Central United Methodist Church
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A Place to Begin...Belong...Become

Macedonia Mission
 
 February 14, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Valentine’s Day!  "... love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:7-8.

In Macedonia, this is traditionally the day when the grapevines are pruned.  Often a libation is poured on the ground and a priest celebrates a liturgy at the vineyard.

Winter has brought us cold weather, ice and snow, but we have not had the brutal cold that has struck many other parts of Eastern Europe.  The church continues to distribute warm clothes and firewood to the very needy as we are able.

Methodist women in Macedonia are busy preparing services for World Day of Prayer, to be celebrated March 2 along with women from the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.  This is always an interesting and popular service, with a time for fellowship and refreshments afterwards.

Plans for my itineration are coming along; I’m grateful for the Conference Secretaries for Global Ministries (CSGMs) who contact the churches and schedule my visits.  During March I’ll have the privilege of speaking at churches in Statesboro, Georgia; Albemarle, North Carolina; Hampton, Annandale and Arlington, Virginia.  From Virginia I go to West Virginia, where I’ll speak in Charleston and a number of other places.  I’m grateful for these opportunities to thank the churches for their support of missions and to share about my work and the work of the UMC in Macedonia.

Many thanks for the birthday greetings I received - by regular mail, e-mail and on Facebook.  I appreciate your thoughts, prayers and good wishes 
In Christ’s love,
Carol Partridge

United Methodist Church

Strumica, R Macedonia

 
Global Ministries
Photos from women’s retreat can be viewed at this web site (even if you are not a Facebook member):
facebook.com/album

 

Activities on Facebook

 

Republic of Macedonia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Macedonia (country))
For other uses, see Macedonia.
Republic of Macedonia
Република Македонија
Republika Makedonija
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: 
Anthem of the Republic of Macedonia (Instrumental).ogg

Денес над Македонија
(English: "Today over Macedonia")
Location of Macedonia (green), with Europe (green + dark grey)
Location of Macedonia (green), with Europe (green + dark grey)
Capital
(and largest city)		 Skopje
42°0′N 21°26′E
Official language(s) Macedonian[1][2]
Ethnic groups (2002) 65.2% Macedonians,
24.2% Albanians,
3.9% Turks,
2.7% Roma,
4.0% others and unspecified[3]
Demonym Macedonian
Government Parliamentary republic
 -  President Gjorge Ivanov
 -  Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski
 -  Speaker of the Parliament Trajko Veljanovski
Independence from Yugoslavia 
 -  Independence declared 8 September 1991 
 -  Officially recognized 8 April 1993 
Area
 -  Total 25,713 km2 (148th)
9,779 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.9%
Population
 -  June 30, 2010[4] estimate 2,055,004 (142nd)
 -  2002 census 2,022,547 [3] 
 -  Density 82,2/km2 (113th)
205/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2011 estimate
 -  Total $20.821 billion[5] 
 -  Per capita $10,112[5] 
GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate
 -  Total $10.113 billion[5] 
 -  Per capita $4,911[5] 
Gini (2008) 44.2[6] (medium) 
HDI (2011) increase 0.728[7] (high) (78th)
Currency Macedonian denar(MKD)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .mk
Calling code 389
1 Albanian is widely spoken in the west of the country. In some areas Turkish, Serbian, Romany andAromanian are also spoken.

Coordinates: 41.6°N 21.7°EMacedonia (Listeni/ˌmæsɨˈdoʊniə/ mas-i-doh-nee-ə; Macedonian: Македонија), officially the Republic of Macedonia (Република Македонија, transliterated: Republika Makedonija [rɛˈpublika makɛˈdɔnija] ( listen)), is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. It became a member of the United Nations in 1993 but, as a result of a dispute with Greece over its name, it was admitted under the provisional reference of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,[8][9] sometimes abbreviated as FYROM.[10]

A landlocked country, the Republic of Macedonia is bordered by Kosovo[a] to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west.[11] It constitutes approximately the northwestern half of the larger geographicalregion of Macedonia, which also comprises parts of Greece and Bulgaria. The country's capital is Skopje, with 506,926 inhabitants according to a 2002 census. Other cities include Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, Tetovo, Ohrid, Veles, Štip, Kočani, Gostivar andStrumica. It has more than 50 lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2,000 m (6,562 ft). Macedonia is a member of the UN and the Council of Europe. Since December 2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union and has applied for NATO membership.

 
Dear friends at Central UMC,
 
Thank you for your support of my work in Macedonia. Do you ever wonder if what you do really matters? I do—and then I think about children like Borce (Borchey).
 
Borce and his family first came to the attention of Mitko, manager of the Miss Stone Center where our meals on wheels are prepared. As much as it is able, the Miss Stone Center also helps poor people who are in need of firewood, clothing, food staples and medicine. Borce’s parents are unemployed, like so many Macedonians. The
family of four live in two small rooms. They barely scraped by. Borce and his sister go
to school. Borce is teased a lot at school because he does not dress as well as the other children or have some of the things they have.
 
At Mitko’s urging, Borce started to come to my Saturday English classes. He made friends and there was no teasing.
Along with the other children, Borce participated in the children’s Christmas drama. He was happy to be a part of the program and to be accepted by the other children. He comes regularly to Sunday School now and he looks forward to a role in the children’s Easter drama.
 
As you can see, it is a privilege to be here and to witness positive changes in people’s lives. I am grateful for your support.
 
I pray God’s blessings for you and your
ministries.
 
In Christ’s love,
Carol Partridge

United Methodist Church

Strumica, R Macedonia

 


If you do belong to Facebook, I invite you to become a friend of In Mission Together.  This is a Church-to-Church partnership program of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.  Just go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=171409653540&v=wall