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Clay & Ruth

Clay and Ruth and their three children are serving in Skopje, Macedonia to answer God’s call on their lives to brin...

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Macedonia

Population: 2,061,315

BACKGROUND AND STATUS OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY Macedonia is a small, land-locked country located to the north of Greece with a land area slightly larger than the state of Vermont and a population of 2.05 million (July 2006 estimate). It gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 without major incident and adopted a parliamentary democratic form of Government. The predominant ethnic groups are Macedonian (64%) and Albanian (25%), with small Turkish, Roma, and Serb minorities.

There is a constant underlying ethnic tension between the Macedonian and Albanian populations that reached a flashpoint in 2001, resulting in armed confrontation between Albanian insurgents and the Macedonian army. A peace deal was quickly brokered by the West with concessions granted to the Albanian minority giving them greater representation in the government and other public offices. Macedonians are generally resentful of the role NATO and the EU played in the whole conflict. Nevertheless, the country as a whole is delighted to have gained “candidate” status with the EU in 2005, with the hope of full member status in the future.

Religious affiliation breaks down pretty much along ethnic lines, as 65% of the country claims to be Orthodox Christian (the Slavic majority), while 33% claims adherence to Islam (the Albanian and Turkish minorities). The Macedonian Orthodox church bears the dubious distinction of being the only Christian church to be created by a communist state (as a means of control) and is mostly lacking spiritual vitality. Evangelical Christians represent about 0.1% of the population, or roughly 2,000 believers.