She Told Me Her Name

This has been an amazing week of experiences. The group from England is here and we spent most of our time working at the Miss Stone Center, but we also went to two villages and they put together a program to lead for the children at the churches. On Tuesday we were at the village of Monespitevo and they were leading the children on a lesson about Daniel in the Lion's Den. Of course, local children heard that something was going on, so during the craft, a group of children were seen peeking through the gate. Jo, one of the people from England, invited them in and all of a sudden we had almost double the amount of children and only two translators. At first it was chaos as we tried to get the children situated and started on their craft. Two young girls came to me and I realized that they were too young to write the Bible verse on the craft. I tried to tell them who I was in Macedonian,but they were too shy to answer me, so I began to copy the bible verse on their craft in Cyrillic. Halfway through writing the verse I recognized a phrase that one of the girls was saying. Yas suhm Adriana. My head immediately came up and she was looking at me and I realized that she was talking to me, and she told me her name. She then proceeded to tell me the other girls name and asked for mine. Although this may seem to be a minor event, it was huge for me. I recognized a Macedonian phrase and did not have to think about what it meant, I just knew. Not only that, but I could answer her back in Macedonian and could even understand more of what she was saying. It was a very joyous evening for me.

This experience has given me a little more confidence to try and speak more Macedonian to the people around me. I have realized that since then, more people are willing to talk to me in English and will even help me a little in understanding more Macedonian. Language is very important to Macedonians because it sets them apart from other cultures and contributes to their identity as a people. The people here seem to respect me for just trying to learn it. Not only that but I can now ask and understand a person's name, which is also extremely important to identity as well. The people here are proud of their heritage and their history and learning more of who they are, even their name and language, is important to them.

Reflecting on this has made me think about how important identity is for me and for others around me. I am very proud of my name and the history behind that as well as where I come from. Loletuth and Kentucky are a way for me to explain why I am the way I am. I also think that the fact that I am Methodist also contributes to my identity. It is common here for people to say what church they go to, especially if they hear that you are working in one. For them, the church you attend is part of your identity, even if it is not part of your actual life. This concept makes me think of what identity in Christ actually means. For most of the people here, it is what church you belong too, and not the way in which you live. There is constant bickering between the Protestants and the Orthodox over which church is better. Often times you wonder if many of these people understand that in essence it truly does not matter, it is how deeply you live for Christ and not what church you attend. How much of my identity is defined by what God is doing in my life and more importantly, how do I express and live out that identity for others? It is this question that I must answer myself and also what I should to understand about others as well. To seek to learn their identity not just by their name, place, and language, but by who they are in Christ. Of course, this requires me to love them no matter the cost.

Perhaps I have placed too much emphasis on the language barrier and need to think outside of the box and find an even deeper way of communicating my identity and the identity of others. I can connect to others because I have put on Christ and can find others who have done the same. It is through this identity that we can find our connection and a way to communicate that is truly beyond earthly means. We have the connection of our identity in Christ. Not only that but I must try to find a way to challenge others to find their identity in Christ and to learn how that identity is far more revealing of who you truly are then even your name, place, and language.

I do rejoice in the experience of being able to begin understanding Macedonian, but I also realize this means that I now have to seek to understand who people are beyond that, and realize it is probably something I should have been doing all along.

A few prayer requests:

The group from England travels back tomorrow evening so remember them in your prayers as they travel and continue their ministry at home and abroad, because one of them is actually from the Caribbean Methodist Church studying theology. Their names are Dani, James, Jo, and Silbert, so that you can pray for them by name.

I have just found out this week that one of the youth has a life-threatening disease. Her name is Pavlinka and she is 18 years old and has just recently graduated from high school. This news was quite sad of me to discover because this young lady literally glows with the joy of God. She loves the church and many of those in leadership as well as me feel as if God could be calling her to pastoral ministry in Macedonia. Other people who have the disease that she has are not known to live past the age of 15 so already she is a miracle child. At the end of July she will be traveling to Austria to undergo a series of test to see if anything else can be done. Remember her in your prayers as she prepares for this journey with all hopes to recovery.

Natosha, the other individual volunteer, is scheduled to arrive late on Friday evening/Saturday morning. Remember her as she travels that she will remain safe and that she will arrive here with a heart ready to serve.

Many Prayers,
Loletuth