Christine is a friend of Melissa MacDonald’s. She is serving with the CMA in the Balkans. She moved to Macedonia in August of last year. She is nearing the end of her first full year as a missionary. I (Melissa) just spoke with here today and she is doing well. She was excited about being featured on our blog and she covets our prayers. Here is her latest update.

So, I was back in Skopje for a week and a little – got to celebrate Easter, do lots of laundry, repack and I was on my way to the Balkan Field Forum in Baška Voda, Croatia. It was a 2 day trip – 16 hours of travel through some of the most beautiful country I have seen. Baška Voda itself, is quite beautiful as well, an amazing place for a getaway from the norm and a get together with the whole field family. Our 5 days were spent in times of singing and listening to the Word, also in business meetings and just fellowshipping and enjoying the surroundings.

One big thing that took place was the restructuring of our field. We will be working our way towards becoming 3 autonomous teams over the next year or so, this will give us a bit more bottom-up structure and will give more freedom in decisions and vision for each country. We will still get together once a year for encouragement, support and refreshment. I truly believe that this is a win-win situation and am looking forward to how God will continue to work in all of this.

On the trip home we were reminded of God’s faithfulness in seeing several rainbows – it was wonderful! Here is a shot of the type of mt. roads that we traveled for a good portion of our trip – you can see it winding up the mountain. Anyway, I made it back to Skopje in time to attend a joint service of all the Protestant churches in Skopje for a day of prayer on Sunday. It was great to worship with so many other believers, three different worship teams lead portions of the service intermixed with prayer for many different things. This is a picture of the Evangelical church’s worship team. And this is a picture of all the pastors and church workers in Skopje – we took much time to pray for them.

Now, it is back to the grind of language and normal day stuff. I do have several prayer requests and praises: I haven’t been feeling well lately – I am not sure if it is allergies or what, but I would appreciate your PRAYERS for healing. Also, I am preaching this Sunday at the International Church in Skopje, Please PRAY as I prepare this week and that God’s Word will be heard and interacted with on Sunday. A BIG PRAISE – I finally got my ID card just today – thanks for your continued prayers on that – it feels great to be official. PRAISE for a great time at field forum and safety in our travels. Thanks so much for your prayers and support – I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you all. Christine

The Great Commission Fund is what keeps all Alliance workers on the field. If you are not currently giving to the GCF, may I encourage you to consider how you may become an active part in the process of keeping all of us serving around the world.