A Costly Faith, a Growing Church: How the Gospel Is Transforming Roma Communities in Macedonia
In North Macedonia’s Roma villages, following Jesus often comes at a cost many of us can’t imagine—from social exclusion to uncertainty over where you’ll be buried. Yet, even here, God is planting hope. Through simple acts of love, persistent prayer, and courageous faith, the church is growing in places where the Gospel is still new.
A Hard Place to Believe
Six years ago, Compel International began walking alongside a passionate local leader named Brother Jimmy. Even before our partnership began, he and his team had a powerful evangelistic ministry, gathering hundreds for open-air outreaches across rural Macedonia. Many people came to faith in Christ—but there were almost no churches in these communities. In many cases, these new believers were the first born-again Christians their village had ever known.
The challenge quickly became clear: how do you sustain faith where there is no church? How do you disciple people who have no model for following Jesus in community?
Brother Jimmy and his team recognized the need to go deeper—to plant simple churches, walk alongside new believers, and meet practical needs. Most of those coming to faith were from deeply impoverished backgrounds: Roma families, elderly men and women, and blue-collar workers who were promised pensions under Communism and now receive little to nothing.
These were forgotten people, but not forgotten by God.
In these communities, identity is assigned at birth, and burial plots are divided by religious affiliation. For someone from a Muslim family, choosing to follow Jesus can mean not just rejection from loved ones, but the loss of one’s place in society—even in death.
As we began training and equipping Brother Jimmy’s team, a slow and beautiful transformation began. Clean water was brought to a Roma community for the first time in 2022. Since then, homes have been connected to water lines. New playgrounds have been built. Community members have come together with the church to solve long-standing problems—shoulder to shoulder, building something new.
These partnerships, forged through years of faithful service, are now bearing fruit.
A Faith that Heals
This past spring, a public evangelistic outreach in the village of Crveni Bregovi drew many from the community, including a woman suffering from long-term kidney pain. The team prayed with her during the gathering, and she experienced immediate relief.
“To this day, that sister has no pain. Amen. Glory to God,” wrote one local team member .
Moments like these bring fresh credibility to the Gospel in communities where Jesus is often seen as foreign or unfamiliar. Healing doesn’t just restore health—it opens doors to hope.
“To this day, that sister has no pain. Amen. Glory to God.”
Faith in the Next Generation
In nearby Prždevo, a young boy named Almedin regularly attends children’s Bible classes. One week, he arrived unusually serious—his 18-month-old brother had been bitten by something poisonous. His body was swelling, and the local doctor feared the worst.
Almedin asked the team to pray. “We prayed immediately,” one team member shared. “He didn’t stay long, but the next time he returned, he was full of joy. God heard our prayer.”
The healing became more than a testimony—it became a turning point. Almedin began urging the group to pray for others as well, including a young girl with an injured hand. Children like him are not just learning about Jesus. They’re beginning to believe—and to lead.
“The next time he came, he was full of joy—God heard our prayer.”
Transformation That Grows
While many Roma communities remain deeply impoverished, change is slowly taking root. Local families are planting gardens for the first time, small discipleship groups are forming, and children’s literacy classes have launched alongside regular Bible teaching.
Each of these initiatives starts with prayer and flows out of presence. The team walks with their neighbors—visiting homes, hosting meals, and bringing the Gospel through word and deed. One team member put it simply: “We are sowing God’s Word on new soil.”
A Harvest Worth the Cost
Not every story ends in healing or immediate change. The team still grieves over young girls married off too soon, families crushed by poverty, and believers rejected by relatives for their faith. But even in hardship, the Gospel is growing.
And none of this has happened overnight. It is the result of six years of equipping, training, and walking alongside a team already aflame with evangelistic passion. Because of their faithful presence, today there is both practical and spiritual transformation—running water, playgrounds, discipleship groups, and above all, new life in Christ.
Like Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field… the man went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44, NIV). For many in these villages, Christ is that treasure. And they are giving everything to follow Him.