Church (but not as we know it) in Macedonia, a story by Scot Bower

Published: April 24th, 2008

When the sun shines and the air is clear, it’s easy to see why Macedonians love this city. The mountains you had forgotten appear on the sky line with their snow capped peaks and the 70 metre high cross that looks down on the town from Mount Vodno is visible again. As I stand in Makedonija square, with the bustle of Roma traders on the old bridge and the hills that make up the border with Kosovo in the distance, Skopje is beautiful again.

Most of the time Skopje isn’t like this.

As a city it’s far too hot in the summer (40+ degrees), far too cold in the winter (-20) and way too often is covered in a layer of smog that contributes, along with the Brutalist 60’s architecture, to a feeling of claustrophobia.

However, Skopje is special; its people are friendly and honest, it’s relaxed to a near horizontal position.  I'm not exaggerating- just try making arrangements to meet a Macedonian for coffee! Life is lived very much in the moment. Until, that is, they get behind the wheel of a car. Then you take your life into your hands, their ‘manyana, manyana’ attitude is forgotten and every second counts. I found the best way to drive with a Macedonian was to wear sunglasses (that way they don’t see me crying) and to sit on my hands. It doesn’t pay to let them know you’re a touch nervous!

It’s in this wonderfully chaotic city with its quirky beauty that the 24-7 community of Glasnost are living and growing. Glasnost is a made up Macedonian word that means to ‘bring a voice’ or ‘the voice carrier’ it also means ‘to be loud’. The strap line for the Glasnost community translates as ‘voice in the urban desert’ and it’s been my privilege to walk with them as they work this out with tremendous practicality. This incarnational approach to church is lived amongst the young people of Macedonia against a backdrop of extreme unemployment (40%) and drug abuse. This is a nation that has suffered for hundreds of years under successive occupations by dominant powers; it’s Ex-Byzantine, Ex Ottoman, Ex-Communist and currently finds itself being bullied by its richer neighbours.
The Glasnost community were released by the local Skopje Christian Centre, one of only a handful of non-Orthodox churches in Macedonia, last year. They had been meeting together for some years before that, but this release was a key time for the community. They were sent out with a blessing and given the freedom they needed to be themselves and to grow.

This week is another milestone in the life of the Glasnost community. They take on an apartment in the centre of the city, with its 15th floor views, it’ll make a great place to pray from. This will be a hub for them, 5 guys will live together, working out a rhythm of prayer and life and this will serve as the new office and meeting space for some of their smaller meetings. (Although they will continue to use some rooms loaned to them by Campus Crusade for their weekly gatherings which bring together the 30 or so that currently make up Glasnost.) Eventually they would like to move this hub into a house where they could bring together some of the other activities the community is involved in: from Alpins ‘Punk Monk Tattoo studio’ (I’m reliably informed he came up with the name before the book was released!) to a rehabilitation and drug awareness project run by Tony and Boyan. Several cottage industry-style businesses would also be run from the house which would be modelled on the 24-7 Boiler Room Rule.

Later this week they also expect to gain status as a Macedonian NGO (non-governmental organisation) opening up opportunities that were closed to them as a church-based group. They have already been invited to work with national charities and embassy working groups helping combat people trafficking, but their hope is that this status will raise their credibility not only with the government and other NGO’s but also with the young people of Skopje. Under the Glasnost ‘label’ they plan to release a book of poems written by a gifted young writer as well as publish a Macedonian translation of Red Moon Rising.

All this and Alek and Alpin still find the time to pursue a rock ‘n’ roll future, with their band ‘Vanity Fair’ touring Macedonia to much acclaim last year! With a growing fan-base and a potential CD in the near future the rock ‘n’ roll dream is still very much alive.

It’s not all about books, music and tattoos though. This is about the gospel being incarnated amongst the people and Jesus being glorified. I remember sitting down and chatting to a couple of Glasnost’s newer faces last December. One guy I spoke with, who we will call 'C’, is the nicest, most peaceful, of people. When we talked you could tell this was a guy who knew Jesus. But not so long ago he was in the para-military fighting terrorists in the hills around Skopje! Later he worked “doing bad things for the government”! Another friend I spoke to I barely recognised from the last time we met 6 months ago. His eyes used to be so dark, he scarcely said a word and wouldn’t make eye contact. Now this man had such life, such joy. He told me how voices in his head used to tell him to kill himself but that since he became a Christian “life is beautiful now”, and I knew from the look in his eyes that these weren’t idle words. This was a guy who had known despair and hopelessness and had now found salvation. That’s the transforming work of the Gospel!

I’d hate you to think that they have things easy, or that converts are beating down the doors in order to receive Jesus. These are faithful people who are there for the long hard slog. My friend Ian has been working with a very small team amongst the 35,000 students of Skopje. I know he sometimes feels small and inadequate when he looks at the size of the task in hand, but he sticks at it. Others work at a church run kindergarten in the poorest area of Skopje, called Shutka, which is home to 70,000 Roma. It is not an easy place in which to work and yet they stick at it making a difference by incarnating Jesus in that place.  

This isn’t some super church that would relish being held up as an example of how to ‘do church’. It’s just a messy bunch of Jesus followers who are intent on being a voice for their generation; a voice in their desert.

Please take time now to pray for them.   

Scot Bower is married to Misty. They have 2 adorable children and 1 Land Rover. Together they travel Europe following God on an adventure that is part mission, part pilgrimage, and lots of fun. The Bowers are story tellers: encouraging and connecting different groups with stories they have picked up elsewhere. Currently, they are part of 24-7's Boiler Room in Guildford, UK. To contact Scot or follow the Bowers across Europe, visit their blog.

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