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Lowell Brueckner

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Macedonia... Dan and Shelley return

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For any of your who do not know our son, Dan, and his wife, Shelley... Dan is pastor of Swanton Christian Church in Swanton Vermont. Previously, they served in Macedonia and go back whenever possible. They speak Macedonian well. This is the story of people, who simply love God, trust Him and serve Him.

Dan writes: Thank you all for praying for our trip to Macedonia. We saw the hand of God at work while we were there.

    This is Kole and Lile, who are very close friends of ours. We always stay at their house. They live their lives for Christ and reach out to the lost. Kole was asked to do some repair and painting to a Muslim mosque in a small village. As a result of this he has become close friends with a Turkish Muslim family. The man only wants to talk about God and wanted to know the difference between what he believed and what we believe. Though he did not agree with us he allowed us to share the gospel with him. Despite all his good works, he has no assurance that after death he would be with God. Please pray for his family’s salvation. We had a good long talk with him. Kole and Lile will continue to visit them and share Christ as the only way to the Father.

 

  Stefce and Loreta, could not have children for 24 years. They have been praying for about 6 years that God would allow them to adopt a child. Years ago they had asked us to pray with them concerning this issue. Many times their hopes had been dashed. There is so much corruption that they had never heard of anyone adopting a child without paying bribes. They had determined before God that they would not give bribe money. They personally knew one couple who paid out over $22,000 in bribes and in the end did not get a child. It was while we were in Macedonia that this couple received the answer to their prayers. God gave them a little 7-month-old baby boy named Marko. We visited them and prayed that God would use this baby boy for His glory. What a happy couple!

  When we first moved to Macedonia, we stayed with Tome & Savetka for 2 weeks. They wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Praise the Lord, Savetka has received Christ and goes to Slave’s church regularly now. After the Sunday evening service, we all walked arm and arm to her house for a visit. As we were walking along, my mind went back to when we first stayed with them. Oh, how different things are now. We are family. Joy, joy, joy! We can talk of the One we love most, Jesus. Over the years, Tome has opened up more and more to the gospel. He has read the entire Bible now and has a good understanding as to what the gospel is. Tome is quite a philosopher, but God is breaking through to him. He understands that it is by faith that we are saved.

 
  Pavle Cekov has come and spoken at our church on several occasions. This is a picture of Pavle’s parents, Stefce i Viki.  They are going through some tough times. She has had a stroke recently and has trouble speaking, but the expression on their face describes them well. They are full of the joy of the Lord. Stefce’s grandfather was the first one saved in their family. He shared the gospel in the whole area around their village. His father did the same. Now Stefce’s son, Pavle is a missionary in Slovakia and his son Samuel is serving the Lord in Slovakia as well. Five generations of faithful service to the King of Kings. Lord give us more families like this, who will live for Jesus.
 
   Orphans and the handicapped live together in this rehab. Many of them came to Christ when we lived in Macedonia. Their faith continues to grow and be tested. They live with a staff who could care less about them. Threats are often made of kicking them out on the street. They hold their peace and pray. One of them quoted, “Vain is the help of man.” God is the only one we can trust. They will not go to bed (even if it is 1 or 2 a.m.) until they have gathered together for a time of prayer at the end of each day.  They also read the scripture together daily. They pray for us every day. Roza (far left) paints with her mouth. We usually bring her paints from the states as the quality is much better. Before going to Macedonia, I asked her if she wanted anything else.  She replied, “No, just a word from God.” While we were there they prepared a feast for us. After eating one of the others said, “We’ve had our physical food, Daniel, now give us some spiritual food.” We spent hours with them. These are always very emotional times. I learn so much from their humble lives. They love Jesuswith all their heart.
 
  Mite and Krasi - God is using this family. When we first met them Mite had just gotten saved. He had a hunger for the word of God. They went to Bible school in Bulgaria. They live by faith trusting God for their next meal. Now Mite is the pastor of a church, and a professor of church history. He has also written 4 commentaries in the Macedonian language. I don’t know of any other commentaries in the Macedonian language. I have heard from other pastors how much they have benefitted by these commentaries. We visited a church Sunday morning and a lady came up to Mite and said, “While I was in Switzerland I went to the Macedonian embassy and the Ambassador had one of your commentaries in his office. Much more could be said about this family and their love for God.

  We spent a lot of time visiting people. After a meal, someone would grab a guitar and we’d have a time of singing to the Lord, times of prayer, times of sharing the gospel with the lost. We are so thankful to God for what we have heard and seen. I also spoke in many churches and the word was well received.



 



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