up to play. That’s one of the many reasons that God has called us here. Eventually, the Roma pastor came and went along with this child, in a taxi, to find his mother. He carried away two bag lunches-one for himself and one for her. If she would give her permission Tefig would take him to a local dentist for treatment. We would pay for it as long as she said yes. It’s now 12am (Macedonia time) and we haven’t heard yet about what happened with this little boy. But just because we haven’t heard doesn’t mean that our prayers have ceased. We are praying that she said yes and that his physical pain has some relief. Selfishly, we are praying that he’ll be on that play field tomorrow so that we can love on him, do crafts with him, eat lunch with him, and give him another full day of fun. He couldn’t have been any older than 9 years old. Shouldn’t all 9 year olds have a chance to run, jump, play, sing, and dance without a care in the world? We think so. Pray for him will you? Here’s a picture of that precious boy!

After we finished lunch we packed up the leftover food. Several members of our team wanted to go with a Roma man to pass out the food in one of the poorest Roma areas. A translator, along with Betty, Daniel, Elijah, and the local Roma man drove into one of the poorest Roma areas and began passing out the food. Elijah took a few photos…

What did Daniel say when they returned? “We showed up with food and it was like Jesus himself was there.” Mandy turned to Daniel and said, “Jesus was there. They saw Jesus today.” Wow. I took a moment to thank God for the extra food and for the willingness of our team to go. It wasn’t planned. Yet each of them was VERY eager to go and serve. Can you imagine being those people? Sitting at home because unemployment is the norm and maybe worrying about where your next meal will come from. Wondering how your babies will eat and trying to remember what it felt like to know that you mattered…perhaps they never knew that they mattered. Maybe, just maybe, several of them were hoping and praying that food would come from somewhere. And then it does. That’s why we were called here. Their faces in the pictures speak volumes.

Wait a minute…what about the team at the church? Keep reading…

Our other two crews were busy working on the Roma church. We’ll tell you about what God did with them tomorrow. I’ll give you a hint-one of our translators,Vlatko, and Matt T. ended up figuring out Macedonian standards for electric work. The church is now set up for electricity. No one thought this was going to be done while we were here. Two people from two different places coming together to bring light to God’s house. That’s just a taste of what has already occurred. Members (teens and adults) from both crews have already approached Jackie. Why? Well, they believe they can finish the work at the church if given more time. They are short of begging to stay longer than our scheduled 2pm quit time. Did I mention that it’s hot? That’s God at work. We are so proud of our teams. We are proud of them for answering the call…over and over and over and over.

We have 48 hours left in this country. Pray for us. Pray that we’ll feel well rested tomorrow, that our hearts will be open to whatever He calls us to do, and that we’ll continue to gain perspective. Pray that those children feel Jesus’ presence. We really appreciate your prayers and comments. They are a nice source of encouragement after long days. Love you all.