As Christmas is just around the corner, people around the world are filled with the excitement of the season. In North Macedonia, however, that excitement has been replaced with fear. On December 16, the main airport, a shopping mall, schools, and hotels received personal bomb threats. Not the first, these threats were the most recent with others going back over two months. Since October, 193 institutions have been threatened and subsequently searched by anti-terrorism police. In every instance, no bombs were found. Each threat creates fear and, as in the case of the airport, widespread inconvenience. While no bombs have actually been planted, by definition this is certainly an act of terrorism.
In North Macedonia, evangelical Christians are very much in the minority with only .2%. The unreached population is larger at 15%. North Macedonia is a very ethnically divided nation and the economic problems are severe enough that many people are forced to leave the country and find employment elsewhere. Churches are needed to actively spread the gospel and reach the unreached. What a wonderful Christmas it would be if many North Macedonians were able to hear about the true meaning of Christmas and of the joy to be had in knowing Jesus.
Prayer Requests for North Macedonia:
- encouragement for the Christians there
- lives changed by the power of the gospel
- new churches planted
- the terrorist[s] to be apprehended
