Refugees and Roma

Macedonia - what a surreal country. On the one hand beautiful fairy tale landscapes with frozen-in-time villages, and on the other hand poor Roma (gypsy) communities and refugee camps. Our main focus for the country was serving and connecting with the refugees but of course we experienced so much more.

With some experience in previous countries with the crises, I went out day one excited to make new friends and practice some of the Arabic I have learned. But this was not like our previous encounters. We drove 40min each day through the beautiful colourful countryside on the way to the border camp, with green fields and poppies growing everywhere. At the camp we were met with fences, barbed wire, security badges, and white/grey tents – a prison. Yet despite all this, the children were laughing and playing and the people came to drink tea and play chess in the café. Our job was to serve tea and coffee, listen to some stories and just love the people. I was surprised to notice that there were not only Syrians but also many people from Afghanistan and Iran. It seems the media has failed to emphasize the severity of population displacement worldwide, or maybe I just haven’t been paying attention. But here I am now, seeing the effects first-hand.

Some days were better than others. Despite the laughter and exciting conversations, there was always a despondent undertone and general running out of hope feeling. Sometimes you could see glimpses of it and other times feel it tangibly in the atmosphere. I found it was often linked to the weather somehow: on sunny days people could be heard laughing as they sat on blankets outside the café but on rainy, cold days people would walk with their heads down and be less interested in striking up a conversation.

After some time, we started building friendships and would look forward to seeing the familiar faces every day. But people do not want to stay in the camps, and every visit also revealed which new friends left during the night. In our 3weeks here the numbers in the camp fell from 700+ to below 100. My one family consisted of an Afghanistan pregnant mother (9months) and her 4 children (15, 11, 3, 1 year old) who could not leave. By the third week we were having breakfast together on every visit, sharing stories and laughing about the funny moments in the camp. Amazing people. I taught the girl how to play my Yukalyle and we spent many hours singing ‘let it go’ with the YouTube clip on my phone. In the afternoon I would return to my post, having mastered the skill of serving tea while holding a toddler in one arm. I am sure this skill will be useful somewhere in the future, but for now it just serves as a great workout.Even though our main mission was to love and serve, we still rejoiced every time someone would whisper that another member was added to our spiritual family.

We also spent some time in the Roma community, Shutka, helping to build a playground out of old tires and painting a mural or two to brighten up a kindergarten. This is the largest Gypsy community in the world with a spoken language that has never before been written down. This unreached people group has one of the most interesting cultures and belief systems and our hosts, Danie and Ester, have been called to Macedonia for them. With the refugee crises on their doorstep, however, they have not been able to give their full attention to these people.  

We spend many nights listening to Danie share about missions and I had a glimpse into what a missional life will look like. These treasure filled conversations has definitely changed my perception about many things but has also fueled the small missional flame that has been burning for a while. I do realize that I am only scratching the surface at this point and there is still much too still learn.

Things that I have learned:

1. God is bigger than my emotions
2. Obedience might break you but you will survive it and God will be glorified in the process
3. We have no reason to complain about anything….
4. We are not entitled to comfort but rather limited by it
5. We are not called to a life of salvation but that of Lordship
6. Communication is super simple when people speak the same language. Unfortunately no one speaks the same language, not even fellow team members. My understanding of a word and their understanding might be different. First listen and understand, then proceed  
7. Dying to self…still learning how to do this daily.
8. God’s plan is better than my plan…so stop making plans! You’re just wasting time.
9. Sometimes we are not meant to understand why…

Macedonia was my most difficult country thus far. Not because of my insomnia, or living with 10 other people in one room, or sharing all personal space, or being challenged on comfort, or getting use to another language. No, rather because of the ministry’s effect on me personally. I never thought I could love strangers so much or that it would break my heart to this extent to see their suffering. Most days I would return from work, find my hiding place a few blocks away and cry at God’s feet until I had no more tears, knowing that it will all happen again tomorrow. But God is good…always.

Blessed are those who are bendable, for they will not break…

And with that said our travel plans change. All plans to go to China have been traded in and now we are in Kosovo. Jip, that is a country…well, according to some. So we will be here for two weeks, then one week in Kuala Lumpur and then back on schedule.

Trusting God for direction is always exciting.