Birthday. :)

Author: Abbey /

August 12 was my first Macedonian birthday.


I love birthdays. Birthdays are the best. Especially when one of your favorite people is there to celebrate with you.


Grace came! I knew it would be a huge blessing, but it was even better than I thought it would be. My first birthday without my dad was tougher than I had anticipated. I was so thankful He provided a friend so I didn't spend it alone.

First, to kick off birthday week, some Roma friends (Naip and Suzana, I've mentioned them before) threw me a little birthday dinner.

Naip and Suzana

Yummmmm.
Later in the week, Grace and I spent a day with Ginna and Hannah in Ohrid.


Sveti Naum in Ohrid. See the peacock? They're everywhere there! How cool is that?

Yes, it really is that beautiful.

No one I'd rather be smooshed in a taxi with. :)

Hannah made me some coffee at their coffee shop there, "Ima Vreme."

Then some teammates threw me a birthday party/movie night. And then...
Jessica and Grace threw me a CLOUD PARTY! Did you know I love clouds? Because I do. :)


I was definitely crying here... Jessica got the red plate we use on our birthdays at the Hammond house, and she made one of my mom's recipes. Can you say SWEET?! 

Anna dressed as a cloud for my birthday. :)

Cloud cake!

Birthday magic.

I know, I know. I'm ridiculously blessed.


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Ah, Bitola.

Author: Abbey /

I heart Bitola, Macedonia.

Skopje is great. Like everywhere in Macedonia, the people are so nice. Since it's a bigger city, it's easy to find everything you need. (Minus a few essentials, like Rotel and Reese's cups, but that's another story...)

But Bitola! I love it! I went there for the third time last week. This was the longest I've stayed there, and I must say, so far, it's my favorite city in Macedonia.

But enough about the place. More about the people. :)

I was in Bitola last Monday through Saturday because some volunteers came to Macedonia to work with another Christian group. They decided to have a VBS in Bitola, and since they were including Roma and Macedonians, I was able to go to help.

The first three days were spent with children. The first day, we had five. The last day, we had twenty-four! Every day included the same things a VBS in the States would have: opening assembly, singing, Bible story, crafts, and snacks. The kids loved it. They just don't do things like that here.

On that last night, as I watched 24 rambunctious (but still adorable) children running around, I was reminded of Arizona, where I've spent a week of my summer every year for the last 11 years. This was my first year to miss it. In that respect, it was bittersweet... but I knew that God had been using my trips to the Navajo reservation all those years not only to reach them, but also to prepare me for work with the Roma. The two people groups are really similar.



Beautiful mountains in Arizona
Beautiful mountains in Bitola

Adorable Navajo kids
Adorable Roma kids


Baby Navajo mullet
Baby Roma mullet

The last three days were spent doing home visits and having youth events. Brenda, the woman leading the group, had the great idea of having a photo scavenger hunt! The youth really enjoyed it. They also liked playing "The Human Knot."

Scavenger Hunt--Picture with someone wearing traditional Macedonian clothes

Scavenger Hunt--Picture with a "baba" (grandmother)

Scavenger Hunt--Picture in a tree

Scavenger Hunt--Picture with Justin Timberlake

The youth here really don't ever get to be teenagers like we do in the States. They go straight from childhood to adulthood, with really no in-between. I'd love to do more work with Roma youth here in Macedonia. Would you pray that I have the opportunity to?

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