Hellos and Goodbyes

Today was our last day in Macedonia. We said goodbye to Konjare and Shutka. Tomorrow we will spend most of the day driving to Kosovo. Rusty said that if you imagine the worst bumpy farmer's market road where you can't pass and it takes forever, that would be better than the roads we will be on. We shall see if that manages to keep me from snoozing the whole way there. I expected to be sad about leaving Konjare. The village has so few Christians, and the ones there need a lot of training about the Bible. Shutka has been more difficult work and I expected to be okay with going somewhere new. But as we got in the van this afternoon, I said goodbye to the young man who accepted Christ on our first day. Over the past few days, we have seen this brand new Christian make leaps and bounds. He began helping us teach the younger children and translating our Macedonian lessons into the Roma language. Here in Macedonia I have seen huge emphasis on the relationship of brothers and sisters in Christ. This has been especially true with this boy. I feel such pride when I see my new brother growing and learning how to follow Jesus. As we left Shutka I wanted to tell him how important it is for him to study the Bible and to grow tall and strong in the Lord. How can I know he will press on when being a Christian gets hard? How can I leave my brother? And where will I go that could be more important than teaching people about Jesus? The van started up and tears ran down my face. We were so hot and sweaty that it hardly made any difference. For a little while I just lost it. We are leaving Macedonia. How long until I see the people who I have grown to love like my own family? Will I ever come back here? The sadness I felt today made me wonder if this is the place God has called me to. Is he showing me something I can get passionate about doing? Or would I feel this way anywhere? Only time will tell if Macedonia will be part of my future. I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Let's take a moment to talk about food. I haven't reported many dining escapades so far. Basically, I have discovered that I am the most hopeless food critic on the planet. I just don't like anything. Macedonia has not changed that. I get the plainest thing on the menu and eat enough to tide me over until my next peach from the bazaar. Most of the meat here is grilled. Burek is bread baker with something inside, like goat cheese or meat. People here almost always drink carbonated water instead of regular. You often have to say "no gas" when you ask for water. We have a lot of Shopske salad which has tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peppers, and cheese. It is not my favorite but normal people seem to like it. The prices here are extremely low. Usually our supper at a restaurant is about 300 denari. Sounds like a lot, but it is really only $6.00 for a nice meal. Tiffany had an ice cream cone tonight for about twenty cents. I'm pretty cool with that. I'm headed to bed. Every time I wake up I am more tired than when I went to sleep. But usually from the moment I walk out the door something reminds me how much I love it here.