2026 North Macedonia Mission Trip

Starting out, I had no expectations and no idea what it would look like. The trip getting there was long and made even longer when we missed our last flight into Skopje.

It was an adventure of learning and experiences unlike any I have ever had. All of it very good even with exhaustion.

We got to sight see in Vienna due to our missed plane which was an experience in itself and apparently God ordained.

The biggest cultural difference I noticed was a lack of wash clothes and dish rags, cars parking on the sidewalks and sharing the walkways with motorcycles, scooters and bicycles. All of the cars are run on diesel and are standard, and the majority are compact. As a team of six we crammed into a Volkswagen with 3 rows of seats.  

Also, the number of mosques and ornamentation of other church buildings. 

I also discovered that absolutely nobody there wears or sells visors. Although they do have wide brimmed sun hats and baseball caps. I was actually stopped by a street artist who was amazed at my “look” asking me where I was from, all the while making a cutout silhouette of my profile. I had to explain that Ohio is a state, not a country. I didn’t understand why I had been singled out among our group and all the people around me, until I realized a few days later that nobody else wore a hat like mine or even had any to sell as I was looking and hoping to find a souvenir visor.

I was then able to share the gospel with him and give him an "actual American 20 dollar bill” which he had spied when I opened my pocket to give him something for his efforts in the cutout. I have to add that I was given this 20 for the purpose of sharing it with the right person at the right time, and I would know who and when that was! (more confirmation) He was excited and very receptive to my message and the gospel card I gave him..

I have never met anyone before who was appreciative and receptive of the gospel message as many of the people I met were. I have never really been able to share the gospel much here at home, and when I have, It has been met with questioning and hostility, discouraging me from sharing and causing me to just try to live my life as an example rather than vocalizing. This was very refreshing and encouraging.

Throughout the week Mandy kept pointing out to me some of the different ways I was apparently confirming our trip and our mission there. As this trip was different than most mission trips.

I believe the whole team was surprised to realize how prevalent cigarette smoking is there. We couldn’t go anywhere without  encountering it, even inside the restaurants. It brought back memories to me of our past here. Restrooms are called toilets and many of them have the same entrance for both men and women, some with a shared wash station.

The food was delicious and high quality and very cheap in comparison to ours.

We walked a lot almost every day, we met a lot of good friendly people and made contacts for future trips. We learned about the Jewish Holocaust and Macedonian history in overcoming take over by the Ottoman Empire. It is apparent they are still struggling to recover in a beautiful Country that is about the same size as Ohio.

Although, I am very glad to be home. This has been a glorious journey and experience that I would be happy to do again. I am thankful that God has been able to use me in this way. I pray for God’s grace to help me be discerning, receptive and yield to Him in all ways.