Lockdown Macedonia

Early severe restrictions have now given way to a gradual easing of rules

It was great to hear from SWT recipient Aleksandar ‘Sasha’ Vuletic from Macedonia recently. Sasha and his team have been ministering to those in need throughout the lockdown. This has included practical support, such as the distribution of food parcels and the sharing of Bibles and Biblical teaching material. In his letter, Sasha tells us what life was like in the early days of the Covid-19 crisis in Macedonia. 

“Dear friends

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus life has changed dramatically. All socializing has stopped. Schools, restaurants and cafés, gyms and non-essential shops all closed. People are just staying at home as the government is telling us to do. A curfew was introduced from 7pm to 5am on work days, and during the weekends from 4pm on Friday till Monday at 5am. Luka and Naomi (Sasha’s children) are doing school online – a whole new experience, not only for the students, but also for the teachers as well. 

 As a church we are increasingly supporting one another through social media, encouragement and prayer. There are proclamations of “…how good our God is”, and we are looking for opportunities to share the Gospel. The prayer team is meeting three times a week for prayer, using Zoom. Thank God for the internet and other applications we can use. 

Right now, people still have some money to buy food and pay the bills for utilities and for the rent, but soon even the banks might have problems. It is a good time to be able to think, reflect, read and pray. Praying that God will shorten the days of this virus as many people are in difficulty; not only those sick and dying, but as well those that are not working. 

Especially in poorer countries the effects are even worse. Macedonia’s economy might not be able to cope with this situation and what that means we do not know yet; it will definitely be very, very hard on the people here. But God is God and He has the last word. 

In these surreal times that encompass the whole planet the words of Jesus rings through loud and clear. Let us not forget that Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words will never pass away.” 

Since his letter, Sasha tells us that things have eased slightly and only last week he was able to conduct baptisms of “9 precious souls” in a beautiful river location, including the baptism of his daughter Naomi. Such wonderful and inspiring news.